| Kathleen Duey Resurrects Magic |
 Kathleen Duey Resurrects Magicby Roxyanne Young This month Kathleen Duey is celebrating the publication of a very important book. She's the author of several commercially-successful paperback chapterbook series for boys and girls, but after a decade in the industry, after dozens of published books, after traveling the world teaching writing workshops and conference sessions, this is Kathleen's first hard cover book, and her first foray into darker fantasy. I asked Kathleen about her new book, and the twists and turns her career has taken to bring her to this crook in her path. SWJ: Besides being a real departure from the books you've written before, A Resurrection of Magic: Skin Hunger is the first in a trilogy. What is the inspiration for this story? KD: The basic idea came from knowing a fanatic a long time ago-the strongest and most fragile person I had ever encountered. But this story has been simmering for a long time and it has changed over the years. There is a three hundred page, incomplete, technically strained, weak version somewhere in my drawers, written 15 years ago. I am refusing to look for it. SWJ: Tell us about the characters in Skin Hunger. You introduce each with such powerful imagery, it seems they spring fully drawn from the pages. How did these young people come to you? KD: I never "create" characters. It has never worked for me. They have to just appear. I have learned how to open the door for them. I have constructed elaborate strategies to coax them into talking to me. Then, if I can just stay out of their way, they usually have a good story to tell. It's a relatively big cast. And it is character-driven, so they are all very important to making the plot work. SWJ: You told me a few weeks ago that this is the book it took you almost fifteen years to write, that when the idea came to you, you didn't have the writing skills to match the project. Explain what you meant by that. KD: It's very complex structurally. It's two alternating stories, separated by 200 years, each with its own protagonist. There are two voices, two protagonists, two plots that eventually intersect, and strong supporting characters in both stories. The timeline over the trilogy is almost circular. The stories have to mesh like gears or it falls apart. When I was just learning how to write, it was beyond me. Then, for over a decade, earning a living became my single-minded priority. I wrote original series most of that time. I couldn't afford to work on a book I knew would take a year or more to wri  te-and that I wasn't entirely sure
I could write-let alone sell. SWJ: Tell us about the incredible artwork for the cover. That's a neat story in itself. KD: I had such a distinct vision for this whole project. From the beginning, I wanted the cover to portray the emotion, not the events, of the story. The art director was kind enough to let me suggest a wonderful artist I found on the internet-after days and days of sifting through hundreds of artist sites. I was looped in on the art direction and my ideas were used. It was wonderful to be involved. The cover is eye-stopping and perfect for the book. It's on my website: http://www.kathleenduey.com/content/blogcategory/12/11/ SWJ: You've had some great commentary from some powerful children's and YA fantasy writers. How does that make you feel about your work here? KD: Profoundly and gratefully relieved. I thought it might be pretty good. I wasn't sure. It's so hard to assess your own work. People seem to like the title, too. I struggled to find it, we were running out of time. But when it finally came to me, it was perfect. Skin Hunger is a psychological term for what happens to humans-neglected babies, widows and widowers, sequestered monks, isolated prisoners-when they are deprived of kind human touch. Kirkus has selected the book for inclusion in their SF/Fantasy issue. I can only shiver and quake, awaiting the reviews. SWJ: You're judging the midgrade category for the 2007 Write It Now! Competition, but what other projects are you working on now? KD: I am finishing Annie and Ginger, my eleventh historical horse book for Dutton/Puffin. The horse-girls write lots of fan mail, so I am trying to keep up with them. I will soon be focusing entirely on the wrapping up the first draft for the next volume in A Resurrection of Magic. I am working with a packager on a truly lovely 24-title book and DVD animal series for 2-6 year olds. I am writing audio scripts for the DVD and text for the books. I am beginning negotiations for six high-action-reluctant-reader-boy-bait-books that I really hope will work out. I want literate men in the next generation. SWJ: Anything else you'd like to mention? KD: There are three or four other things on the horizon, including a graphic novel and an animation project. And I have another oddly structured novel to write, sort of a SF/fantasy hybrid. Like this trilogy, it's an idea that was born long ago, before I ever started thinking about the commerciality (or not) of my projects. I am trying to find my way back to that well. But I have to earn a living, too, so I will continue writing less exhausting projects. This is a conundrum that has absorbed me for years. My workshop for SCBWI's Summer 07 conference in LA is titled: The Uneasy Marriage of Art and Commerce. That seems to be my current task, finding a way to mediate that marriage. |
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