All About Middle Grade Interview: G.A. Morgan (The Fog of Forgetting)
This week, I am excited to welcome G.A. Morgan, author of The Fog of Forgetting, to the blog to talk about her book. I hope y'all will give her a warm welcome.
About the author:
Hi, I’m G.A. Morgan and I wrote the book The Fog of Forgetting. It’s a middle-grade adventure-fantasy that takes place off the coast of Maine. It’s the first book in a trilogy about five stones and kids: three brothers and two sisters who find themselves on a mysterious island shrouded by fog. I began the story that became The Five Stones Trilogy many years ago, when my own children were very little.They were miserable and cold, and we had a long way to go before making it home, so I began to tell them about some kids who were a lot like them, only older, who steal a boat and get lost in a fog that is not your typical fog. It is stealthy, and moves in quickly from the northeast. It leaves most people traveling in circles…but sometimes, very rarely, a few are able to pass through.
You can haunt G.A. Morgan at-
Website|
Interview
1. In five words tell us
about The Fog of Forgetting.
Classic adventure for
spirited readers.
2. What is it about fog that made
you want to use it to transport the characters towards their adventure?
Fog
is always mysterious and full of surprises. It is beautiful and dangerous and
seemingly insubstantial, but anyone who has been lost in the fog knows how
quickly it becomes menacing. I also like it as a metaphor for feeling unmoored.
3. Which of the children was the
easiest to write about, hardest?
Knox was the easiest. His voice just came
out all in a piece. Evelyn was trickier. She is riding that line between
girlhood and adulthood, and has seen awful things in her short life. Life in
Haiti after the earthquake was no picnic for her, and she had to take on a lot
of responsibility quickly. Yet, she still is young. I didn't want her to sound
too jaded.
4. Can you share two sentences
from your favorite chapter of The Fog of Forgetting, and tell
us why that chapter is your favorite?
That is SO hard. I love all the
chapters, but today I guess it is:
"Her slingshot hung at her belt beside its satchel of carefully picked rocks; her bow and quiver were hitched up on her shoulder; the tips of her two hunting knives pointed to the ground by the soft, brown suede of her boots. At that moment she was more like an imaginary creature—half-fiercesome warrior, half-shrouded maiden of the wood—than the Calla they knew."
These lines take place when a very important person in
the children's lives is leaving them. I love them, and that chapter, because
the chapter delves into the nature of loss, and these sentences best describe
the thin line between fantasy and real life that I am trying to explore—and how
quickly one can melt into the other.
5. Last book that kept you
reading late into the night?
Kate Atkinson's Life After Life
6. Everyone has that one book
they've read more times than they can remember. What one book is your most
read? What is it about that book that keeps bringing you back?
I
have to give you two: I re-read Lord of the Rings every year, in February. My
all time favorite book is, however, is called The Evidence of Things
Unseen, by Marianne Wiggins. It dips into everything I
think is important. I almost stopped writing after I read this book because I
felt like there was nothing else that needed to be said. I was so overwhelmed
that I wrote to her and asked her if I could study with her. I offered to work
as her gardener. I'm not kidding.
7. The world has fallen to a
robot invasion and only one heroine/hero can possibly save the day, who do you
choose?
Sigourney Weaver from Alien 2, or Lisbeth Salander, depends on the
weaponry and tech.
8. Care to tell us about your
writing cave (include picture if you want).
Well, hmmm...it's a room in the
attic but it feels more like a cave right now because of how over-run with
books and papers it is. I have a stand-up desk and another large desk surface
covered with books and research. I put up a huge bulletin board and when I have
an idea or find an image I like, I pin it up to the board.
I also have some paintings from friends of mine and special totem
objects that, I swear, help when the words aren't flowing. I step away from the
desk and look at my collection (and, yes, there are stones) and then,
occasionally, I lie down in a fetal position and groan or fall asleep, then I
wake up, and often an idea has taken root.
9. Any up coming project you can
share with us?
I am finishing up the second book in the trilogy and
starting the third. The whole trilogy will be available by 2016, at which point
I may be permanently stuck in aforementioned fetal position, buried in paper!
In The Fog of Forgetting, the beginning of a new adventure-fantasy trilogy, five children wash up on the shores of an foreign land, unwitting agents of destiny in a realm struggling to withstand a force that could change their world -- and ours -- forever.
Move over, Narnia. The journey to Ayda has begun.
Sneaking out for a quick boat ride on a summer day, five children find themselves engulfed in a curtain of dense, powerful fog that transports them from the rocky Maine coast to the mysterious island of Ayda. Rescued by Seaborne, a machete-toting wayfarer of few words, the children suddenly find themselves at the center of a centuries-old battle between Dankar, the ruler of Exor, and three siblings that rule the other realms of Ayda. At stake are the four stones of power and the elusive Fifth Stone that binds them all.
When 9-year-old Frankie is kidnapped by Dankar, her older sister Evelyn and the three Thompson brothers must learn to harness the powers of the daylights, ancient forces of earth, fire, water, and air, to navigate their way through the realms of Ayda, rescue her, and find a way home.
You can add The Fog of Forgetting to your Goodreads Shelves.
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