Q&A with Martha Brockenbrough

 

Photo by Emerald England

 

 

Martha Brockenbrough is the author of the new middle grade novel At the Edge of Lost. Her many other books include To Catch a Thief. She is the program director for the MFA in Writing for Young Readers at the University of San Francisco, and she lives in Seattle. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write At the Edge of Lost, and how did you create your characters Caleb and Ronan?

 

A: I wanted to write a book that captured how I often feel in our post-pandemic world—something that would acknowledge the anxiety of it but also lean into the strength and hope of all the kids who made it through a rough time.

 

I didn’t want to write about Covid, though. I wanted to write about the kids who survived it and how they would do if another pandemic scare happened. It’s the absolute last thing anyone wants to happen, and sometimes life deals us those double blows.

 

So how do we endure? With the help of our friends. With courage. And on behalf of the ones we love. 

 

Caleb is in many ways like I was as a kid and still am today. Highly sensitive. Prone to anxiety. Deeply loyal to both people and pets. While my grandparents are no longer alive, they were profoundly important people to me.

 

Ronan comes from having lived with many old dogs. They are the absolute best, and I wanted to capture the thoughts and motivations of an old dog who discovers he can learn new things, whether it’s an appreciation for the meal called lunch or new insight into a species he formerly despised. 

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between them?

 

A: Dogs really can tell when we’re coming home based on how much of our scent lingers in the air. I wanted this dynamic to be realistic—their deep attunement to each other. And I wanted their love to be able to boost each one through the changes their characters experience.

 

We can change because of hard things that happen. We can become smaller. Our worlds can shrink. But when we respond to that hard thing with love, and when we let our love expand the boundaries of what we’re willing to endure, it is an extraordinary thing. That’s what I wanted this story to do.

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: My editor Jody Corbett and I went back and forth on possible titles for a while. We pulled this one out of the text, and I like it because it signals the possibilities for transformation that can happen when we find ourselves at the edge of lost. 

 

Q: In the book’s acknowledgments, you write, “A friend of mine once said, ‘Martha, you’ve got to stop writing books about dogs.’ Since then, every single book I've written has a dog in it.” Why do you think that is?

 

A: My friend was talking about this work from a commercial, practical sense. In other words, the editors in the world only want so many dog stories from me.

 

But my relationship with dogs has been a really long one. I have had one dog or another since I was 9 years old. I have held them as puppies, and I have held them as I said goodbye to them.

 

Dogs have taught me more about how I want to live and love than any other creature. Of course they will inspire at least one picture book, a chapter book series, and multiple novels. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: A lot of my time these days goes to launching a new MFA in Writing program at the University of San Francisco. I’ve put together the best faculty in the business and we are going to be devoted to the creation of extraordinary, groundbreaking works for young readers.

 

But of course I also have some manuscripts in progress, several of which have dogs in them. I like to have fiction and nonfiction and picture books and novels all kind of simmering at once. It’s not efficient but for me it captures the way my brain solves problems: very often when I least expect it. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: People who preorder the book from Island Books, Queen Anne Book Company, or Brick and Mortar Books will get an excellent little swag pack with a sticker and three beautiful space trading cards. Because who doesn’t want space trading cards?

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Martha Brockenbrough.