Interview with Katrina Leno, Author of The Umbrella Maker's Son

Thanks forjoining us at Smack Dab in the Middle! Please start with the obvious–a quicksynopsis of The Umbrella Maker’s Son.

 

TheUmbrella Maker’s Son tells the story of Oscar who is—of course—the son of an umbrellamaker! Oscar’s family has been making quality, beautiful (and pricey!)umbrellas for generations and generations, and that makes sense, because it’salways raining where they live. But when a new competitor starts making lowquality umbrellas at a very cheap price, the family business is threatened. Andit’s only getting rainier and rainier in Roan. Could there be something behindthe foul weather? Could there be…something causing all the rain?

 

This issuch a fresh, original concept–what was the inspiration? Where did the ideacome from?

 

I love therain and I really love the idea of a city that has adapted to sustain a prettyintense weather cycle. I live in Los Angeles now, where it’s usually prettysunny, but about ten years ago I lived in Scotland, where it rains quite a lot.I loved the experience of leaving my apartment on a sunny day and then, out ofnowhere—rain! I miss the rain now and I just wanted to immerse myself in thatworld again. I look at it as similar to Narnia, where it’s always snowing. Howdo the townspeople deal with it? Are they happy? Sad? Always wet? It was suchan interesting world to explore!

 

You’re nostranger to the writing world, but The Umbrella Maker’s Son is your first MG.Why write for younger readers this time? What about the book lends itself tobeing better suited for MG?

 

There is aquirkiness and a silliness and an anything-goes-iness that I’ve always lovedabout MG books. Some of my favorite stories in the world were made for youngerreaders, and I find myself, as an adult, revisiting them often, whenever I needa warm hug in the form of a book. Plus I think this age group has so much tooffer. It was really a joy to write my first middle grade!

 

I’m a completewriting craft nerd, and I love to hear about process. There are so manydrafting techniques available now–I’ve even heard from a writer who draftswhile jogging, dictating into a phone! How do you draft? Plotter? Pantser? Amix?

 

I’m usuallya pantser, but for The Umbrella Maker’s Son, I actually had a prettygood idea of the entire plot, from start to finish! I never really sit down andwrite an outline or anything, I like to just dive into the writing process andsee how things evolve from the empty page. Of course there are downsides tothat—a lot of editing!—but it’s always worked for me. And whenever we had acloudy or rainy day in Los Angeles, I’d make sure to go for a walk for someextra inspiration. :)

 

What aboutrevision? Some books require more than others–we’ve all faced enormous revisionundertakings (tossing half the books, etc.) How much did The Umbrella Maker’sSon require? How did you tackle it? (I’ve even gone so far as to retype entiremanuscripts in order to get through a major revision.) 

 

Yes, thedreaded revision process! Actually, I think The Umbrella Maker’s Son isunique because I first came up with the idea almost two decades ago (!!).Throughout the years, I’ve written various drafts and short stories and graphicnovel pitches all set in this world, so it was really a story I was constantlythinking about, constantly tweaking, and constantly revising. At one point itwas going to be a retelling of the Pygmalion myth! Because of all thatbehind-the-scenes work, once I sat down to write this version of thestory, I had a pretty strong grasp on what I wanted to do. There are a lot ofaction scenes in the book, and I’d say those are the parts I spent the mosttime editing—because I’ve never really written action scenes before! It waschallenging to get them exactly right.

 

Every bookteaches the writer something–what was the biggest lesson of The UmbrellaMaker’s Son?

 

I’d like tothink The Umbrella Maker’s Son teaches people to trust their instinctsand to never be explore where those instincts are leading you...

 

What do youhope that the reader takes from The Umbrella Maker’s Son?

 

There arestrong themes of relationships in this book, because I love writing aboutpeople and their friends and family (and enemies!). I love to write aboutcharacters messing up and finding their way and apologizing and making up andgrowing and constantly learning how to be the best version of themselves. Ihope my readers take that message away with them: that they can (and should!) constantlybe evolving. We are here to learn and to grow, always!

 

What’snext?

 

I’m workingon a few secret projects! I’d love to write another MG, return to YA, and maybeeven work on an adult book (eventually!).

 

Where canwe find you?

 

I’m mostlyon Instagram (@KatrinaLenoBooks) becauseif I do too much social media, I start to get overwhelmed and anxious! So youcan always find me there sharing photos of my new kittens (Moose and Seaweed) andworking on my daily morning pages. And my website has more info about all myother books – KatrinaLeno.com.

 

Thank youfor having me!

 

~

 

Order The Umbrella Maker's Son from Bookshop