When a mutual friend sent me a copy of Adrian Fogelin's SUMMER ON THE MOON with the note "you must read this!" I did. And I was delighted that I did. SUMMER is a rich story of growing up in difficult circumstances, and has an authentic "boy" voice that is a marvel of craft in a rich, layered story. I had to invite Adrian to appear on my blog. Little did I know that she is not only a talented author but a songwriter with a band! Here is our interview:
Hi
Adrian! Can you summarize SUMMER ON THE MOON for readers?
Sure—although
writing a summary of a book has got to be harder than writing the book itself,
but here goes!
Socko
and his best friend Damien have just finished their last day at school and are
looking forward to a boring summer in their hot inner-city apartment building
where the local gang, the Tarantulas, will probably add the only excitement
they can look forward to—and not the good kind—when Socko gets an unexpected
get-out-of-jail-free card in the form of an offer from a great grandfather he's
never met. The General, as he likes to be called, will buy a house for Socko
and his mom if they keep him out of a nursing home.
Socko's
mother, Delia, quickly takes the old man up on the offer and selects a house in
an only partially-built housing development. What she doesn't know is that the
subdivision is going bankrupt and that they are the only ones who have
purchased a house in Moon Ridge Estates.
At first
it seems that Socko’s summer will be spent keeping his cranky great-grandfather company while Delia goes to
work, but as he explores the wasteland that is his new neighborhood he begins
to claim the territory as his own, just the way the Tarantulas claimed the old
one. He turns the empty community pool into his own personal skate park and
walks the beams of half-built houses.
But
always at the back of his mind is the unfinished business in his old
neighborhood—how can he save the best friend he left behind from being engulfed
by the gang?
This book
ends with a splash. Socko, who is now the guy who knows the territory, tricks
Rapp, the gang leader, into putting his Trans Am in the swimming pool (now
full) after a chase through the empty streets of Moon Ridge. When Rapp doesn't
get out of the car Socko has to decide whether to save his worst nightmare or
let Rapp drown.
A most excellent summary. Do you
write from personal experience?
There is
always some of my own life experience in my books. In the case of Summer on
the Moon, the setting was familiar. I grew up in a brand-new subdivision a lot
like Moon Ridge Estates. The only trees were planted by the developer, one on
either side of the driveway. Each cast a shadow as thin as a pencil. The water
for the subdivision was still a work in progress. Some days it was pink, some
days blue. Standing behind my house at one end of the block I could see the
houses at the other end with nothing green in between.
But
personal experience played a smaller role in this book than usual. Summer on
the Moon was built around a shared experience: the economic recession. Socko’s
neighbors in the apartment building are all losing their jobs, in the new neighborhood
he finds a homeless family squatting in one of the unsold houses. The recession
affects everyone in the book, just as it has affected many of the readers I
hope will pick up this book. I wanted young readers to
see their own hard times in a story and maybe open the topic for discussion.
I love
the General. Please talk about how his character came to be.
The
General is a member of the generation that fought in WWII—my dad’s generation.
Tough and practical, they survived the Great Depression, fought in a global war
(often in their teens), went to college on the GI Bill and raised families.
Those that remain are in their eighties and, like the General who is about to be surplused to a nursing home, are often
dismissed for being old, cranky and irrelevant—or as Delia observed “past their
pull date.”
Before
they fade into history I wanted to portray the grit and wisdom of what Tom
Brokaw labeled “greatest generation,” so I created the General.
You’ve
written a number of highly acclaimed books (CROSSING FORDAN, ANNA CASEY'S PLACE IN THE WORLD). What is your process? Are you a pantser or a plotter? Do
you write every day?
Pantser? I love it! The term I’ve coined for my method is “blurter,” and
yes , the seat of my pants is always involved. I have come to trust the
process, even though I sometimes have no idea where I am going when I write
page one. Scenes, like the pages in a pop-up book, open up as I need them.
Something below the surface of my brain must be working awfully hard coming up
with that next scene, but by the time my conscious mind is aware of it the
scene appears as a detailed picture. All I need to do is find the words to
describe what I see.
As for
every-dayness, I do some kind of writing every day, even if it is only
journal-keeping, but most days I am churning out pages for a novel and waiting
for the next scene magically appear.
What’s
up next for you?
I've
just completed a draft of the next book in the Neighborhood series. So far this
series goes like this: Crossing Jordan, Anne Casey's Place in the World, My
Brothers Hero, The Big Nothing, The Sorta Sisters.
The new
book revolves around a fedora, long forgotten in a closet. It was left by the mysterious Uncle Paul who has not been heard
from in three years. When Cody Floyd finds and begins to wear the hat it seems
to give him magic powers. At first the older kids in the neighborhood make fun
of Cody and his “magic hat” but when the hat finds them an abandoned garage
deep in the woods, the perfect clubhouse, they begin to listen to Cody and
gradually come to depend on the magic of the hat. The story is told in the
course of one week, the week before Cody's seventh birthday, a birthday he
shares with his vanished uncle who will unexpectedly reappear on their shared
birthday.
What an engaging idea! Is there
anything else you’d like to tell us – secret dreams, childhood favorite books,
how you got started as a writer...?
One
thing I always mention is the library my neighbors and I started at the house
across the street from mine. My father lived there until his death in 2007.
Because I didn’t want to sell the house I needed a good excuse to keep it (who
needs two houses?). The best excuse I could come up
with was to turn it into a library for the kids of Seminole Manor Neighborhood.
We now have more than 2,000 cataloged books and run programs for the kids every
Sunday. I put a link below if you would
like to visit the Front Porch Library.
Secret
dreams? Okay, but remember that “dream” is the operative word here. One of my
favorite forms of writing is songwriting which I do collaboratively with my
singing partner, Craig Reeder. I’d love it if we could write a hit—you know,
the kind guys who have giant busses with their names on the side play for
crazy-big audiences.
My more
realistic dream is to continue to write and have my novels published and read.
I am lucky to have worked for a dozen years with Peachtree Publishers, a great
independent house in Atlanta. I wish every writer could find a home for their
work that is as supportive. The “peaches” feel like my second family.
Thanks
for helping me keep the dream of reaching readers going Janet!
You are more than welcome! Please
give readers a way to find out more about your books and you. And thanks!
