Interview with Novel Mentor, Patrick Flores-Scott

SCBWI-MI is holding two novel mentorships this year. The mentors are Patrick Flores-Scott and Kelly J. Baptist. Today, we have an interview with Patrick. Please come back on April 15 for an interview with Kelly. Everything you need to know about these mentorships can be found on the mentorship page of the SCBWI-MI website. The submission window for both mentorships opens on April 25, 2022.

 

Patrick Flores-Scott was a long-time public school teacher in Seattle, Washington. He’s now a reading tutor and early morning writer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Patrick’s first novel, Jumped In, was named to the 2014 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults list, a Walden Award finalist, a Washington Book Award winner, an NCSS/CBC Notable Book for the Social Studies, and a Bank Street College Best Books of 2014. His second novel, American Road Trip, ​received multiple starred reviews and is a 2019 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, and a TAYSHAS Texas reading list selection

1) What do you like best about writing novels?

 

That moment of inspiration where a fire is lit as you come up with an idea that you think is worth exploring for the length of time it takes to complete a novel. This is it! Later on down the road it gets exciting again when you find that scene or that new character that feels like you’re putting a puzzle piece into the exact right spot. There are moments where you craft a sentence and it just feels right when you’re done. All that stuff is great—but it’s so solitary. I think what I actually like the very best about writing novels is the conversations that happen along the way. Handing a messy draft over to a trusted friend who you know will give feedback that challenges you, and frustrates you, but always leads to better writing--and more interesting conversations. Conversations with your editor about new ideas for that character that just isn’t sitting quite right. Conversations with readers in schools and libraries. Email exchanges with students who are working on their own writing or who identified with the book in some way. It feels like, for me, writing and putting ideas out there is a way to get to those great conversations.

 

2) What do you like least?

 Worst of all is the waiting. I’m a slow writer to begin with. For me, one book equals a lot of years of work. The publishing industry is slow as well. There is a lot of “waiting to hear back” in the sales process and the editing process. You wait for the book to come out. You wait for reviews. I think I could handle a bad review a lot better than the waiting for reviews part.

 

3) Describe a typical writing day.

 

After writing my first book, and the majority of my second book, as a full time school teacher, I am now really lucky to have the role of stay-at-home dad and writer. On a typical day, I get up about 5 in the morning. I make some coffee and do a little reading and then write until about eight. Then I help get my boys ready and take them to school. Lately, there’s been an all-family walk included. After I get back, I try to write a couple more hours and then deal with e-mail/website/whatever until about noon. Afternoon, I’ll turn to family/household stuff. That’s an ideal writing day. The last couple years everything else has been so topsy-turvy so I’ve tried to keep that early morning stretch sacred.

 

4)  When you’re reading for pleasure, what features of a book typically impress you the most?

I just started Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. A page and a half in and I’m immersed in the protagonist’s world—his neighborhood, his job, his ethics—as he goes about a typical day on the job. I love that; learning about a character right off the bat by the way they do things. I like short chapters and great, snappy dialogue. And I love being surprised by plot turns, and when a flawed character stays flawed, but manages some brief moment of bravery or heroism.

 

5) What inspires you?

I am truly inspired by anyone who is trying their best under difficult circumstances.

As a teacher, I was inspired by students who showed up every day, trying their best, when I knew that, at the time, their families where dealing with the housing crisis, with parents or older siblings who were at war, or coming home from war, or they or someone close to them was struggling with mental illness.

Right now, I’m inspired by the young adult women who are leading with their voices and putting their lives on the line to make difference on all kinds of justice and climate issues. As difficult as these times are, there continue to so many young people displaying resilience and courage, in an attempt to make this place better for all of us.

 

6) What aspects of being a novel mentor are you most looking forward to?

I’m really excited and grateful for this opportunity.  I’m looking forward to meeting and interacting with a dynamic creative person I’ve never met before. I’m looking forward to reading a cool new novel in its early form. I’m looking forward to engaging in the creative back and forth. And, while thinking I have something to offer an up-and-coming novelist, I anticipate learning a lot about writing and creativity through this process.

 

7) Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?

I have a book under contract that I’m waiting to hear back on. It’s tentatively titled, No Going Back. It’s about a kid who has been paroled after a year and a half in juvenile prison. Over his first weekend out, we watch him struggle and succeed at putting the pieces of his life back in order under circumstances that make meeting his parole terms nearly impossible.

I’m also in the very early stages of writing a book set in a 2027 USA functioning under an authoritarian regime. It’s about an underground resistance movement at a small-town Michigan high school. The future will determine whether this novel will be considered dystopian, or realistic contemporary fiction.

 

 

Ann Finkelstein is a former scientist who discovered that writing novels is more fun than wrangling test tubes. She coordinates the mentorship program for SCBWI-MI. For mentorship questions, email Ann.