In each installment of "Three Questions With" we ask a different author, musician or illustrator questions about their work, their process, and interests. Today we're chatting with Stacia Deutsch, author of the Blast to the Past series.
What inspired the Blast to the Past series?
On first look, you might not think that Blast to the Past was Jewishly influenced, but it absolutely was!
The series about four kinds who time travel and meet famous people in history, like Abraham Lincoln or Sacagawea, was inspired by a midrash. In the ancient text, Moses learns the importance of the work he is doing in the present by visiting the future where students in Rabbi Akiva’s yeshiva are learning from his teachings. It’s midrashic time travel! I built on that idea where each of the famous historical figures in the Blast to the Past novels visits the future to see the importance of their work with the lesson that we can’t give up when things get hard.
What are you working on now?
I juggle a lot of balls. I am working for Little, Brown and Company along with Dreamworks Entertainment to do diaries for the Spirit Riding Free adventure show that is currently on Netflix. I am working on the fourth book for that, as well as writing a story about my great grandmother’s life in El Paso, Texas. For something fun, I have the Hotel Transylvania 3 movie novel coming out in early June. Watch for that.
What was the best part of the PJ Library Author Israel Adventure?
It was such an honor to have been part of the PJ Library trip to Israel, and I will forever be grateful. For me, as a rabbi and writer, I have not written very much with Jewish themes or characters. I write a lot of what people ask me to write like Batman, Lego, coding mysteries or kid’s horror novels. The trip inspired me to write Jewish. I am currently working on several things and have a file with several more ideas. It’s all very exciting! BTW, specifically, I loved Qumran…more on that later, I hope!
New York Times Best Selling author Stacia Deutsch has written more than two hundred children's books. She started her career with the award winning, chapter book series, Blast to the Past. Now, her resume includes Nancy Drew and Boxcar Children mysteries in addition to junior movie tie in novels for summer blockbuster films, like Ghostbusters and the Hotel Transylvania series. New books include The Spirit Diaries and Girls Who Code: The Friendship Code. And yes, Stacia is also a reform rabbi. Find her at www.staciadeutsch.com. @staciadeutsch and www.facebook/staciadeutsch.
May 29, 2018