This month I'm thrilled to be hosting a return visit by Mindy McGinnis to the blog to talk about the second novel in her YA dystopian duology, In A Handful of Dust. When last I spoke to Mindy, it was about the first novel, Not a Drop to Drink. That interview is available here.
When I asked her about the new installment in the series, here's what she had to say ...
KC: You have described In A Handful of Dust as more of a companion novel to Not a Drop to Drink than a true sequel, even though we do find out more about what happened to Lynn in this book. What made you decide to take this approach for your second book rather than picking up right where you left off in the first book?
MM: I knew I needed to expand the world for DUST. DRINK takes place in a very small area, and I wanted to explore elsewhere. There's already a fantastic post-apoc story about a parent and child crossing the US (THE ROAD by McCarthy) so I knew I didn't want the same setup. The alternative was to either write Lucy out (which I felt would undermine a lot of Lynn's character development from book one) or age her up and make her the protagonist. So I went with the second option.
KC: While In A Handful of Dust is Lucy’s story, in a sense it’s also Lynn’s story. We learn almost as much about Lynn’s goals and dreams for her future as well as Lucy’s, yet the story is told from Lucy’s point of view. Did you ever consider writing from dual perspectives or was this always going to be Lucy’s book?
MM: Technically I'm a YA writer with a YA imprint, and Lynn is in her late twenties in DUST. So Lucy definitely needed to be the main character.
KC: When reading this book I kept being reminded of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”. In some ways this is a girl-power version of that story. You even title Part 2 of the book “The Road”. Is this an intentional homage to McCarthy? Where did you get your inspiration for this book?
MM: I definitely had The Road in mind when I was writing, mostly because I wanted to make sure I wasn't imitating it too much. The inspiration for DUST mostly came from the concept of exploring the country outside of Lynn's little area, so the plot just grows from that seed. I needed a compelling reason for Lynn to leave her pond, so I had to infect the water and... the plot just spins and grows as I go.
KC: This second book in the series is much more expansive than the first in terms of geographical scope. The landscapes the two women traverse are many and varied. How did you approach the scene setting with respect to the many places you included? Did you do a lot of research on geography and then imagine how these places would look in the post-apocalyptic future?
MM: I owe a lot to Google maps, honestly. I actually plotted a path for them to take, because I needed very specific settings for certain things. A bridge in a small town, higher elevation points to cross the mountains, etc. So I would take my little yellow man on Google maps and drop him down in the path I'd plotted, use the 360 option and take a look at my setting. Extremely useful.
KC: You write both short stories and novels. Do you have a preferred format? What are some of the challenges of writing a short story versus a novel?
MM: Whatever fits the story best. A lot of my little ideas simply aren't made for a novel, so I always know on conception whether it's a novel or a short. Writing a short story is harder in a lot of ways. You have a minimum amount of space to make a real character, create tension, and execute a plot.
KC: What are you working on now? Any plans to write anything else in Lynn and Lucy’s world?
MM: I have a lot going on right now! My next release is A MADNESS SO DISCREET, a Gothic historical thriller set in an insane asylum. It releases Oct. 6, 2015 from Katherine Tegen Books. In 2016 I have a dark contemporary, also coming from KT Books, and I recently announced that I will be launching a fantasy series, GIVEN TO THE SEA, in Spring of 2017 with Putnam.
With all this in store I don't have any immediate plans to return to the world of DRINK & DUST. I think Lynn and Lucy's stories have been told. If I did anything it would be a prequel that featured a younger Stebbs and Mother.
The Book Nut: Mindy McGinnis Interview
1. Your books are always pretty dark, why is that? '
The most honest answer is that I have a lot of darkness inside of me. This is the healthiest way I can think of to get it out. Writing is very therapeutic for me in that way. It allows me a vent so that I can be a happier version of me day to day.
2. What are your favorite kind of characters to write and why? (Villains, heroes, anti heroes, regular joes?)
The ones that want to be written. Some characters don’t want to let you in, and some are so happy to share themselves you have to hush them sometimes. In DRINK, Lynn was very reticent, hard to break into. Stebbs (my favorite) on the other hand just Would. Not. Shut. Up.
3. What is your process like? Do you outline? Listen to music? Snack? Have a special ritual or spot?
I write in bed, lying down. Sometimes I’ll have white noise so that I can filter out my environment more easily. I write linearly, from beginning to end, with zero plotting or planning. Things happen in my books that I’m not expecting, and that’s marvelous.
4. What kind of books did you read when you were younger?
Anything, really. I enjoy reading across genres, but I definitely leaned towards fantasy and adventure. I liked reading about things that stretched the imagination.
5. How do you think those books hold up against the books being published today?
Very well. Some of them, like Madeleine L’Engle, you can read as an adult and garner an entirely new and different meaning than you did as a child.
6. Have there been any attempts to turn your books into movies or TV series? How would you feel if one actually happened?
Yes! NOT A DROP TO DRINK has been optioned for film by Fickle Fish Film, owned by TWILIGHT author Stephanie Meyer. I’m confident they’re going to do a good job executing a film adaptation that is true to the book.
7. Tell me about A Madness So Discreet. It’s a Gothic historical thriller set in an insane asylum, specifically the Athens Lunatic Asylum (closed now), which is located on the Ohio University campus.
My main character, Grace, has an inconvenient pregnancy, which in 1890 could land you in an asylum long enough for you to delivery your baby in secrecy and then be chucked back out into society without anyone knowing. Because of abuse at home, Grace has no interest in following that pattern so she colludes with a doctor who supposedly gives her a lobotomy so that she won’t be wanted back in her society home. She’s then whisked into his life as a criminal psychologist (we call it criminal profiling today) where she is his supposedly lobotomized assistant at crime scenes. The two of them end up on the trail of a serial killer. At the same time Grace is in contact with her little sister at home, and worries that the abuse she suffered is about to be transferred to her. It’s a dark, dark book… but I think my fans expect that by now.
8. What was it like writing a book in such a short amount of time?
I wrote the majority of MADNESS in about three weeks, which I don’t really advise anyone doing for their own sanity. At the same time it was a blessing in disguise because it is such a dark world and just coughing it up so quickly meant I didn’t have to stay there long.
