Happy Monday Everyone! I’m so excited to have James Ponti here to share about his fantastic career as an author and the release of Hurricane Heist, the second book in his Sherlock Society series. I had already read The Sherlock Society, and James’ Ponti’s publisher provided me with an ARC of Hurricane Heist to prepare for James’ interview. I really love this series. The characters are all likable and relatable, and they must solve real-life mysteries that matter in their world.
If you’re a writer or author, I really recommend you check out James’ website (link at the end of the interview). It’s so cool and engaging.
Here’s a blurb of Hurricane Heist
from Goodreads:
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When
a hurricane uncovers new information in a cold case, the Sherlock Society
investigates a decades-old heist in this second book in the action-packed and
funny New York Times bestselling Sherlock Society middle grade
series from Edgar Award–winning author James Ponti!
When a category three hurricane hits Miami
Beach, it uncovers a body buried at the renowned Moroccan Hotel. The body is
identified as the man who served as the hotel’s bell captain sixty years
ago…and the presumed culprit of the million-dollar jewel heist that took place
just before his disappearance.
Since the bell captain clearly didn’t take off
with the goods as had been long believed, the Sherlock Society sets their
sights on uncovering the real culprit of the theft. But when the thief may also
be implicated in the bell captain’s murder, even sixty years later, there are
people who want the truth to stay buried.
Hi
James! Thanks so much for joining us.
1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer since you say on your website that you didn’t like to read as a kid?
Hi!
First of all, thanks so much for having me. I’ll give you fair warning, my
answers may live up to the site’s name and ramble a bit.
As to becoming a writer, I’m on my third different writing career, so hopefully
this one sticks. I studied screenwriting in college and got my start writing
kids’ TV. Then, I started producing cable tv shows (which includes a lot of
writing) for channels like History Channel, Spike TV, and Golf Channel. Now, I
write middle grade fiction, which is by far my favorite of the three. (Along
the way, I also did some freelance magazine and newspaper work.)
I decided to be a writer in fifth grade and never wavered from that. The
question was what I would write. Like you said, I was a reluctant reader as a
kid because everyone else seemed to read so much faster than I did. That’s what
drove me to scriptwriting. Over time, I fell in love with books. (Although, I’m
still not very fast.) Midway through my TV career, I started dabbling by
writing some novelizations and intellectual property books on the side. That
helped me develop some tools and about fifteen years ago, I decided to really
give it a go and see if I could become an author. Five years ago – in my
mid-fifties – I finally made the jump to doing it full-time.
2. It’s
so cool that you never wavered from wanting to write for your career. Where did
you get the idea for this series and Hurricane Heist?
My
first three series were set in New York (Dead City),
Washington, DC (Framed!), and
around the world (City Spies). I
thought it would be fun to write a series where the kids had a childhood
similar to mine. I grew up in a beach town outside of Jacksonville, Florida,
decided to relocate the series to Miami, because I thought it was a more
mystery-rich environment.
Your
Writing Process
3. When you started this series, did you go into it knowing the plots or storylines for Hurricane Heist and future books in this series, or just the first story?
I’ve never mapped out a series out in advance, so I only had the idea for the first book. That said, I knew I wanted to have a hurricane in either the second or third book because they are such an important part of life here in Florida.
4. Tell us about how you picked the crime to solve in this book and your plotting process. How do you decide how much danger is okay to put Alex, Zoe, Lina, and Yadi in since they’re kids?
I’m
always on the lookout for a plot that provides high stakes and manageable
danger. A hurricane is perfect for that. It’s scary, but there are things you
can do to protect yourself. I’m always trying to balance the stakes and danger
because I don’t want them to be too risky or for the characters to make unsafe
decisions. I was a careful kid and that carries over into the books.
From a mystery standpoint, I love the fact that a hurricane creates a diversion
for criminals because it occupies everyone’s attention. That’s what gave me the
idea of doing a heist. Also, because readers have really responded well to the
character of Grandpa, I thought they might enjoy seeing him when he was twelve
years old, just like the main characters in the book. That’s why I went with
two hurricanes sixty years apart. One covers evidence of a crime and the other
uncovers it.
5. Alex, Zoe, Lina, and Yadi all have unique talents that
help in their investigation. It’s brilliant! Plus, they are all very likable
characters that kids can relate to. Did you decide on this before you started
the series or as you were writing?
When I was developing the series, my editor, Kristin Gilson and I talked about
just this. She pointed out that she thought a big part of the appeal of City
Spies is that there are enough characters with different traits and
backgrounds, that most readers can identify with one. We wanted the same here,
so I really tried to come up with real kids who hard varying strengths and
weaknesses.
