Follow-up Interview with Author Sally Keehn
by Debbi Michiko Florence
Wow! Magpie Gabbard and the Quest for the Buried Moon is your newest novel — and what a novel it is! It’s a wild, fun story with tall tale qualities. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Do tell, how did you come up with this story?
A number of years ago, I’d come across an old tale told in the British Isles — The Buried Moon. In it, the moon comes to earth as a beautiful woman. She saves the life of a man who’s being attacked by the evil creatures of the night. As the man flees to safety, the evil creatures sneak up behind the moon, push her down into a bog hole and bury her alive.
I loved the image of the moon coming to earth as a woman. The frightening image of her being buried haunted me.
It wasn’t until years later that I decided to retell the story, set it in the Kentucky Mountains and reveal it through the eyes of a feisty Appalachian Mountain girl — Magpie Gabbard. Once Magpie’s character came alive for me, the real story emerged. My novels often come about this way. They’re inspired by an historical event or story. However, as the main character develops, the story changes and the plot evolves.
Magpie is a fantastic character with spunk and independence. You are no doubt drawn to strong female characters. Tell us a little how Magpie came to be.
For me, the evolution of a character is such a mysterious process. It’s a little bit of this. A little bit of that. I thought of the name “Magpie” long before I started writing about her going off to free the buried moon. I envisioned her with a moon-white streak running through her long black hair.
When I discovered the real life setting that inspired the fictional one in my novel — the Hensley Settlement on top of Brush Mountain in South-Eastern Kentucky where two families had lived in virtual isolation for close to fifty years — I saw Magpie in my mind’s eye. The moon smiled down as Magpie, honey knife and bucket in hand, marched across her remote mountain plateau. I didn’t discover until later that Magpie carried her brother’s foot in her apron pocket. I also wasn’t aware of Magpie’s grit — that cussedness that enabled her to go on no matter what. That came later after I researched the intrepid families who lived in rough and tumble South-Eastern Kentucky and the feuds that used to plague their area including the well known one between the Hatfields and McCoys.
I find that characters, like the people I meet, take on a richness and depth the more I get to know them and their world.
What about the rest of the characters? How did they come about? Do you have any favorites? Why? Did any of them surprise you? How?
When I was researching my first fantasy, Gnat Stokes and the Foggy Bottom Swamp Queen, I visited the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee. There, I saw a drawing of a home a family had made inside a hollowed out tree. Imagine having your home inside a tree! They had a stove in there — the smoke came out a hollowed out tree limb. I thought — what ingenious people. It came to me (it’s amazing how images stick with me) — Magpie’s brother lives inside a tree. When I asked myself why he lived in there, his story and character began to evolve. I began to see Magpie in relationship to her brother and to the other members of her family including Big Mama, who loves her children so much, she’s willing to chain them up to keep them on her mountaintop. I see a little of myself in Big Mama — I love my own daughters so.
The floating Head was the biggest surprise. He turned out to be such a character — a match for Magpie! Until I was actually writing the scene, I didn’t know he could flip backward through the air and land, splat, in the well water. Nor that he was such a civilized Head - well-loved by his horse and hog.
Without giving anything away, I love how everything is tied together in the book. The family, the feud, the talking Head, the wild boar, the honey, the goblins — everything! How long did it take you to come up with the complete story? Do you outline? Brainstorm? Discuss with your writing group/editor?
I spent about two and a half years writing and rewriting this novel. I didn’t outline it. I hate to outline. I did have the overarching storyline to get me going (that of the Buried Moon) and I had an end I was working toward. But for me, the true joy in writing comes from the discoveries I make as I’m doing it. I like to write about what I don’t know because the process of finding out is such an adventure. Once I made the amazing discovery that Magpie carried her brother’s foot in her pocket, I had to ask myself a whole bunch of questions including, “How and why did he lose that foot?” And, of course, “Where is Magpie taking it now?” The answers to questions like these lead me further and further into the plot.
I like to question my characters. I often do it when I walk my dog Sophie. It’s amazing how walking frees the brain! I take along this little tape recorder and record everything I come up with. Later, I type it into the computer. This becomes part of my free writing. I call it “free” because I don’t obsess over it. I just let the story rip. Then I go back later and see what I can use. Over time, with a lot of walking and questioning and countless revisions, the story finally emerged. In the end, it felt like the story had already existed. It was up to me to tease it out of the primordial ooze.
After three excellent historical fiction and one terrific contemporary, what made you try your hand at both GNAT STOKES and MAGPIE GABBARD? They’re both departures from your previous work. I think it’s so great that a writer doesn’t have to be pigeon-holed into one genre, but was it scary for you to try something different?
I wasn’t scared. I was too caught up in the joy of telling these stories and being able to explore the humorous and imaginative side of my psyche. Fortunately, I had the support of my writer friends who loved the chapters I was bringing to be critiqued — as well as the support of my editor — Patti Gauch of Philomel Books. Patti’s not afraid to publish the quirky, the unique. She’s a treasure.
What made writing MAGPIE different from writing your previous novels?
It was such a brain teaser. I had all these plot elements — how in the world did they fit together? There was a story here - I just had to figure it out.
As an established author, do you have a different perception about the business than you did when you were first starting out?
When I first was published back in 1991, it was enough to write a novel. The publisher took care of marketing and publicity; they had the staff who knew how to do it and they did it well. Nowadays, with the mergers that have gone on and the resultant staff cut-backs, I find I must carry more of the load. On one hand, this is a positive change. I’ve learned a good deal about marketing and publicity. On the other hand, it’s time consuming and costly. In a field I’d always felt was pretty democratic (anyone who writes a good enough piece can get it published regardless of class, race or income), this need for authors to assume more active marketing roles favors those with time and money to spare for mailings, websites, promotional materials, organizing and going on book tours, and the like.
What are you working on now?
I’m writing an historical novel set in 1851 south-eastern Pennsylvania — a few months after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act — a law which posed incredible moral and legal dilemmas for many in the north.
Any other news you’d like to share?
MAGPIE GABBARD was chosen as a Junior Library Guild Selection. It’s the first of my six titles to receive such an honor and I am delighted!
Did you make any Writer New Year’s resolutions?
There’s an old saying that I love, “God can’t steer a parked car.” I need to show up. I need to keep at it. Keep moving forward with my writing — day by day.
What books have you read recently that you’ve loved?
- THE ICE CASTLE by Jeanette Walls
As soon as I read the first sentence of this adult memoir, I couldn’t put it down. - THE LIBRARY LION by Michelle Knudsen
(what a delight!)
How can fans contact you?
By email:
Or by mail:
Sally Keehn
1691 Lehigh Pkwy. North
Allentown, PA 18103
Follow-up interview © February, 2007 by Debbi
Michiko Florence.
See also my original interview with Sally in 2004.
what's new?
For more information about Sally and her books, see her web site: www.sallykeehn.com.
See also my earlier interviews with Sally Keehn, in 2004 and 2005.
Contents © 2001-2008 by Debbi Michiko Florence. All rights reserved.
Site Design by Lisa Firke | Hit Those Keys. Back to top.