Tiffany D. Jackson is the author of the new middle grade novel Blood in the Water. Her other books include the YA novel White Smoke. She lives in Brooklyn and in Atlanta.
Q: What inspired you to write Blood in the Water?
A: While I was on tour and doing school visits, I’d always notice a few 9- and 10-year-olds in the crowd, holding a copy of my YAs, excited to ask their questions. My skin would crawl and I’d have to resist the temptation of snatching the book out of their hands.
Even though maturity is subjective (because I was a kid who read Stephen King at 12), I really wanted to write a story that spoke to them, that took place in their world, specifically. So when the opportunity came around, I clutched at it. And Blood in the Water was born.
Q: This is your first middle grade novel--was your writing process different with this book than with your young adult novels?
A: Absolutely! I’ve said for years that I have no idea how people write middle grades so it was a lot of peer studying and a lot of throwing things on the page to see what fit. “Is this middle grade? Is that? Can they curse? What is TOO much blood for a 12-year-old?”
Top it all off with being freshly postpartum, my mind was sunk in mud. But I really REALLY enjoyed the challenge.
Q: The novel is set on Martha's Vineyard--how important is setting to you in your work?
A: In all my novels, setting is almost as important as the characters themselves. The setting becomes a plot device that drives the story forward, adds tension, and raises stakes.
In the black community especially, setting can really determine a person’s culture, value system, vernacular, and style. So I pay as much attention to setting as I do with a character’s journey.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: It’s funny, I really didn’t have a mission when I first sat down to write this. Which is SOOOOO like me.
But then I realized the importance of kids being kids, even in the middle of solving a mystery. And with the world being the way it is right now, I think that message is crucial. You’ll have your whole life to fight for what’s right, but you only have one chance at being a kid.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: More YAs, more middle-grades, and just learning how to be a better writer every day.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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