Goldenrod Moram loves
nothing better than a good quest. Intrepid, curious, and full of a
well-honed sense of adventure, she decides to start her own exploring
team fashioned after her idols, the explorers Lewis and Clark, and to
map the forest right behind her home. This task is complicated, however,
by a series of unique events—a chance encounter with a mysterious old
lady has her searching for a legendary blue rose. Another encounter
lands her in the middle of a ragtag gang of brilliant troublemakers. And
when she stumbles upon none other than the ghost of Meriwether Lewis
himself, Goldenrod knows this will be anything but an ordinary summer . .
. or an ordinary quest. Debut author Sarvenaz Tash combines an
edge-of-your-seat adventure, a uniquely clever voice, and an
unforgettable cast of characters to prove that sometimes the best
adventures of all are waiting right in your own backyard.
2. What sparked your initial idea to write this book?
immediately wondered what kind of girl would have that name. It sounded
like a fairy tale name but I thought it’d be interesting if, instead,
she was an ordinary girl who was rather annoyed by that fact. That same
day, I came up with the idea of the gang of nefarious kids she meets in
the forest and, voila, the very initial spark was born.
3. You have unique character names in your book, how did you decide on them?
I mentioned, Goldenrd’s name came to be in a dream. Spitbubble’s name
is the one that came to me later that day, when my boyfriend and I were
discussing making soap bubbles when we were little. The other names came
to me pretty easily as I was thinking of the rest of the gang and their
“talents.” I do get a big kick out of names.
4. Your audience is middle grades (8 and up) – what came first, the book idea or the audience for the book?
always knew I wanted to try my hand at writing an MG novel because I
have such fond, vivid memories of reading those as a kid. I was just
waiting for the right idea. So when this idea popped into my head, I
knew it was the MG story I’d been waiting for.
5. What do you hope readers take away from reading The Mapmaker and the Ghost?
hope that first and foremost they’re entertained and that it makes them
laugh. And I hope it piques the reader’s sense of adventure. And if
they learn some interesting fact about Lewis & Clark also, that
would be cool, too!
6. As a debut author, has your experience been what you expected or completely different or somewhere in between?
say that no matter how much you think you’ve prepared yourself, most of
what happens when you’re about to get published is unexpected. Most of
it is unexpected in good, albeit surreal, ways. Like seeing your book
pop up on Amazon, or knowing that strangers are going to be reading your
story. And some of it has been unexpected in more difficult ways.
Things like staff changes at your publishing house, or having to sit
down and actually write a second book or knowing that strangers are
going to be reading your story! There are definitely challenges. But,
ultimately, they are amazing challenges to have and I’m very grateful
for them.
7. How long did it take from initial idea/starting writing to
the book’s release? And how many revision rounds were done in between?
2006, but I didn’t start writing it in earnest until Fall 2007. My book
released in April 2012. There were many, many revision rounds done in
between. By my last count, we were up to around draft 27. About 24 of
those drafts were done on my own and three were done with the publishing
house and my editor there.
Cool interview-I was definitely entertained while reading this and I hope it reaches its intended MG audience because I think they'll enjoy it a lot!