12/19/2023 0 Comments Shannon messenger website![]() And I get to abuse all-caps and exclamation marks so it's basically the best. I get to spend my day imagining what it's like to be in the head of a sparkly, flying, telepathic alicorn. But I think the most fun to write is Silveny. They're all fun-and challenging-in their own way. Are there any characters who are especially fun to write? Who knew? Your series has such a wide breadth of characters. Whenever a character won't cooperate, I realize, "ohhh, it's because I forgot about THIS!" So basically, my characters are smarter than me. I start every new book in the series by making a list of all the secrets I still have to reveal, and then I come up with a rough outline that can basically be summed up as, "I'M GOING TO DO ALL THE THINGS!" And usually once I start writing I realize how ridiculously ambitious my plan was and it's more like, "I'm going to do HALF the things!" Plus, when I really dive into the story and start asking myself, "okay, what are the characters going to do?" they always come up with very different plans than what I was thinking-and that's a good thing because that's how I spot the plot holes. ![]() Do you ever find that you have to change the timing of when certain reveals occur based on twists in the books that surprise you as you’re writing them? :) The series is packed with so many rich mysteries and questions. So I threw some elements of that into the first book and it just kind of grew from there, and now here I am, writing a love triangle, and living in fear of the day when readers rise up against me. When I was that age, it seemed like it was always that your crush had a crush on someone else-and then that person had a crush on yet another person, and it was a big mess of unrequited feelings. I was just trying to stay true to the characters themselves and stay true to the middle grade experience. But I definitely wasn't planning on starting any Team Wars. I mean, don't get me wrong-I knew Fitz and Keefe were both awesome characters. Honestly? That tooooooootally caught me by surprise. Did you have any idea when you first created the series that readers would respond so passionately to Fitz and Keefe and the love triangle between Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe? You just have to try your hardest and keep going. ![]() And Sophie's there to show us that you don't have to have it all figured out or get everything right. And I think that's something everyone can relate to-especially at the middle grade reading range: trying to figure out where you belong while still staying true to who you are is definitely not an easy task. So I work very hard to show Sophie's struggles, both internal and external, and I let her make mistakes-because Project Moonlark or not, elf or not, she'll still always be a girl caught between two worlds, trying to figure out where she fits. And I realized right away that I was writing the kind of character who could far too easily come across as "too perfect" or "too powerful" if I wasn't careful. I know her hopes and dreams and fears and insecurities and strengths and weaknesses. But, at the same time, she does feel very real to me. Ha, this is the kind of question that always makes me sound like I think Sophie's actually real-and I promise, I do realize she's a character that I created. What qualities in Sophie do you think allow readers of so many different backgrounds and personalities to find her so relatable? ![]() As much as readers will debate Team Keefe versus Team Fitz (or Team Dex!), ultimately they are definitely Team Sophie. And the harder they fight, the more the lines blur between friend and enemy. Every memory forces them to question everything-especially one another. She and her friends are part of something much bigger than they imagined-and their roles have already been chosen for them.Every clue drags them deeper into the conspiracy. ![]() Even the smallest secret comes with terrifying new responsibilities.And Sophie's not the only one with blank spots in her past, or mysteries surrounding her family. But after a lifetime of lies, sometimes the truth is the most dangerous discovery. She answered a few of our burning questions about the latest in the Keeper series, Legacy. She’s the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. She’s studied art, screenwriting, and film production, but realized her real passion was writing stories for children. Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned-among other things-that she liked watching movies much better than making them. ![]()
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