Sarah McCoy
The inspiration for each of my novels has come to me differently. Published friends tell me how they are consistently inspired through a specific story vehicle: a historical character, political agenda, visual image, emotional struggle, color, food, etc. I can't say that I have one. My Muse likes to throw her bolts in various forms. I've never had a story come to me in the same way. THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN began with a sentence being spoken ...
"A dog is not a child," the woman, Eden Anderson said. And it was the way she said it that wouldn't let me be. Confident, angry, and yet, deeply wounded by the very words she spoke. I couldn't shush her no matter what I did. Months of hearing this over and over in my head nearly drove me to the madhouse. That's when I knew: this wasn't just a passing statement; it was a character haunting—begging—summoning.
In an effort to find relief from my insomnia, I wrote the sentence and its corresponding scene in my journal. I realized then that the voice was echoing through and out the front door of an old house—the house in New Charlestown. It was calling me to solve its Underground Railroad mystery set between Eden Anderson in present-day West Virginia and Sarah Brown 150 years ago.
I became completely absorbed in THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN's New Charlestown world. The historical research took me from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, to Concord, Massachusetts, to Red Bluff, California. I followed Sarah's trail, piecing together her legacy map. I wrote about that investigation process in the "Author's Note" in the back of the novel.
I hope everyone checks it out and enjoys #TMC!
Yours truly,
Sarah
"A dog is not a child," the woman, Eden Anderson said. And it was the way she said it that wouldn't let me be. Confident, angry, and yet, deeply wounded by the very words she spoke. I couldn't shush her no matter what I did. Months of hearing this over and over in my head nearly drove me to the madhouse. That's when I knew: this wasn't just a passing statement; it was a character haunting—begging—summoning.
In an effort to find relief from my insomnia, I wrote the sentence and its corresponding scene in my journal. I realized then that the voice was echoing through and out the front door of an old house—the house in New Charlestown. It was calling me to solve its Underground Railroad mystery set between Eden Anderson in present-day West Virginia and Sarah Brown 150 years ago.
I became completely absorbed in THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN's New Charlestown world. The historical research took me from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, to Concord, Massachusetts, to Red Bluff, California. I followed Sarah's trail, piecing together her legacy map. I wrote about that investigation process in the "Author's Note" in the back of the novel.
I hope everyone checks it out and enjoys #TMC!
Yours truly,
Sarah
More Answered Questions
Paul Stankus
asked
Sarah McCoy:
In your book, The Mapmaker's Children, an old doll plays an important role both in the 1860s and the present. What other signs, symbols, and secret codes did you uncover in your research that allowed the stations on the Underground Railroad to communicate with each other and the slaves escaping to freedom?
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more