9. Do you think you’d ever want to do it again or do you like to have a longer writing period?
Hard to say. In a lot of ways I think MADNESS is the best thing I’ve written, and that might be endemic of immersing myself completely in it with zero distractions.
10. What is your next project?
I’m working on a contemporary rape-revenge, vigilante justice story that will be released in 2016.
YAKO Books: Interview with Mindy McGinnis
What inspired you to be an author? Are there authors that you view as a role model?
I've always known I wanted to be a writer. When I was a kid, if I didn't like the ending of a book I'd just make up a different one. I moved on from there to making my own, complete with a beginning and a middle :) I don't really role model anyone, no. I'm not big on emulating people so much as doing my own thing.
Where did you get the idea for NOT A DROP TO DRINK?
I watched a documentary called Blue Gold, which is about a projected shortage of potable water on our planet due to overpopulation. It was a horrible thought --- we all need water to survive, and it's something we can't make. I went to bed very grateful for the small pond in my backyard, and that night I dreamt I was teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so that she could help me protect the pond. I woke up and thought, "Hey... I wrote a book in my head just now."
What got you into writing YA?
I've worked as a YA librarian for 13 years. I'm surrounded by my audience 40 hours a week and completely immersed in the market. Not writing YA would be foolish.
So we know NOT A DROP TO DRINK is your debut novel, but is it the first book you’ve ever written?
Not by a long shot. I wrote two novels for adults when I was in college, both rather horrible. Then I wrote two unpublished YA's prior to DRINK. I have a few half-finished projects as well from college.
Near the beginning of the book, Lynn is a character with many flaws. Readers tend to gravitate towards flawed characters because they’re so relatable. How were you able to get into her head and really live out her story?
It wasn't easy. She didn't want me in there. But I live in the middle of nowhere, a lot of the elements in Lynn's life are already present in mine (gardening, canning food, being wary of coyotes - yes really) so putting myself in her shoes wasn't terribly difficult.
How did working as a YA librarian help you write NOT A DROP TO DRINK?
It helps because I know what the teens like, and what they hate, and what they're sick of. But in the end I have to write the story the way it wants to be told... and sometimes I know my readers might hate me a little for it. And that's okay.
SPOILER ALERT! Did you always intend the book to end the way it did, or did it evolve over time?
I don't plan or plot my books at all. I just let the story happen. There was never any intention going in any of the character deaths... they're just things that happened organically as the story unfolded. So to me that means it's how the story was supposed to go.
I am a HUGE fan of your blog, Writer Writer Pants on Fire! How do you manage to balance your time between blogging, writing, and working as a YA librarian?
Blogging is from the heart, and entirely free. I don't make a dime off my blog, and there are definitely days when I wonder if it's worth the amount of time I put into it. But then I get comments like yours and that's payment enough. Time management is always a problem. I routinely fail at one thing every day. If I failed at blogging today, that means I did good on the WIP. If I failed on the WIP it means I probably did laundry. As long as I am accomplishing something and rotating what I fail at, I manage.
How long did it take you to write both NOT A DROP TO DRINK and IN A HANDFUL OF DUST?
About six months for each of them, first drafts.
Did you ever have a favorite moment, between writing NOT A DROP TO DRINK and seeing it on the shelves for the first time?
Getting your cover is probably the most exciting part for an author. It's the face of your book, the biggest marketing tool you have. You want it to be good. So far I've been blessed.
The covers to both NOT A DROP TO DRINK and IN A HANDFUL OF DUST are beautiful! Did you have any input on the cover design?
I have cover consult, but I've never needed it. My cover artist at HarperCollins is Erin Fitzsimmons, and basically I just open up my cover emails and the respond-- "This is gorgeous and perfect."
Can we expect any new works coming soon?
Yes! I have a Gothic historical thriller set in an insane asylum coming October 6 - A MADNESS SO DISCREET. It's a departure from my debut genre so I'm looking forward to taking my readers someplace new... and rather horrifying.
It's Hard to Write When You Can't Un-See Your Nose
Writers will find any reason at all to procrastinate. The house needs cleaned. The litter needs scooped. The laundry needs folded. My bladder needs emptied. I can't unsee my nose.
Yes, really.
It takes very little to get us off task, and when it's the shadow of your own proboscis popping up in your peripheral, it's unshakable. The house will be clean eventually. Same with litter and laundry. My bladder refills, but that's a pretty quick fix. But my nose is just kind of there, and once I've seen it I can't get it out of my mind - or my way.
I write in bed, lying down, with my laptop propped up against my legs, and three pillows stacked under my head because I demand good altitude. It's the perfect scenario for my nose to ambush whatever word count goal I have. I usually aim for 1,000 words a day (that's just about 5 pages), and the nose usually pops up to remind me that it exists right around the halfway mark.
And then it's a struggle. Cutting it off is obviously not an option. Ignoring it doesn't work either because it's already been brought to my attention and I'm the kind of person that pounds her problems down into the ground, and hitting myself in the face will only make my nose swell and therefore become a larger object I need to unsee.
Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I have a nose. It's done a lot of good things for me over the years, and I even kind of like it in the aesthetic sense. (Although I would warn anyone against just sitting and critiquing your own nose in the mirror - eventually you lose perspective and it just looks horrendous. The same is true of your tongue. Never inspect your tongue. It moves of its own volition and will have you questioning whether or not you're in charge of it in about five minutes.)
So what's a poor writer to do when your nose is in the way?
The big thing is to remember that your nose has been there all day, and more than likely you probably were seeing it and didn't realize it because you had other things going on. In a lot of ways, unseeing your nose is the best gauge of how good the pages you just cranked out are. If I didn't notice the nose, it's because I was totally into what I was writing. If my nose was a big part of the evening, I probably need to take a hard look at the pages I wrote.
A no-nose night is a good night. Here's to those.
Teen Services Underground Authors You Should Know: Mindy McGinnis
How would you rate your survival skills? As a rather avid reader of dystopian and post-apocalyptic YA, I’m already aware that I probably wouldn’t survive very long. I do not have mad archery skills like Katniss, nor do I know how to do generally useful post-apocalypse tasks, such as:
hotwire a car
start a fire (I know. I wasn’t in any sort of scouting troup. I am useless.)
identify edible plants
run (I am a horrible runner. I’m a Redshirt for sure.)
