Digging Deeper: Why I Chose To Write a Story Set in the 1970s

​Perhaps I should title this story, What’s Taken Me So Long to Write a Story Set in the 1970s? The 1970s was when I, myself, was a middle grade child. It was a glorious time.

• Endless bike rides
• Afternoons on the playground
• Climbing the rocks and exploring the woods behind my house
• The simplicity of having just four television stations
• Fighting to watch those television stations with your sibling
• Scraped knees from your endless bike rides
• Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, bee stings, and a host of other ailments from exploring the woods
• …

Me at one of my very 70s birthday party.

Well, you get the picture. It was a glorious time. It was a time when we went outside in the morning to play and often only came back in when we needed a bathroom or food. There were no cell phones or ipads or streaming anything. I owned both a portable tape recorder and an FM radio, which in my eyes were as high-tech as one could get. Those two items meant I could spend my Saturday mornings listening to top 40 radio in hopes of making the perfect mixed-tape, if I happened to have my tape recorder positioned close enough to the radio to pick up the sound, and if the DJ happened to play a song I liked, and if my tape didn’t get caught in the machine, and if I could tune in the station enough to get rid of most of the crackling and static, and most importantly, if there was no background noise in my house to ruin the recording such as a phone ringing, my brother playing music of his own, or a parent calling my name. But despite the crackling and static and other background noise, I would listen to that coveted tape over and over, knowing I’d worked hard to make it as perfect as possible.
 

When it came time to start writing The Backyard Secrets of Danny Wexler, I decided to set the story in 1978. On the one hand it made sense since that’s when I was a middle grade child, but more importantly, I wanted to write a story that was free from modern technology. No cell phones, texting, internet, etc. I wanted to bring back a period of time where kids went outside to play, where they hung out in the backyard, and could walk freely through their neighborhoods to each other’s homes. I knew I had endless memories to pull from including: (1) my fascination with the Bermuda Triangle, (2) an unfounded fear of white vans, and (3) a factory in the next town. And while I didn’t write about my quest for the perfect mixed tape, I did include my beloved tape recorder. 

How else are you supposed to track down aliens?
 
I hope you enjoy Danny’s adventures!
 
Xo,
Karen