THE KINGDOM is a dark, thrilling, somewhat sinister mix of the HBO series Westworld, the podcast Serial, and well, Disney World. Please describe the content of your latest book and what can readers expect from the read. I started reading YA as a kid and never really stopped, so for me, it’s always felt popular, though I think the difference now is that teens are more socially conscious, engaged, and vocal than ever before, so there’s this thirst and demand for authentic voices, diverse viewpoints, and engaging stories that not only reflect the beauty, pain, and complexity of our modern world, but also help teens figure out-ideally through a healthy mix of honesty and hope-how best to navigate it. Why do you feel young adult books are so popular and have such a voice right now? And Ana, even though she’s only part-human, is certainly no exception to that rule. People are not always who they seem to be. I’m very much a hopeless romantic, a people pleaser, and an animal lover of epic proportions, and so the idea of a perfect and beautiful fantasy world is admittedly very appealing to me. In some ways, I suppose I’m a little like Ana, the main protagonist of the story. What character do you most relate to and why?
I’m proud of where Ana’s story ended up and hope it’ll both entertain and spark more of the big picture conversations we should all be having. And initially, that’s what THE KINGDOM was: a more grounded story about love and murder at a theme park.īut then so much has happened over the last few years, from the election, to the Me Too Movement, to the USA Women’s Gymnastics abuse scandal, to the US pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, to our complete addiction to and reliance upon technology, and the book started to evolve into something more complex-a chance for me to delve into deeper issues I care a lot about. I loved hearing what went on behind the scenes at the most magical place on earth-the wild cast parties, the divas, the drama-and found the idea of all these darker secrets lurking beneath the surface of a perfect-seeming fantasy world to be so fascinating. Jess: The inspiration for The Kingdom initially came from the stories my mom used to tell me about the summer in college she spent working at Disney World. Aurora: What was your inspiration behind The Kingdom?
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