I recently had the opportunity to interview Kelly Coon, author of the upcoming YA book, Gravemaidens! It’s a story about the bonds of sisterhood, and how one young woman will do everything in her power to stop her sister from becoming a victim of “tradition”. I enjoyed seeing Kammani take on everyone determined to stop her, and how complicated family relationships can truly be.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself, and about Gravemaidens?
Kell in a nutshell:
I’m an editor for a company called Blue Ocean Brain (very nerd-heavy, haha), a former high school English teacher, a test prep author, a mom of three rowdy boys, and, of course, a YA author. It feels bizarre to even be able to write that, YET, here we are. I like hip-hop and chocolate and am the biggest book nerd on the planet. (I used to read eleven books a week as a middle schooler and still read books every single day.)
Gravemaidens in a nutshell:
In the city of Alu, beautiful girls like Nanaea are chosen to go with their dying rulers into the afterlife as their brides. It’s an honor. A tradition. But Kammani, Nanaea’s 16-year-old sister, sees the selection as a death sentence and is willing to sacrifice everything—including herself—to save her sister from this fate.
When you first started writing the story, what did you work on first?
The plot! For me, I have to nail down the major plot elements with the inciting action for each scene before I can move on to drafting. The goals of my characters tend to start showing up somewhere in the middle of drafting, though, usually with wildly different arcs than what I first imagined, so I have to go back and rework the entire plot to make sure that it reflects who the characters really are. It’s a weird process.
What was the most difficult aspect of writing Gravemaidens?
I wrote this story before I had an agent, and it was the fourth book I’d written unagented. I’d queried my first novel in 2008, then queried two other novels before this one with limited success. I knew I had a premise that was exciting with Gravemaidens, but wasn’t sure I could write a book to match. It was difficult writing it, not knowing whether or not I’d get an agent. Not knowing if I was just hammering away at something that would fail, yet again. But I couldn’t compel myself not to write it, even though I felt a lot of angst after typing “THE END.”
What was something you loved when writing dialogue between the characters?
Getting in another person’s headspace is really freeing in a lot of ways. You’re not bound by your own personal constraints. You’re not even thinking like you would normally think. In a way, when I’m crafting dialogue, I become this other character. I slip on their sandals and pull their tunics down over my head and kinda live inside their bodies (creepy, I realize). But when I do, the dialogue comes out authentically.
When I can’t get inside a character’s head, I realize I haven’t fully developed them, so I don’t know how they’d feel or react to something. And then it’s back to the drawing board for me. Usually, it takes at least a draft for me to understand who my characters are, and then several more before they feel like people I know.
Which character in Gravemaidens was your favorite to write, and which one gave you the most trouble?
Iltani is basically my smart-mouth self come to life, so any scene with her was easy. I just let whatever wanted to come out of my mouth do so. Ha! I had to reel her back in lots of times when she got out hand, but crafting her dialogue was SO, so fun. I’ve had a few requests for books with Iltani as the main character, which makes me laugh because she can be such a terror.
Nanaea was a challenge. I needed her to appear very self-centered in the beginning, so when you find out why she so desperately wants to be the ruler’s bride in the afterlife near the 75% mark of the book, it’s a big surprise and you realize she’s not as shallow as she seems. I needed to set her up for some strong character growth from book one to book two, and that was really hard to do!
There is a strong emphasis on the bonds of family, especially the bonds of sisterhood within Gravemaidens. What all went into developing this idea into the story?
Woo, Nathalie, that is a tough question. When I first queried this book to my agent, Kari Sutherland (who is a miracle-worker), the sisterhood bond wasn’t there. Kammani needed to save her sister, but Nanaea was an afterthought and had very little time on the page. Kari told me she thought I needed to bring that aspect out a little more. So to bring that to life, I dove into my childhood with my own big sister, and pulled out all of our fights and tender moments and the bond that, despite years and thousands of miles, doesn’t really go away.
Let’s talk about beauty, as it’s a major theme within the book. Beauty is prized and used as an illusion to lull young women into their deaths in order to follow an established tradition. Can you tell us why you chose to focus on this?
YES, and thank you for asking! I’m a feminist through and through, which means I believe that women and those who identify as women should get to choose whatever they want for their lives. In Gravemaidens, I wanted to explore feminism in the context of the value society places on beauty. Although we’re chemically wired to appreciate beauty in other people (we actually get a jolt of dopamine when someone we find attractive waltzes into view), the media tends to push a thin, young, Euro-centric, wealthy, blemish-free version of attractiveness, and that really annoys me.
Beauty comes in all sorts of packages, and trying to fit into a certain mold can often be costly (as anyone who has ever walked out of Sephora with a bag full of goodies can attest), and in some cases, deadly. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery found that BBLs (Brazilian Butt Lifts), an elective, cosmetic surgery, has a death rate of 1 in 3,000 people. That’s such a high rate to try to fit a certain mold.
As a feminist who enjoys getting myself dolled up and a woman who is aging and feeling the tug of societal pressure, I wanted to show two sides of beauty’s coin: the glamor and confidence some people can feel when they’re glitzed to the max as Nanaea feels when she’s chosen as a Sacred Maiden, but also the heartbreak it can bring when the version of beauty society feeds us might not deliver everything we want it to, as she does when she’s ensconced in the tomb, faced with her own death.
If you could choose any of your characters to bring to life, who would you choose and why?
I think people might revolt if I didn’t say Dagan. He’s handsome, strong, loyal, and a general lovey bear, and would absolutely make someone’s best boyfriend if he wasn’t already head over heels for Kammani.
Are there any fun little secrets about any works in progress you might have going on? Maybe related to a Gravemaiden’s sequel?
Eeee! Yes! SOOO, the sequel to Gravemaidens (title to be revealed soon!) will be coming out in the fall of 2020. It’s about badass female warriors who want to start a revolution. Though Kammani agrees with their mission, she realizes that war brings death and disease, and is determined to further their cause without bloodshed. Whether or not she’s successful remains to be seen.
Finally, the last character of the last book you read is the only hope you have of escaping certain death. Who’s coming to your rescue…and are you actually safe?
I’m reading With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo, and I am 100% certain Emoni wouldn’t let me die. She’s a senior in high school, and a young mom to boot, but if you need to get something done, you ask a mom to do it. They will figure out a way just like Emoni is doing, balancing culinary dreams, motherhood, high school, and even a little crush. I adore this story with my whole heart and will fight anyone who says otherwise.
Thank you so much for having me! You’re amazing!
