We chat with author Meg Shaffer about The Lost Story, which is inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia and a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case.
Hi, Meg! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello Fellow Nerds!
First of all, love the name of your site. I am a proud nerd myself. Star Trek nerd. Film nerd. Book nerd. And I’m married to a comic book nerd. Or do they call themselves geeks?
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Sometimes I think I was born loving books. I know I could read before kindergarten so it’s hard to remember a time when books weren’t part of my life. I’m from the generation that collected the kids books plus 45 records from fast food restaurants. We had Sesame Street read-along books that I would listen to and read with all the time, for hours. You couldn’t punish me by sending me to my room. I’d just read.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
The first book you ever remember reading: The first book I remember seeking out in my house to re-read was The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by DuBose Heyward and Majorie Flack. I must have been six or seven, but I can clearly remember taking it off the shelf and being very excited to own the book so I could read it again. The colors and the illustrations were so beautiful. It’s the story of a country bunny mom raising twenty-one little bunnies. She’s chosen to be the new Easter bunny to deliver a special egg to a sick child who lives high on a hill. It’s from 1939, but quite feminist. She’s not chosen to be the new Easter bunny in spite of being a mom with kids. She’s chosen because she’s a mom with kids, and she takes such good care of them they know she’s the perfect new Easter bunny, beating out the male bunnies for the job.
The one that made you want to become an author: Easy. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.
The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I’ve never quite recovered from An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears (Sarah, my love!) and Paradise by Toni Morrison (that first line!). Paradise is probably the most impressive book I’ve ever read. I do not know how she pulled it off, but Toni Morrison was and is and always will be an American literary treasure.
Your latest novel, The Lost Story, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
American Narnia for grown-ups
What can readers expect?
It’s a very different book from The Wishing Game, a little darker and weirder and more fantastical. But the heart of it is love and acceptance and again, the power of stories to save us and change us.
Where did the inspiration for The Lost Story come from?
I think I tell this story in the Acknowledgements, but the short version is it came from me re-reading The Lord of the Flies and wondering where Jack and Ralph landed in life fifteen to twenty years after being saved from themselves on that island. You can’t write a sequel to that story, of course, since it’s not public domain. So I gave up on that idea and put my paperback on the shelf again. I just so happened to put it next to my Chronicles of Narnia boxed set. I put the two ideas together–what if two boys, about age 14-15, disappeared into a fantasy world and came back…what would it be like for them fifteen years later?
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I try not to play favorites but Jeremy was easily the most fun to write. A self-described “asshole,” Jeremy says everything you kind of want to say but are too polite to say. And yet, he’s so completely lovesick that little lines escaped from him every now and then that showed what a melting marshmallow he is for Rafe. It’s always fun writing characters who wear a mask because then you can show the mask slipping.
What’s next for you?
Working on a new book! A little dash of Nancy Drew this time!
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I’ve read some great books this year that book clubs should get their hands on immediately.
- Foreign Seed by Alison Alsup, historical literary fiction
- Five Decembers by James Kestrel, Hard Case Crime
- Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen, rom-com
- Opposable Thumbs by Matt Singer, non-fiction about the reign of film critics Siskel & Ebert
