Teacher, actress, writer…all these words can be used to describe author Jane McLoughlin. With At Yellow Lake, a compelling and suspenseful YA mystery, she brings us a “Fargo Junior” of sorts, and needless to say we’re intrigued…
YA: What made you decide to start writing?
Jane McLoughlin: When I was younger, I wanted to be an actress. Even when I was little I would imagine elaborate movie scenes, with me (a chubby 11-year-old who wore glasses and had braces) outwitting the bad guys or winning the heart of some hot actor. I studied theatre at college, and performance was what I set out to do. A few years later, I was living in England with two little kids, so my creative outlet had to be something I could do from home. Well, I couldn’t draw or paint, so I had to take up writing. Those early years of imagining being somebody else finally paid off!
YA:Take us through a typical writing day for you.
JM: Until last July, I was also an English teacher, so I’m used to writing in the margins of my life—having enough time to write seems like such a luxury. I still get up early, and do the bulk of my actual writing before 1:00 pm. I usually start that session with going over what I’ve written or edited the day before (some writers advise against this, at least for a first draft, but I find it helps bring me back to the world of the story). Then I give myself a target (over 1,000 words) and keep writing until I hit it. If I’m on a roll, or on a deadline, I keep going, of course.
When I’m not writing, I try to do promotional things—like this interview—and organise school visits or other events. There are also times when I’ll be planning or doing research. And, of course, I always read as much as I can—in all genres and for all age groups.
YA: Can you describe the path to getting this work published? What were the challenges? What was easy about it?
JM: The path to publication has been a long one for me, and the greatest challenge has been not giving up when it really felt like I was banging my head against the wall and getting nowhere.
I spent years learning to write, and trying to find my writer’s voice and niche. I started out writing short stories, and had some of them published in UK literary magazines. That was great, but it took over a year to write each one! I also had several near misses as a screenwriter, getting lots of interest, but no agent and no deal. It all seemed like a waste of time.
Then, thankfully, I got the idea for At Yellow Lake. The first 15 pages were featured in the SCBWI “Undiscovered Voices” anthology of 2010, and at the anthology launch party I met my editors from Frances Lincoln, who supported my book and have helped me so much since then.
| YA: What were your specific influences for this book? Films, literature, other stories? JM: Because I wrote screenplays and short stories for so many years, those forms have had an influence on my writing style—visual, but spare. In terms of books or films, I have to admit that one of my earliest pitches for At Yellow Lake was only two words—FargoJunior—so the Coen Brothers, also from Minnesota, are probably an influence. Another unconscious influence has to be the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, which I hope is still being taught in American high schools! Finally, the most important influence is my family’s real lake cabin in Wisconsin. Although I always felt totally safe there, I remembered my mother’s stories of when she was little, when there were more trees and fewer close neighbours. As her family drove to the lake from the city, she was terrified that there’d be a gang of criminals hiding out in the woods, or waiting to ambush at the end of the driveway… |
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YA: If you hadn’t become an author, what path would your career have perhaps taken?
JM: My dream job would always be one in the theatre, but I didn’t (and still don’t!) have the talent or determination to make that happen. My actual job, teaching, was rewarding and challenging, but also very time-consuming and frustrating for someone who really wanted to write.
Now, as a writer, I’m back in schools, but this time as a visiting author. This means that I get to do the teaching stuff that I loved—nurturing students’ creativity, helping them imagine new places and people—but I also read from my own writing, which means I get to be an actress again. I guess you could say that writing has brought me the best of both worlds!
YA: What’s next up for you?
JM: My latest work (still a work-in-progress) is nothing like At Yellow Lake; it’s a ghost story/supernatural mystery set entirely in rural England. The main character is a 12-year-old English girl named Maddy, who has been sent away to boarding school, where she makes some shocking discoveries. It’s contemporary, but set in a slightly unreal world, where nothing is what it seems and no one is quite who they pretend to be. Although the story is totally unlike At Yellow Lake, I think my main character is a little bit like Etta, with a different background and a British accent, of course.
Etta, Peter and Jonah all find themselves at a cabin near the shore of Yellow Lake, flung together in a terrifying series of events that follows. Jonah has come to Yellow Lake to try to get in touch with his Ojibwe roots. Peter is there to bury a lock of his mother’s hair – her final request. Etta is on the run from her mother’s creepy boyfriend, Kyle, and his criminal friends. But as Etta, Peter and Jonah take shelter in the cabin, finding surprising solace in each other’s company, they soon realise that they have stumbled onto the scene of a horrifying crime, and that Kyle and his cronies have no intention of letting them escape.