MICHAEL KELLY The Marietta Times Author Margaret Peterson Haddix gestures to an audience of students at St. Mary Catholic School Monday as she explains how ideas for her books originate. Haddix has written more than 40 books for young readers and is on the New York Times bestselling author list.

Margaret Peterson Haddix has a following at St. Mary Catholic School.

As the first group of students filed into the school cafeteria Monday to hear the New York Times bestselling author speak, all were carrying at least one title by the writer, and one was packing two boxed sets of her works.

Haddix, running a slide show and making big gestures at the crowd of about 30 fans ranging from third to fifth graders, explained how she got into the writing craft and what it takes for her to make a story. It also was the story of a child who grew up with a love of reading and a woman who made a career of writing for children while raising a family.

She explained the “what if…” ideas that came to her early in the profession while working as a journalist. Her first novel grew out of an experience she had interviewing a re-enactor at a living history museum in Indiana dedicated to life in the 1800s.

“It was like recycling,” she said. “I wrote it for the newspaper, then later I used it for a book.”

She wrote three books based on her journalism experiences during the time her first two children were little but she ran out of material.

“I felt like a stay-at-home mom pretending to be a writer. I thought I was out of ideas,” she said. Then came the long discussion with her husband about whether to have a third child, which ultimately resulted in one of the “light bulb” moments that helped drive her creative side.

The outcome was “Among the Hidden,” the first of the seven-part “Shadow Children” series, based on the premise, “What if people were only allowed to have two children? What would happen to the third children?”

The “Missing” series had its origins in family discussions about the promotional hype for the movie “Snakes on a Plane.” What could be worse than snakes, she asked. Spiders? Sharks?

What about a planeful of crying babies, her husband asked. That was it – an airplane discovered with nothing on board but babies — and another series was born.

Haddix mixes genres, incorporating history, social observations, suspense, mystery and science fiction for her young readers.

“I loved books as a kid,” she said in an interview before the presentation. “They were so important to my life, I guess you could say that writing was kind of a calling.”

She still remembers what it was like to be a kid, the interests and concerns of children.

“Kids are interested in where the inspiration for the books comes from, but they also like hearing about the characters, the pacing, the plots,” she said.

Eva Tornes, a fourth-grader who looked slightly star-struck, said she read her third book by Haddix this year.

“I like the mystery, the adventure, the characters,” she said. “And I like the time travel parts.”

One character reminds her of her brother, she said.

“They seem like real people,” she added.

Jacob Chovan, a fifth-grader, said he’s part way through a fifth book by Haddix.

“I like the suspense, and one of the characters is like my step brother,” he said. “It’s exciting to meet her. I’d like to know when she’s going to make that next book.”

Haddix said it’s challenging to balance speaking tours with the time needed to create.

“I get ideas from all over,” she said. “It’s hard to predict.”

Margaret Peterson Haddix

•Age: 54.

•Childhood: Grew up on a farm near Washington Court House.

•Education: Miami University, bachelors degree in creative writing, journalism and history.

•Profession: Former journalist in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, Ind., instructor and freelance writer, Danville, Ill., now author of books for young readers.

•Published titles: Shadow Children series, Missing series, Children of Exile series, individual titles.

•Residence: Columbus.

Source: haddixbooks.com