Kathy McCullough In Conversation

Kathy McCullough

by Lupe Fernandez

Kathy McCullough is the author of Don't Expect Magic, a YA novel published by Random House/ Delacorte Press. "It's the story of a teen fairy godmother who discovers that it takes more than magic to make wishes come true," states her website.

Don’t Expect Magic is more than a book. It’s a production: author website, character website, book trailer with original art and music, and a blog, “Real World F.G.s” Did you plan this whole campaign? How much time was involved? 

As a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, I’ve had it drilled into me that an author needs to do a lot of marketing on their own for their books. So before I sent Don’t Expect Magic out to agents, I created the Kathy McCullough Books website. (I had to add the “books” because I waited too long to get the domain name for my name, and it had already been taken – so don’t wait!) I did learn that my editor looked to see if I had a website before accepting my manuscript. 

I thought it would be fun to create a website for the character of Delaney Collins as well, as a “something extra.” I initially had a regular blog for Delaney, but it was hard to keep up. I decided to change it to “Real World, F.G.s,” where Delaney instead writes about real people doing good in the world without the benefit of magic. This was more fun and interesting to me, and it seemed potentially more interesting to people visiting the site. 

A book trailer is now pretty much expected, so I knew I would have to do one. I got lucky because I have a friend, Judy Y, who is an artist, and she and her husband Dave volunteered to create the Don’t Expect Magic trailer for me. I lucked out again with the soundtrack, because keyboardist and composer Mike Schmid, whom I’ve never met, got a copy of the book early on through a set of weird circumstances, and after reading it, he was inspired to write a song, called “Magic.”

To answer the last part of your question: It took a lot of time.

What did you major in at Cornell University?

I began studying engineering, but I really wanted to be a screenwriter. There was no real film program at the school then, so I applied to be a College Scholar, where you create your own major. I took the couple of filmmaking and film theory classes that existed, along with a lot of psychology, history, sociology, literature and a couple of the few creative writing classes. As my thesis, I made a short film.

You captured the angst of a disenchanted teen with an estranged father and deceased mother. Since you are in your early twenties, did you draw upon your recent high school experiences?

Alas, the high school experience was not that recent; more like ancient history. Fortunately, I never completely grew up and I remain stuck in adolescence in a lot of ways. I’m moody, insecure, stubborn and often sullen. These traits all fit very nicely into Delaney Collins’ characterization. I didn’t have the experiences she had with her parents, but I know people who did.

Signing at Chevalier's Books

How has your first book promotion, signing experience been?

Rewarding but exhausting. I was thrilled that pretty much every good friend I have in Los Angeles came to my book launch. At the bookstores I visited in other cities, I lucked out in teaming up with other YA authors, whom I met through Elevensies, a LiveJournal blog/networking group for 2011 debut authors. It’s difficult to get teens into bookstores, so having several authors together made the visit more of an event, and we had decent turnouts in every location. 

Don’t Expect Magic ties academic and emotional chemistry: catalyst, reaction, atom manipulation. Did you struggle about how much of a rational veneer to cast over the magic elements?

Oh yes, this is a big struggle for me, because I tend to be overly logical and hate to have any gaps. I resist relying on leaps of faith, even though you have to do some of this in a fantasy. I did brush up on my science by reading Chemistry for Dummies, Physics for Dummies and Trigonometry for Dummies. (True!)

You link the “self-help” genre with the trappings of the fairy tale. Was this to create a contemporary feel to the story?

This wasn’t intentional, but it makes sense when you say it! I wanted to give Hank a profession in which he was doing something fairy godmother-ish: helping people achieve their dreams. However, because he, like Delaney, is not happy about being an “f.g.,” he pursued a career in which he can ideally get people to solve their problems on their own, so they won’t need his magical skills.

In your website FAQ, you mentioned reading manuscripts for Walden Media. Did you read a lot of drek? What’s the worst or most common mistake you found?
I’ve read for many film companies over the years, from Walden Media to Imagine to Miramax, and because I’ve read so many scripts – literally thousands – I’ve seen my share of bad ones. One of the most common problems I find is that the writer has a situation but no story. The script starts with an interesting set-up, and the characters are intriguing, but then nothing happens; there’s no central conflict and nothing to root for. It’s this development in the “second act” of a story that’s the hardest to write, which is why it’s so often missing.

Signing at Chevalier's Books

I’m sure Don’t Expect Magic was adored on first read by your agent and publisher, but perchance, did you ever receive any discouraging comments from other sources about the manuscript?

I did get notes from my agents, which required an initial rewrite, and I then got a lot of notes from my editor, which led to considerable revision (and the book is a lot better for it!) Before I’d even finished the novel, I submitted the first chapter for a consultation at an SCBWI conference and got great, positive feedback, which helped me get the book good enough to land an agent in the first place. I was very lucky in that all of the criticism was constructive and helpful. I never received any discouraging comments.

The Management would like to thank Kathy McCullough for granting this interview. For more on Kathy and Don't Expect Magic go to http://kathymcculloughbooks.weebly.com/index.html.