KidLit Craft is back with another Snack-Sized Author Interview. In this series, we ask authors five quick questions that give us insight into their craft and process. Today we’re talking with author Sam Subity.

Sam is known for his middle grade fantasy novels The Last Shadow Warrior and Valor Wings. In The Last Shadow Warrior, spirited twelve-year-old Abby grapples with her family’s history as Viking warriors while facing new threats. Valor Wings transports readers to Dunkirk in May 1940 where World War II impacts the childhoods of Iris, who lives in a tiny English village and cares for a dragon nearby, and Max, a boy from Belgium on a long journey to survive.

Welcome, Sam!

Question 1: What's your writing superpower?

That's a tough one, but I'd probably say writing action scenes. My son is often one of the first readers of my manuscripts, so when he tells me that he can see the chases or battles in my story like a movie in his head, then I know I've got it right. 

And they're fun and exciting to write, too! 

In fact, if you've ever seen the movie Speed, someday I aspire to write the middle grade version of that. But even Speed isn't wall-to-wall action. So, on the opposite side of the coin, I've had to really learn how to slow down the pace as well. To give the reader some space to breathe with quieter scenes that are just as impactful.

Question 2: What’s an element of craft you explored in your latest project and what tips can you share with other authors for growing in their use of that particular element?

In Valor Wings, I really wanted to try writing multiple points of view for the first time. I've always admired how Gordon Korman effortlessly slides between sometimes five or more characters from whose eyes the reader gets to experience the story. It adds such a richness of detail, and I think it's fun for the reader because we get to know inside details that maybe one character knows that the others don't, so that we feel like we're in on a secret as we're reading. 

As an example of this, my main characters Iris and Max are the main POVs in Valor Wings, but I kick off each act of the story from the POV of my "big bad," the German General Wyvern. That helped me increase the tension by letting the reader see his plans for crushing the allied armies, and eventually for capturing the dragons, setting those plans in motion for the reader while Iris and Max have no idea what's coming. 

Additionally, I've seen POVs change within a chapter in other books, but I followed Korman's style of changing only at chapter breaks because I think it's easier for the reader (and author!) to follow. And although Korman typically uses first person POV, I found that using the third person POV made for a gentle additional reminder to the reader about which character is currently on the stage because that character's name is in the chapter header and appears frequently within the chapter as well.

Question 3: If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself as a new author?

Keep writing! I put aside seriously pursuing a career in writing about midway through college, instead focusing on more practical pursuits, as life necessitates for many of us. I didn't realize then that it would be almost two decades before I took another shot at my first novel.

There's a Chinese proverb that says, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today." Just substitute "write a novel" for "plant a tree" in that adage, and I think it applies equally as well. And then maybe I'd be working on my tenth, twelfth, or maybe even twentieth novel right now instead of my third!

Question 4: What inspires you as a writer in your career?

As you might be able to guess from my books Valor Wings and The Last Shadow Warrior, I find a lot of inspiration in the challenge of combining genres and concepts. 

The inspiration for Valor Wings came from my daughter's eclectic reading habits. She often has multiple TBR piles on and around the nightstand in her room, and one day the two books on top were Anne of Green Gables and Wings of Fire. 

Just for fun, I started concocting some scenes that merged the two into a story about a great granddaughter of the famous Anne who led a squadron of dragon riders in World War 2. So my working title for Valor Wings for a long time was "Anne of Green Dragons." 

Similarly, my original Twitter pitch for The Last Shadow Warrior that caught my agent's eye was "Beowulf meets Percy Jackson." In that story I mashed up the Beowulf legend with Norse myths and Viking lore into a fun adventure for modern kids.

Question 5: What’s one book you think every kidlit author should read?

This one's not even about writing, but I always recommend James Clear’s Atomic Habits to my writer friends because it was so helpful to me in establishing a writing habit. Or in other words, I can actually finish books now! 

I've heard some writers say that they write when inspiration strikes, but at least for me that usually translates into never writing anything at all. Life gets in the way, and days turn into weeks and months without getting any new words on the page. 

Instead, turning writing into a daily habit and showing up to write at least a little bit of my story each day whether I feel like it or not has been a real game changer.


Bonus Question: What can fans look forward to next?
I'm currently working on my first sports book—a middle grade novel that's kind of my love letter to basketball. I hope to have it on bookshelves sometime in 2026!

Sam Subity loves writing stories that explore the magic and wonder of being a kid. His first middle grade novel The Last Shadow Warrior is a fantasy adventure mashup of Beowulf, Norse mythology, and Viking lore. His latest novel Valor Wings reimagines the historic evacuation at Dunkirk during World War 2, but with dragons! When he’s not writing, you might find him running the trails of northern California where the endless, winding miles past fog and ocean inspire stories of adventure and mystery. Find him online at https://www.samsubity.com.

You can find Sam on Instagram @sjsubity and Bluesky @subity.bsky.social

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