Twelve-year-old Mary Hayes can't stand her orphanage for another night. But when an attempted escape through the stove pipe doesn't go quite as well as she'd hoped, Mary fears she'll be stuck in the Buffalo Asylum for Young Ladies forever. The very next day, a mysterious woman named Madame Z appears at the orphanage requesting to adopt Mary, and the matron's all too happy to get the girl off her hands. Soon, Mary is fed a hearty meal, dressed in a clean, new nightgown and shown to a soft bed with blankets piled high. She can hardly believe she isn't dreaming!
But when Mary begins to explore the strange nearby town with the help of her new friend, Jacob, she learns a terrifying secret about Madame Z's true identity. If Mary's not careful, her new home might just turn into a nightmare.
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Today we welcome Katherine for an interview!
How long does it take you to write a book from start to finish?
This is always a difficult question because I’m never sure
when writing a book starts. Often I’ll get an idea or hit upon a subject that
intrigues me and I won’t get to the writing part right away (I also have these
demanding and charming little people living in my house called children).
How do you come up with themes for your stories?
I tend to find inspiration in fears, struggles and
questions I have no answers for—particularly my own. I grew up outside of New
York, in a three-generation immigrant family. In the case of THE DOOR BY THE STAIRCASE, I was very
interested in writing about the experience of recreating home and family after
loss/ tragedy, which is essentially the immigrant experience.
What was the hardest thing about writing a book?
It was all hard. Writing is rarely easy for me. I start
and restart. I tear things up. I throw out whole plot lines and characters.
It’s a lot like that kid’s game, pin the tail on the donkey, except that the
donkey is alive and on the run.
Where do you write?
Last summer I moved to Belgium and we live in this
wonderful old house in Brussels where I write at a rickety old IKEA desk in my
bedroom overlooking the garden. I’ve always written in my bedroom, which is
very dangerous. The bed beckons.
What kinds of things do you like to do outside of writing?
I love cooking which I was delighted to be able to work
into this book. I love to read (what writer doesn’t?). I love to travel.
Quirky, small museums are a favorite destination.
Do you have any go-to people when writing a book that help you
with your story lines as well as editing, beta reading and such?
Most definitely! The same wonderful critique partner has
read all four of my books in early stages. We have a very special friendship
that stretches across thousands of miles and millions of words—I even dedicated
DOOR to her. My husband is also an excellent critic and there are a number of
other fellow writers and friends who’ve helped me talk through books or revise
them over the years, including, most recently, my eight-year old son.
If you could travel anywhere in the world to visit a
place so you could use it as a background for a book, where would it be?
I love this question because my third book, a historical
YA novel called JEPP WHO DEFIED THE STARS, was partially set in Brussels. But I
did not live here when I wrote it—in fact, I was unable to visit because I had
a young child and another on the way and had to rely instead on documents,
photos and books. JEPP is about the forces of fate and free will and so
naturally, when I found out I was moving to Belgium last summer, I felt as if I
had written my fate. I would like to write another book set in Brussels, from
the vantage point now of someone who lives in modern-day Europe. My children
have been going to local French-speaking schools and there’s a lot of
fascinating material in the ex-pat experience.
I'm Katherine Marsh. I write books about kids. Some are alive. Some are dead. Some lived hundreds of years ago. All of them find themselves in unusual situations and places. Some of them are unusual themselves.
If you've ever wondered about witches, ghosts, the lives of court dwarfs, the power of magic, the invincibility of death, and how (and how not) to care for a fire-breathing horse, then you'll probably enjoy my books. Warning: They may make you laugh. They will almost certainly make you cry.
My debut novel, The Night Tourist, won the Edgar® Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. It was published in translation in ten countries and there's even a sequel, The Twilight Prisoner.
My third book, Jepp, Who Defied the Stars was a New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Books of 2012 and a Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of 2012, among other accolades.
The Door by the Staircase is available now from Disney Hyperion. It's a fairy tale adventure story for middle grade readers inspired by Russian folklore. Other influences include my love of cooking and magic acts, my cat Egg, and my family's onetime ownership of a small flock of chickens.
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I would love to have this as an addition to my family library of books. I don't have a whole room in my house as a library, just shelves. (jozywails@gmail.com)
ReplyDeleteGreat premise! Wonderfully spooky cover! I'd love to read The Door by the Staircase.
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