However, after reading Mindy McGinnis’ cli-fi (that’s climate-change based science-fiction, so it’s not really dystopian) novel Not a Drop to Drink, I realized that I would be so totally dead. McGinnis gets down and dirty with deer skinning, crude medicinal practices, and water purification systems. Last year, she released a companion novel entitled In a Handful of Dust. Both books are excellent. They feature strong female protagonists, excellent pacing, and vivid world-building. And surprise! McGinnis is also a teen librarian in Ohio!
Mindy was gracious enough to let me interview her via email. Here’s our chat!
Pam: How has being a teen librarian affected your writing, since you write YA? Do you get feedback from your patrons?
Mindy: It affected my writing in a big way — I was writing only adult novels after I graduated from college, and failing miserably at it. I had been hired at a public school and working for two years before I realized I was surrounded by my audience and market forty hours a week… why not write for them? Feedback… yeah, I get that. Often in the form of yelling. I’ve had students burst into my office and scream at me when they finish Not A Drop to Drink.
Pam: One of the (many) things I love about the Not A Drop to Drink duology is that the books really could be read as stand-alones. Was this a conscious reaction to the proliferation of trilogies that we see in publishing, or did it just happen, or none of the above?
Mindy: Definitely a conscious decision. As a reader and viewer, I dislike feeling manipulated by cliff-hangers. I think you can deliver a solid, well-rounded story, and choose to build off of it later – or not. DRINK was conceived of as a stand alone, but Harper asked if a second book was a possibility. I said I’d think about it, and overnight the concept for DUST germinated – luckily!
Pam: In Not A Drop to Drink, readers are dropped into Lynn’s world and it’s all that they know, whereas In A Handful of Dust covers a lot of territory. I assume that you used your experience as an Ohioan for the first book; did you travel for the second?
Mindy: I did not. I made egregious use of Google Maps and developed a respect for authors who researched before the internet. Google Maps was a powerful tool for me while writing DUST. I could take my little yellow man, drop him where I wanted my characters to be, and then do a 360 turn and see exactly what they would see. Can’t argue with that.
Pam: What was your favorite book growing up?
Mindy: Hard to pick one… I was a huge fan of the Little House books, but also Madeleine L’Engle and C.S. Lewis. I read across genres then, and do now
Pam: Do you have a favorite book now, or one that you often recommend at the library?
Mindy: Blockbusters are easy to hand off to the kids, especially the ones that have been made into films. What I’m fascinated by is the titles that have less visibility but never disappoint my kids – books like CRUEL BEAUTY by Rosamund Hodge, or TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Pam: Have you done any teen programs that were really successful? Did any of them involve butchering a deer?
Mindy: I’ve been at the same school for thirteen years now, the district librarian and I having been hired in at the same time. We started a book club 8 years ago, and have grown from a handful of members to our most recent meeting, which had 23. I have never butchered a deer right in front of my kids, but I would certainly consider it. The library is carpeted, but I own tarps.
Pam: If you, as an author, could ask one favor from teen librarians, what would it be?
Mindy: Promote what you love, not just what’s hot. Like I said, it’s easy to hand off the books that sell themselves. Knowing your collection, being aware of sequel release dates, cover reveals… all of the marketing techniques that publishers use work in libraries if you’ve got the content on the tip of your tongue.
Pam: Are the poetry quotes used in the Drink world personal favorites? Was poetry something you read as a teen?
Mindy: A lot of them are, yes! I never appreciated poetry until I was in college. I can’t write it (I’ve tried, it’s horrible) but I can respect what others do. If DRINK and DUST bring young readers to read the full text of some of the poems referenced, that’d be an amazing side benefit.
Pam: Finally, pie or cake?
Mindy: Pie. Also cookies. And waffles. Or pancakes. Sugar in general.
Thank you so much, Mindy, for taking the time to chat with Teen Services Underground! I have successfully booktalked both of Mindy’s books to boys, because as soon as you say “guns” and “butchering a deer” they are all over that.
Plain Jane: Interview with Mindy McGinnis
What is writing and publishing a novel like? Hardest part? Best part? Tips?
It's much harder than anyone imagines. If you want to have a career, then most likely you will need to be traditionally published. Which generally means you need an agent, which in turn means you need to know how to write a query letter, and what agents represent what genres. There's a whole industry you need to learn in order to gain your footing towards publication, and that's without mentioning the craft of actually writing.
It took me ten years and five finished novels before I landed an agent. And that's something people outside of the industry don't understand. And to be fair, I don't expect them to. But at the same time it's a little frustrating when you've spent that amount of work (and a third of your life) working towards something and someone says to you, "Oh. I thought you just printed it out and mailed it to the publishers and they made it into a book for you." Um, no.
All that being said - it's totally possible to succeed. I am a farmer's daughter. I never took a writing class in my life. I had zero contacts in the industry. I still made it. You just have to work your ass off.
What advice do you have for teen writers?
Get good critique partners and learn how to process criticism. Having your mom read your stuff is fine, but she's going to give you positive feedback, and that's not going to help you grow as a writer. Learn how to accept it when someone criticizes your work, and then learn what parts of their criticism to implement. It's not easy! But it's a necessary step.
What inspired you to write Not a Drop to Drink?
I watched a documentary called Blue Gold, which is about a projected shortage of potable water on our planet due to overpopulation. It was a horrible thought—we all need water to survive, and it’s something we can’t make. I went to bed very grateful for the small pond in my backyard, and that night I dreamt I was teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so that she could help me protect the pond. I woke up and thought, “Hey… I wrote a book in my head just now.”
There were some unlikely friendships in Not a Drop to Drink, how have you observed social class, age, gender, religion, and/or political affiliation affecting friendships? What made you write unique friendships?
I think friendships are much more enduring than romantic relationships. So much more of who we are is a product of them rather than our love interests. I'm a very open person, and I have friends who are both much younger and much older than me, across all spectrums.
