Upside-Down Magic is the first book in a new and exciting middle grade series by bestselling authors Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins. Their story (optioned by Disney for development into a TV series!) weaves themes of friendship, family dynamics, and different styles of learning into a fun and fantastical tale. Upside-Down Magic is on sale today, and to celebrate, we asked all three co-authors to spill their secrets about writing their magical book.
Explain your co-authoring process—maybe each of you can explain one or two steps?
Lauren: We shoot a bunch of emails back and forth. Like, what is this book about? Can it have magic in it? Also we talk about food and family and cupcakes.
Sarah: Once we all agree on the idea, Emily and I go to a coffee shop and brainstorm the book’s structure. Then I write the outline.
Lauren: Because Sarah is AH-MAZING at plot. I am horrid at plot, but I’m good at the getting-it-down-on-paper part, so I write the first draft of the entire book. Also, I’m good at ridiculousness, so often Sarah will say, “Nory goes to the cafeteria and there are hijinks. Got it, Lauren?” And I write wild and crazy stuff. I send Sarah chapters as I go so she can revise the outline as the bigger picture starts to emerge. When I’m done, I send the whole book to Emily in one big caboodle.
Emily: I do a big revision. Really, it is a honking big revision.
Lauren: Because Emily ROCKS THE HECK OUT OF REVISIONS. Revision is hard work, baby. Emily has to fix plot problems (for Sarah!) and tone down craziness (for me!), and so basically she is the Big Cheese. Sarah and I send her chocolate a lot to keep her happy.
Emily: I have not gotten any chocolate. Lauren is fibbing about that part of it.
Sarah: No we’re not! I bought a brownie for you! I might have eaten it before giving it to you. Oops. Anyway. Then I revise Emily’s revision.
Lauren: Then they send it back to me.
Emily: Then to me again.
Sarah: It is an absurdly fun process, because we all write to make each other laugh.
What type of magic do you think each of your co-authors would be best at?
Sarah: It would not surprise me at all if I learned that Lauren was a fuzzy. I once watched her have an entire conversation with a poodle. Emily would be a flare. She is a great cook.
Lauren: Sarah is full of malarkey. I have never had an entire conversation with poodles, as poodles are snooty and they always insist on having the last word. Which means they trot away from me mid-convo.
Emily: Sarah is definitely a flyer. She is a big world-traveler and has no fear of being high in the air.
What character in the book is most like one of your co-authors?
Emily: I think I’m a bit like Nory’s Aunt Margo, who is very practical and independent. I think Lauren is rather like Nory’s teacher, Ms. Starr, who always finds the fun in things. Sarah is probably the most like Nory herself – in that Nory doesn’t let anything get in her way when pursuing her ambitions, and she even gets her friends to help her with her projects.
Did you have a teacher like Ms. Starr (or other adult who encouraged and inspired you) when you were in school?
Sarah: Yes! Her name is Peggy. And she basically taught me how to be a writer.
Emily: No! All my teachers found me annoying and made no secret of it.
Lauren: For me, Mr. Ham Kimzey. He taught me grammar. I loooooooove grammar. He also taught me about integrity and how to think critically and how to be kind. Dang. Mr. Kimzey was a rockstar.
What would you say to adults whose kids or students like Nory might be more “upside down” learners or who might attend “unusual” classes?
Lauren: We’d say, “Awesome! Love ’em up, because they’re awfully special, upside-down or not.” We’d also say, “Is anybody ‘right-side up,’ really?” Because we’re sure not.
Emily: Everyone can make the most of who they are. Everyone has strengths to nurture and be proud of.
Sarah: Yes and yes.
Do you have a favorite literary trio (besides yourselves)?
Sarah: Lauren and I wrote the YA book HOW TO BE BAD with an author named E. Lockhart. She’s pretty awesome. Not as awesome as Emily, but not bad.
Emily: (For those of you who don’t know, I write for young adults under the name E. Lockhart. Sarah is TEASING YOU.) This is a funny question, because how many literary trios are there? It’s not a common thing, really. But I just read Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan and Debora Biancotti. Really, really fun. Westerfeld and I have had some interesting conversations about his trio-writing process as compared to mine. I told him all the dirt on Sarah and Lauren.
Lauren: My favorite writing trio is Sarah, Emily, and Lauren. End of story.
From l-r: Lauren Myracle; Sarah Mlynowski; Emily Jenkins
