With the release of A Pirates’ Pact: A Kik and Mac Adventure, Sarah Branson has departed from her usual audience, diving head first into a middle-grade action-adventure. If you like pirates, sun-drenched islands and a Goonies worthy treasure hunt, then this is the book for you.
I’ve been a fan of Branson ever since I first read A Merry Life and met Kik and Mac’s mother, Kat Wallace. Her writing is phenomenal, spinning imagery and emotions with abundant skill. And, as a result, I’ve been desperate to grab an interview with her for a while. As A Pirates’ Pact is such a move away from the New Adult world of Kat, this was the perfect opportunity.
Q: What was your main inspiration for New Earth?
A: The planet is currently undergoing so many changes–wildfires, massive flooding, pandemics. It feels like the Earth is undergoing a course correction after millennia of human alterations. New Earth is my “what-if”. What if the planet had sudden, extreme events due to climate change; what if the human population was slashed by a factor of 12,000? What would happen?
I did not envision a Mad Max type of world, but instead, a planet where small groups would pull together to survive, rallying and choosing the pieces of civilization that they wanted to keep. In the lead up to the birth of New Earth, some nations would collapse, some would tighten their borders and hunker down, new nations would develop. It is in this milieu that the pirate nation of Bosch came to be.
Q: What was the inspiration for your current novel A Pirates’ Pact?
A: The inspiration is a blend. I’ve known Kik and Mac since they were born in that mountain cabin in Edo, and I have always known they would have their own adventures. And Bosch is a intriguing place for kids to explore. I also have five grandsons, so the antics of growing boys are well known to me.
Q: Kat Wallace is such a strong, determined, and flawed character; is she based on anyone in particular?
A: No one person. She started out as a blend of all the strong women I have encountered in my life and the type of woman I like to play-act in my make-believe games. But as I got to know her, she became uniquely her own. I find myself cheering her on in her successes, weeping with her when she is in pain, and cringing at some of the mistakes and missteps she makes. I adore her.
Q: So far, we’ve been treated to six novels of Kat and her family – are there any plans for more? Do you plan on expanding the New Earth universe, introduce new characters and new places?
A: I’ve divided up the New Earth books into the Pirates of New Earth series: A Merry Life, Navigating the Storm, Burn the Ship and Blow the Man Down; and what I am calling The Legacy of Bosch, which includes Unfurling the Sails, A Grey Shima Adventure and A Pirates’ Pact, A Kik & Mac Adventure.
I definitely think the kids will have more adventures, but currently, Kat has some unfinished business she needs to take care of, so there is indeed another Kat Wallace story in the works that will let us get to know some characters a bit more deeply and will take us to some places in New Earth we have yet to explore.
Q: Do you have a particular writing process? Do you have a specific place where you write, or can you write on the go?
A: I spend a whole lot of time pre-writing. That’s my fancy-author way of saying I play a whole lot of make-believe. Often, days go by without any words being put to paper, but in the evenings my husband always gets to hear, “Guess what Kat did?”
When I do write, I do best at home, in the quiet. I have a desk that I can write at, but I am most productive when I pick up my laptop first thing in the morning and sit up in bed with a cup of coffee and start writing. I like to envision going outside, sitting in a garden setting and writing, but the distractions are too many for me, so home and my bed-nest are my spots.
Q: Are you a plotter or a pantster?
A: Both? The zero draft for Pirates was definitely a pantser creation– 110,000 words with no real narrative arc or plot, but a great main character and events that would eventually become the first three books. Upon revising and refining I used more plotting/planning techniques. For both of the Legacy of Bosch books, I used some of the techniques in Jennie Nash’s Blueprint for a Book to get to know the kids and to figure out their motivations.
Q: Do you have soundtracks that would go with your books?
A: I have Spotify soundtracks for each of the books, though some are only a few songs– creating playlist is a great procrastination technique!! Kat has been instrumental in introducing me to music and musicians I would have never been drawn to before from country to metal to pop to alternative and more.
Q; What do you do to relax?
A: I like playing word games. I really like boxing and kickboxing which isn’t relaxing while I’m doing it but I feel great afterward. One of the best times of day is having a glass of wine and cooking dinner together with my husband; it makes me feel very centred.
Q: Who are your favourite authors, and why? What are you currently reading?
A: I’m terrible with favourite questions, because I can’t pick, whether you ask about food, drink, music, or books. I love Tolkien, Susan Cooper, Mark Greaney, Louise Penny, Dennis Taylor. There’s a new indie author, Sally Altass (Oh… I’m blushing!) I like. And, Rebecca Yarros, Terry Brooks, Anne Patchett… Lord, we just listened to Tom Lake read by Meryl Streep… it was so lyrical. And this is my problem, I will just keep remembering books and authors and feel like I have to name them all so no one feels left out.
I am currently reading nothing because I read in discrete stretches. When I am writing, my reading falls off to zero, then I do deep dives into my TBR pile when my own book is done. Currentl,y I have Scarlett St. Clair’s A Touch of Darkness queued up to be read as soon as my launch for A Pirates’ Pact is complete.
Q: Where’s your favourite place on earth? Is there anywhere you haven’t been that you want to visit?
A: Again with the favorite! I definitely do not have a favorite place. Off the top of my head, I am thinking about swimming in the waters of the Mediterranean in Nice, France. Or swimming in Sturgeon Bay in Northern Michigan. Or the Manitou Islands. The Oregon coast. Mariscal in Brasil. Running along the Toyohira River in Sapporo. Koh Mak in the Gulf of Thailand. Sitting in a teeny room on a houseboat in the canal in Amsterdam. And I want to go everywhere. Twice.
Thank you, Sarah!
And, that’s a wrap! What a wonderful, interesting insight into Sarah – especially her writing process. And, there’s most definitely a few places I’d love to visit on her travel list (let’s get together to have a few coffees in Amsterdam…).
If you’d like to get to know more about Sarah’s books and to meet Kat Wallace, all of her books are currently available on Amazon and are free to read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. A Pirates’ Pact: A Kik and Mac Adventure is also currently FREE to buy and keep on Kindle.
If you’d like to read my review of A Pirates’ Pact, you can read it here on Reedsy Discovery.
S. A
Thank you, Sally, for your support of independent authors in general and for me in particular. I appreciate all you do and can’t wait to read your next book!