Today we are very excited to share a special interview with author MT Anderson (Elf Dog & Owl Head)!
Read on to learn more about him, his book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: MT Anderson
M. T. Anderson is the author of Feed, a National Book Award Finalist; the National Book Award winner The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party and Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves, which were both Michael L. Printz Honor Books; Symphony for the City of the Dead; Yvain: The Night of the Lion; Landscape with Invisible Hand; and many other books for children and young adults, including The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, cocreated with Eugene Yelchin, which was a National Book Award Finalist. M. T. Anderson lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
About the Book: Elf Dog & Owl Head
Clay has had his fill of home life. A global plague has brought the world to a screeching halt, and with little to look forward to but a summer of video-calling friends, vying with annoying sisters for the family computer, and tuning out his parents’ financial worries, he’s only too happy to retreat to the woods. From the moment the elegant little dog with the ornate collar appears like an apparition among the trees, Clay sees something uncanny in her. With this mysterious Elphinore as guide, he’ll glimpse ancient secrets folded all but invisibly into the forest. Each day the dog leads Clay down paths he never knew existed, deeper into the unknown. But they aren’t alone in their surreal adventures. There are traps and terrors in the woods, too, and if Clay isn’t careful, he might stray off the path and lose his way forever. Graced with evocative black-and-white illustrations by Junyi Wu, Elf Dog and Owl Head is heartfelt and exhilarating, wry and poignant, seamlessly merging the fantastic and the familiar in a tale both timely and timeless.
From the singular imagination of National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson comes a magical adventure about a boy and his dog—or a dog and her boy—and a forest of wonders hidden in plain sight.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Living through the pandemic shut-down in the hills of Vermont with no company for a year but my dog! It really made me think about the connections between humans and animals, that special love.
YABC: How do you know when a book is finished?
This only happens after I have revised a book several times. Each time, I wait a month between readings so I have forgotten it a little. Problems become obvious when you step away and then return. But eventually I realize that I’m unable to fix anything else until I get the input of other people. Then it’s time to send it off!
YABC: What research did you do to write this book?
Not much, because it was basically about the life I was living: exploring the woods and hills with my dog during the pandemic. But I was reading a lot of children’s books by the Finnish writer Tove Jansson then, and a book of troll stories illustrated by the wonderful John Bauer, and I think they influenced my writing. Also, there are some motifs from ancient Celtic mythology: in particular, the belief that people from the fae otherworld have magical white dogs with red ears, and hunt white stags with red ears.
YABC: What type of scene do you love to write the most?
There’s not just one. Every type of scene presents its own challenges. How can I make a conversation interesting? How can I make action believable? Especially when I’ve never been in a real sword-fight or been attacked by a wild animal?
I love those challenges.
Oh, I actually have been attacked by two wild animals: a rabid raccoon and a pissed-off beaver. In both instances, I kept my cool.
YABC: What word do you have trouble overusing?
When I was writing my nonfiction book about Russia in World War II, Symphony for the City of the Dead, the copy-editor told me I was using the word “vast” way too often. She was right — but then again, everything about Soviet Russia was vast: the forests, the deserts, the numbers of soldiers marching to the front …
YABC: What is your favorite writing space?
In the winter, I like to write in the room with my woodstove at night, with the frozen world locked outside.
YABC: How do you plan to celebrate the launch of your book?
I’m going to have a party in New York where I see a bunch of friends I haven’t seen for years — since before the pandemic! I can’t wait. I want cake.
YABC: What hobbies do you enjoy?
I hike, I cross-country ski, and I listen to a lot of music.
YABC: What’s your least favorite word or expression and why?
I don’t like “pick your brain” because it sounds like some kind of creepy mad scientist’s neurological procedure. I always picture that scene in one of the Silence of the Lambs movies where … well, never mind.
Also I hate “slacks” because it smells like the 70s.
YABC: What do you do when you procrastinate?
I chop wood. Or I read history and tell myself it’s “research.” Or I call friends and tell myself that human connection is important. Right then.
Procrastination can be useful if you can procrastinate circularly. For example, I clean the kitchen when I don’t want to write. Then the next day, I write when I don’t want to clean the kitchen.
YABC: What other age group would you consider writing for?
I’ve written for almost every age, because I think that we contain many ages within us. Right now, I’m writing more things for adults, which is fun. Finally writing about people who can get driver’s licenses!
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I’m writing a heist novel for adults about the theft of a saint’s corpse from its shrine! Thanks for your questions!
Title: Elf Dog & Owl head
Author: MT Anderson
Illustrator: Junyi Wu
Release Date: 4/11/23
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 153622281X
ISBN-13: 9781536222814
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction/Fantasy
Age Range: 8 and up
~ Giveaway Details ~
Five (5) winners will receive a copy of Elf Dog & Owl Head (MT Anderson) ~US/CAN Only!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
My kiddo would love this one!
This looks wonderful!! Adding this to our TBR right now!
This book sounds like something many readers at my school would be interested in reading.
This is a gorgeous cover and it sounds like a story my daughter would love!
Love the cover, think this book looks awesome!
This cover is fantastic! This book sounds like many readers will relate to the main character, including me.