In DRINK, Lynn isn't going to be surrounded by her peers - it just wasn't organic to the story. She also starts life as a very feral individual, and she needed to learn about all aspects of relationships that coalesce to form a whole person. So she learns about friendship and romantic love, but also how to be a nurturer, and how to let someone care about you as well.
The ending. Why did you write it how you did? Most writers are afraid to break from convention the way you did. What sort of feedback did you get because of your decision?
I don't plan or plot my stories at all. I let the tale tell itself. It decides who lives or dies, not me. That being said, when everything went down at the end I hovered my finger over the delete key and thought, people are going to be mad at you if you do this. Which was followed by, Good.
Yes, people have definitely been upset by it. But that's great! They're having a visceral emotional reaction to something that never happened to people that don't exist. That tells me that it worked.
If you could give Lynn any piece of advice at any point in the novel what would you tell her?
I don't know, honestly. I think she handles herself really well. I'm more likely to need tips from her.
Waterless Worlds The New Hot Dystopia
Following years worth of news stories about climate change and drought, books and movies are starting to capture those stories, too. Worlds without water are the settings for quite a few new projects.
BookShelfies With Mindy McGinnis!
When Epic Reads asked me to take a Bookshelfie I was immediately flummoxed because this meant I had to pick which bookshelf to use. I work in a library, and I come home to a library. Years of impulse buys, yard sales, library benefits, ARCS and friends-who-write-really-good-books-that-I-need-more-that-one-copy-of has turned my house into a living area / storage facility. I am contractually bound to die there, because moving would be a gargantuan feat.
So.. which shelf? Well, I picked two of my five (three are blocked by books stacked on the floor) and also a couple of shots of my TBR pile. There may or may not a be a nightstand under there somewhere.
How do I organize? Er… maybe I should’ve taken a shelfie from work instead of home.
You can see on my Short Shelf that I made an attempt to keep my James Michener together, but he ended up next to Stieg Larsson and S.E. Hinton, which might make for a great romcom, but doesn’t carry much logic shelf wise.
On my Tall Shelf it looks like I managed to put Edith Wharton and Barbara Kingsolver together, which makes its own kind of sense, but Lady Chatterley’s Lover is also hanging out next to The Gates of the Alamo, plus I have no idea what is right over my head because I didn’t even put them spine-out. I also spot a book about how to speak Latin (forgot I had that) and it seems my Complete Shakespeare might be about to take a tumble off the top. I should probably go home and rescue Will.
Oh… the TBR Pile. We have a such a love / hate relationship. You keep telling me you need more attention and I keep saying I need time. One day I’ll be taller than you and we’ll work out a good snuggle height.
And my only tip on reducing the TBR pile is – take the cat off the top.
Revisiting A World After A Decade
What is your favorite thing about IN A HANDFUL OF DUST?
The best part of writing DUST was revisiting this world ten years later. Lynn is an adult now, Lucy has become a teen. I got the chance to play with who they had become, how they had grown and changed, and what their relationship is like a decade after their lives in NOT A DROP TO DRINK.
What was your inspiration for writing this book?
I wanted to see more of the world I built in DRINK, venturing beyond the small area of the pond and Lynn's home. Fast forwarding ten years came from wanting to see what Lucy had become.
How long did you work on the book?
I wrote it fairly quickly, in about six months.
How long or hard was your road to publication? How many books did you write before this one, and how many never got published?
I had been writing for ten years before I landed representation with NOT A DROP TO DRINK. Previous to DRINK I had trunked three adult novels and one YA title.
What's your writing ritual like? Do you listen to music? Work at home or at a coffee shop or the library, etc?
I like silence, although sometimes I'll put on white noise if there's too much background going on. I write in bed, at night - it's my only free time!
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
Be able to take, and process, criticism. If you can't do that you will never improve.
What are you working on now?
I am editing my 2015 release, which will be coming from Katherine Tegen Books. It is a Gothic historical set in an insane asylum, tentatively titled A MADNESS SO DISCREET.
A Dream Within A Dream: In A Handful of Dust Blog Tour
1. What inspired you to write the Not a Drop to Drink series?
I watched a documentary called Blue Gold, which is about a projected shortage of potable water on our planet due to overpopulation. It was a horrible thought --- we all need water to survive, and it's something we can't make. I went to bed very grateful for the small pond in my backyard, and that night I dreamt I was teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so that she could help me protect the pond. I woke up and thought, "Hey... I wrote a book in my head just now." DUST is the organic growth past that, the question of what is going on in the world outside of Ohio and an attempt to tell the story from a survivor who isn’t a badass.
2. Did you have to do any research for the series?
Yes, a ton. For DUST it was polio, desalinization, architecture, mountain lions, elevations in the US… I could go on and on.
3. Do you ever base characters on yourself or people you know?
Never. That way lies madness.
4. What made you want to become an author?
I’ve always wanted to be an author. Like most writers I started as a reader. Often if I didn’t like the ending of a book I’d just make up my own. I grew past that into writing my own stories.
5. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Do your research. It’s not just writing. You have to know how the industry works, what the market is like, how to correctly use social media. We’re not just writers anymore –we’re marketers and public figures. At times it’s frustrating, but that’s the case.
6. What's up next for you?
I have a Gothic historical thriller coming from Katherine Tegen 9/22/15, set in an insane asylum around 1890, titled A MADNESS SO DISCREET.
How To Survive The Apocalpyse While Also Road Tripping
When I sat down to write a companion novel to Not A Drop To Drink, I was a little flummoxed. I’d always intended it to stand alone, and I’d said what I had to say within the confines of that first book. Inspiration can be tricky, but a seed was planted when I considered the fact that DRINK takes place in a tiny space, only a few square miles. What does the rest of the country look like? And what would it take to drag Lynn away from from her beloved pond?
I knew only one thing was more important to her than the pond – Lucy. But… a post-apocalyptic road trip with a little kid? No way. I try not to make my characters do anything I wouldn’t be willing to do myself, so I ix nayed that thought – and another grew in its place. What if Lucy isn’t a little kid anymore, what would she be like as a teen? And what would Lynn be like as an adult?
Answer: A smartass and a badass.
What a fun pair to hit the road with.
