We first spoke with Adalyn Grace in January 2020 prior to the release of her debut novel All the Stars and Teeth which went on to become an instant New York Times bestseller. Now with her upcoming Gothic-infused fantasy romance Belladonna releasing on August 30th, we’ve had the pleasure of catching up with Adalyn again! Find out about her earliest childhood writing experiences, what factors influence her when creating new fantasy worlds, that time she lived in a haunted house as well as books she’d recommend and more below!
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! First, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Of course, and hello! It’s so great to get to chat with you guys again. My name is Adalyn Grace, and I’m the New York Times bestselling author of the All the Stars and Teeth series, as well as Belladonna, which I’m here to chat with you guys about today! I’m local to San Diego, and a huge fan of anime and video games. You’ll often find me at local comic conventions, kayaking, or wandering around San Diego in search of the best sushi and California burrito. I’ve been writing since I was around 10 or 11, and got my start writing super embarrassing (but seriously fun) roleplays on Neopets!
Aside from your career as an author, you’ve previously worked in live theatre, newspaper editing and animation – do you see yourself going back to any of these fields? Are there any other areas you’d like to branch out into one day?
I’m very partial to fiction writing! That said, I find that screenwriting really scratches the same creative itch for me. I really love visual media as an art form, and am already branching into that world again. I have an unannounced animated project currently in development with a studio, and would love to continue adapting my projects as well as to create new ones specifically for film/tv.
You’ve mentioned before that doing online roleplays with girls your age and writing about wolves, vampires and other supernatural themes influenced you to become a writer – is this a hobby you’ve returned to as an adult? If so, could you share any details about what kind of themes were involved in the roleplay and if you found the experience to be the same or different to when you were younger?
Hah, I love this question! This was very much how I spent my childhood. I would spend hours upon hours every day creating stories with my friends, writing thousands of words without any awareness or ever being tired. It was so unbelievably fun. We wrote stories about wolves, vampires, gifted boarding schools, and it was such a tropey fabulous time. There were never any expectations to have the most gorgeous prose, and we were never concerned with someone judging us for whatever we were creating because it was just for us. We literally just wanted to watch our characters fall in love and throw some obstacles at them for them to conquer!
There was certainly a freedom back then that I no longer have now that I write professionally. Because of that, I have definitely thought about going back and trying this as an adult. I haven’t yet, but I’ve been talking to a friend I used to write with as a kid about giving it another try. I’d love to write just for fun again without any expectations, though I have to admit that the idea is a little intimidating. Now that I write as a job, I’m having trouble just doing it for fun. I’d definitely like to give it a try, though!
What do you enjoy about writing fantasy novels and what is a struggle you’ve faced while writing in this genre? Is there a possibility we’ll see you release books in a different genre in future?
I love the freedom of writing fantasy. I get to create whatever rules I’d like and am beholden to no one and nothing, and that’s a really wonderful feeling! That said, I think fantasy tends to be heavily scrutinized as a genre (at least on Goodreads, ha!) because of this very reason. For some fantasy (specifically high fantasy), you are making your own rules, which means that they have to make sense to readers who aren’t in your brain. You have to think not just about magic and setting, but how those influence the world. I always start with the magic and branch out from there—how does the magic influence the world? The characters? Their jobs? The politics? The beliefs? There is so much that goes into fantasy, and while it can be a very taxing process, it’s also incredibly rewarding. I think my brain tends to gravitate toward the fantastical; I imagine most of my projects will always have elements of fantasy or paranormal, though it could also be fun to write a fun rom-com one day! But I make no promises that I won’t throw a vampire into it.
What is the strangest thing you’ve researched while writing?
For my first series I had to learn about what happens to limbs after they get dissected from the body. How long does it take for the blood to congeal, what does the anatomy look like when you cut through the skin . . . Things like that. For Belladonna I researched the Victorian era pretty extensively, and I also learned quite a bit about poison and poisonous plants. I’m certainly on an FBI watch list at this point.
I’m in love with the premise of the personification of Death becoming entangled with the heroine of Belladonna – what inspired you to write about this character?
Thank you! It’s funny because I’m such a baby when it comes to anything scary. I don’t watch horror movies or read scary books. I don’t like talking about real life ghost stories or aliens beause it all freaks me out. Yet, at the same time, I’ve always been drawn to the macabre. Think eerie rather than scary. I grew up listening to Sweeney Todd during beach vacations, and being obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, and so many other stories with paranormal elements. I love the dark and the weird, especially when it’s paired with a beautiful and glittering world. I love the juxtaposition of those elements and find that I feel very at home in those stories.
