Drew Brockington, author of CatStronauts: Digital Disaster
Middle Grade Literature category, sponsored by Education Minnesota
Each week leading up to the 33rd annual Minnesota Book Awards announcement, we are featuring exclusive interviews with our 36 finalists. You can also watch the authors in conversation with their fellow category finalists here.
In a year defined by a pandemic and its fallout, virtually everything about our lives has changed in some way. How has COVID-19 impacted your writing habits and preferences? Has the unique zeitgeist of the past year influenced your writing output in any ways that you can pinpoint? 
When “stay at home” first began, I was working on a new manuscript about 2 kittens flying on an airplane for their first time. I found it hard to write about and draw crowds. I had to keep telling myself, “This is a story. This is okay. We will be able to be in a crowded airport sometime again.”
Would you tell us one or two things about your finalist book that you are particularly proud of, and why? (Sure, it may feel a bit un-Minnesotan to say so, but it’s not boasting if we ask!)
I’m very proud of the scale of Digital Disaster. It delivers the epic-ness that I want from a CatStronauts book and still stays true to its roots of exploring the plausible science and technology in our world. But through the lens of Cats.
What do you hope that your audience learns or takes away from your book?
Digital Disaster’s underlying theme is: Don’t rely 100% on technology. You can build and test something all you want, but nothing is ever fully automated. You still need to be there in case something goes wrong.
Minnesota enjoys a reputation as a place that values literature and reading. If this sentiment rings true for you, what about our home state makes it such a welcoming and conductive place for writers?
There is an active literary community here that has been very welcoming and supportive of each other’s efforts. I really love attending other launches and recognizing the same author faces in the crowd.
What advice would you give to an aspiring writer with an interest in your category?
Keep producing! Even if it’s for your friends and family to read. I learn something new about my craft with each project I work on. Writing/Illustrating definitely has a snowball effect. The more you do it, the faster you will grow at it.
Tell us something about yourself that is not widely known! (It doesn’t have to be about your writing.)
I collect foreign editions of The Hobbit! Each language released used an illustrator from the region for the cover and interior artwork. Every edition is so different from the last. Sometimes Bilbo is a plump garden gnome and sometimes he’s a mini adventurer with a great mess of hair. They are precious to me…
Drew Brockington has flown a Space Shuttle, repaired the International Space Station, and served in Mission Control – CatStronauts is his first series.