Kassy Tayler, author of SHADOWS OF GLASS, joins us today to talk about her latest dystopian steampunk novel!
Coal miner Wren MacAvoy is back and faced with a new set of challenges that torment her mind and heart. The thing she fought to achieve for so long—escaping the dome–has come to fruition, but it’s not the paradise she thought it would be. She now realizes there is much more to this new world outside the dome than beautiful blue skies. Something much darker…
Olivia with YA Mag: Kassy, welcome to the Young Adult magazine!
YA: Tell us more about how you first met Wren? What made her the perfect protagonist for this series vs. any other character in her world?
Kassy Tayler: I first met Wren when she was lying on her back on top of the building looking at the dome. She came to me as a full blown character with a complete history and a very strong desire to get out.
YA: What sets Wren’s story apart from other YA steampunk novels, like Scott Westerfeld’s LEVIATHAN series or The Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross? What will readers find here they can’t anywhere else in YA books?
KT: A sense of hope and desperation. And Wren’s journey as she realizes that the decisions she makes has such a heavy impact on the people around her.
YA: What non-book influences (films, television shows, music, plays, etc) helped spark this story?
KT: Coal mining. Both of my grandfathers were coal miners in West Virginia and I lost an Uncle in a mining accident. There was another coal related tragedy in WV and I wanted to pay tribute to those who lost their lives. Mining really is a dangerous profession and for some there’s just no other job opportunities.
YA: When you were a teen, what was your favorite book (YA or otherwise)? Now that you’re an author for teens, what is your favorite modern YA?
KT: The Outsiders. I started writing Outsider fan-fiction when I was in middle school. Today there is so many. The Hunger Games, Divergent are just a few. I’m a big fan of the YA genre.
YA: What’s the story on the title SHADOWS OF GLASS?
KT: The Dome looms so heavily in book two that I wanted to reference it without sounding too much like Cassandra Clare’s series. It just came to me and my editor loved it.
YA: This is the middle book in the ASHES trilogy. How did you up the stakes in this sequel? What can you tell us about what’s up next for Wren after that cliffhanger of an ending?
KT: Wren has to decide what she will do to survive. Will she kill? Yes she will. And then there’s Levi which makes her question her feelings for Pace. The entire book is about Wren coming to grips with the big decisions she’s had to make and how they affect the people around her. She not only has to take responsibility for her actions, she had to accept it. And in the last book she sees it through to the end, but not without a heavy price.
YA: As a novel, SHADOWS OF GLASS is part of the growing steampunk subgenre. How did you first get into steampunk? Have you attended any in-person events with the steampunk community?
KT: I’ve been to a few steampunk events at conferences. It is part of a life style that I just don’t have time for. It was a natural fit of me because I also write historicals and sci/fi so I just mashed the two genre’s together and got Steampunk.
YA: Do you have any pet projects you’re eager to work on?
KT: Several. Right now I’m working on Skylark, about a girl who is born of an alien abduction.
YA: All right, last one! If you could spend the winter holidays with Wren, Pace, Levi, and the rest, what traditions would you each keep? What would you want to tell Wren while you visited with her?
KT: I think they would all love the tradition of a Christmas tree. They are familiar with the Bible so it would be fun to show them how Christmas is celebrated. I would tell Wren, well done. You did what you had to do. Never forget the sacrifices that were made. Freedom comes with a heavy price. Make sure you always appreciate it.
YA: Thank you very much for joining us today, Kassy! We’re all looking forward to the final chapter of Wren’s adventures!
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Readers, be sure to check out Kassy Tayler at her website www.KassyTayler.com. Or follow her on Twitter @KassyTayler.
SHADOWS OF GLASS, published by St. Martin’s Griffin, is available now at your favorite retailers and local independent bookstores!
Olivia Hennis is a transplanted New England girl dropped by a tornado into the magical Land of Jersey. For more info, follow her on Twitter.