An Inside Look with Joy McCullough
(Author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost)
*The first season of interviews ran from June of 2016 to March of 2017.
*Season #two ran during the summer of 2017.
*Season #three ran during the school year of 2017-2018.
*Season #five ran during the 2018/2019 school year.
*During summer 2019, the sixth season ran.
*The seventh season of interviews ran during the fall of 2019.
*I'm excited to be back for season #EIGHT with brand new interviews/authors.
*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.
*This is the Sixteenth interview in which I'm calling Season #EIGHT.
*Thank you to Joy for being the One-Hundred Thirty-Sixth author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.
*Here is my review of the Novel...
A Field Guide to Getting Lost
by Joy McCullough
(April 14, 2020)
How did you come to know Sutton and Luis?
I'm
honestly not sure. The very beginnings of starting to explore a story
are kind of nebulous and difficult for me to articulate. I knew from the
beginning that it was going to be a story about a boy and a girl who
were very different, but had more in common than they realized. I
started from the tropes of the science kid and the arts kid and tried to
grow whole, nuanced characters from there. Through the alchemy of
writing, Sutton and Luis emerged.
What do you think are their most admirable qualities?
Sutton is very focused and driven. She has a scientific mind, and that curiosity and willingness to dig for answers serves her well even when she’s not doing something science-related. Luis has a huge imagination, and he’s also very generous in believing the best in people.
Is there anything you wish they would have changed or done differently in their story?
I’m not the sort of writer who feels that characters act independently of the writer’s will, so not really.
What do you think Sutton and Luis can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what they went through?
I think we all need to know we’re not the only one going through something. So I hope kids who are experiencing shifting family dynamics, or who have allergies like Luis, or relate to the world like Sutton does, might feel like they’ve found a friend who understands them a little when they read Field Guide.
How did you research these characters and the circumstances they found themselves in?
Some of the books I write are very research-heavy. My second middle grade, for example, is set in Scotland and I went on a research trip. Field Guide, however, is set in the present day in the city I live in, and the characters’ personalities and circumstances are familiar to me. So I really didn’t have to do research so much as I did the sort of character work that involves lots of thought about who the characters are and what they want and what’s standing in their way.
Do you and Luis and Sutton share any similarities?
The primary thing is that I, like both Sutton and Luis, am extremely indoorsy. I have been to the park that plays a large role in the story, but not for about ten years. I did not even go to research the book. I would just rather be inside. J Like Sutton, my parents are divorced, and like Luis, I have a life-threatening bee-allergy. And of course, like Luis, I enjoy making up stories.
What was the hardest scene to write about them?
From a technical perspective, the scene in the park was probably the most challenging, because the pace of the book changes significantly for that scene. And I also had to balance the sort of challenges they’d face with things they could actually manage on their own, with their own strengths and limitations. And make it challenging and interesting without making it absolutely wacky with disaster after disaster. (I ended up cutting about four disasters.
Who do you think was their biggest supporter and why?
Sutton and Luis are both very lucky to have a supportive cast of characters in their lives, starting with their parents. Sutton's parents are divorced, and part of her emotional struggle throughout the book is that her mom has to travel a lot for work. But she's very close to her dad, and her upstairs neighbor Mrs. B. And her mom, though not around as much as Sutton would like, is a great supporter of her scientific aspirations. Luis's life has been a bit isolated, and his dad has passed away, but he is very close to his mom, and also gets to talk regularly with his abuelos in Guatemala, via video chat. They're an important link to the dad he never really knew, and a reflection of how my kids stay connected with their Guatemalan aunts and uncles and cousins.
Why do you think some young people are open and willing to embrace a new family dynamic while others are more resistant and what their life to stay the same?
I can’t speak broadly, like a child psychologist might. In terms of the story, their situations are very different. Sutton’s parents are divorced, but when her mom is in town, she lives right there in their apartment building. That, combined with the fact Sutton has a fairly rigid, black-and-white personality makes it hard for her to consider a new family dynamic. Luis is more of a people person, and he has a huge imagination, so he can see the possibilities in new relationships in a different way. That combines with the fact that his father died when he was very young. He’s always been fairly isolated with his mom, and I think the idea of an expanding family is mostly exciting and positive to him.
What do you think Sutton and Luis are doing as the present time?
I think this is such a fun question—for readers! I could make guesses, but my job is to tell the story that’s in the book and not to make decisions beyond that. I do know that Luis is always doing something creative and imaginative, and Sutton is always solving a problem of some sort. And maybe they’re doing those things together!
What do you think are their most admirable qualities?
