Ask the Author: Mackenzie Finklea
Answered Questions (18)
Mackenzie Finklea
The idea for my most recent book, The Artifact Hunter, came from a particular chapter in Beyond the Halls, titled 'Righting Wrongs.' I feel that introducing the concept and starting the conversation about repatriation with a larger audience could best happen through high adventure and story-telling.
Mackenzie Finklea
I strongly identify with 'the enthusiast.' That part of the book is my love letter to museums, but I also feel a powerful connection with 'the activist' and starting conversations about the nature of the museums industry-- past and present.
Mackenzie Finklea
Museums have certainly shaped the last two of my major works. Museums are a great passion of mine, as is writing. So, I really enjoy working with these two things together.
Mackenzie Finklea
Odessa Pellegrini is a twenty-first century college student. She finds herself interning at a local museum with a mysterious archivist who takes her on a journey to the nineteenth century to prevent one of the museum's most treasured objects from ever being taken from its homeland.
Odessa is the epitome of a perfectly-average, Columbia engineering student; bright, curious, and driven. She represents many college-age women, especially in STEM fields, and the obstacles they face. The reader will discover the reality, alongside Odessa, that career paths are not linear nor set in stone; in fact perhaps nothing truly is… when Odessa is introduced to time travel.
Odessa finds herself working at the Allen Museum for the summer, in a last-ditch effort to avoid working at home for her Dad, again. To the average visitor, the Allen Museum is everything one expects of a museum: reverent, historic, and monolithic. The Allen Museum, like many modern museums, however, has a past riddled with colonialism and artifact stealing.
While traveling 140 years into the past with Odessa and the mysterious archivist, the reader will discover the true nature of the origin of museums and find adventure in the tropics and history of the Caribbean. Core to Odessa’s story is the human desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and for the self-centered college student, an eye-opening adventure will be just the thing to completely change her world view.
Odessa is the epitome of a perfectly-average, Columbia engineering student; bright, curious, and driven. She represents many college-age women, especially in STEM fields, and the obstacles they face. The reader will discover the reality, alongside Odessa, that career paths are not linear nor set in stone; in fact perhaps nothing truly is… when Odessa is introduced to time travel.
Odessa finds herself working at the Allen Museum for the summer, in a last-ditch effort to avoid working at home for her Dad, again. To the average visitor, the Allen Museum is everything one expects of a museum: reverent, historic, and monolithic. The Allen Museum, like many modern museums, however, has a past riddled with colonialism and artifact stealing.
While traveling 140 years into the past with Odessa and the mysterious archivist, the reader will discover the true nature of the origin of museums and find adventure in the tropics and history of the Caribbean. Core to Odessa’s story is the human desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and for the self-centered college student, an eye-opening adventure will be just the thing to completely change her world view.
Mackenzie Finklea
Publishing this book was important to me for many reasons. I want people to cherish and appreciate museums more if not as much as I do. They are so essential to cataloguing the human experience, and I believe this is not widely understood. I want it to be. Save museums! Save human culture!
Mackenzie Finklea
Part of the reason I published Beyond the Halls was because there was a gap in the "books about museums” genre. On one hand, you have travel guides to specific cities, museums, and countries even. On the other hand, there are dozens of museum studies textbooks and anthologies for students and working professionals. I wanted Beyond the Halls to be something of a combination of the two: an accessible, portable guide to museums and the museum industry.
Mackenzie Finklea
In writing Beyond the Halls, I learned several things about myself. One, I am a huge procrastinator, and I thrive under the pressure of a deadline. My best writing moments occurred just before major deadlines in the publishing process. Additionally, I learned that I was meant to write this book. It seems as though I had been preparing for it my entire life up until that moment, and the timing was just perfect.
Mackenzie Finklea
My hope is that readers of Beyond the Halls walk away with a new perspective on museums, human culture, and our relationship with objects and artifacts. If you are a museum lover or enthusiast, hopefully you will learn something new or read something that causes you to think introspectively. If you are a museum "hater," again, I hope you learn something new and walk away changed--- and visit a museum.
Mackenzie Finklea
I keep my notes and spontaneous thoughts in a notebook at my bedside table. It's great place for when inspiration strikes! And, I always write in pen in a very mind map/bullet point style.
Mackenzie Finklea
I get inspired to write at the most random times. Truthfully, inspiration truly strikes when I am in the shower and am not distracted by electronic devices. Then, I dive into hand writing notes in my notebook before I get anywhere near a computer.
Mackenzie Finklea
Excellent question. My mind is always racing, so the pen often has a hard time keeping up. A method that has worked well for me lately is mind mapping my thoughts on paper, describing them out loud to a recording application, and then writing stories based off of the transcription. In some ways, yes, I feel like I have to know ~generally~ the direction of what to write before I begin.
Mackenzie Finklea
The most surprising thing I learned, was truly how many hands go into the creation of a book. All the work is not done by the author alone; there are developmental editors, copy editors, marketing editors, cover designers... and more.
Mackenzie Finklea
Write literally anything. I'll handwrite a grocery list, type up an email, or answer a question on Goodreads! You have to warm up before a run, and the same goes for the writing muscles.
Mackenzie Finklea
To aspiring writers, I say go for it. Anyone can write a book. The success part is up to you. Also, no one achieves anything alone. Look to others for inspiration, guidance, and assistance through your journey.
Mackenzie Finklea
The best thing about being a writer (really the best thing about being an author) is that you get to do what you love for you. You don't have to answer to someone; i.e. write an essay for a class or write a cover letter. Being an author and writing a book means getting to do whatever you want for you and your audience.
Mackenzie Finklea
Write without judgement. Just start writing and don't stop; don't think about if it's any good and don't worry about grammar and word choice (that's what editing is for). Get into the groove and write something. You can't start running if you don't get up and try to walk.
Mackenzie Finklea
Meet Me at the Museum is a must finish this summer. I love everything about this book so far.
Mackenzie Finklea
She desperately needed a haircut. She called and called, but no one answered because all salons were closed indefinitely.
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