Growing up influenced by her lawyer mother and fascinated by everything from her case stories to Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Cayla Kluver concludes her attention-getting Legacy Trilogy with a powerful climax, told from two perspectives. A conversation with the author follows.

Young Adult: What will fans of the Legacy trilogy find most surprising about this final installment?
Cayla Kluver: The first two books were told solely from Alera’s perspective, but Sacrifice breaks off into two narrators:  Alera and Shaselle, Steldor’s young cousin whose father died at the end of Allegiance.  Shaselle and Alera more or less represent the two sides of the conflict unfolding in Hytanica, and I think it’s going to be very interesting to see with whom readers side.  Alera is more on the peacekeeping side of things, and Shaselle is a rebel.  Sacrifice definitely has its own vibe that I hope readers will enjoy, and I can’t wait to hear their reactions.

YA: Who would you count among your strongest influences, and why?
CK: On the home front, my mom is my biggest influence.  She’s a crazy, compassionate, spontaneous, and yet logical and rational person, somehow rolled into one.  I can’t remember ever not wanting to be like her.  In terms of other writers and artists, my biggest influence has probably been J. R. R. Tolkien.  I was nine when I first discovered Middle Earth, and I dove in.  The books, the movies, every scrap of background information and art I could find, I absorbed.  Tolkien defined the best years of my childhood.  Another great influence has always been Joss Whedon.  He creates such amazing female (and male) characters, and his sense of humor is unique and spot-on.

YA: If you could cast the Dream Film Adaptation of your work, who would you cast?
CK: I would cast a whole bunch of amazing actors I’ve always wanted to meet so that I could hang out with them!  (Chris Evans is at the top of my current list.)  But seriously, I would just want good actors.  The sexiest thing about a movie star is talent.  I wouldn’t care if everyone involved was a complete unknown, or if the actors were technically too old to play the teenage roles.  That’s one of my pet peeves – when people concentrate so hard on casting actors who look right and are the right age, and they completely pass over talent.  Anyway, it’s a far-off dream to have movies made of the Legacy trilogy, but an author can hope, right?

YA: Do you have pursuits outside of young adult fiction?
CK: Nothing definite at this point, but if I don’t end up writing crime fiction for the adult market at some point, I will be sincerely surprised.  My family is all lawyers and I used to pass long car trips by having my mom tell me about different puzzling murders and thefts.  I might have been a strange child, but I found that stuff thrilling and fascinating.  I have story ideas that could be slotted into almost any genre, so I really have no idea what the future may hold – but I’m sure I’ll branch out one way or another!  It just depends what sort of fancy strikes me.

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