Today we are very excited to share an interview with author James Ponti!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: James Ponti
James Ponti is the New York Times bestselling author of four middle grade book series: The Sherlock Society following a group of young detectives; City Spies, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; the Edgar Award–winning Framed! series, about a pair of tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, DC; and the Dead City trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan. His books have appeared on more than fifteen different state award lists, and he is the founder of a writers group known as the Renegades of Middle Grade. James is also an Emmy–nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History, and Spike TV, as well as NBC Sports. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida. Find out more at JamesPonti.com.
About the Book: The Sherlock Society
In the tradition of Nancy Drew, four kids and one grandfather in Miami tackle a decades-old mystery in this first book in the action-packed and funny Sherlock Society middle grade series from New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award–winning author James Ponti!
Siblings Alex and Zoe Sherlock take their last name as inspiration when choosing a summer job. After all, starting a detective agency has to be better than babysitting (boring), lawn mowing (sweaty), or cleaning out the attic (boring and sweaty). Their friends Lina, an avid bookworm, and Yadi, an aspiring cinematographer, join the enterprise, and Alex and Zoe’s retired reporter grandfather offers up his sweet aquamarine Cadillac convertible and storage unit full of cold cases.
The group’s first target is the long-lost treasure supposedly hidden near their hometown Miami. Their investigation into the local doings of famed gangster Al Capone leads them to a remote island in the middle of the Everglades where they find alarming evidence hinting at corporate corruption.
Together with Grandpa’s know-how and the kids’ intelligence—plus some really slick gadgets—can the Sherlock Society root out the conspiracy?
~Author Chat~
YABC: Which came first, the concept, landscape, characters, or something else?
I did something on this book that I had never done before. I went out for a walk determined to come up with the idea for a new book series. There’s a lake near my house, with benches all around it. I made a rule that I had to come up with a question and sit at each bench and I couldn’t get up until I had a solid answer for that question. This continued bench to bench around the lake a couple times until I had a fully-formed idea. For example, the first few questions were: What type of book? (Mystery) Who are the detectives? (Originally sisters who became brother and sister) Where is it set? (Miami) It probably took about an hour and by then I knew I had enough to play with at my computer as I looked for the voice. (It’s only when I ‘hear’ the voice that I feel like I have an idea.) But in a way I simultaneously came up with the concept, characters, and setting. By the way, the pitch I came up with on that walk is almost verbatim the opening few lines of the book.
YABC: What research did you do to write The Sherlock Society?
Tons. I believe in research on so many levels. (Maybe it’s because I used to write and produce shows for the History Channel.) I find research adds richness and details. But mostly, I do it because the research gives me inspiration for totally unexpected ideas. (For example, the sound of tires going over the seams in the roadway in the Tuttle Causeway that connects Miami to Miami Beach is what inspired the beat of the song Jive Talking, which was originally titled Drive Talking. I would never come out with that out of my head, but I guarantee you will find it in an upcoming Sherlock Society book.) Research for this book started with interviewing people who were experts in topics touched upon in the story – marine biology, ecosystems of the Everglades, Independent newspapers. Then, I went to Miami and visited every location from the book looking to build upon what I had already written. The Miami Police Marine Patrol took me on a tour of Biscayne Bay on one of their boats. A federal Judge showed me around the courthouse and talked over legal issues. The principal of the school the characters attend toured me around campus. The list goes on. It was incredibly educational, inspirational, and fun. (Especially the marine patrol ride along.)
YABC: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I started thinking about writing in second grade and knew it was all I wanted to do by the end of fifth. I was a ten-year-old writer in waiting and spent the next eight years trying to figure out what type of writer I wanted to be. At first, I thought I was going to be a journalist but then really got interested in movies and television, which is what led me to film school, where I got a degree in screenwriting. It is ridiculous that ten-year-old me picked so well, because I’ve never had second thoughts. I had doubts about my ability, but never second thoughts about what I wanted to do.
YABC: How do you keep your ‘voice’ true to the age category you are writing within?
For me, kids’ books are at least fifty percent ‘voice,’ if not more. It is what I spend by far the most time on. In City Spies, the voice is third person, so I think of it as me telling a story to some really smart twelve-year-old kids. I want it to be smart and funny and understandable. I do not want it remotely dumbed down. The kids in my neighborhood are really into books so talking to them helps. The Sherlock Society is a bit trickier, because it’s narrated by one of the characters, so I have to imagine tween me telling the story. (But a more modern and knowledgeable kid than I was.) Talking with a bunch of kids and really listening to them helps with this tremendously. The kids in my neighborhood love to talk and I find them including insightful and entertaining.
YABC: What’s a book you recently read and loved?”
I adored The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. Clever, smart, endearing, with so many of my favorite elements seamlessly wrapped together. (I got to read it early so that I could write a blurb for it.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I’m going to answer this, but I’m going to cheat a bit. I do write one genre, and it’s most commonly identified as mystery and I’m fine with that. I LOVE reading mysteries. I LOVE mystery movies and television shows. But the truth is, I don’t think that’s really the genre I write. I have a writing theory based on the concept of ‘hybrid vigor’ from biology. I think genre writing improves when you overlap multiple genres, allowing for the strongest elements of each to rise to the top. I mix a variation of mystery-adventure-spy-comedy-
YABC: What word do you have trouble overusing?
I have two that haunt me. ‘Smile’ and ‘that.’ I have way too many smiles in my book. But it’s probably because I’m a fairly happy person and like my characters to be so also.
YABC: What is your favorite writing space?
We moved in February of 2020 (literally days before the pandemic) when I was writing City Spies: Golden Gate, and the new house has an absolutely amazing place for me to write. It’s right in front, with ten windows and a view of the sidewalk and road. There is a lot of natural light and a little bed for my dog Lucy next to my desk. It’s very light and airy. I also like that I see a steady stream of people out front, because writing can feel isolating.
YABC: What’s your favorite holiday tradition?
My family loves a good tradition, so there are many. When I was growing up my mom liked to literally sweep money through the front door at midnight on New Year’s Eve. She thought it would bring us money during the year. It became a family joke because it NEVER worked, but we still kept trying. Currently, my favorite tradition is that my wife makes an amazing lasagna dinner every year for Christmas Eve. We have friends and family over and we will often give everyone a book as a present. It is delicious and a wonderful time to be with loved ones.
YABC: Is there anything that you’d like to add?
I love writing so much. And I love writing Middle Grade. The delightful surprise of it is that I was worried it would be lonely and it is anything but. I have a tremendous group of writer friends who call, zoom, and get together whenever we can. (For example, I’m writing this in a hotel in New York. I’m just here for a few days with my wife but we’ve had meals with three different authors, all amazing, all wonderful.) So, while I had an idea of what the work would be like, I have loved to discover what the community is too.
Title: The Sherlock Society
Author: James Ponti
ISBN-13: 9781665932530
ISBN-10: 1665932538
On-sale date: Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Imprint: Aladdin
Ages: 8-12; Grades 3-7
~ Giveaway Details ~
Three (3) winners will receive a copy of The Sherlock Society (James Ponti) ~US Only (No P.O. Boxes)!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
