Today’s special guest is children’s mystery author Natasha Deen. We’re chatting about her new MG book, Spooky Sleuths 4: Fire in the Sky.
Bio:
Guyanese-Canadian Natasha Deen is a best-selling author who writes for kids, teens, and adults. Her novel, In the Key of Nira Ghani, won the Amy Mather Teen Book Award. The first book in her Spooky Sleuths series, Spooky Sleuths: The Ghost Tree, was a School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2022 and her most recent YA title, The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad was a Globe & Mail’s Top 100 Books for 2022. Natasha is Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal recipient.
When she’s not writing, she teaches Introduction to Children’s Writing with the University of Toronto’s SCS and spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince her pets that she’s the boss of the house. Visit Natasha at www.natashadeen.com.
Welcome, Natasha. Please tell us about your current release.
Asim’s friend Max is in danger! Asim is sure some sort of supernatural being—a witch, maybe?—is after Max. Rokshar, the level-headed one of the group, thinks the woman is a scientist using kids for her experiments! Either way, Max is in trouble, and it’s up to Asim and Rokshar to keep him safe.
But when they get close to finding answers, Asim and his friends are attacked by fireballs. Is science behind the flying fire? Or is it a witch from Guyanese folklore?
Find out . . . if you dare!
What inspired you to write this book?
I love the idea of doing a series that was a cross between X-Files and Stranger Things, and held a Caribbean twist. One of my favourite parts of writing this series is that the answer (is it something spooky in the town or is it science gone wild?) is left up to the reader to decide!
Excerpt from book four, Fire in the Sky:
Above me, there was a slithering sound. It got closer. I backed up against the wall and hoped it wasn’t a snake. A second later, the end of a rope slid into the hole. I tugged and it held. I scrambled free. When I emerged, I was alone. I looked over my shoulder at where the hole had been. But it had closed up behind me. The lawn looked normal. There was only me, gasping for breath and certain that something terrible had landed in my town.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m currently working on a YA rom-com and book 8 for the Lark and Connor Ba mystery series.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I really love Agatha Christie’s quote about being a professional writer, “There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.”
What I love about this quote is its emphasis on attitude over external accolades. It’s not the publishing credits, the awards, or the invitations to speaking engagements that make us writers, it’s the care and dedication we have for the craft and respecting the process (even when the process doesn’t seem to respect us back).
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
That’s an interesting question. If you’re asking if I write forty hours a week, then no. My brain couldn’t stand it! If you’re asking if being a writer is my sole occupation, then yes, it is. ^_^ I divide my time between writing, teaching, and speaking engagements. (And watching BBC mysteries. Those are a big priority in my life!).
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I read somewhere that wearing socks to bed could help you fall asleep faster because it helped boost circulation/keep your feet warm. And I wondered if that worked for writing—whether have cosy toes could help the process.
It ended up working out really well. I don’t know if it actually helps the process, but it’s certainly taught my brain that when these specific, very fuzzy, warm socks are on, it’s writing time!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Happy.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thank you for sharing this time with me and spending time with my books. I appreciate it!