It’s a pleasure to host an interview with Nancy McDonald, author of gripping WWII middle grade novels, and learn how travel and location play a part in her well-researched books.
We never know how we’ll respond to adversity until we’re faced with it.
Q: How long have you been writing?
A: I’ve been a professional writer my entire career. I’ve written everything from documentaries to live action scripts to comic books. My career as a novelist is more recent, and, to be honest, I fell into it. I was researching my late husband’s family and when I went to write it up, it just naturally became a novel told in his voice. I was hooked on fiction writing!
Q: Why write historical fiction for middle grade readers?
A: I really enjoy that age group. They’re curious. They’re open. They’re not terribly introspective and they’re trying to understand their world and their place in it. They’re also interested in WW II, which is a passion of mine. My goal is to give them a love of history and historical fiction that follows them all through their lives.
Q: Your books are set in Berlin and Paris. Have you been to those cities?
A: Absolutely! I love to travel as much as I love to write, so it’s not a hardship! But I also wouldn’t dream of locating a novel somewhere I don’t know well.
Q: If you could be one of the characters in these books, who would you be?
A: That’s easy! I would be Amelie – although I’m not sure I would be as brave and resourceful as she is. We never know how we’ll respond to adversity until we’re faced with it.
Q: Do you write every day?
A: I do. When I talk to students, which I do at every opportunity, and they ask me about how to become a writer, I tell them, you write. There are no short cuts! I usually walk in the morning for an hour to an hour and a half, “writing” the day’s scenes in my head, then I go home and write them on my computer.
Q: What’s your next project?
A: I’m working on the third novel in this series, which sees Amelie back in Berlin in the fall of 1938 – a turning point in Nazi history – with a whole new set of obstacles to overcome.
For more information about Nancy McDonald and her latest books, visit Book Review + Giveaway: Girl on the Run.
Stephanie Ward 
Thank you for sharing this interview. I was very impressed with the personal relationship McDonald has with the book material. The fact that she would not write about a location she had not visited emphasized the authenticity of her writing. I also appreciated her love of historical fiction and passing this information on to middle school children which is so important at this time.
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