Would-be cop Caitlin Kittredge finishes her breathtaking Iron Codex trilogy with the finale The Mirrored Shard, wrapping up her character arcs and settling scores that ‘do them justice.’ Here she shares more on the unique universe of her work, which bravely combines the Faerie world with that of Steampunk.
Aoife Grayson must face death to win back Dean—the love who was ripped from the Iron Lands of the living when he was shot in the arctic north. But getting to the Deadlands is something that Aoife can’t do on her own. And if she can find a way there, Tremaine would surely never allow it. He has sworn to keep her in the Thorn Lands, the fairie home of her mother, Nerissa. But Aoife is determined to find her way out. And she has no trouble if that means she has to kill Tremain and his queen to do it.
YOUNG ADULT: What made you decide to start writing?
Caitlin Kittredge: It wasn’t so much a conscious decision as I’d always told stories, from basically the time I could talk, and eventually I started writing them down. I wrote a LOT of terrible fan fiction before I got serious in college and decided to try and make a go of being a professional writer.
YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest book. What is different about this third installment in the series?
CK: Well, this closes out the Iron Codex trilogy, so it was the book where I had to decide whether or not to wrap up a lot of plot elements and make sure that my characters had endings to their stories that did them justice. I felt like I was juggling a lot more balls this time out than with the first two books, but I got to write some scenes I’d been waiting to write for three novels, so that was exciting.
YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you.
CK: I wake up around 7:30 when my roommate leaves for work. I spend the morning doing email, blogging and that sort of stuff and I write from around 12-3 or 4. If I’m on deadline I write more after dinner, and I occasionally manage to put on real pants and leave my house, but my days are usually pretty full!
YA: Describe the appeal that steampunk has for you.
CK: I love how it can be a blend of so many different genres, time periods and types of stories. Steampunk has a pretty universal appeal–it doesn’t all have to be Victoriana, and it doesn’t have to be science fiction. For me, it’s a genre of discovery and invention, both things near and dear to my heart, so it was a natural fit for the Iron Codex novels.
YA: And the decision to combine that with the faerie world; where did that inspiration come from?
CK: I was honestly surprised no one had done that before! I mean, steampunk is gadgets, mechanical wonders, scientific marvels, and the faerie world is traditionally anti-technology (going so far as some lore saying fairies are repelled by iron and steel). To me it was natural that my steampunk antagonists should be fairies, as I think marrying steampunk and fantasy is something that can yield some really fun and unique stories.
YA: If you hadn’t become an author, what path would your career have perhaps taken?
CK: I’ve always been really interested in law enforcement, and I almost studied psychology instead of getting an English degree. I think I’d have probably ended up as a pathologist or doing forensic psychology. I’m also a pretty avid photographer so I could definitely have seen my arts focus going that way instead of writing. But who knows!