More Exciting Adventures from Liesl Shurtliff in 'Forbidden Lock'

Chicago children's author Liesl Shurtliff is one of the busiest writers I know in children's lit. When she's not working on a new book, she's speaking to students in classrooms all over the country about the power of storytelling, or she's racing around town with her own bustling brood.

A New York Times bestseller for Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin (Knopf, 2013), which was followed by three more delightful fairytale retellings in Jack, Red, and Grump, Liesl is wrapping up another exciting and engaging middle-grade series. Time Castaways (Katherine Tegen Books) kicked off with The Mona Lisa Key (2018), then featured The Obsidian Compass (2019), and now the third and final The Forbidden Lock (October 2020) has hit shelves. 

See what I mean? That's seven novels in seven years! Who does that?

The Time Castaways series demanded deft writing skills, which Liesl has plenty of, to keep track of time travel, complex mysteries, high adventure, and the distinct personalities of the intrepid trio. The books tell the story of the Hudson kids—Mateo, Ruby, and Corey—who jump on the wrong subway train and wind up on wild escapades throughout time. 

Liesl took a moment out of her own wild escapades to share some of the inspiration behind Time Castaways. Click here to enter for a chance to win a copy of Book 3, The Forbidden Lock.

QUESTION: You take your trio on great adventures through history. What was the most interesting period/moment that you encountered as you wrote the series?

LIESL SHURTLIFF: Eek! There are so many fun and interesting moments to choose from. I went down a thousand rabbit holes of research, it feels like. But really, the one that sticks out the most for me is the Hudson kids' first time-travel adventure, when they land in Paris in the year 1911 on the very day the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. I did not know about this famous art theft until I started writing this series, but once I did, I became a wee bit obsessed with Vincezno Peruggia and his theft of the Mona Lisa. Peruggia kept the painting hidden in a trunk with a false bottom for two years until he was caught trying to sell it to a museum in Italy. (Part of the reason he stole her is because he thought she rightfully belonged to Italy. The other part is he wanted to get rich!) The theft of the Mona Lisa is actually a big part of why the painting is so famous today. She wasn't all that famous before then. 

Q: Time travel is hard! What was the most challenging part of writing the series?

LS: Time travel is SO hard! Aside from keeping track of all the timelines and destinations, I think the hardest part for me was the infinite possibilities and the constant decisions that needed to be made. A lot of people might assume we writers would want infinite possibilities, but the truth is a story needs some constraints in order to have power and flow. My character had the power to travel anywhere, any time, and yet they couldn't actually go everywhere and to all times. That might be a fun adventure for them, but probably boring and/or confusing for the reader. I needed to make some tough decisions about where and when the Hudsons would travel and why. And that was STRESSFUL! How do I choose one destination or time period over another? There's so much I left out! I stressed just writing about it now! 

Q: With Book 3, The Forbidden Lock, things start to come unhinged as historical figures return to life as well as dinosaurs. These scenes must have been fun to write. What were some of the things that made you laugh as you worked on the book? What scenes would have appealed to 11-year-old you?

LS: I think I'm still an 11-year-old at heart! So much made me giggle while writing this. There are some pretty great high-speed chase scenes through time and space right in the beginning that I think will really keep readers on the edge of their seats. There's also a great scene where time periods start to clash, and we see things come together that really do not go together, like dinosaurs in Central Park, and Napoleon Bonaparte taking over the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's all a bit mad-cap, and I think that definitely would have appealed to 11-year-old me. Quirky, bizarre stuff always delights and makes me giggle, but it's all blended with a heaping of heart and emotional depth. I like that stuff too. I think these books really showcase both sides. 

A Hero We Can All Get Behind: Liesl Shurtliff's 'Rump'

Fairytales never grow old, just like many of the characters who inhabit them. And Liesl Shurtliff's Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin (Knopf, April 2013) is a delightfully cheeky (forgive me) retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin tale. Consider it a backstory of the curious and misunderstood little man of spinning gold and stolen babies. This is Liesl's debut novel, and with a starred review from Kirkus, as well as Publisher's Weekly trumpeting that "the picaresque-style narrative gives the maligned character a refreshingly plainspoken voice," we're sure to see more wonderful works from her.

