Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson
Mysteries in Our National Parks series

On writing together
Gloria: By middle school I was able to borrow my neighbors’ National Geographic magazines and learn more about the great big world out there. Who could have foreseen that decades later, Alane and I would write children’s mysteries for National Geographic? Alane is much better at creating the interaction between the characters. She understands social signals more than I do—it’s a gift she carries into her writing. I rely on Alane’s social instincts; she relies on my science research about endangered species in nature. We make a good team.

Alane: I'd say the best team ever! Watching my mother create her own fictional worlds as a published author, I witnessed firsthand her amazing work ethic. She taught me to never settle for good, but to strive for great. As we wrote the parks mysteries together, the lesson was underlined even more: Always give your best while writing harder, climbing higher.

On reading together
Gloria: I was seven years old, living in a steel town that was just emerging from the Great Depression—and I’d never owned a book. Then, as I lay in bed with whooping cough, my mother's friend brought me a copy of Johanna Spyri's novel Heidi. For me! To keep! Joy! A generation later I read the book to Alane, and now it’s hers to keep.

Alane: I, too, remember falling in love with Heidi. When my mom gave me the book, I realized that through the magic of reading, I could walk hand-in-hand with Heidi over flower-strewn Alps while sipping fresh goat milk and nibbling goat cheese. (It was only later I discovered the goat-thing wasn't nearly as delicious as Heidi made it sound!) Through that book, as well as many others, my mom taught me to love the written word.

Children's book author Gloria Skurzynski and Edgar-Award winning author Alane Ferguson collaborated from 1997-2003 on 13 National Geographic children's novels based around science, nature, and the US National Parks system for their Mysteries in the National Parks Mysteries series. For more information visit National Geographic and Skurzynski's site gloriabooks.com and Ferguson's site alaneferguson.com.

Mysteries in Our National Parks series

Wolf Stalker (1997)
Rage of Fire (1998)
Cliff-hanger (1999)
Deadly Waters (1999)
The Hunted (2000)
Ghost Horses (2000)
Valley of Death (2001)
Over the Edge (2001)
Running Scared (2002)
Out of the Deep (2002)
Escape From Fear (2002)
Buried Alive (2003)
Night of the Black Bear (2007)