As twitter starts its slow slide into destruction, today’s a good (great!) day to sign up to our blog so that you don’t miss posts like this: our interview with Maggie Horne! If you’re a fan of middle grade, then you won’t want to let this interview pass you by. And, hey! If you’re one of those odd people who hasn’t read Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One yet, then maybe this will convince you to.
And don’t forget: you can follow Maggie on instagram too!
Have you always known you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you wrote your first story?
It’s actually funny, because when I was really young I remember hating writing assignments in school because everyone would finish before me so I never got to, like, have free time play with everyone else. A childhood friend recently picked up Hazel and messaged me saying “we used to talk about you being an author at recess in the second grade!” and I have NO memory of that. But I guess I have always known, in that case!
The first story I clearly remember writing was about a proboscis monkey that had a small nose going on a quest to meet a fairy who would give him a big nose like a real proboscis monkey. I was about seven, and I actually have no idea how I even knew what a proboscis monkey was.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
Growing up, I read literally anything, but as I got older and had less time I started reading contemporary more exclusively because it was what I was writing. Now, I’m trying to get back into reading everything, because I honestly want to write everything, too! I don’t think there’s a genre I wouldn’t write or a trope I wouldn’t want to put my own spin on.
When you close your eyes and imagine an apple, what do you see? An actual apple, a sketch of one, a blackness? Do you think that impacts your writing process?
I love this question! I remember the collective meltdown Tumblr had circa 2012 when people realized this was a thing. I see an actual apple! I think it definitely impacts my early writing process – when I have initial ideas, they normally take the form of specific moments or scenes that I can picture really clearly. The rest of the first draft is really just finding ways to get from moment to moment, and then everything after that is turning that draft into a real book.
Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?
Rebecca Barrow for character development and pacing, Rory Power for atmosphere, Jake Maia Arlow for emotional depth.
When you’re building your world, what do you focus on? How do you try to make it come to life?
I think that, especially in contemporary books, the relationships are really what make it come to life. You can try and add really minute little details about what’s going on and talk about every sneeze and pimple and whatever else, and sometimes that works really well, but other times I think it can drag the book down a bit. I try to write relationships that people feel really included in, and I think that helps a lot with contemporary world building.
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
I sure can!! Right now I’m working on edits for two projects, both of which come out in 2024. First up, Noah Frye Gets Crushed, a queer middle grade rom-com, is about 12-year-old Noah, who starts to worry that her friends are going to leave her behind now that they’ve Discovered Boys, so she decides to teach herself how to have a crush on a boy to fit in. It goes very, very badly. You can add Noah on Goodreads here!
Second, Stay Here With Me is my YA debut, out Fall 2024! This one’s about Alana and Gray: best friends, soulmates, and recent exes, after Alana came out as a lesbian a few months before the book starts. Both of them are desperate to stay the most important thing in the other’s life, but when they develop feelings for the same girl, things get a bit dicey. Here’s the Goodreads link!
Three images that capture the aesthetic of your book?
Three songs you would put in your book’s soundtrack?
It’s Nice to Have a Friend – Taylor Swift
(this is so inappropriate for a middle grade book BUT): wow – Alaska Thunderfuck
Fake Smile – Carlie Hanson
What would be your dream project?
I’ve always said I would KILL to be able to write any of the Young Avengers. @ Marvel, I know you’ve got to be working on something with Cassie!!! Let me at her!!!!
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
My first instinct was Hazel, but only if it was the Hazel at the end of the book who’s learned how to cooperate. If we’re going off of early-stage Hazel, then definitely Miss A.
You’re stuck on a desert island and you’re allowed only three (LGBT) books. What are you taking?
I feel like I say the same three books every time I get asked this, but I guess that means I really mean it? Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow, Wilder Girls by Rory Power, and Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow! Can’t knock the classics!!
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
One day, in a dream universe, it would be so cool if Shannon Beveridge did a film adaptation for one of my books! I think she’s deeply cool, but also my wife is OBSESSED with her so it would make me a hero in my house.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maggie Horne is a writer and editor who grew up near Toronto, Canada. After living in the UK for three years, she imported her best-ever souvenir in the form of her wife, and now lives outside of Ottawa with her family. Maggie works in marketing and spends the majority of her free time gazing adoringly at either her wife or Mexican food.
The author of middle grade novels HAZEL HILL IS GONNA WIN THIS ONE (an Indies Introduce Summer/Fall 2022 Selection, Indie Next pick, and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) and NOAH FRYE GETS CRUSHED from Clarion Books, Maggie is always trying to write the queer stories she wishes she could have read growing up.
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