SNEAKS-A Twisty Middle Grade Mystery: Interview with Author Amy Tern--By Julie Phend

Sneaks is a twisty middle grade mystery by debut author Amy Tern released by Holiday House this summer. I’m excited to interview Amy for the GROG blog.

Author Amy Tern

First, a little about the book:

Rook, a sheltered musical prodigy, couldn’t be more different from Valorie, the troublemaking daughter of his family’s cleaning woman. But their strengths complement each other when they team up to solve the mystery of a piano-playing child hidden in an apartment across the street. Spying from the balcony, Rook and Valorie are alarmed by the strange woman who goes out to buy pizza at the exact same time each day, a child’s simple piano tunes played only when the woman is gone, and a discarded doll whose head has been ripped off. Sensing danger, Rook and Valory try to alert their elders, but no one takes them seriously. As they investigate on their own, they discover important things about themselves, their families, and the assumptions they’ve made. 

This tightly plotted mystery keeps the reader guessing to the very end. Amy’s memorable characters and quirky humor make Sneaks a very fun, enjoyable read! 

We’re so glad to have you as a guest on the GROG Blog, Amy. Tell us a little about yourself and your writing career. 

Amy: I grew up in Colorado, taking the mountains for granted. My heart was in other magical places—Narnia, snowbound Canada, Britain with its moors and tea, and that most wondrous place of all, the Past. Little did I know I was living in the old days myself, and deprived of computers and video games, I wrote and illustrated my own books—mostly featuring animal characters because I could draw them better. I continued to write fiction until college. There, I took a creative writing workshop where I was convinced by a bunch of creatively dressed classmates that my writing wasn’t very sophisticated. Experimental fiction was in style, and I didn’t fit in very well. After college, I mostly quit creative writing because I was distracted by having to earn a living. Much later, when I had my own family, I reconnected with my childhood dream of writing kidlit, but getting published was harder than I expected. 

How did you get the idea for Sneaks? 

Amy: When I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window with my two sons, I thought the premise might be good for middle grade. In Sneaks, twelve-year-old Valory and Rook sit on the balcony spying on the neighbors and notice clues that something fishy is going on in the apartment building across the alley. In Rear Window, the police don’t take Jimmy Stewart’s suspicions seriously. In my book, it’s the grown-ups who underestimate the sleuths and accuse them of having overactive imaginations. When Valory and Rook set out to solve the mystery on their own, they break a few rules and make a few bad choices, but they also learn about being brave and following their own consciences. 

Of course, Rear Window has been adapted many times. Hitchcock himself adapted it from a short story by Cornell Woolrich. My book isn’t even the first kids’ version—The Secret Apartment, by Natalie Fast, particularly influenced me. I made the story my own by recalling how my brothers and I used to love sneaking around as kids and trying to capture that exhilaration in the story. When I was eight, my family went to Belgium for three months and lived in a five-story apartment building. My brothers and I explored that place from top to bottom. We couldn’t even watch TV or get our hands on many English-language books, so we spent our time spying on people and having adventures. 

The two main characters in Sneaks are very different. Rook is an introvert and a gifted pianist. Valory is a daring rule-breaker. You tell the story in both their voices. Was that hard to do? Was one character easier to write than the other? 

Amy: This was my first experience writing in dual perspective. It seemed to fit this book, which has two protagonists of equal importance. To me, the hard part was differentiating the voices, but it helps that the characters are such different personalities. Valory is mouthy (to use one of my mother’s favorite words), brash, confident, shrewd, and judgmental. Rook is thoughtful, musically gifted, proud, somewhat timid, and secretive. Valory has to learn to be less self-centered, and Rook to speak up for himself. 

One useful hack I discovered quite by accident. I started out writing Valory’s chapters in first person and Rook’s in third. But I changed my mind and decided that would be too confusing for young readers. After converting Valory’s perspective to third, I was surprised to find that the language had a certain tone—a sort of slangy bounce—that was different than if I’d written it in third person in the first place. The tone served to further distinguish the voices, very subtly. 

There were other devices I used: for example, Valory uses more hyperbole and gives everyone nicknames. Valory is into clothes—what Rook calls a hat, she calls a fedora. Meanwhile, Rook uses a lot of music metaphors and tends to reference science fiction and superhero movies. At an even more granular level, Valory says “anybody” and “somebody,” while Rook says “anyone” and “someone.” More importantly, they notice different things—Valory is visual, while Rook takes in the world through his ears. Valory is highly attuned to hypocrisy in adults, which she calls out and condemns. Rook, who is in awe of his successful parents, struggles to please and is sensitive to any sign of adult displeasure. 

