I like writing kid protagonists because if a kid has agency in his or her own life, as many kid protags do, there’s dramatic tension inherent in that situation. Meeting kid readers for the first time blew me away, made me realize-yes!-this is why I’m doing this writing gig. It’s like there are no barriers, no “cool” factor, they just tell you how they feel. My kid readers are awesome because they are completely honest. What is it about young people as fictional heroes and/or as an audience that especially appeals to you? The two key pieces of writing advice I got along the way were: 1) The Protagonist Must Protag and 2) Never Surrender! In May 2006, I went to a novel critique workshop called Blue Heaven, held on an island in Ohio (yes!), and got the support and encouragement from writer colleagues that prompted me to get an agent. In late 2005, I started The Magic Thief, and something about writing for children was perfect for me maybe I found my voice. For a long time I wrote fantasy for adults-short stories and one unpublishable novel. I started writing in 2000 when I had a new baby and was living in Germany where my husband had a postdoctoral appointment in physics.ĭuring that time I was supposed to be working on my dissertation (I have a PhD in English), but it was not going well, and writing fiction was a way for me to procrastinate and feel productive at the same time. If I found a book I loved, I read and re-read it until it became part of me.Ĭould you tell us about your apprenticeship as a writer? What helped you the most? But I didn’t discover fantasy until I was an adult, and as a kid I would have loved it.

Which is not to say that I didn’t read because I did,

How would you describe yourself as a young reader? Learn more about Sarah Prineas at her author site, her LJ, and from the Class of 2k8! Also visit a microsite celebrating the novel with games, contest, wallpaper, and more!

The magic thief book