Signa is fearless when confronting Death – if you were in her position, do you think you’d have the same bold attitude or would you approach him differently?
Hahaha. So as much as I hate talking about true ghost stories (and as much as I’m still on the fence about whether or not I actually believe in ghosts) I definitely have lived in a haunted house before. It was to the point where I’d walk out of the room, hear crashing, and open my door again to everything that had been on my desk now scattered all over the floor. I started talking out loud (maybe to the ghost or maybe I was just being a total weirdo and talking to myself, who knows) and would tell the ghost to chill out and leave me alone otherwise I wouldn’t sleep in the house anymore. On the days I confronted this ghost, he would leave my stuff alone and not make a mess. I say “he” here because, after moving out of the house, we found out that a man had died in the home. If there really was a ghost, I think he was just lonely and didn’t like when people left.
Belladonna features a popular (or should we say notorious) trope: the love triangle! Is this a trope you enjoy in the media you consume?
ABSOLUTELY! Yes! I think love triangles get such a bad reputation, even though they’re the best trope ever. A good love triangle keeps me turning the page more than any other trope. I loved it in Twilight when I was younger, and in True Beauty more recently. K dramas often do this trope fantastically. I will say though that my ship pretty much never wins (#TeamJacob), and yet it’s still my favorite trope.
If you were compiling a soundtrack for Belladonna, what song/s would you feature?
I listened exclusively to the composer Peter Gundry while drafting this book. I actually named one of the characters in the book after him, since his music was so helpful to me while I was crafting this world. His music is moody and atmospheric, and since I can’t listen to anything with lyrics while I write, it’s truly the perfect music to write to.
Belladonna and your previous All The Stars and Teeth duology are both classed as Young Adult – during the course of writing and editing, have you ever found that any scenes ended up being too ‘adult’ and needed to be dialled back or removed?
It’s interesting because All the Stars and Teeth is a fairly violent and gory book, and yet the overall consensus is that it feels very classically YA. On the other hand, Belladonna is far more romantic and does have some steamy scenes, which puts it on the side of upper YA/New Adult. I find it unfortunate that we have more of a problem with sex than we do with violence in America, but at the same time I really do think that an age category between YA and Adult would be remarkably beneficial. All the characters in Belladonna are around the ages of 20+, yet it deals with themes very common to YA, such as coming of age. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I removed anything from Belladonna, as I wanted to write the story that felt most true to the book. I was careful and mindful of the more romantic scenes and tried to do them in a way that felt far more tame than, say, a bodice ripper. But overall the book is very much on the border of Adult and YA.
If you were stuck on a desert island with the lead characters from your books, how helpful would they be?
Oh man, that’s tough. I feel like Death would be absolutely useless. He could easily get us all off the island, but only if he wanted to (which he would not). Signa would be great; she’d know what plants we could eat and would help everyone survive. I feel like her and Blythe would be the best options to help us find a way off the island or build a raft or something. Sylas could be there for the brute strength to help build a shelter, and he’d probably also be pretty helpful at gathering materials and assisting the girls at finding a way home.
If you were able to get one of your books adapted, which would you choose and would you rather that it was a movie, tv show or musical/stage show? Are there any actors you can visualize playing the main roles?
All of the above. Haha, in all seriousness I’d want whatever would stay the most true to the story. I’d definitely want a tv show or film, but musicals are my favorite and I would love to see what songs would be made for a Belladonna musical so that I can sing them around the house all day every day. I’m less picky about the actors; I don’t think I’d know if someone was perfect until I saw them audition. That said, I think there are a few actresses that I could visualize as Signa, like Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma Laird, or Elle Fanning. Elle could also be a great Blythe! As for Sylas, he’s really tough. I don’t think Jamie Campbell Bower quite fits the physical appearance of how I described Sylas in the book, but I’m not necessarily picky about that and I think that he definitely has the right demeanor and background for Sylas. Hair can be dyed, and contacts and makeup can be worn. For me, it would all come down to the acting.
And finally, what have you enjoyed reading or watching this year, can you give us some recommendations?
Absolutely. One of my favorite books this year has been Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer. I don’t usually gravitate toward contemporary stories unless they’re romance, yet this became one of my hands-down favorite books ever. It’s like a Taylor Swift album in book form, full of raw emotion and characters that feel so real. The book is Dwyer’s debut, and I’m already a fan for life. I’d recommend this book to literally everyone.
If you’re looking for something that’s just pure fun and escapism, I’d recommend Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend. I listened to the audiobook and it’s not read but performed. It’s excellent.
