Martha Brockenbrough: Staying Curious
KidLit Craft is back with another Snack-Sized Author Interview. In this series, we ask authors five quick questions that give us insight into their craft and process. Today we’re talking with author Martha Brockenbrough.
I knew from my first residency at VCFA’s Writing for Children and Young Adults program that Martha was fierce. Then, when Tom Birdseye interviewed her about her biography of Donald Trump, Unpresidented, in the January 2019 residency, I knew Martha was a fearless badass. I eagerly added her to my advisor preference form. That July, the gods answered, and I was paired up with Martha as my faculty advisor. I’m so lucky I got to experience firsthand Martha’s creativity, compassion, and courage, qualities she shares with every writer—and reader—she meets. KidLit is so fortunate to have a leader like Martha, a dynamic risk-taker, a generous collaborator, and an encouraging ally. —Sarah S. Davis
Welcome, Martha!
Question 1: What's your writing superpower?
I used to think that things like spelling and grammar were my superpower—if I got things “right,” that meant I was a writer! But no—in the many years I’ve worked at this craft, I’ve come to believe my superpower is curiosity. If you can remain curious about a subject or curious about a writing form, you can persist with your attention until you have learned something. Stay curious, friends!
Question 2: What’s an element of craft you explored in your latest project and what tips can you share with other authors for growing in their use of that particular element?
Voice. I wrote my forthcoming MG novel, At the Edge of Lost in two narrative voices, that of a 13-year-old boy, and that of a nearly as old dog. At first, I experimented in writing all of the dog’s POV chapters with monosyllabic words. It was really fun and also made me super good at a board game called Poetry for Neanderthals. Ultimately, though, it didn’t serve the story.
So, upon revision (and revision and revision), I mixed it up a bit. It was gratifying to know that I could do it, and it also felt fine to let it go.
The dog character, Ronan, does have a distinctive voice. I loved writing it and understanding how I could convey dogginess, and I think having an idea that you’re going to pursue and then let go of if it doesn’t work is enthralling and liberating.
Question 3: If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself as a new author?
I would tell myself that my most important relationships are with my fellow authors. It’s the people we work alongside who can help us become the writers we want to be, and this maybe doesn’t have as much to do with the machinery of publishing as we think it does.
When we watch others work, we can be inspired. Educated. Challenged as we witness what is possible. Comforted when we need it, which is often, because this is a hard way to make a living, even as it is a great way to make a life.
Question 4: What inspires you as a writer?
People inspire me. Sure, some enrage me. But on the whole, I am inspired by the capacity of the human heart and the human imagination. The hope that I can write stories that soothe, illuminate, and hearten inspires me to give it my best every day.
Question 5: What’s one book you think every kidlit author should read?
There is no one book. We are all different. We have had different experiences. While some books might have succeeded in reaching more people, the only book that matters is the one that reaches you. So keep seeking it out, and keep reading widely so that you develop a sense for what is possible, what makes something powerful, and what might give you inspiration for your own work.
Bonus Question: What can fans look forward to next?
I have three books coming out this year: A Gift of Dust, about the miraculous Saharan dust stream, At the Edge of Lost, about a boy and his dog who get separated during an Avian flu outbreak, and Thunder Nelson Does the Impossumble, which is for sure the funniest thing I’ve written.
Martha Brockenbrough (rhymes with broken toe) is the author of more than twenty books for young readers, including YA fiction and nonfiction, picture books, a middle grade mystery, and a chapter book series.
She founded National Grammar Day, wrote game questions for Cranium and Trivial Pursuit, and was co-chair of faculty at VCFA’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program.
The former editor of MSN.com, Martha has interviewed lots of celebrities, including the Jonas Brothers, Jason Bateman, Mike Myers, and Slash. Her work has been published in The New York Times. She also wrote an educational humor column for Encarta for nine years.
She lives in Seattle with her family. Besides reading and writing, she likes dogs, cats, cooking, working out, and laughing.
You can find her online on her website and on Instagram @marthabee