Sutton is very focused and driven. She has a scientific mind, and that curiosity and willingness to dig for answers serves her well even when she’s not doing something science-related. Luis has a huge imagination, and he’s also very generous in believing the best in people.
Is there anything you wish they would have changed or done differently in their story?
I’m not the sort of writer who feels that characters act independently of the writer’s will, so not really.
What do you think Sutton and Luis can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what they went through?
I think we all need to know we’re not the only one going through something. So I hope kids who are experiencing shifting family dynamics, or who have allergies like Luis, or relate to the world like Sutton does, might feel like they’ve found a friend who understands them a little when they read Field Guide.
How did you research these characters and the circumstances they found themselves in?
Some of the books I write are very research-heavy. My second middle grade, for example, is set in Scotland and I went on a research trip. Field Guide, however, is set in the present day in the city I live in, and the characters’ personalities and circumstances are familiar to me. So I really didn’t have to do research so much as I did the sort of character work that involves lots of thought about who the characters are and what they want and what’s standing in their way.
Do you and Luis and Sutton share any similarities?
The primary thing is that I, like both Sutton and Luis, am extremely indoorsy. I have been to the park that plays a large role in the story, but not for about ten years. I did not even go to research the book. I would just rather be inside. J Like Sutton, my parents are divorced, and like Luis, I have a life-threatening bee-allergy. And of course, like Luis, I enjoy making up stories.
What was the hardest scene to write about them?
From a technical perspective, the scene in the park was probably the most challenging, because the pace of the book changes significantly for that scene. And I also had to balance the sort of challenges they’d face with things they could actually manage on their own, with their own strengths and limitations. And make it challenging and interesting without making it absolutely wacky with disaster after disaster. (I ended up cutting about four disasters.
Who do you think was their biggest supporter and why?
Sutton and Luis are both very lucky to have a supportive cast of characters in their lives, starting with their parents. Sutton's parents are divorced, and part of her emotional struggle throughout the book is that her mom has to travel a lot for work. But she's very close to her dad, and her upstairs neighbor Mrs. B. And her mom, though not around as much as Sutton would like, is a great supporter of her scientific aspirations. Luis's life has been a bit isolated, and his dad has passed away, but he is very close to his mom, and also gets to talk regularly with his abuelos in Guatemala, via video chat. They're an important link to the dad he never really knew, and a reflection of how my kids stay connected with their Guatemalan aunts and uncles and cousins.
Why do you think some young people are open and willing to embrace a new family dynamic while others are more resistant and what their life to stay the same?
I can’t speak broadly, like a child psychologist might. In terms of the story, their situations are very different. Sutton’s parents are divorced, but when her mom is in town, she lives right there in their apartment building. That, combined with the fact Sutton has a fairly rigid, black-and-white personality makes it hard for her to consider a new family dynamic. Luis is more of a people person, and he has a huge imagination, so he can see the possibilities in new relationships in a different way. That combines with the fact that his father died when he was very young. He’s always been fairly isolated with his mom, and I think the idea of an expanding family is mostly exciting and positive to him.
What do you think Sutton and Luis are doing as the present time?
I think this is such a fun question—for readers! I could make guesses, but my job is to tell the story that’s in the book and not to make decisions beyond that. I do know that Luis is always doing something creative and imaginative, and Sutton is always solving a problem of some sort. And maybe they’re doing those things together!
*Here are links to the One Hundred Thirty-Five interviews...
SEASON #ONE (2016-2017)
SEASON #TWO (Summer 2017)
SEASON #FOUR (Summer 2018)
SEASON #FIVE (2018/2019)
SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)
SEASON #SEVEN (Fall 2019)
SEASON #EIGHT (Winter/Spring 2020)
Interview #122 with Tamara Bundy (Author of Pixie Pushes On)
Interview #123 with Lindsay Lackey (Author of All the Impossible Things)
Interview #124 with Tae Keller (Author of When You Trap a Tiger)
Interview #125 with Jamie Sumner (Author of Roll With It)
Interview #126 with Hena Khan (Author of More to the Story)
Interview #127 with Phil Bildner (Author of A High-Five for Glenn Burke)
Interview #128 with Leslie Connor (Author of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs)
Interview#129 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Queen Bee and Me)
Interview #130 with Jody J. Little (Author of Worse Than Weird)
Interview #131 with Jenn Bishop (Author of Things You Can't Say)
Interview #132 with Kaela Noel (Author of Coo)
Interview #133 with Rebecca Stead (Author of The List of Things That Will Not Change)
Interview #134 with Gae Polisner (Author of Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me)
Interview #135 with Emily Blejwas (Author of Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened)
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