AT THE EDGE OF LOST by Martha Brockenbrough

So, it’s been a minute! This year has been a bit of a whirlwind, but things are calming down enough so that I can finally post some author interviews again!

I first featured Martha Brockenbrough all the way back in 2017 (!) After I saw her at a recent writing workshop this year, I learned that in addition to YA fiction and nonfiction, and picture books, she also writes middle grade! Published last October, AT THE EDGE OF LOST is an MG animal-centered adventure that will be sure to tug at anyone’s heart strings.

Caleb and Ronan are best friends. It doesn’t matter that Ronan is a dog and Caleb is a middle-school kid. They’ve been together their entire lives. Nothing can keep them apart. Even when Caleb’s family moved overseas, he chose to stay behind and live with his poppy because Ronan was too old to travel that far.

When tragedy strikes Poppy and he’s rushed to the hospital, the safe little world that Caleb has built collapses. He is sent to stay with other family, and Ronan is left behind in the chaos. Not about to wait to be found (or fed), Ronan takes off after Caleb only to end up lost and alone in the woods.

Caleb is frantic-with Poppy gone, it’s up to him to find Ronan before it’s too late. But it’s an impossible journey filled with deadly storms, unpredictable predators, and uncertainty. Just how far will Caleb have to go to save those he loves?

In our last interview, you said, “I’ve taught writers of all ages, and in general, what I most like about teaching is being there for people in those moments of struggle and understanding.” Do you find that you yourself grow as an author by helping others? And are you able to share an example of a moment of struggle and/or understanding that you went through yourself?

I can’t think of a better way to learn how to write than by trying to help another person do the same. When you’re doing that, you’re not only paying close attention to writing, but you’re thinking hard about elements of craft so you can help someone use the tools we have to come closer to achieving their vision.

I’ve had so many moments of struggle over the years. It took me ten years of work before my first children’s book sold (and another two for it to be published). If I’d known in advance it would take that long … well. I’m not sure I would have tried. I was young enough when I started that ten years felt like forever. Now, it feels more like a page turn. A big category of struggle is self-doubt. Will I be good enough? I think that’s probably the cousin to impostor syndrome. One enormous moment of struggle for me came when an agent who liked a PB I’d sold took a look at a YA novel I was drafting and absolutely hated it. She said she had a hard time getting through it and didn’t know who would want to read it. This was gutting feedback, and after the many years I’d put into this dream, I stopped and asked myself if it was time to let go of this dream. All the hours I’d spent were hours I did not earn income. Hours I did not do stuff for my family. There was a lot of shame attached. But I thought about what my life would be like if I did not have this ambition. And I decided I didn’t want to live that life. This was a big shift for me, where I decided that doing the work was the thing—and the outcome was beyond my control.

There is a postscript to that story, by the way. The novel sold. Got a starred review from Kirkus and made their 100-best list. Not all books are for all people. And that’s as it should be, because we are all one-of-a-kind readers who deserve a great variety of books.

Such a great reminder. And I greatly admire you for finding the courage to follow your heart toward the life you really wanted. In AT THE EDGE OF LOST, you write in dual points-of-view. How did you know that Ronan the dog needed his own narrative?

I often write multi-POV books. I love them. I also love books from one POV, but there’s something about multi POV that makes a story feel expansive. Usually a character earns a viewpoint when they experience transformation over the course of the story. I knew that Ronan would experience that, even as an old dog. I won’t say more because … spoilers!

Understood! How do you find writing for a Middle Grade audience different from other audiences and/or age groups?

Writing for a MG audience is absolute bliss. Kids this age are so smart. So keen on life. So curious. They’re also discerning, so you have to keep indulgent prose to a minimum, which is great discipline for a blabbermouth like me.

It is for me too. I’ve noticed my sentences getting shorter the more I write in the MG space. What do you wish people knew more about kidlit in general?

There’s this wacky notion that books for young readers are somehow lesser. Easier. I wish people understood that they are the most important books a person ever encounters. Without books for young readers, there are no adult readers. So, those “important” works of literature people admire so much? They would be neither written nor read without books for young readers.

I wish people outside the industry knew that the best books are being written today. There are, of course, many classics that stand the test of time. But on average, contemporary work is superior, especially because it includes a wider variety of stories and voices. To use a food analogy, I would much rather be able to feast on an infinite banquet table than eat the same PB&J sandwich every day. And I love PB&J. But, wow! The range—it’s great and still can become greater.

I also wish that people knew that these books are under attack by a small but extremely vocal group of people pretending that the texts are harmful to kids. It’s pernicious. Absolutely no one doing this work wants to harm kids. Almost no one in society wants to harm kids. So it naturally makes people who care about kids suspicious that there must be something going on—and that is just a lie. Kids have a right to read. The people making books for them have literally dedicated their professional lives to ensuring kids have good books. Anyone who says otherwise needs to take a seat.

Order AT THE EDGE OF LOST