I didn’t want to reverse engineer them, so I came up with those strengths,
passions, and interests first. (As well as their insecurities and concerns.)
Then I tried to figure out how those traits might help in an investigation. For
example, I gave Yadi my love of movies and filmmaking because it was something
that I knew and felt at his age. Now, as I write, I look for ways that the
cameras and equipment could help solve a mystery. Alex is awkward like I was,
which makes it harder for him to be decisive and take charge while solving a
case.
6. It’s awesome that your editor and you worked on the
character development before you started this series. Alex and Zoe’s
grandfather is a cool grandpa and integral to the story. Is he based in part on
your grandfather or someone else in your family?
I did not have warm and fun-loving grandparents, but my mom was a great
grandmother to my sons. That was part of the inspiration. Ultimately, I think
Grandpa is based on how I would like to be when I’m a grandfather. (Or, if I’m
being honest, how I wish my grandparents were with me.)
Your Road to Publication
7. How did you get your agent? Was the process hard or easy?
8. Rosemary Stimola is an awesome agent. You’re the author of 13 books in four series. Many have won awards and been on the New York Bestseller list. Many authors would love your career. How has your career grown over the years? Do you have any advice for other writers on selling multiple manuscripts and growing their career as you have?
It’s funny because I was talking about this to my agent just yesterday. We’re both thrilled with how the career is going and I think a big part of the success is that we’ve never been in a rush. We’ve tried to build a strong foundation. Part of that was not trying to get big advances, because we wanted the books to earn out. Another part was staying committed to a single publisher. I have built an amazing relationship with my editor and everyone at Simon & Schuster. It’s just been this steady climb built on consistency by all of us.
As far as advice, I just did a podcast with the wonderful Pam Muñoz Ryan, and she gave an excellent piece of advice that I’ll share. Focus on writing, not publishing. By that, I think she meant that we can easily get sucked into trying to figure out the business side of things, but that the real attention has to be on the work. I completely agree with that. I think it’s good to allot your time to something like 80% writing and 20% the other stuff. Interestingly enough, that continues after you’ve been published and are established. I still spend about 20-25% of my time doing things that aren’t writing the books.
Promoting your book
9. That’s
great advice. How did you promote your books earlier in your career? Do you
leave most of the marketing to your publisher now?
I’ve always been pretty tireless when it comes to
marketing. As my books have grown in popularity, there are more and more
resources available, but I still like to play a big role in it. My approach has
always been to tap in to the experience gained from my other aspects of my
professional life. For example, after twenty-five years of television, I feel
like I can make a great book trailer, so my
publisher lets me do that.
I also believe that there are a number of constituencies that writers need to
pay attention to: readers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers, and other
authors. (The last is to help build a sense of community that is essential.) I
try to do things that help and engage all those groups, whether it’s responding
to reader mail, promoting bookstores on social media, creating materials that
are free for educators, and so on. These aren’t directly marketing, but I think
they help elevate the books and enhance marketing efforts.
10. What are you working on now? And if it’s not the next book in this series,
are you planning to write one soon? I hope so!
I write two books a year, so there’s always a lot of jumping around. At the
moment, I am working hard on Sherlock Society #3, while also prepping
for the release and tour of Hurricane
Heist. City Spies #7: Europa comes
out in February, so there are still some tweaks to that, and when I need to
think about something new, I try to come up with the basic concepts of City
Spies 8, which I’ll begin working on soon.
Thanks for sharing all your advice, James! I really
appreciate you agreeing to let me interview you. You can find James at Jamesponti.com, SherlockSociety.net, @jamespontibooks on IG,
@jamesponti on X, and @jamesponti on
Bluesky.
Giveaway
Details
James’ publisher is generously offering a hardback of Hurricane Heist for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by August 30th. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.
If you mention this contest on
Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or
Bluesky or follow James on his social media sites, mention this in the
comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old
or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S.
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted
by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.
Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops
Monday, September 1st I’m participating in the Glam and Glitz Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, September 3rd I have an interview with debut author Skyla Arndt and a giveaway of her YA House of Hearts and my IWSG post
Monday, September 8th I have an interview with author J.A. Dauber and a giveaway of his MG Press 1 for Invasion
Wednesday, September 10th I have an agent spotlight interview with Ashlee MacCallum and a query critique giveaway
Monday, September 15th I have an interview with author Christine Virnig and a giveaway of her MG Phantom Academy
Tuesday, September 16th I’m participating in the Falling Into Leaves Giveaway Hop
Monday, September 22nd I have an interview with author Anita Fitch Pazner and a giveaway of her MG Words Matter: The Story of Hans and Sophie Scholl and The White Rose Resistance
I hope to see you on Monday!
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