While Sneaks is a story about growing up and speaks to problems common to middle graders—dealing with parents, speaking up, making and keeping friends—it’s also a mystery. Which came first: plot or characters? 

Amy: I guess I would say the plot came first, since I got the idea after watching Rear Window. But I always struggle to write until I have a good sense of the characters. The first clue to the mystery is piano music, emanating from a supposedly empty apartment. I wanted Rook to have a special connection to this music, so I made him a musician. As soon as I did that, his personality and family life all fell into place. As for Valory, I realize now she was partly inspired by The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. I was very much a good kid (an “asparagus-eater,” as Valory would say) but Gilly’s rebelliousness thrilled me to my core. When I read about her blowing an enormous bubble in a social worker’s face, I think that’s when my own character of Valory started germinating in my mind. Valory is different from Gilly in many ways, but there’s definitely a family resemblance. 

What was the most difficult part of this story to write? 

Amy: The beginning is always hard because you need to hook the reader fast. Then again, the middle is where you have to keep raising the stakes, and that’s tough, too. Then again, the end is when the real pressure sets in. You know, it’s all pretty hard! 

That’s the truth! 

Amy: But seriously . . . writing this book, I struggled most with the character of the villain—the Goblin Woman, as Valory calls her. At first, I set out to make her zany and completely evil, like Cruella DeVille in Dodie Smith’s marvelous 1956 novel, The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Maybe someday I’ll succeed in making that kind of dastardly villain, but I’ve noticed I tend to humanize my antagonists more with every subsequent draft. I start digging into why they’re so dastardly, and then I end up sympathizing with their motives. Which is no bad thing, but it’s tricky to get the balance right. Even if villains come off as realistic, even if they have a proper character arc, even if they make the reader laugh, they must also be dangerous enough to challenge the hero or heroes to the utmost. 

I think you got that just right, Amy. Ms. Smith, the Goblin Woman, is very creepy and sinister until we get a glimpse under that protective armor to the vulnerable woman inside. 

Tell us about your writing process. Are you a pantser or a plotter? 

Amy: I guess I tend more toward the pantsy end of the spectrum. But oh, I wish I could be a plotter so much! Plotters tend to write their books much faster than pantsers. Sometimes I try to construct a proper outline, but it tends to spin out of control until I realize I’m outlining a 700-page book instead of a 200-page book. In the case of Sneaks, I was (very loosely) basing it on Rear Window, so that gave me some structure going in. Near the end of the film, there’s a great scene in which Jeff (Jimmy Stewart) watches helplessly from his window as Lisa (Grace Kelly) goes into danger. He wants to run and save her, but he can’t because he has the world’s most enormous cast on his leg. In my story, Rook doesn’t have a cast, but he’s trapped at home for reasons I won’t go into here. But I was always writing toward my own version of that scene—the going into danger scene—and that helped me keep my direction. 

About your road to publication: How did you find your agent and your editor? Any comments on the publication process? Surprises? 

Amy: It’s been a long road to publication for me: about twelve years of considerable effort. I wrote and queried several manuscripts before Sneaks, including two picture books, two chapter books, and two middle grade novels. I also read craft books and learned a lot about plot (the “p word” was never mentioned in those long-ago creative writing workshops). In the end, I think what kept me going through all the rejection was the support of my critique group. It was just really fun having people read my stuff every week. I learned a lot from their comments and from critiquing their work. After racking up about 200 rejections for my various manuscripts, I finally got a “yes” from an agent, who sold Sneaks within nine months. Unfortunately, my agent left the business not long after. So I’m back to querying again. 

Full disclosure here. Amy and I have been in the same critique group for years, and she’s right. Our wonderful group has been so encouraging. At the same time, the thoughtful, and often tough, feedback has helped us all to grow. 

Amy, though you’ve been writing for many years, this is your first published book. How does it feel to be a debut author receiving a lot of positive attention? How has your life changed since publication? Any hints about what’s next? 

Amy: Being a debut author is exciting. As an introvert, it’s a little nerve-wracking to be out promoting my book and connecting with potential readers. But it’s wonderful, too. I try not to get so distracted by book promotion that I neglect my writing. Ultimately, blowing your horn on social media doesn’t build your career nearly as much as working on your next book. I’m currently revising a previous manuscript, as well as embarking on a new project. Someday I would love to publish those picture books I wrote back in 2011! And maybe I’ll write a mystery for adults one day—who knows? 

The best thing about writing is that no one tells you what to do next. And the worst thing? No one tells you what to do next! But maybe that’s why we love it so much. 

Thank you, Amy! It’s been wonderful talking to you about your marvelous book Sneaks. 

Find it wherever books are sold. 

For more about Amy, visit her website at https://amytern.com/