THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY and THE MISTLETOE ON MAIN STREET (Ruby's Regulars) by Holly Schindler

I first hosted Holly Schindler on this blog all the way back in 2012 (!). Years later, I found out she’s on Smack Dab in the Middle as part of a group of (mostly) MG authors. Holly was kind enough to interview me for Smack Dab in the Middle on September 17. In preparing interview questions for Holly, I learned about her middle grade book, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, as well as her holiday romcom novel, MISTLETOE ON MAIN STREET.

Auggie Jones thinks she’s an ordinary girl. She lives with her grampa Gus, a trash hauler, in an old house. And even though most of her friends live in the same poorer section of the town of Willow Grove, it seems like everyone has a “shine”—a talent or special ability. Everybody but Auggie, that is.

But winds of change begin to blow—a storm tears through Willow Grove, Auggie’s best friend ditches her for a new girl who lives in an upscale house on the well-to-do side of town, and the House Beautification Committee targets Serendipity Place, Auggie’s neighborhood, with fines and threats of demolition.

Auggie insists she and her grampa aren’t run-down people. She uses the items from Gus’s trash pickups to reinvent their house and convince everyone (including her old best friend) that she’s every bit as worthy of notice as anyone from the fancier side of Willow Grove.

Along the way, Auggie finds her voice, her ability to stand up to those in power, and uncovers an artistic talent that goes far beyond decorating her house. But how could a yard filled with items ready for the junkyard change an entire town’s idea of beauty? How can it save Auggie’s aging neighborhood? And how can rusted, recycled pieces of metal ever become Auggie’s special way to “shine”?

Hard-nosed journalist Russ Keegan only wants to coast through the remainder of the holiday season, avoiding all the sentimental schmaltz. But his editor gives him one last-minute assignment: a Christmas investigation into Ruby’s Place, the mysterious supper club in Sullivan, Missouri. Locals whisper that on Christmas Eve, anyone who enters can see their long-lost loved one, share a table, hold their hand, tell them everything they didn’t have a chance to while they were still alive. Maybe I love you. Or I’m sorry.

For Russ, this isn’t just another story. He was in Sullivan the same night he lost the love of his life. Deep down, beneath his cynical exterior, Russ may still want to believe that the deepest love can survive anything. But doubts torture him. What if Josie is there, but bitter and angry? Or worse, what if he arrives at Ruby’s only to find that Josie is not there, and Ruby’s Place is a lie?

Despite his best efforts to take a detour, Russ winds up in Sullivan on Christmas Eve…where the town itself seems touched by something otherworldly. Suddenly, even Russ’s own memories seem untrustworthy. Certainties begin to crumble, and a new truth about his final night with Josie begs to be exposed.

As the snow falls, will Russ find himself beneath the mistletoe? Will Ruby’s Place disappoint? Or will the secrets revealed this holiday season make for the most magical Christmas Eve of all?

In our last interview, you said, “I have to devote myself to one project at a time—I give myself crazy word count goals, to make sure I get each book drafted quickly, so that I can move on to another.” Has your process changed since then, or is it roughly the same?

It’s soooo different! I love this question, because I’ve recently been sharing how my process and my attitude toward writing has changed over the years.

Do I do one project at a time? Nope. Mostly because I’ve expanded so much in the last few years. I’ve gone back to a couple of old, old loves. To start with, I’ve gotten back into my art, and have launched InkBerry Designs, where I sell greeting cards and POD artwork, and license pattern design for products. I also got back into teaching. I was a TA in grad school, and there were a lot of things I enjoyed about it. Once I became a full-time writer, though, I absolutely became a craft junkie. I love studying story structure and theory. When I launched my Substack a couple of years ago (It’s My Story & I’m Stickin’ With It), and I started sharing what I’d learned about the writing craft, the itch to start teaching again took over. I hit publish on my first video course this summer (about the power of Chapter Breaks), and am in the midst of polishing a book and complementary course on narrative transportation.

So with all that happening, I’ve learned to…peck. I have one project that’s in the priority slot, getting most of my current attention. And I have several others that I just keep chipping away at. When the priority project gets finished, I move something I’ve been pecking away at into its slot. By the time it becomes priority, I know exactly what I need to do to get it finished, no floundering about with multiple rounds of brainstorming or herky-jerky stops and starts.

I actually posted an entire YouTube vid on why I no longer tell writers to write every day and offered some tips on staying connected to a project even without actively putting a ton of new words on the page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB-Uym28i5E&t=2s

That’s great advice! And I love that your middle grade book, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, has been a classroom favorite. What about the book do you think makes it so appealing to read aloud?

That one’s been such a surprise! A teacher here in Missouri contacted me recently to tell me she’s reading it to her class again and they are so into it that they’re cheering and booing and arguing about how she pronounces characters’ last names! I think to begin with, kids have always loved the folk art element. I can’t tell you how many art projects I’ve seen over the years! So many cool, inventive ways to repurpose old used-up items into art. But there’s also something about a little girl standing up to something as big as the city council and changing her entire town’s idea of what is beautiful. To see someone young with that kind of power is really encouraging to young people, I think.

Definitely! You also write books for other age groups (YA and adult). What do you find the most challenging about writing such a wide variety of stories?

I kind of feel like the challenging thing for me would have been to just stick with one genre. I read in a variety, to start with. Always a big reader. But a big part of the multi-genre thing is that it took soooo long to snag that first yes from a publisher (7 ½ years!) that I just plain didn’t know where that yes would come from. I felt as though I had to keep trying everything until something worked. So in those years, I was writing mysteries and romances and lit fic and…etc., etc. I was teaching piano and guitar lessons out of the house to pay the bills, and interacting with young people inspired me to write works for them. My first deal actually turned out to be for a YA (A Blue So Dark).

But I never wanted to abandon all that work I did on all the other genres, so I’ve consistently written for different ages and categories. In the last few years, I even launched my own independent imprint (InToto Books) where I could really explore a wide variety of genres and learn the ins and outs of publishing. It’s been so eye-opening. I think every author should independently (self) publish something, and farm out as few jobs as possible. You wind up understanding the industry in an entirely new way.

I’ll bet! What are some of your current projects?

Thanks so much for asking this. I’ve mentioned some of the craft resources I’m working on already, but as far as fiction goes, I’ve been pecking away for a few months now at a rom-com, to be published under my first pen name (Sloan Wilder). I also just released my latest Ruby’s Place story. Each Christmas, since (ahem) 2017, I’ve released a new Christmas book set in a magical supper club where, on Christmas Eve only, you can reconnect with someone from your past who is no longer living. Get a chance to say all the things you didn’t say when they were still around. Maybe I love you or I’m sorry. This year’s installment, Mistletoe on Main Street, is available now. I’ve also recently released the Ruby’s Regulars series (of which Mistletoe is a part) in two different collections, books 1-3 and books 4-5. If you go the series route, you can get the whole shebang for under $10!

Order THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY