Gina Damico is the author of Croak, Scorch and the exciting new finale to the series: Rogue. She received a degree in theater and sociology from Boston College, where she was active with the Committee for Creative Enactments, the country’s only collegiate murder mystery improv comedy troupe. It seems only fitting that her books deal artfully with death and the macabre.
Lex is a teenage Grim Reaper with the power to Damn souls, and it’s getting out of control. She’s a fugitive, on the run from the maniacal new mayor of Croak and the townspeople who want to see her pay the price for her misdeeds. Uncle Mort rounds up the Junior Grims to flee Croak once again, but this time they’re joined by Grotton, the most powerful Grim of all time. Their new mission is clear: Fix his mistakes, or the Afterlife will cease to exist, along with all the souls in it.　
The gang heads for Necropolis, the labyrinth-like capital city of the Grimsphere. There, they discover that the Grimsphere needs a reboot. To do that, the portals to the Afterlife must be destroyed…but even that may not be enough to fix the damage. Things go from bad to worse, and when at last the fate of the Afterlife and all the souls of the Damned hang in the balance, it falls to Lex and her friends to make one final, impossible choice.
YOUNG ADULT: What three words come to mind when you think of writing?
Gina Damico: Ideas gone haywire.
YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest work. What is different about Rogue and what does it bring to the Croak series?
GD: It brings a real sense of urgency, now that our dear gang of grim reapers is on the brink of war. The Grimsphere is about to collapse, the Afterlife is in danger of disappearing, and it’s up to Lex and her friends to fix — or help destroy — everything before it’s too late. There’s plenty of danger in Croak and Scorch, but in this final book of the trilogy, it’s do or die (heh) time.
YA: What specific influences (film, TV, other) guided you in writing this story?
GD: Two words: road trip. The Grims are forced to run for their lives from Croak in a beat-up old hearse, and I used my own experience driving across the country with my sister last year as a basis for some of the stuff that happens to the gang, up to and including license plate game fights. We even stopped at the geographical center of the USA, which is where the Grimsphere capital, Necropolis, is located and where the majority of Rogue takes place.
YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you.
GD: 1. Wake up. 2. Walk dog. 3. Stall for several hours. 4. Try to write something. 5. Fail. 6. Stall some more, usually with the help of the internet. 7. Finally write something worthwhile, or at least worth keeping around until I edit it to pieces. 8. Take a break and congratulate myself on all that hard work.
YA: Besides the classic ‘never give up’, what advice would you give to aspiring young writers today?
GD: I never realized this when I first got started, so now I offer it up freely to anyone who wants to get serious about writing: let other people read your work. I’m not talking about distributing it on street corners or anything, but once you scrounge up the courage, hand it off to someone you trust and who will give you honest feedback. And be prepared to really listen to what they have to say–you don’t have to change anything based on their opinion, but getting different perspectives is essential to improving your writing.
YA: What’s next for you?
GD: I’m currently working on my next YA novel, titled HELLHOLE. It’s about a teenage guy who inadvertently brings up a devil from hell, only for the devil to camp out on a couch in his basement, eat all his food, play all his video games, and refuse to leave. Hilarity ensues.
YA: What other authors, YA or otherwise, do you idolize? Or, what YA books are on a pedestal for you?
GD: I always loved the crap out of Kurt Vonnegut. When I was a teenager myself, I read every one of his books. I so appreciated his ability to blend that wry, sarcastic sense of humor with meaningful and unique statements about the crazy randomness of the world. Add to that a touch of sci-fi, and I was hooked.