Welcome, Nancy Cavanaugh!

 

     I'm excited to have my friend and fellow Tampa Bay writer, Nancy Cavanaugh, here today. Nancy's first middle-grade novel, THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET, launches this week. I loved this book! And apparently, so did a lot of other reviewers.  

   ⇒A star from Kirkus is about as gold as you can get. 

     Pull up a chair. Or a tool bench. And let's ask Nancy about 11-year-old Ratchet and her home-school journal.

 Augusta:   I’m curious about the neat format of this book. Kids will love the poems, letters, research- all from Ratchet. Did you write the entries in the order they appeared or did you skip around?  Did they change much as you edited it for publication?

Nancy:

For the most part, I wrote the book in order.  Going from beginning to end is just how my brain works.  There were a few times though, when I’d think of a scene I wanted to have happen later on, so I would jot notes down about that scene, and I’d also decide what type of assignment I would use for writing that scene.  Over the years while I was writing RATCHET, I revised A LOT, and once I started working with my editor at Sourcebooks, Aubrey Poole, I revised a lot more.  So yes, the book changed quite a bit throughout all those revisions.

Augusta: When and where do you do your best writing?  Do you like music, crowds, food to surround you?  Or are you a solitary writer?

Nancy:  My best writing time is probably late at night.  It’s when I know I won’t get interrupted because everyone else is asleep, and it’s nice and quiet.  As for the best place, I’m kind of a writing nomad.  In my house, I write in different places.  Recently, I found this handy dandy carry-all organizer that holds all my stuff.  

 It makes it so easy for me to take everything with me to any room in the house.

Augusta:    Oh, I love that bag! Very cool, Nancy. 

You’re both a mom and librarian.  Were you inspired by other books you’ve read over the years?  Do you have any favorites?

Nancy:

I feel like we’re all inspired by everything we read – the books we think are good and even the ones we think aren’t so good.  In writing RATCHET though, I was inspired by one book in particular – WHAT I BELIEVE by Norma Fox Mazer.  It’s a wonderful story told through free verse poetry, and for some reason that book inspired me to think about writing a book in a different format.

Augusta: Ratchet, on a limited budget and totally not a girlie-girl, shops in some zany spots. Although this is not a "girl" book, they will just love this part of your story.  Tell us, what's your fashion sense?  Do you also shop the second-hand clothing stores?


Nancy: 

I can sum up my fashion sense in one word – comfort.  My criteria for what to wear is that it be first and foremost comfortable.  That’s why you’ll see me wearing gym shoes about 95% of the time.  As for shopping, I guess I can sum that up in one word too – Kohl’s.  I buy about 95% of my clothes and shoes from Kohl’s.  (They’re not even paying me to say all this; that’s how much I love Kohl’s.)

(Here's Nancy, looking pretty comfy, toiling away at her Work Bench!)

 

Augusta:  Your writing about Ratchet’s dad’s shop and her helping out is such fun to read and so realistic.  Do you know your way around a toolbox?

Nancy:

I learned all my mechanic skills from my husband.  He was a former industrial arts teacher, and the two of us developed and taught elementary and middle school students a course on small engines.  In the class, we took apart a small engine and put it back together again.  Well, you know what they say, there’s no better way to learn something than to teach it, so that’s how I learned what I know.  My experience became the inspiration for Ratchet’s expertise.

Augusta:   Will we see this character again?  Do you have another book you’d like to tell us about?

  Nancy:

I don’t have plans for another book about Ratchet, at least not right now.  What you will see from me is more books written in alternative formats.  I love the creative part of figuring out how to tell an entire story in a unique way.    

  

Thanks for sharing this funny, smart girl and her story with us today. Here's a link to Nancy's website:

http://www.nancyjcavanaugh.com  
While you're there, click on the link to her blog, too.

THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET is available via INDIEBOUND here:

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781402281068

Click HERE for the book's link to Amazon.