Without too many spoilers, I’ll tell you that they set out from Ohio because the pond is no longer safe, and Lucy’s safety is threatened. With home behind them and the horizon very far away, their feet get tired, their skin gets burned, and their personalities find ways to meld and jar – just like any road trip with family.
Except, most of us don’t have to pack weaponry alongside our sunscreen.
5 Things to Pack for the Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip
1) Good shoes. Got a blister? awww…. Except, yeah, that could actually become a huge problem when it gets infected, you get gangrene, and your foot falls off.
2) Ye Old Witching Stick. You’ll need this. Find one that looks like the flux capacitor and you’re good.
3) A map. Yes, like a paper one. There’s not an app for that anymore. But you should definitely use THIS MAP.
4) Honey. Wait, what? Yes, it has healing properties that will come in handy when you get, you know… shot.
5) Extra clothes. Because you’re going to smell. Really bad. And you might use that extra t-shirt for sopping up blood. Ahem.
Why Yes, Orwell Would Enjoy This
A lot of people ask me how I came up with the idea for NOT A DROP TO DRINK. The scary answer is that I watched a documentary. The scarier answer is that was in 2010, and here in 2014 all I have to do is turn on the news.
Yep. A scant four years after watching a documentary titled Blue Gold which sent me to the ceiling and spawned awkward ice-breaking conversations from yours truly, most people know exactly what I’m talking about whenever I use the word water, followed by the panic-inducing words like crisis, situation, or scarcity.
California is staring down a mega-drought that could last into the next generation. The Colorado River appears to be drying up and the Southwest is depreciating underwater aquifers at a rate that they can never recover from. And that’s all gleaned from one article.
Recently in my home state of Ohio, half a million people lost their water when poisonous algae in Lake Erie made theirs taps unsafe. Ohio residents drove across the Midwest to purchase water, filling their carts Michigan and turning around to drive over 200 miles back home. And in this case, the Wolverines let the Buckeyes have their water because they had some to spare.
But what if they didn’t?
That’s the world of NOT A DROP TO DRINK, and by extension, IN A HANDFUL OF DUST. A world where the one thing that you and every person you care for will die without in three days, is scarce.
Does that make you think twice about picking up the book?
Then you should probably skip the news, too.
Mindy McGinnis Makes You Want To Drink Deeply
Thirsty for a great interview? Mindy McGinnis, a young adult librarian, author, and active blogger, is a must-meet individual whose talent and comical personality make for one refreshing conversation.
In her two post-apocalyptic novels, Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, the world is faced with a shortage of water and owning it means killing to survive.
The Craft summer intern, Kayla, met with McGinnis at the 2014 Ohioana Book Festival to discuss what exactly makes water the blue gold of the world and where exactly that leaves makeup and UGG boots when fresh water is no longer in large supply. On her video blogs, McGinnis coaches her fans on how to dress for survival, telling girls that the closer they look like to guys, the better.
During her interview with Craft, McGinnis reveals who inspired her video blogs where, in some cases, she is seen feeding her book a bottle, and then a kitten, and listing all the taboo topics (including rock and roll) that may or may not be in her novel. Her sense of humor leaves many of her fans baffled. To this McGinnis responds, “When I do panels and people watch my vlogs, they’re like, ‘You’re so funny, your Twitter feed is so funny, your blog is so funny, and your book is not funny.’ No, my book is not funny. My book is not funny, and it’s not meant to be funny.”
McGinnis hopes that one day, she gets around to publishing more of the pieces that reflect her humor, but fans can look forward to her gothic historical novel coming out in 2015.
You can check out her video blogs on writerwriterpantsonfire.blogspot.com, and you can listen to the full Craft interview.
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SLJ: Q & A with Librarian and YA Author Mindy McGinnis
Although Not a Drop to Drink (HarperCollins 2013) is Mindy McGinnis’s first novel, calling her a rookie or a novice would be misleading. She’s been writing since her college days at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, and has since had her short stories published in multiple anthologies. She also publishes a blog and contributes to multiple writers groups and websites. When she’s not writing, McGinnis is surrounded by books as an assistant librarian.
The saying is to write what you know, and McGinnis knows young adults after working in public schools for more than a decade. She also knows about living in a rural environment, and while the location in the novel isn’t specifically named, it might not be such a far stretch from the area in Ohio where she grew up.
There are a few important differences, however, between the novel and McGinnis’s experience. Perhaps most importantly, while the main character—16-year-old Lynn—is a good shot and unafraid to kill, the author has never shot anyone herself. Moreover, while the future depicted in Not a Drop to Drinki s harsh, McGinnis’s future is a bright one.
SLJ talked to McGinnis about the inspiration that led to the book, how her career as a librarian has helped her writing, and what she’s working on next.
How long have you been writing? When did you become a librarian?
I've been writing since college, when I decided that it was time to stop saying I "wanted" to be a writer and actually become one. It's not that easy, though. There was a solid decade of rejection before landing my agent with the query for Not a Drop to Drink. I've been working in the public schools for 12 years now, but I don't actually have my MLS—I'm an aide. It's still a goal, but right now I'm focused on my writing.
What books do you like to read? Did those books influence your novels? If so, how?
I'll read anything and everything. At the moment, I'm reading Victorian novels. I'm not sure that I have any influences as far as writing goes, but I definitely will read certain authors and think that I'd love to be as good as they are someday.
What were the inspirations behind Not a Drop to Drink?
I watched a documentary called Blue Gold, which is about a projected shortage of potable water on our planet due to overpopulation. It was a horrible thought—we all need water to survive, and it's something we can't make. I went to bed very grateful for the small pond in my backyard, and that night I dreamt I was teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so that she could help me protect the pond. I woke up and thought, "Hey... I wrote a book in my head just now."
Why do you think that young adult novels about dystopian futures, like the “Hunger Games” (Scholastic) series and Veronica Roth’s Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011), are so popular?
I think that dystopians and post-apocs in general say a lot about humanity. In a world like the one in Drink, there are no social norms to adhere to. Everyone is free to behave exactly as they please. It says a lot about who you are at your core in a situation like that, and I think everyone is curious how they themselves would behave in these worlds.
