Advice for new writers:

“My advice for upcoming writers is to read, but read like a writer. That means you should read writers you admire, and read their work more than once — the first time just for enjoyment, but then many more times to try to figure out how they do what they do. How do they create suspense? Why does this passage make you cry? Or laugh? How do they create characters that you feel you know, that you care about? How do they keep you wanting to turn the pages?

And then, of course, you have to try it for yourself. And try. And try. And try. Keep trying. And believe that you always have something a little better in you. That you cannot run out of ideas, that ideas breed ideas, and your ideas will just get better and better, so use the best one first.”

Inspired by family, their stories, and their love of the outdoors:

“I grew up in a pretty town in Minnesota, in a beautiful area of rolling hills, farms, and hardwood forests. My mother was a pianist, organist, and piano teacher. There was a lot of music in our house, and I learned to play the flute and bassoon, but still turned out to be the least musically talented of anyone in my family of three sisters and two brothers.

My father was a Lutheran pastor. He liked to hunt and fish and walk in the woods, and I liked to walk in the woods with him. I learned a lot about finding my way in the forest and in life from him. He was one of the best and funniest storytellers I've ever known.

My ancestors were all from Norway, but emigrated a long time ago. My book West of the Moon was inspired by my great-great-grandmother’s diary as she emigrated from Norway in 1851. It’s not actually about her, but about a young girl she met on the sailing ship coming to America, a girl traveling all alone with no one to meet her in America.”

When I’m not writing, I like to spend time outdoors skiing, hiking, or paddling a kayak or canoe. Of course I also love to read!”

Life as an author:

“Before I started writing books for young readers, I had a lot of oddball jobs: I taught swimming lessons in remote Alaskan villages, was a groomer at a horse race track, have been an adventure travel guide, a professional note-taker, a dance instructor, a teacher of fiction writing—also children’s literature—and for a large portion of my grown-up life, the artistic director of a theater company in Duluth, Minnesota, where I still live. Writing is now my main job, and I can often be found doing just that in my ‘little house in the backyard,’ pictured here.

From school visits to workshops to community events, I love to share my love of writing with others, especially young people. I also teach at the Northwoods Young Writers Camp, a one-of-a-kind storytelling retreat for teen girls.

Books that Margi loves:

“I liked to read when I was a kid, and those books have inspired what I’ve ended up writing. Pippi Longstocking, Harriet the Spy, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Snow Treasure, Nancy Drew—can you guess which of these books inspired which of my stories?

I went through a phase of refusing to read anything that was considered a ‘classic’ so I am now trying to catch up with a lot of great books, and boy, oh boy, do I love E.B. White, for one! I am very sorry I missed him as a kid, but I am making up for it now!”