I'm delighted to welcome Mary Casanova to the blog today.
Can you talk a bit about where your inspiration for this story
came from? What drew you to this time in Minnesota history?
The inspiration for FROZEN came to
me over 20 years ago while reading about my region’s history in KOOCHICHING by
Hiram Drache. In it, I read just a few sentences about how one morning at the
turn of the century, a prostitute was found frozen in the snow in a small
northern Minnesota town. As a joke, someone took her frozen corpse into the
meeting hall and stood it up as a joke at the start of a meeting. Drache wrote
that it caused a great stir. I couldn’t let the image or this woman’s life go.
Or perhaps, she reached out to me across the centuries and wouldn’t let me
forget her. I had to somehow make sense of the times she lived in and vindicate
her life and death.
You have written quite a few middle-grade and children’s
books. What was different or surprising about writing for young adults?
As this story took shape, I really
didn’t know who my audience was going to be. Was it for young adults, or was
the material geared more for adult readers? Many times, I had to put aside that
concern and simply write the story that demanded to be written. Once I had a
publisher for the novel, there was debate within the publishers’ offices, too,
about if it was a YA or adult novel. My hope is that if it’s a good story it
will find a wide range of readers as a cross-over novel.
What kind of research did you conduct while writing this
novel? Was there anything interesting that you weren’t able to work into the
book?
In writing historical fiction,
there are worlds of interesting material that I must sift through. I may find a
wealth of interesting details, but I must use only those that serve this story.
It’s a bit like panning for gold. Along with visits to the archives of the
Koochiching Historical Museum, I delved into other books, finding gold in Joe
Paddock’s book, Keeper of
the Wild, which chronicles the life of Ernest Oberholtzer and his
environmental battle with industrialist E.W. Backus.
My hands-on research is living
where I live, across from the historic lift bridge in a hundred-plus year old
house, and incorporating the oral history and details of living on Rainy Lake.
I have spent many summers returning to “Ober’s” Mallard Island, which is
historically preserved. I made a point to return to Kettle Falls Hotel, which
is also on the Historic Register, and spend a night in one of the upstairs
hotel rooms. (I didn’t stay in the allegedly haunted room. Maybe another time
for another story!) And I gleaned history from Jim Hanson and his family who
own Atisokan Island, and the restored yacht, “Virginia,” which I fashion
Trinity’s namesake after in the novel.
I love Minnesota authors and books that take place in
Minnesota. I actually grew up reading your books because I related so well to
your Minnesotan characters. What is your favorite thing about living in, or
writing about, Minnesota?
My writing career now takes me all
over the country--sometimes out of the country. But the more I’m away, the more
I appreciate the last leg of my trip from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport to
International Falls. The bright lights and buildings thin the farther north I
head and are replaced by vast stretches of dark green dotted by winding rivers
and lakes. As the plane touches down at the tiny runway, I’m glad to return
home to a much slower, unhurried pace. A place where I can hear myself think
again and be restored by the abundance of nature around me.
Who was your favorite character to write? Who was the most
challenging?
I loved getting to know my main
character, Sadie Rose. She has so much to confront about her past and so many
decisions to make about her present, yet the story starts with her being unable
to speak--and hasn’t said a word in 11 years. My challenge was to make the
reader care about her each step of the way on her journey to wholeness.
And as the author, that means
getting out of the way and allowing this character be who she needs to be. It’s
a balancing act between being in-control (somebody has to write the story) and
being out-of-control (really not knowing what your character is going to do
next). Somewhere in the middle is where inspiration comes and art happens!
I love the character of Aasta, partly because I can hear her
Minnesotan/Norwegian accent so well. Was it difficult to work dialect into the
story?
Dialect is always tricky. When I
first wrote Aasta’s dialogue, I tried to make each sentence and phrase sound
exactly as she might have said it. The problem is, it becomes cumbersome on the
page to read this kind of dialogue. So I pulled back a bit, reminding myself
that the reader needs a hint
of the accent--but too exactly depicted and it’s almost like too much salt in a
dish.
Since you are writing books for teens, what were you like as a
teenager?
As a teenager, I was always looking
for the “road less traveled.” I wasn’t great at being in team sports or school
activities, but I loved anything that took me outdoors. I had an appaloosa
named Keema, and he and I put on many miles together on the outskirts of the
Twin Cities. I loved water-skiing, down-hill skiing, sailing, and camping. I
especially enjoyed heading north to a family cabin near Ely and absorbing the
haunting cries of the loons, the crisp pine-scented air, and the quiet of the
northern forests.
I discovered the power of words
when I was in high-school. I loved the medium of words, sentences, and
paragraphs as an art form. That’s when my dream of becoming a full-time writer
began. But before getting that degree in English, I found a way to graduate a
half-year early and go to Florida with a few girlfriends (I talked them into
the loop-hole I’d found, too). I went to Aspen with another girlfriend to
become ski-bums for another year. And eventually, I made my way through college
and immediately upon graduation, moved together with my husband, Charlie, to
northern Minnesota.
I was--and still am--a strong
believer in listening to your heart and following your dreams. The trick is to
be still enough to listen. . .
What are you working on now? Can you talk a little bit about
any projects you have coming up?
I’m really excited about a novel I
have in progress. It’s something different for me. It’s a bit of time-travel,
and explores the scars left by war, whether present or past. I would love to
tell more about it, but for now, readers will have to wait and wonder!
University of Minnesota Press has been kind enough to offer a copy of Frozen to one lucky winner. This giveaway will run until September 16. You must be 13 or older to enter. Giveaway is international. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter!
