We chat with debut author Kim DeRose about For Girls Who Walk Through Fire, which is a fierce, deeply moving novel about perseverance in the face of injustice and the transformational power of friendship.
Hi, Kim! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! The TL;DR is that I’m a writer, mother, feminist, and book nerd. I write dark magical stories about strong magical girls, and I’ve been writing ever since I was a kid. That said, I had a long meandering path when it comes to becoming a published author. I grew up in Santa Barbara, CA, where my debut YA novel takes place, and currently live in NYC with my wonderful husband, two amazing kids, and very sweet (slightly needy) dog. I also work full time in digital media, and have an addiction to coffee, podcasts, and books.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve loved books and stories ever since I was a very small child. In fact, the first story I ever wrote was when I was three years old (dictated to my patient mother who kindly wrote it down). I still have it—in fact, I framed it and displayed it at my book launch party, to honor my little kid self who absolutely knew she was a writer.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
“James and the Giant Peach” by Roald Dahl – my mom read stories to me every night, and while I’m sure there were other books we read together before this one, it’s the one I most clearly remember.
“Remember Me” by Christopher Pike – as a child of the 90s, I was obsessed with all of his YA thrillers and horror stories, but this one, which is about a teen girl solving her own murder, was my favorite. It definitely made me want to write dark books with supernatural and/or magical elements.
“Nightbitch” by Rachel Yoder – just absolutely brilliant; as a mother and an artist it so deeply resonated with me.
Your debut novel, For Girls Who Walk Through Fire, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Fierce, witchy, magical, empowering, hopeful
What can readers expect?
For Girls Who Walk Through Fire was pitched as The Craft meets Promising Young Woman and is about a group of diverse teens who meet in a sexual assault support group and form a coven to get revenge on their unrepentant assailants. But it’s also about the impact of trauma, and what it takes to find a path toward healing and truly own your power. It was described as “a searing examination of sexual assault centering teen witches who fight back,” by Kirkus Reviews and “a bold and compassionate debut” by Booklist.
Where did the inspiration for For Girls Who Walk Through Fire come from?
The inspiration for this book was very personal; I have my own Me Too experiences, and I have so many friends and loved ones who also have their own Me Too experiences. When I conceived of this story I knew I wanted it to be about a group of girls who met in a sexual assault support group and turned to witchcraft because they didn’t see a clear path toward justice (and had never received a reckoning, apology or so much as an acknowledgment that something happened). But I also knew that I wanted to explore what happens when, as a victim, you take your pain and turn it outward, when you essentially become the very thing you hate.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I truly loved writing all of the characters. But I have to say that I especially loved writing Madeline. She’s got a real Tracy Flick meets Paris Geller vibe (but make it dark and witchy). I’m very drawn to depictions of Type A female characters who are incredibly ambitious and driven and end up going a little off the rails. There are a couple of scenes with Madeline that were especially fun to write, but no spoilers! You’ll have to read the book to find out.
For Girls delves into topics such as sexual assault. How did you approach tackling these topics?
This is a topic that I’m incredibly passionate about and have read and thought about quite a lot. When I went to write this book, I was very much holding so many people’s lived experiences in my mind—my own experiences, the experiences of people I know personally, and the stories and testimonies that I had read about and/or heard. To be clear, none of the stories in this book are intended to be a direct depiction of any of those stories, but there are absolutely similarities. I think that’s one thing you really start to understand, the more you listen to people’s experiences: they can vary quite a lot—and we really shouldn’t be comparing or ranking them as if it’s some sort of Trauma Olympics—but there are similarities both in what individuals experience, and also in the trauma they then carry forward.
There were several individuals whose stories and work were particularly impactful and meaningful to me: “Unbound” by Tarana Burke; “Know My Name” by Chanel Miller; “Not That Bad” edited by Roxanne Gay (as well as Ms. Gay’s writing); “Somebody’s Daughter” by Ashley C. Ford; the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford; Evan Rachel Wood’s documentary “Phoenix Rising”; the “Believed” podcast and the testimony of the US Women’s Gymnastics team; and Michaela Coel’s “I May Destroy You,” to name a few.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
Long and winding! While this is my debut novel it’s the third novel that went out on submission to publishers, and I’m currently with my second agent. It’s taken a while to get here, but I really don’t think any of the experiences or writing along the way were wasted. I learned so much about myself and my creative process at each step. I also came to realize that writing and publishing are two very different things. The writing I have control over; that’s a daily practice that I deeply value and find is so additive and essential to my life. The publishing I didn’t have control over, though it certainly always remained a big priority. But I realized that the more I focused on the value of the process, the better off I was.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on my next book, and while it’s too early to say much about it, it’s one I’m incredibly excited about. Similar to For Girls Who Walk Through Fire, it features strong, fierce girls, has magical elements, and shares some thematic similarities.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
If you’re looking for other witchy books with strong female characters I’d recommend “Our Crooked Hearts” by Melissa Albert, “Once and Future Witches” by Alix E. Harrow, The Brooklyn Brujas series by Zoraida Córdova, “The River Has Teeth” by Erica Waters, “The Witchery” by S. Isabelle, and everything written by Alice Hoffman.
