Today we welcome Allison (A. S.) Mackey to my blog. Thanks for stopping by, Allison
Tell us about the book:
The Edge of Everywhen is about a magic book that
tells each reader the story they need to hear, a story that points them to
faith in God. Thirteen year old Piper and her ten-year-old brother Phoenix, who
has autism, discover the book in their mean old auntie’s library when they’re
sent to live with her after the death of their mother. The magic book itself,
called Novus Fabula, narrates the story from his perspective, and he takes the
children on a mysterious journey of faith that impacts the entire family. It’s
a book that bridges the gap between faith-based and fantasy kid-lit genres. And
while the fantasy elements will appeal to reluctant readers, the book-nerds out
there will also love that it celebrates libraries and reading and all things
literary.
Have you always like to write?
Yes! I started writing poetry when I was eight, and
progressed to short stories and novels in my teens.
Just as your books inspire authors, what authors have
inspired you to write?
Kate DiCamillo, Lois Lowry, C.S. Lewis, and Katherine Paterson
have all created literature that I found to be beautifully crafted. They
consistently create stellar prose combined with top-notch storytelling.
How did you decide upon the title of [The Edge of
Everywhen]?
The original title was very different; it was called Uncle
Lonnie’s Bookshop throughout the first two drafts. But I knew it needed a
title that would really stand out. And the spiritual concept of God as “Everywhen”
(not just omniscient or omnipresent, but existing outside of time, and wholly
eternal) is part of the story. There’s a chapter in the book that explains it basically
as leaning in to a search for God, which is really the over-arching theme.
How important are names to you in your books?
Vital! I spend many hours researching name meanings before
settling on them.
Do you choose the names of character in [The Edge of
Everywhen]?based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?
For this novel, the meaning always came first. I researched
the character’s personality (such as, names that mean “brave”). Then I made a
list of possibilities, and tested them out to see that they worked in the overall
cast of characters. I didn’t names to sound to similar to one another, or to have
everyone’s name end with -ly. I wanted the names to be real-world names with
deep meaning and a pleasant variety of sounds.
The character of Aunt Beryl in the novel is a good example
of the importance of meaning. A beryl is a hard stone, and Aunt Beryl is a “hard”
person, but she is also precious, and the beryl is a precious stone listed in
the Old Testament.
Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend?
I plumbed the depths of my personal family tree (diligently catalogued
back to the 1600s by my uncle) for some of the names. When I was very young, there
was a close friend of the family we all called Aunt Beryl, so she was a natural
fit. Another name from my family tree was Original Greene. I have a distant relative
whose name was Original Asher Brown, and his name was so cool that I simply had
to use it. But I also use the online database of American names maintained by
the Social Security Administration, which lists names by popularity each year
since 1880. It’s fascinating! You can download a zip file here: https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/baby-names-from-social-security-card-applications-national-level-data.
I use www.behindthename.com
quite often for research, but it’s not 100% accurate as to meaning (which is
true of every site on the internet, it seems!) So I cross-check meanings with other
sources.
What were the challenges (research, literary,
psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?
The biggest challenge was patience. In a world where
self-publishing is instantaneous, waiting 4½ years between the first draft and
the release date wasn’t exactly fun! But I did learn to pray for grace in the
waiting, and to trust that God’s timing is perfect as I laid down my expectations
and my timeline. The next biggest challenge was growing a thick skin to
criticism, which I know is crucial for any artist using any medium. When the
first group of editors began to point out the novel’s flaws, I had a few hurt
feelings! But then I stepped back and looked at their criticism objectively,
and realized they were right on just about every point. Without a doubt,
submitting to experienced editors made this book far better than I ever
imagined, and dying to self is a skill that is learned with practice.
Share your bio:
Allison
Mackey's debut book was a Steno pad full of poems, given to her parents as a
gift when she was eight. She wrote her first sci-fi novel at age fifteen (it
was horrid), but she went on to solidify her love for creative writing with a
degree in English literature from the University of Georgia. Since 2010,
Allison has worked as a freelance writer, creating non-fiction content for
dozens of international websites through Upwork. In 2014 she authored a
series of children’s stories for Tiny Readers Publishing out of Houston, TX, and
also produced non-fiction educational books for Norwegian ESL app designer
Sigbjørn Dugal (Pickatale). The Edge of Everywhen, her first
fiction novel, was written during NaNoWriMo in 2015, and is being released by
Lifeway/B&H Kids in May of 2020. Allison lives in Florence, Alabama, where
she and her husband are church planters and worship leaders. She's a member of
SCBWI and ACFW, and serves as secretary of the Shoals Writers Guild. She has
three adult children and one son-in-law.
Social media and buying links:
No comments:
Post a Comment