Was working as a YA librarian helpful as you wrote your book?
It's helpful in that I can see what genres they are enjoying and which ones they are sick of, but in the end, if there is a story percolating in my brain that's the one I need to write, trend or not.
Have any of the students in your school read the book? What was their reaction to it?
Yes! A lot of my kids have read Drink. In fact, we're running our circulation numbers for the end of the year, and I found out yesterday Drink was the top circulated fiction title in grades seven through 12. So I feel pretty good about that. The reaction I get the most is shock that there are some bad words. They must think I don't know those.
Do you have a routine that you stick with when you sit down to write? What's your process like?
I write at night, usually after 10 p.m., and I write in bed. I tend to set a goal of about 1,000 words per night, or 5,000 for the week. I do zero plotting. I simply sit and write the book linearly, night after night, until I reach the end. It makes for a sloppy first draft, but I find it to be the most organic way of writing.
What writers do you admire and/or strive to emulate?
A lot of the writers that I really enjoy are the ones that practice economy of words. They leave much to the reader to fill in, which is the best way to engage them. I also love writers who take fairly ludicrous plots and/or situations and make you buy into them completely. Anything by Margo Lanagan falls under this category. If you try to explain Tender Morsels (Ember, 2008), you'll look like an insane person, but if you simply hand the book to a reader, they're sucked in.
What do you think the future holds for the generation that reads your work? Do you really see things as heading to that dark of a place?
It's really hard to say. I certainly don't want to be the Orwell of water, but we are taxing our planet in ways that it can't recover from easily. There's always hope as long as there's respect for the situation, but once that's gone...
How much of yourself (or the people you love) goes into the characters you create?
Hardly any. I think it's fairly dangerous to base characters on people you know in real life.
Are there plans for a third book in the series? What's next for you?
As of right now, no. In a Handful of Dust will be out in September. It's a companion novel that takes place 10 years after the events of Drink. I think there's probably room to write a third if I feel so inclined, but at the moment, I'm disengaged from that. I'm currently working on a gothic historical set in an insane asylum. So I've definitely switched gears.
Read Like A Writer
So, you've got an absolutely fantastic idea to write a romance set during the potato famine in Ireland. Maybe you just like the accent, or are drawn to rolling green hills, but the idea is stuck in your head and you can't get it out. So what's stopping you?
Maybe the fact that the accent and rolling green hills is the sum of what you know on the topic?
I don't think the first step is buying a plane ticket. I'm a thorough researcher and I like to exhibit that in my writing, but I don't start by traveling internationally or finding out the bacterial origination of the black rot that wiped out the potatoes in Ireland all those years ago.
Because that's not what I need to know in order to write this story.
I love non-fiction, but reading a dense book (or two) about the immigration statistics and cultural backlash that arose from the potato famine probably isn't going to fire a lot of creative synapses in the brain. It definitely can inform the story, but you're still on square one and drowning this little seed of an idea with 200 gallons of water isn't the best way to nurture it at the outset.
My advice? Go to the kids section of your library or bookstore. Find a very basic book about the topic you want to learn about in order to start this story. Right now your seed needs simple building blocks of life to get a good start—water, sunlight, soil. It's the Who? What? Where? When? of your story, and a non-fiction book written for children will point you in the right direction without the unnecessary equivalent of chemicals and growth additive type facts that are just going to burn the tender roots of your seedling idea and make your brain switch off.
Girls With Books: Author Spotlight Mindy MCginnis
What’s the best thing about being an author?
Meeting other authors, for sure! As a lifelong reader, I love it when I close an excellent book, then email the author because she’s a friend of mine. Also there’s an amazing support group among YA authors. We’re a tight knit bunch and I’ve found some true friends.
If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?
I’m Not Nearly As Interesting As You Think
What’s a typical working day like for you? When and where do you write? Do you set a daily writing goal?
I also work full time as a librarian in a public high school, so I put in 40 hours a week for the day job. I’m also pretty adamant about getting in two days at the gym, and three of cardio, throughout the week so a lot of the daylight is eaten up with regular stuff. I write at night, in bed, usually after 9PM and I try to write at least 1000 words once I’ve settled in. I do not however, write everyday. In fact, I go months – sometimes even a year – in between projects.
What are you currently reading?
AVALON by Mindee Arnett
What was the inspiration behind Not A Drop To Drink?
I watched a documentary called Blue Gold, which is about a projected shortage of potable water on our planet due to overpopulation. It was a horrible thought – we all need water to survive, and it’s something we can’t make. I went to bed very grateful for the small pond in my backyard, and that night I dreamt I was teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so that she could help me protect the pond. I woke up and thought, “Hey… I wrote a book in my head just now.”
How would you describe Not A Drop To Drink?
It’s a post-apocalyptic survival story, a neo-western, Little House on the Prairie on crack, a YA version of The Road and Walking Dead without the zombies. At least, those are all ways I’ve heard it described. I like them all.
Which character from Not A Drop To Drink is most like you?
I think most writers would say that there are little pieces of us in every single on of our characters, even the despicable ones.
What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?
Are your boobs real? Yes, they are.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I’m currently writing a gothic historical that I hope is sufficiently thought-inducing yet terrifying to merit publication.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Look deeper into everything. If something that you read sparks an interest in you, go learn more about that subject. Fiction is made-up, but everything is based on something.
25 Things About Me: Mindy McGinnis
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Speakeasy: Leading to Novel Success
When Mindy McGinnis was in the 8th grade, she took a personality profile to see what job she would have.
The test results said McGinnis should be a police cop. She wanted to be a writer.
Now McGinnis is touring the U.S. with her latest book, “Not a Drop to Drink,” a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost nonexistent. The main character has a pond in her backyard and grew up defending her rare water source.
The idea for her book came from a documentary called “Blue Gold” about a projected shortage of portable water on the planet due to overpopulation.
“It was a horrible thought,” McGinnis said. “I went to bed very grateful for the small pond in my backyard, and that night I dreamt I was teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so that she could help me protect the pond. I woke and thought, ‘Hey, I wrote a book in my head just now.'”
The title of the book was inspired by the quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”: “water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink,” referring to the fact that one can’t drink ocean water, a huge point in McGinnis’ novel.
