Write Now With M.M. Downing and S.J. Waugh

Who are you?

We were supposed to be secret agents during the Roaring Twenties or working for Scotland Yard in Edwardian London. Unfortunately, we were born in the wrong time, so we became YA and adult fiction authors instead. Melanie grew up in Massachusetts, earned a BFA in Acting from New York University and was an editor at Warner Books and Grand Central Publishing before turning to writing her own stories. She currently resides in New Jersey. Sandra hails from Connecticut, earned her BA in English from Bryn Mawr College and did her own stab at acting with a women’s theater company before taking characters to the page. She alternates time between Connecticut and New York City. We met in a writer’s group and decided to join forces to write something completely different, so now we’re middle grade authors as well!

What do you write?

Our first collaboration is a middle grade historical adventure trilogy, THE ADVENTURES OF THE FLASH GANG, in which a street orphan and his ragtag crew foil a Nazi plot in 1935 Pittsburgh. Books one and two are out, book three is due next March. After that…we’re letting ideas simmer.

What got you started on writing this series?

Shared sensibilities! We both have a love for those Dickensian tales of orphans and hardship that kept us captivated as kids. To that end, we had three requirements: We wanted a quirky, memorable, lovable heroine. We wanted an unlikely hero (not strong or confident or an overt leader). And we wanted a setting that evoked the dark and gloomy mood of all our favorite orphan stories. Enter brainy Lewis and tutu-wearing Pearl. Pittsburgh, during the Great Depression seemed to be the perfect place and period for our orphans to make their way, with great steel factories belching endless ribbons of poisonous smoke, a smoggy city with its steep ridges and numerous bridges, the shanty towns, rickety wooden staircases, narrow alleys…we could go on!

Where do you write?

Sandra: I can write anywhere except on an airplane. Currently I’m at the kitchen table—we have two new rescue dogs, and they aren’t quite ready to hang out in the rest of the house (where admittedly there is a lovely, book-filled study and a favorite chair)

Melanie: Where I write depends on my mood. I have a laptop and open it in whatever seems to be the quietest or most inspirational place in my house that day, but also will go to coffee shops, libraries, and parking lots (seriously, while waiting for my children to finish their various appointments, rehearsals or practices I get a lot of work done.)

How do you overcome writer's block?

Sandra: For me, a block usually means the story is going in the wrong direction—that I’m forcing it to be something it’s not. So I have to let the writing rest for a bit, go mow the lawn, vacuum, weed and let the story speak to me, tell me what it wants. If the block is a more personal ‘I’m terrible, what’s the point?’ sort of angst…then I set a timer and tell myself ‘only fifteen minutes.’ Usually that turns into a longer session.

Melanie: Sandra & I have a joke. When we’re stuck on a story point, we say, “Time to mow the lawn & time to do the dishes,” because being in nature helps Sandra, and running water helps me. I tend to come up with excellent story fixes or new plot points whenever I’m in the shower or doing dishes or brushing my teeth – if the water is running, so is my creative brain. There is a creek near my house, so if all else fails, I sit and listen to that, and ideas always start to flow.

Bonus: What do you enjoy doing when not writing?

Sandra: TRAVEL! I want to dip my toe in each of the seven seas, visit the seven wonders, wander from the Dead Sea to foothills of the Himalayas. At home, I go for gardening, cooking (not the pretty stuff, the chores). Walking and yoga cheers my spirit; drudgery is okay. I’m pretty sure I was a peasant in past lives.

Melanie: Reading for pleasure is nice thing to do, and I’m also a devoted theater-goer. I would see a play every night if I could!

My thanks to M.M. Downing and S.J. Waugh for today's interview.