I aimed Fires Burning Underground toward upper middle grade readers—so more in the age 11 to 13 range. The ideal reader probably feels caught between childhood and adolescence, is contemplating belief systems and what they want to subscribe to, and/or is seeking affirmation for their identities
Nancy McCabe – 12 April 2025
The Back Flap
It’ s Anny’ s first day of middle school and, after years of being homeschooled, her first day of public school ever. In art, Larissa asks what kind of ESP is her favorite: telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, or telekinesis? Tracy asks how she identifies: gay, straight, bi, ace, pan, trans, or confused? And thus kicks off a school year for Anny in which she’ll navigate a path between childhood and adolescence, imagination and identity. In a year of turmoil and transition, with a new awareness of loss after the death of a friend, Anny struggles to find meaning in tragedy, to come to terms with her questions about her sexuality, and to figure out how to negotiate her own ever-shifting new friendships. And when her oldest friend’ s life is in danger, she must summon up her wits, imagination, and the ghosts that haunt her to save them both.
About the book
When did you start writing the book?
Twenty or so years ago, when my daughter was little, I wrote a lot of picture book and early chapter book stories inspired by things that had happened to her when she was three, four, and five. They were just for her and not things that I sought publication for. But I found myself more and more in a mindset of writing for young readers, and started working on a middle grade story inspired by my own childhood.
How long did it take you to write it?
I wrote early drafts, then went on to work on other things but periodically over the years would find myself revisiting this story. During the pandemic I decided to focus on finishing unfinished book manuscripts and this is one that I returned to.
Where did you get the idea from?
A Sunday school classmate died in a fire when I was twelve, and the house next door to mine caught fire two weeks later. Around the same time, I became friends with a girl who was fascinated by the supernatural. All of that set off a lot of fears for me. Like Anny, I was drawn to art and writing and books, and I also was raised with conservative Christian values that I began to ask questions about as I got older. All of these things came together in this book.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
Definitely! When I started it, I was mostly a writer of creative nonfiction but gradually decided that this book needed to be fiction. I’d also been mostly a writer for adults but realized that I needed to find Anny’s eleven-year-old voice. I grew up with fairly traditional ideas when it came to romantic relationships, but realized that as a contemporary girl, Anny would encounter a range of possible ways to define herself. I had to do a lot of work to figure out how to handle each of these issues.
What came easily?
Because Anny was based on me as a child and many events in the book have a basis in real life, I didn’t have much trouble figuring out who Anny is and what she wants. The events that came from my real life were easy to write though I ultimately ended up changing many aspects of them in order to serve the story.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
Not only was Anny based on my younger self, the main cast of characters is based on friends who were important to me when I was 11-13 years old. The parents were partially based on mine; my mother had similar fears about me dabbling in the supernatural, and my parents had similar religious beliefs.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
I’m a voracious reader and I’m in some way influenced by almost everything I read. Growing up, I picked up many ideas about imagination and creativity from class girls’ series like the Betsy Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace and the Melendy family books by Elizabeth Enright (which Anny and Larissa are also influenced by.) I learned a lot about writing beautiful prose reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books when I was young. More recently I’ve learned from books for young readers by Pam Munoz Ryan, Laurel Snyder, Jacqueline Woodson, Ali Benjamin, and the work of generous and accomplished colleagues and friends who write for young people like Joyce McDonald, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Edie Hemingway, Laurie Schneider, and Kathleen Wilford.
Do you have a target reader?
I aimed Fires Burning Underground toward upper middle grade readers—so more in the age 11 to 13 range. The ideal reader probably feels caught between childhood and adolescence, is contemplating belief systems and what they want to subscribe to, and/or is seeking affirmation for their identities, whether queer or straight, neurotypical or not, etc.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
If a story is nagging at me, I just start writing it and seeing where it goes, letting it go off on tangents because those might end up being even richer than the direction I thought I was going. Then I rewrite and reshape, rewrite and reshape, many, many times.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I might start with a rough outline—a list of words or events—and then, after I’ve written some drafts, write a new outline. Things like chapter divisions or headings don’t come until much later in the process, when I see how the story is shaped.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
To me, editing is what you do when you’re done with revising. It’s the final check for sentence structure, spelling, etc. I consider revising to be way more fun—following the work where it wants to go, rethinking and reshaping and digging down deeper into the material, making new discoveries, finding new ways to describe things, finding new metaphors, understanding characters better. I probably revise every piece of work at least fifty times before I do the “final” edits and submit it.
Did you hire a professional editor?
I am a professional editor, and I have many friends who are professional editors and give me feedback. But my books have all been traditionally published, with great editorial eyes at the presses that have published them.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
When I was younger I listened to music, but now when I’m working I prefer silence.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
Sometimes, and I’ve worked with agents in the past. But I have always eventually gone with university presses and small traditional presses, some of whom also take agented work and are places I might have landed either way.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
I generally would avoid self-publishing because I like the levels of editing that a traditional publisher provides as well as the marketing support, even though that is less than it used to be. But I love small traditional publishers. They have a passion for good stories and good books and will often take a chance on work that a large publisher won’t.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
The publishers I’ve worked with have always had in-house or freelance cover designers. I’ve worked with five different presses with varying degrees of author input and approval when it comes to the covers. Fortunately, I’ve almost always liked the covers, and I especially love the cover for this book and what one of my colleagues called its “Nancy Drew vibe.”
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
Since this is my ninth book, I have developed a list of contacts and resources, and my publisher also provided some help and lots of suggestions. I’m also working with a publicist since this is my first middle grade.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
I generally advise the students I work with to only self-publish if there’s a ready-made audience beyond their family and friends (for instance, a friend who writes a newspaper column that is widely read in his region and whose books will sell well there but won’t have wider appeal, or a friend who is a successful romance writer who has published many books for Harlequin and already has an audience who also flock to her more offbeat manuscripts.) But I’m a big advocate for small traditional publishers, and would suggest to anyone who wants to approach them to do the same work that they’d do if they want to approach an agent or larger publisher. Small traditional presses aren’t lesser, they’re just more adventurous. So I advise anyone to really learn their craft, be patient, be persistent, revise like crazy, get feedback and revise some more, and be grateful to editors who know their stuff and suggest even more revisions because they want your book to be the best it can be.
About You
Where did you grow up?
On the eastern edge of Wichita, KS, where Fires Burning Underground takes place.
Where do you live now?
Bradford, PA, which is in northwestern Pennsylvania, on the border of New York State.
What would you like readers to know about you?
I love hearing from readers and am also available for talks and readings, in person and on Zoom. I’ve been teaching college for forty years—I started very young!—and am leaving my full-time job at the end of this year to write full-time and do more freelance teaching and coaching. So I’m also available for one-on-one work, school visits, and online workshops.
What are you working on now?
I just got a contract for a craft book on writing and trauma that I’m really excited about. And I’m also finishing an essay collection about a mysterious illness that my daughter struggled with in her teens and what we discovered through a lot of consultations and research. I have a couple of novels in progress and hope to write more for middle graders and young adults. I’m very excited about being able to focus on all of this full time in just a few weeks!
End of Interview:
Get your copy of Fires Burning Underground from Amazon US or Amazon UK.