Author Interview: Anna Myers

Happy 4th of July! When I asked Anna Myers to do a interview on this day, I wasn’t thinking about it being Independence Day. It is really quite appropriate, though. Anna’s book, Spy!, which I reviewed last Friday is about Nathan Hale, a great patriot who gave his life for our country.

What made you decide to write Spy?
I happened to be discussing history with a young man named Nathan when I learned he had no knowledge of Nathan Hale. After the conversation, I did a little research and discovered how young he was when he died and that he had been a teacher. The story began to form in my mind almost immediately.

What gave you the inspiration for Jonah and his side of the story?
After I leaned that Hale was a teacher, a boy from his class just seemed natural. I listened to songs from that time period and that part of the country. Several of the songs were about whaling and the back story about Jonah’s father began to grow. Music always helps my imagination work.

What message would you like readers to take away from this book?
I always want my readers to realize that history is made by real people, and I want them to feel connected to the past. In this particular story, I also hoped that they would see the British side of the conflict also.

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?
When I write a story, the characters become very real to me even the ones that are totally fiction. I once had my hand on a Christmas gift I intended to buy for a character in the book on which I was writing. It was a book about marble collecting, and the character had a marble collection. Nathan Hale was buried in New York. No one knows exactly where. Now when I walk the streets of that city, I often wonder if he is buried beneath my feet.

Thanks so much for the interview, Anna!