“Not a Drop to Drink” has many strong points, but McGinnis thinks one strength stands out above the rest.
“You can read it as a fun adventure story, or you can look deeper and find a story about human resilience and decisions shaping people,” McGinnis said.
One of McGinnis’ biggest supporters has been Cardington Junior High School science and health teacher Donna Kill. Kill was McGinnis’ 6th grade English teacher, and they now work together at the Cardington school district library.
“She’s always been very supportive of her students,” McGinnis said. “When I handed her an advance copy of my book, she cried. She continues to support me as an adult, which I can’t say how much I appreciate.”
Kill knew McGinnis was capable of achieving something great in her life.
“I remember one particular assignment where Mindy simply shined,” Kill said. “She selected a novel of her choice, and gave her great insight and critique about the book. Mindy had a vision and wisdom about characters and plot at an early age.”
Kill and her 17-year-old son read McGinnis’ latest work and found it intriguing and gritty.
“It appealed to both the outdoorsman in my son and to me as a mother,” Kill said. “There is a great deal of science in the novel and I appreciate how Mindy researched the information before writing.”
Kill thinks McGinnis’ greatest strength as a writer is the depth she gives to her characters. Kill said McGinnis has the ability to allow the reader to view the character on the surface level or see layers and richness to the personality when looking for complexity.
McGinnis knew it would take a lot of hard work to reach her goals.
“It’s an art and a business all at the same time,” McGinnis said. “I was writing for 10 years before I even got an agent, so you have to have determination.”
Despite touring for her newest book, McGinnis is working on another book, set to come out in 2015.
As an established writer, McGinnis has the perfect piece of advice for aspiring writers.
“Be realistic,” McGinnis said. “Know your market, do your homework and learn to take criticism constructively.”
With her whole career ahead of her, Kill expects nothing but great work from McGinnis in the future.
“She will find success because she is dedicated to her writing and to her craft,” Kill said. “It has been a joy being associated with Mindy both as her teacher and now as a colleague.”
Castle Maguire Book Blog: Interview with Mindy McGinnis
I am thrilled to be presenting an interview with YA author Mindy McGinnis on my blog. As readers will know, her debut novel, Not a Drop to Drink, was one of my favorite new books of 2013. I reviewed it previously here.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mindy at the Northern Ohio SCBWI conference last year which is when I first became aware of her work, and was pleased to find out she's continuing the Not a Drop Series with a forthcoming companion novel later this year (more below).
Here's what Mindy had to say when I asked her some questions about her work ...
KC: I loved your debut novel, Not a Drop to Drink, which deals with a dystopian future world with precious little water. Your heroine, Lynn, guards her pond with her life. It’s a unique take on a dystopian future. What gave you the idea for the book?
MM: I watched a documentary called Blue Gold, which is about a projected shortage of potable water on our planet due to overpopulation. It was a horrible thought - we all need water to survive, and it's something we can't make. I went to bed very grateful for the small pond in my backyard, and that night I dreamt I was teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so that she could help me protect the pond. I woke up and thought, "Hey... I wrote a book in my head just now."
KC: As a character, Lynn is like a number of recent YA protagonists who have had to sacrifice emotion for survival. She has been largely starved of love and finds it difficult to trust anyone else, but eventually is forced to confront these emotions. What were the main challenges for you in writing a character like this?
MM: She's very cut off, by necessity. Feelings for other human beings is what will make her hesitate to pull the trigger, and she needs to do exactly that in order to survive. Mother has raised her without empathy, but as it's a natural human state it's something that grows in her once she branches out socially. I think the biggest challenge was writing someone who can coolly snipe a perfect stranger and still make her likable. Showing that she truly believed she had to do this in order to survive was the key.
KC: Some would argue that the YA dystopian market is getting overcrowded. How did you overcome this perception in your path to publication? Or was it not a problem in practice?
MM: I agree that dystops are everywhere and people are more than likely sick of them. Luckily, DRINK evades the genre label because it's not a dystopian in the true sense of the word. There is no overarching evil government or rebellion or uprising... this is simply a survival story. That came through to the editors when this was on submission. At first I was worried that the backlash would be there, but I've had lovely reviews and readers are enjoying it, calling it a fresh take on a tired genre. That makes me feel pretty good.
KC: At least one of your reviewers has compared your story to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, but set in a dystopian future. How do you feel about that comparison?
MM: Awesome! I love Laura Ingalls Wilder, and survival stories in general. I think it's a good comparison, as a lot of DRINK deals with the everyday challenges that face Lynn. Chores. Work. Water. Wood. Survival. It's not all gunfights and heartbreak and drama. Somebody has to cook supper.
KC: I was thrilled to hear we can expect a new book from you this year that may be part of the Not a Drop to Drink world, although not necessarily a sequel to it. Is there anything else you can tell us about the new book?
MM: I'm excited that people are excited! :) I can't say much yet, but the book is titled IN A HANDFUL OF DUST and will be available September 23, 2014. It's not a sequel, but rather a companion novel.... and that's really about all I can say right now!
KC: Who are your favorite YA authors today? What are you reading now?
MM: My favorite YA authors would be Margo Lanagan, Rick Yancey and Patrick Ness. I tend to the darker stuff. Also within my 2013 debut year my favorite titles were by Stephanie Kuehn and Kate Karyus Quinn. Like I said, the dark!
Route 19 Writers: Five Favorite Things
Welcome to January’s version of - First Friday - Five Favorite Things - Debut Novel Day. In this monthly series, we ask five simple questions about a debut novel that will hopefully entice anyone reading this post to pick up the novel and read it themselves, and/or give them at a glance some insight into the author's writing style and voice as well as how some of the characters might think or act. We do this by presenting, first, answers to our Five Favorite Things, followed by the author's answers in a follow-up post.
This month we're pleased to highlight debut YA novelist, Mindy McGinnis and her novel, Not a Drop to Drink. I couldn’t put this one down, and when I was called away, the story stayed with me until I was able to once again stick my nose back in the book. We hope you enjoy our answers and encourage you to buy the book.
1) What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character's development and/or growth?
