As to what kinds of fiction I used to read as a teenager, I confess as a teen I skipped over teen fiction and went right on to adult literature to Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. (I refer to this as my English tea period…) I also remember falling in love with Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, which I read at least forty times late at night while hidden beneath my covers, a flashlight tucked firmly beneath my chin. And oh, how I loved the tragic story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which made me weep without fail as I wished for my own noble, heartbreaking love. My all time favorite novel was and is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which, interestingly, didn’t revolve around love but around morality. That book challenged me to think of life in terms or doing the right thing rather than the most expedient. And above all, Harper Lee’s writing is nothing short of transcendent.
Would you say your reading as a teenager has had a distinct influence on how you write fiction now, and why?
I’ve never actually tried to make the connection between what I read and what I now write, but having reread my lines concerning Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, I now see correlations I’ve not considered before. In The Circle of Blood, Cameryn realizes she has chosen moral flexibility in the forensic world of absolutes. Although in her mind her reasons are absolute, her actions still break the rules. Of course, in the end, Cameryn must live with the dangerous consequences of stepping off the moral rails, but I think for me that is more or less the point. It is a given that we all seek wisdom. But to get wisdom we must have experience, and that’s where we all scrape our metaphorical knees. Teenagers, both fictional and breathing, must be given grace as they inevitably test boundaries, and hopefully end up as centered as my beloved Atticus. (Remember, while young, Atticus shot birds for sport before setting down his weapon. He had lessons to learn like the rest of us.) So upon reflection, yes, I believe my favorite book has left its mark on my psyche. And whatever is in my mind inevitably flows onto the written page.
What did you do before you became a published teen/young adult novelist, and how did you come to write your first teen/young adult novel and get it published?
This is going to sound anachronistic, but I was a fulltime wife and mother. (As a teen I was a waitress in a Utah restaurant named Corey’s Kitchen, where I served none other than notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, who asked me out on a date. Thankfully, I declined. My life has been very strange…) Anyway, after I started my family, my sole focus was on my beautiful daughter, Kristin. I wanted to stay home and not miss a second of her childhood. Things were going along swimmingly until I told Kristin she was going to have a brother or sister, asking wasn’t that the most wonderful news ever? “Hurray!” I cheered. “Boo,” she replied. Which is to say Kristin took the news rather badly – she announced she liked being the only child and she wanted me to send the baby back to where it came from. After I recovered from the shock of my little angel’s reaction (she’s now a speech pathologist and adores her brother) I sat down and did what I’d seen my own mother do, which was to write. I created a story about a cat, a dog and a parrot that didn’t want a new pet in their house, but of course they all learned to love the baby in the end. When I read it to Kristin she laughed and asked me to read it again. She and her daddy and I agreed that a sibling would actually be fun, so mission accomplished.
I set that yellow lined paper inside a drawer and forgot about it. But when my published mother came to visit, Kristin pulled the pencil-scratched notes from beneath a coloring book and handed them to her grandmother. I was so embarrassed at the thought of my professional author-mother perusing my quickly penned book that I actually left the room while she read it aloud. My mother saw potential and encouraged me to revise the prose, tightening a bit here and adding a bit there. After I made the changes she convinced me to send it to a publisher (this took some doing) and, believe it or not, the first place I sent it bought That New Pet. It was even reviewed in The New York Times! After that incredibly lucky experience, the publisher asked me to write another picture book. Instead, I stumbled across a very creepy medical phenomenon that began to haunt my imagination. I called my doctor-sister to noodle out additional information. Then, as I rocked my son Daniel to sleep, I devised a very different kind of book. Instead of fluffy critters I penned my very first young adult novel, Show Me the Evidence. Lightening stuck twice when I was flown to New York as a nominee for the prestigious Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Mystery. Amazingly, I won the award for my very first teen novel! After I got a taste of writing for teens, I quickly discovered that YA was my favorite genre. It allows me more room to breathe as an author. Plus, I get to unleash my inner teen!
How would you describe your style of teen/young adult fiction or your approach to writing teen/young adult fiction?
My approach has been to have a style that is exciting, authentic and organic, meaning I try to draw nuance from teens who have inhabited my life before I put my fictional characters in harm’s way. Although the action in my mysteries is by its nature tense, my aim has been to create protagonists who feel real to my readers. Many teens (mostly young women) have found the Ferguson home a soft place to land during times of personal trouble because my husband and I have kept an informal open door policy for those on the edge. I have helped them while they have taught me. As I’ve listened to their struggles, I learned to recalibrate my ear to their life’s concerns and then reflect those insights into my work. Much of my fan mail expresses the deep connection my readers feel to Cameryn or Lyric or Justin. I consider it my highest compliment.
Who is another author whose teen/young adult fiction you admire and why?
My favorite teen/you adult author is Suzanne Collins. Her book The Hunger Games followed by its two subsequent novels was perfectly paced and tightly written with characters I was emotionally invested in. When Mockinjay was released I stayed up all night reading until dawn’s light illuminated my bedroom as well as the mound of tissues I’d accumulated from the poignant ending. (Yes, I am a weeper!) Those books were near perfection.
How would you summarise one of your teen/young adult novels in one paragraph?
Once again, I will copy the back blurb from my book The Christopher Killer with kudos to my publisher: The sleepy Rocky Mountain town of Silverton, Colorado hasn’t seen a murder in years—according to Pat Mahoney, the county coroner. So when his teenage daughter, Cameryn, asks if she can be his assistant—as preparation for a career in forensic pathology—he figures it’s a safe bet. But neither of them imagines that their first case will involve someone Cameryn knows . . . the fourth victim of a serial killer.
Attending her first autopsy is more difficult than Cameryn had ever expected, but she’s determined to find her friend’s murderer. Before long, Cameryn is plunged into a disturbing mystery, matching wits with everyone from the cantankerous medical examiner who doubts her abilities to the famous psychic who is predicting yet another death—soon.
How would you describe the appeal of this novel to teen/young adult readers?
It’s a mystery involving mysticism and romance, grounded on forensic science.
How would you summarise a chapter from this novel in one paragraph?
The first chapter in The Christopher Killer explains the origins of Cameryn’s strong passion for forensics. Cameryn’s grandmother, or Mammaw as she is called in the Irish tradition, voices her strong objection to her granddaughter’s choice of career, blaming Cameryn’s dark turn on her missing mother. Patrick Mahoney, Cameryn’s father, is the coroner of tiny Silverton, a town nestled high in the Colorado Mountains. His job provides a perfect access point for Cameryn, who is determined to give voice to the dead. The opening scene begins with a phone call from the new deputy concerning a body found in a rundown Silverton motel. When Patrick grumbles about his workload, Cameryn convinces her father to hire her as his assistant, and thus she begins her journey into a new, extraordinary, and very unsettling underworld to which few have access.
How would you describe the contribution this chapter makes to the novel?
It is the cornerstone, not only to the book but also to the entire series.
To what extent would you say fiction written primarily for young readers is different from fiction written primarily for adult readers?
Fiction for young readers has distinctive properties from books written for an older audience, which in some ways makes YA more difficult to write. Teen readers demand lean, faced-paced work that captures their attention and never lets go. It’s good training for a writer of any genre!
Author Website: www.alaneferguson.com
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