Q&A with Nancy McCabe

 

 

Nancy McCabe is the author of the new middle grade novel Fires Burning Underground. Her other books include the young adult novel Vaulting Through Time. She directs the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and she lives in northwestern Pennsylvania.

 

Q: Fires Burning Underground was partly inspired by your own experiences--can you say more about that?

 

A: A memorable few months of my sixth grade year were bracketed by two fires. In the first, a kid from my Sunday School class who I’d known my whole life died in a housefire; in the second, a neighbor boy came home and found his house on fire.

 

Around the same time, I developed a close friendship with a smart, creative girl who was fascinated by the paranormal.

 

The death of my classmate and both fires triggered a lot of terror, and I also had mixed feelings about our experiments with ESP and the Ouija Board because my very religious mom thought that we were in danger of inviting in demons. But I also had so much fun with that friend, embarking on all sorts of creative projects.

 

My book borrows from all of those experiences, exploring both the up and down sides of being a very imaginative and sensitive child while on the brink of adolescence and in the aftermath of loss. 

 

Q: The writer Edith M. Hemingway said of the book, “Nancy McCabe deftly taps into the adolescent mind and voice of her character, Anny, with all her angst, hopes, fears, questions, and constant ups and downs.” What do you think of that description, and how did you create Anny?

 

A: I love that description, especially since one of the most enjoyable parts of the process—and one of the most challenging—was creating Anny and finding her voice. I had to tap into my own memories of being 12 years old, a talkative kid who was perpetually excited about the world around me and unafraid to try anything new.

 

Adolescence suspended a lot of those character traits and I’ve spent my whole adult life finding my way back to that outspoken, bold, creative kid I once was. Writing this book allowed me to reclaim that earlier self.

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

 

A: I wrote it over the course of a lot of years. It started as a manuscript meant mostly for my daughter to share with her some of my favorite stories about my childhood.

 

I knew it was going to be about a fire, a death, a friendship, and a Ouija board. I knew that it was going to be about the experiments with the supernatural and with creative projects that made my life feel so scary and yet so vibrant when I was 12, and that there was going to be a second fire.

 

But as I became more invested in telling the story for an audience beyond my daughter, I did a lot of adding, cutting, and adjusting as I went along with some complete overhauls. Along the way, I discovered some new things about Anny’s conflicts and came to understand her better.

 

I was surprised about the way the second fire played out when I was writing it, and the evolution of Anny’s fears of being haunted. Ultimately, I realized that there were some events that I needed to leave open to reader interpretation—is she literally being haunted or not?

 

I was also surprised by the last line, which felt like it appeared out of nowhere and seemed just right.

 

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

 

A: I hope that readers will relate to it, that it will inspire them creatively, help them make sense of loss and grief, and reaffirm the idea that only they have the right to label and define themselves.

 

And of course I hope that readers will find it helpful to consider serious subjects in the context of an entertaining, humorous story. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m always working on lots of things in different genres. I’ve started a sequel to my YA novel Vaulting through Time and have some notes toward a sequel to Fires Burning Underground that will focus on Anny’s best friend Larissa.

 

I’m also working on an essay collection related to parenting a traumatized child and working on a craft book on the intersections of artistic and therapeutic writing. And I have an adult novel in progress as well.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I love hearing from readers—and if they read my book I hope they’ll considering leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, or contacting me through my website, https://www.nancymccabe.net. I love talking to readers and am available for school visits, workshops, talks, and readings.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Nancy McCabe.