Dave – In order to be able to better grasp of the feelings and emotions of Lynn, the main character, who lives in a time when water is scarce and humans must take extreme measures to protect what is theirs, I chose to highlight two particular sections of the novel, one in the beginning and one in the end.
Lynn pulled her own rifle into her lap, the cold metal bringing more comfort to her than Mother’s touch ever could. Her finger curled around the trigger, hugging it tight in the life-taking embrace that she’d learned so long ago. She slipped onto her belly beside Mother, watching the sunlight bounce off the twin barrels of their rifles. Waiting was always the worst part, the crack of the rifle a relief.
(This next section came from later on in the novel and shows a contrast in Lynn’s thinking… The fact that she would even remotely consider assisting a stranger.)
Self-reliance had been Mother’s mantra. Nothing was more important than themselves and their belongings. Allowing Lucy into their home had gone against everything she’d learned, but leaving the little girl to die beside the stream went against something that was simply known and had never been taught. She’d shared the thought with Stebbs after they worked on Lucy’s feet. He told her it was her conscience, guiding her to the right decision.
Marcy – Lynn has been taught by her Mother that survival is the most important part of their life. Survival skills have been a part of Lynn’s life for as long as she can remember. If someone comes on her and Mother’s property to take their water, they would shoot to kill. Now Lynn is rethinking how she reacts to trespassers. In this paragraph, Lynn reflects on a boy that she killed because he walked on her property and compares this to another man who came on the property, but she decides to spare his life. This demonstrates how her character is growing and evolving.
She could see what Mother had meant about the dead boy whose boots she’d taken. Even starving, Eli had a sparkle of youth about him, though he lacked the paunchy cheeks of the boy she’d shot. Lynn balanced the two faces in her mind, trying to tack down what exactly made them so different. In the end, she decided Eli was just easier to look at. For the first time since her death, Lynn dreamt of a face other than Mothers.
2) What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?
Dave - For me, this was easy. Lynn had resisted for so long getting close to someone. She’d resisted dropping her guard for fear someone would take over what was rightly hers. And now, when she finally allows that to happen, one of her worst fears results.
Her heart was beating so hard, she almost didn’t hear the footsteps on the roof. Lynn instinctively dropped down, hand clutched protectively around the thermometer. For a moment there was nothing, only the sound of her own blood pumping through her veins. Then she heard it again.
Someone was on her roof.
Marcy – You know I usually go for the chapter ending that is the cliffhanger – like Dave’s above, but this time, I’m picking a chapter ending that captures the innocence of a child. Young Lucy, a child Lynn has taken in, talks Lynn out of shooting a man because he has come on to the property. Lynn has a conversation with the man and ends up helping him. This last line fosters hope.
Lucy tilted her head against the window to watch the stranger go, her breath making a fog against the cold glass, until they could see him no more.
“Good luck, mister,” she said, her words filled with the hope of a child.”
3) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?
Dave – Stebbs is my favorite secondary character. He possesses the knowledge of what life was like before hard times hit. Because of that, I believe he’s able to convey to Lynn a sense of humanity that was needed, is needed, to survive.
Stebbs gave Lynn a hard look. “I know you’re just saying what you think your mother would’ve wanted. Seems to me you’re starting to grow a heart on your own, but every now and then you think of her and it kills it dead like the frost to a seedling. You weren’t taught any different, but it used to be that people helped each other.”
“Used to be a lot of things different.”
“But people are still the same,” Stebbs said, and edge on his voice that usually wasn’t there. “And all everyone is trying to do is survive.”
Marcy – Stebbs is my favorite character. His quiet, gentle soul helps guide Lynn with choices. Besides helping her survive, he teaches her a great deal about life and people.
Dave and I think so much alike. I had also picked the paragraph above, but will choose two different ones instead.
“So I guess I’ll go ahead and tell you – don’t be making the same mistakes she did. Or hell, the ones I did either. Don’t be afraid to care for that little one, and don’t be too proud to let that boy know what you feel. Otherwise you might end up with neither of ‘em.”
“I’m asking you to be more than she was. Be strong, and be good. Be loved, and be thankful for it. No regrets.”
4) What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?
Dave – I chose this particular section from early on in the novel. I think it gives such insight into how Lynn thought, how she was taught to think by her mother, how she felt she needed to think in order to survive.
Twilight had fallen by the time Lynn had made a binding for her ankle out of Mother’s shirt. She felt like a vulture as she stripped Mother’s body of anything useful - knife, matches, even the hair tie she been using. Nothing should be wasted. Scavenging from bodies was nothing new to Lynn, but taking Mother’s shirt from her as a cold sleet began brought her to her knees. She cried in long, gasping breaths that ripped through her body. Her knees slipped in the blood-soaked mud, and she fell face forward into the muck, where she saw her rifle.
She crawled toward it, wiping it as clean as she could on her shirt…
Marcy – This paragraph gives the reader a deep look inside the main character’s head in the beginning of the story. And for me this line really shows the stark contrast of Lynn’s mindset in the beginning of the novel and then how her character grows and develops as we get deeper into the novel. And now as I’m reading through the post, I see Dave picked this same paragraph for his answer above.
Lynn pulled her own rifle into her lap, the cold metal bringing more comfort to her than Mother’s touch ever could. Her finger curled around the trigger, hugging it tight in the life-taking embrace that she’d learned so long ago. She slipped onto her belly beside Mother, watching the sunlight bounce off the twin barrels of their rifles. Waiting was always the worst part, the crack of the rifle a relief.
5) What is your favorite line of dialogue?
Dave – I picked this line because it comes at a time when Lynn, who is just learning how to trust people, tries to teach a basic lesson of how to survive living in the country to someone she has just met.
“It’s not like the city out here,” Lynn said. “You’re better off to distrust everyone at first and make them earn it.”
“Then it’s exactly like the city.”
Marcy – I thought this line was so sweet. Eli is so patient with Lynn. She hasn’t been around people and doesn’t really quite understand how human nature works. Eli asks permission for a kiss. Lynn leans forward and pecks him on the cheek, which was her Mother’s ultimate show of affection. Here is Eli’s response.
“I’m not going to kiss you like your mother. C’mere.”