By Julianne Murphy

Meet Savvy Author Ingrid Law
Have you ever thought about being an author? I must admit that sometimes I’ve found myself pondering this idea. Ingrid Law, however, never dreamed that she would be an author. Today, she is the award winning author of Savvy. Savvy is a phenomenal book about a family who each posses special talents. I recently had the marvelous opportunity to interview Ms. Ingrid Law.

I inquired, what inspired you to write Savvy?

“I wanted to write a book about magical children in the United States without using magic. I feel like Savvy is a modern tall tale.”

I then asked Ms. Law if she had a savvy, what would she want it to be.

“If I had a savvy I would want to either be able to fly or breathe under water. Becoming invisible would also be quite fun.”

You might be wondering if you may posses a savvy and not know anything about it. In the novel, Mibs says, “Momma said that lots and lots of ordinary folk have a savvy, but most people simply don’t recognize it for what it is.” Therefore, I asked if Ms. Law agreed with this statement.

“ Everyone has a talent whether they know it or not yet. It’s important to always believe in yourself. I think that my savvy is the ability to smile even while enduring hard times”

Can you relate to any of the characters in Savvy I asked her.

“Little bits of my personality are reflected in the characters of Savvy in different ways. Mibs is struggling to learn to listen to her own voice and not be influenced by those around her who may be pressuring her. While I was writing Savvy I was conscious of trying to listen to my own voice while writing. I wasn’t worrying about what others think. I only wrote what I liked.”

I was really interested in knowing if Ms. Law’s daughter helped her make Savvy as fantastic as it is, so I asked.

“My daughter helped quite a lot. We actually took the trip from Kansas to Nebraska just as Mibs does. During the trip, she took photographs of everything while I was driving. The pool scene in the novel occurred mostly because of my daughter. At one of the hotels we stayed at she was quite eager to go swimming. I sat on a pool chair watching her play in the water and the whole pool scene came to my head.”

Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer?

“ No, I didn’t. I wanted to be an artist, costume designer, and many other careers. I always had stories in my head. When I was almost 20 I started writing stories because of the fact that I learned how to type.”

Ever since I was little, I’ve been jotting down stories in old notebooks and such, so I asked her if she had any advice for those who aspire to be writers.

“I would say that you should write what you love. Remember that unless you’re writing for school where there are rules, you shouldn’t worry about rules. The first draft shouldn’t be spelled perfectly without any grammar errors. The first draft is to just get your idea out of your head and onto paper. The final draft is when you perfect everything. You should write what you love, and not let perfection get in the way of creativity.”

I personally thought that Savvy was phenomenal, so I asked her if she had any future projects or books in the works at present such as making a sequel to Savvy.

“ I’m writing a sequel of sorts to Savvy. It’s more like a companion book. The main character is Mibs’s cousin, Aunt Dollop’s child. You will see some familiar faces such as Rocket, Gypsy, and Sampson.”

The companion book sounds fantastic, and I couldn’t help but ask when I will be seeing it in bookstores.

“ It will hopefully come out next year sometime. I’m still working on it to try to make it as good as possible.”

While I was reading Savvy I was able to picture every moment of the novel in my head. I couldn’t help but think that Savvy could be a perfect book for a
movie.

“ This is very, very likely. Walden Media is looking into making Savvy into a movie. Right now, someone’s making a screenplay, and they’ll decide in the coming months whether or not Savvy will become a movie.” I then questioned, if Savvy were to be made into a movie, whom would you want to play Mibs?

“ I don’t think I’d have any control over who would play Mibs, but I’m sure they’ll find someone perfect for the job. It may be someone who has been in many other movies or someone who has never starred in a movie before.”

Writing seems like such a time consuming job, so I was wondering if this was her full time job.

“ Yes, it is. It wasn’t when I was writing Savvy, but now it is. I travel a lot to talk about Savvy so I don’t really have enough time to have another job.”

My next question is did you write as a child or young adult? What did you write?

“ I wrote a little bit when I was younger. When I was about 14 I wrote a book and I was very excited, but I didn’t get that far.”

What were the topics of the books you wrote when you were younger? I couldn’t help but ask.

“ I wrote about science fiction and fantasy. I loved science fiction. I once wrote about someone going through a wormhole and into space.”

I wondered if her family and friends were portrayed in any of the characters of the novel.

“ I try to keep people I know out of my stories, but the closest person who is similar to any of the characters in the novel would be my daughter. My daughter is quite similar to Sampson. She doesn’t talk a whole lot, and she goes to “disappear” sometimes. She slips away and hides in closets and basements.”

With so many children’s books out there and books for young adults, what do you think made your book stand out? How was it different?

“Savvy is a good blend of things. Sometimes books are quite literal and they have a primary message/focus with no action or excitement. Other books are filled with action and excitement and have no primary message/focus. I believe that Savvy has both. It shows how everyone has talents whether or not they’ve discovered them. It’s a fun read with electrical storms, mind reading, and huge winds. It’s like reading realistic fiction, but it also has a fantasy element. It crosses lines that I didn’t quite realize it would cross when I was first writing it.”

What do you hope young readers will get from this book I inquired.

“ I hope that young people will be able to think two things after reading Savvy. I hope that they’ll ask themselves what’s my savvy, and not a dream savvy, but a savvy that they’re working at or already good at. I also hope that they’ll realize that it takes awhile to develop a savvy. In order to develop a savvy you need to get a grip on those things in life that you can take away from.”

Savvy is a superb novel. It’s a little bit of fantasy mixed with reality, the perfect combination. Savvy is definitely a must read. I can’t wait for the upcoming companion novel and maybe the movie! ? Thank you Ms. Law for the splendid interview.