Q&A with Tara Mesalik MacMahon

 

 

 

Tara Mesalik MacMahon is the co-author, with her brother, Mark Ukra, of the new middle grade novel Closet of Dreams. She is also a poet, and her other work includes the poetry collection Barefoot Up the Mountain. She lives on an island in the Salish Sea.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Closet of Dreams, and how did you create your character Child?

 

A: First, on behalf of my brother Mark and me (we’re brother and sister co-authors), thank you, Deborah, for your interest in Closet of Dreams! It’s the first book in our first children’s MG series, The Adventure of Child and Gamma.

 

On what inspired the book, that’s an easy one—we had a Closet of Dreams (an empty closet) in our childhood home in Los Angeles.

 

In that closet, years and years of fantastical adventures came to life, where Mark was “Child,” a 9-year old orphan boy, and I was his grandmother, “Gamma,” with whom Child lived.

 

Our dog Hilda held a key role, as did our imaginary animal friends: a hippo, a bear, and an elephant. And so became the book’s tag line, “A True Story About a Pretend World.”

 

Q: How did the two of you collaborate on the book? What was your writing process like?

 

A: Collaborations, we heard, can be tricky! But Mark and I fell into a good/great rhythm from the start. We both would lay down “story” and send it back and forth to each other. Then, mostly, I led the editing.

 

The book was also reviewed, chapter by chapter, by my weekly writing group in addition to close reads by two accomplished writer-friends of mine. Then, again, the book was edited by our publisher.

 

Notice here, I didn’t use the word “easy!”—but that’s all part of good writing, at least we hope our readers find our book to be such.

Q: Did you know how the story would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: The short answer to the first question is “no” we didn’t know how the story would end before we started. I’m also a poet, and as Robert Frost is famous for saying, “no surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.”

 

Our book was no exception to this. There were so many wonderful surprises for Mark and me (including the ending). We hope readers will delight in them as well.

 

In terms of “many changes along the way,” does a gazillion count? Well, I feel like we must have made at least a few thousand edits. It took seven years to finish the book.

 

Some edits were simply in the spirit of better writing, helping the story read effortlessly. But as the adventures unfolded, one change begot another. The story wanted what the story wanted! Mark and I listened.

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?

 

A: That’s such a thought-provoking question, thank you, Deborah. Mark and I discussed this, again back and forth, and we kept coming back to the same answer.

 

We do imagine most readers, young and older alike, will find the book a “fantastic-fun” read, as Woody Fraser, founder of Good Morning America, so generously said. And we hope that feeling of “fun” endures, as we’ve been told the book is a timeless read.

 

But also, we hope readers might glean many SEL (social-emotional learning) insights into themes like bullying and even more into bullies, also the value of a devoted friend, human and other—how to have one, how to be one, and too, insights into overcoming fears as Child had to face throughout the story.

 

And of course, we hope the book helps readers believe in their own dreams as much as Mark and I believed in the dream of this book! As Gamma always says, “When your fears disappear your dreams appear!”

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Book II in The Adventures of Child and Gamma series is already deep in the works, and perhaps is an even more exciting read, as this same cast of characters from Book I is transported all the way to Botswana in a race to rescue Starr, a magical but endangered baby elephant.

 

Lots of surprises in store.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Mark and I say it often—that we want our readers to know we care about them. Readers can contact us on our website, tell us their dreams or fears or anything. We’ll respond.

 

Also, Closet of Dreams comes with an amazing downloadable Educator’s Guide and 50-page Workbook of Worksheets for teachers, homeschools, librarians, counselors, kids book clubs, and the like. These resources can be found on our website: https://www.childandgamma.com

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb