Q&A with author
Patricia MacLachlan
Q: How familiar were you with the Boxcar Children before you were asked to write
The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm?
A: I knew of the Boxcar Children, of course, and of the series’ popularity. However, we
writers are used to writing our own books and telling our own stories. It would never
have occurred to me that I would be asked to write the “beginning before the beginning,”
as I call it.
Q: What do you admire about the Boxcar Children series as a reader?
A: I most admire the children, their kindnesses, how they cared about each other, and
how smart and resourceful they were. They were delightfully independent yet human at
the same time.
Q: What unique challenges did the series present you as a writer?
A: There was, of course, the very first challenge of writing someone else’s story. I
wished to add to the total world of the Aldens, not detract from it. That was my first task.
I had to invent the very nice parents who I believe helped make Henry, Jessie, Violet, and
Benny the wonderful children they are.
Q: In what ways did you prepare to write The Boxcar Children Beginning: The
Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm?
A: Well, of course I read and read many of the Boxcar stories. I listened to my son read
many of them to one of my granddaughters, night after night, at bedtime. This drew me
into the lives of these children and the books of Gertrude Chandler Warner. I got to know
the characters and the writer very well.
Q: How is it different working with characters created by someone else than with
characters you have created yourself?
A: The characters created by someone else come from another writer’s landscape, not
mine. I have to work hard at planting those characters and their stories into my heart and
my head.
Q: Do you have a favorite Alden?
A: I like all the Aldens. I grew to like their mother and father as well, and the characters
who come to stay with them in the middle of a snowstorm.
Q: In what ways did your parents and your childhood prepare you for life as a
writer?
A: My parents were very nurturing parents. They loved books and storytelling. Looking
back, I should not be surprised at all that I became a writer.
Q: When you were a child, what sort of books did you enjoy reading?
A: I love all books. There was a library near my house in Connecticut. I rode my bike
there and read every single children’s book that was on the shelves. Really!
Q: Are there any ways in which The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair
Meadow Farm and Sarah, Plain and Tall are similar?
A: Of course they are similar. They come out of a certain time; they have similar
temperaments and personalities. I like the way the characters treat each other, with
humanity and love.
Q: It’s been more than thirty since your first novel came out. In what ways have
you grown as a writer and how is that growth revealed in The Boxcar Children
Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm?
A: I would say I have become more brave, willing to tackle things. I’d like to think that I
understand story and plot and character better than I did as a very young writer.
Q: What do you enjoy about writing in general and writing about the Boxcar
Children in particular?
A: I like being in my writing room, surrounded by pictures of the people I love, and dogs
(both in pictures and my live dogs!). I like creating something new that I hope will
surprise me. I particularly liked inventing parents for Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny —
the kind of parents I admire.
Q: In what ways, if any, was the final draft different from your earliest conception
of the story?
A: I believe the story pretty much ended as it first began, with minor corrections and
more about some characters. Sometimes the writer knows so much about his or her
characters that the writer doesn’t always put down everything on paper. That is where
good editors come in, helping to make clearer some of the actions of characters.
Q: Do you have any advice for young writers?
A: Keep reading! Try to be brave. Writing is a journey and an adventure.
Q: In what ways are you and your two border terriers similar?
A: Hahahaha. I love this question. We are very much alike, certainly in the way we
explore our worlds. We’re beginning to look alike, with the same rather wild hair that is
slowly getting gray. I, however, don’t eat snacks off the kitchen floor!