Southern Writers Magazine Southern Writers May 2018

TRACY BARRETT Tensions, Research and Obstacles by Jonathan Gardner A uthors want to know how to develop tension. “That varies from book to book. In an adventure tale (such as Marabel and the Book of Fate), the stakes have to be high. The action needs to be pretty much non-stop. However, whether it’s an adventure story or something quieter, the way to make a reader continue to turn the pages is to make sure they care about the main character.” Tracy Barrett started writing nonfiction for young readers in 1993, branched out into fiction in 1999. “I love research, so historical fiction was a natural segue out of nonfiction. I still write both fiction and nonfiction, but my fiction covers many more genres than historical alone: they encompass a time-travel novel, a ghost story, a detective series, historical fiction with a touch of fantasy, myth and fairy-tale retellings, and contemporary realistic fiction, all for middle-school to high-school readers.” What you may not know about Tracy is she is a New Yorker happily transplanted to Nashville. “Vanderbilt hired me as a one-semester fill-in for someone going on leave and I stayed for 28 years. I quit six years ago and now concentrate on my writing.” Tracy always outlines when writing nonfiction. “For my historical fiction, I don’t really outline, since the facts upon which my story is based are already an outline. I’ve found mysteries, such as The Sherlock Files, require outlining, since it’s important to have a certain balance of clues and “red herrings” (false clues). In addition, with mysteries, timing is often important (for establishing alibis, primarily), so an outline helps keep things in order.” Do you have a process you use to choose obstacles to challenge your characters? “In a sense, the obstacles are the story. They rise organically out of the character. That means in the first draft, the obstacles are usually lame because I don’t really know the character yet. Once I finish a good portion of the draft, I have a good handle on what the character wants and needs (two different things! E.g., Luke Skywalker wants to get off his poky little planet, but he needs to find his inner Jedi and save the known universe). The wants and needs dictate the obstacles, which I can then work on in subsequent drafts.” There is an interesting story how you came to write your Sherlock Files series. “That idea came from a packager—a company that hires authors to write a book or a series, and then seeks a publisher. I had been approached by that packager a year or so earlier and they floated several ideas past me, but none really struck me until they suggested a series about American siblings living in London who inherit Sherlock Holmes’s cold- case notebook. I loved the idea, and after I wrote a sample, my editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers acquired the series.” How did you decide on the characters to use? “I loosely based them on my own two kids. The girl is more responsible, serious, and task-oriented, and the boy is impulsive, and counts on his cuteness to get him out of trouble; much like my kids when they were the ages of the characters in the book.” Where did your research lead you on this series? “Using a part of my publisher’s advance I bought the two-volume Annotated Sherlock Holmes, which is a huge amount of fun as well as being very useful. I consulted guidebooks, especially kids’ guides to London, and many other books. On-line resources included Google Earth and the websites of various places I had my young detectives visit. In addition, I did location research visiting London. It was well worth it; if you read the Sherlock Files, you can guess at what point I visited London. I think the city really comes alive in one particular book!” You have written The Song of Orpheus: The Greatest Greek Myths You Never Heard, tell us about it. “It’s a compilation of little-known Greek myths and intended for the elementary or middle-school student who loves Greek myths but is tired of reading the same dozen or so over and over again. Your book Marabel and the Book of Fate is for middle-grade? “Yes, the publisher suggests it for readers aged nine to twelve and says it’s ‘perfect for fans of Ella Enchanted and Dealing with Dragons’.” What’s next for Tracy Barrett? “My new book, which released in April (through Charlesbridge) is my first contemporary young-adult novel and is titled My Freefall Summer. n For more information, visit her website http://www.tracybarrett.com/ Southern Writers 7

Southern Writers Magazine Southern Writers May 2018 | Page 7