Twelve-year-old Rump has never known his full name. Having lost his mother young, before she could utter or explain it, he's been the butt of everyone's jokes for as long as he can remember. However, things begin to change for Rump when he stumbles upon an old spinning wheel. Suddenly, Rump has something to offer as he learns he can spin straw into magical gold. On Rump's journey to figure out his full name and his destiny, he discovers much more about himself.

Question: What inspired you to put your own spin on the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale?

Liesl Shurtliff: I was actually brainstorming another story idea when I imagined a world where names are much more than just a title, but a person’s destiny. Instantly my mind gravitated toward the Rumpelstiltskin tale, for if there was ever a name of great importance in a story, it’s that one. And yet, for the crucial role he and his name play in the story, we know so little of Rumpelstiltskin in the traditional tale. We know nothing of where he comes from, what his name means, how he learned to spin straw into gold, or why on earth he would want someone’s first born child. I’ve read a few retellings that are well written and answer some of these questions, but I wanted to tell a story from Rumpelstiltksin’s point-of-view, and not only so we would understand him, but also love him. Shortening his name to Rump got me on the right track and everything grew from there.

Q: In the world of fairytales, the princesses tend to get most of the attention and shelf space. Did you choose to write about Rump and his plucky best friend, Red, for a reason? Were you trying to reach a particular audience?

LS: I can’t say that I was writing it for any reason other than to carry out an idea that was growing inside of me. I didn’t think of what is or isn’t on the shelf, necessarily. (Though I will admit that I felt my premise was a unique one and that gave me confidence.)

It was clear to me from the beginning that this was going to be a middle-grade book, not because that’s what I wanted, but because that’s just where the voice and story naturally fell. Rump always had a lightness and humor that felt very natural to the age. I guess my inner 10-year-old is alive and well.

Q: Rump has some delightful quirks to his personality, especially a knack for making up rhymes. Do you share Rump's idiosyncrasies? 

LS: I do! Though I’m not so carefree with showing those idiosyncrasies with people I don’t know. Admittedly I cover myself up a lot of time, and don’t reveal my “weirdness” until I feel comfortable that a person isn’t going to think I’m completely mad. But really, we’re all a little mad around here, aren’t we?

Q: Rump makes wonderful realizations as he wrestles with his destiny. "Deep inside I have a power that no one can take away from me. A deep magic more powerful than any magic placed upon me. A magic I that I was born with, that grew inside me, deep in my bones." What do you hope kids take away from your story?

LS: Mostly, I just hope kids will enjoy the story, and come away with a sense of satisfaction that my version of a classic tale filled in the holes of a tale with many holes. I never write something with the motive to make people learn or understand something I feel they should know. However, if readers so choose to contemplate a lasting message from Rump I hope it will be that as humans, we are living paradoxes. We are complete messes sometimes, whether we inherited the mess or created the mess ourselves, but we also have this incredible power inside of us to confront those messes and untangle them and clean them up. No one gets through life without encountering hard things, but we can do hard things!

Q: What's ahead in your writing? Will we see more of Rump and Red? Or another completely original take on a traditional fairytale?

I think Rump’s tale has essentially been told. He could possibly crop up in a very off-hand way in another tale, but I don’t have any plans for him. As for Red, I adore her character and hope to tell her story some day, but for now she is taking a rest because, good golly, she went through a lot, too, and I imagine her own path is a difficult one.

I am working on another fairy-tale! One that I think will be just as fun and satisfying as Rump, if not more so, but I am keeping the details a secret until I am certain it’s going to work out. It’s still in the beginning stages and I don’t want to tell anyone what’s up next when I’m not certain that it’s actually going to happen. I hope it does!