Hi Rory, thank you for joining us today! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and your latest book Kill Creatures?
Thank you so much for having me! I’m Rory Power and I write fiction that ranges from adult epic fantasy to young adult thrillers. My hobbies include using too much garlic when I cook, documenting every second of my cat’s life, and scouring my city for the best caprese sandwich. Kill Creatures, my latest book, is a YA thriller about a girl named Nan and what happens when the girl she thought she killed shows back up alive.
This has such a fantastic and hooky premise – I’d love to know what sparked the idea?
This idea was a combination of a lot of things—sort of like opening your junk drawer and finding that the items you left in there have formed something entirely new. I’d had “canyon” on a list of interesting potential settings for a while, and as I was researching, I learned about Lake Powell and the flooding of Glen Canyon, which I found so interesting. I was also hugely inspired by a photograph by Neil Krug called Phantom: Stage One, Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, the Pretty Little Liars TV show, and the story of the Pied Piper.
Nan is such a fascinating protagonist with plenty of secrets she’s trying to hide, not least the deaths she caused. Where did her voice come from and what was it like writing from her perspective?
Finding Nan’s voice was really about digging into the absurdity of her situation. When we meet her, she’s done something so horrible that the way she gauges the world has shifted; her reactions and emotions are always a little out of step with other people’s because for her the stakes are so different. There’s also an edge of nihilism to her voice that can almost be funny sometimes, and I had a lot of fun leaning into that.
This is a propulsive and compelling thriller with plenty of moving pieces to keep track of. What is the plotting process like for you?
Usually, when I start a book, I only have a very vague sketch of the plot in my head. I’ve found that if I plan ahead too much, I lose what makes the process engaging for me. That does mean that I often have to rework drafts to keep everything cohesive, but I leave notes in the margins as I go about what needs doing, which helps me knit the threads together.
What surprised you while writing this book?
The epilogue surprised me, actually! I didn’t know it was true, so to speak, until I wrote it for the first time. That was one of those things where as soon as I figured it out, I had to go back through the draft and retrace my steps, but I’m so glad I did; it’s one of my favorite parts of the book now.
What songs would form the soundtrack to Kill Creatures for you?
“Into Dust” by Mazzy Star is high on my playlist for the book, as is the live version of Alanis Morissette covering “King of Pain,” which is originally by The Police. Also a lot of songs off Halsey’s album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
Unreliable narrators are one of my favourite narrative devices and have been at play in your work. What’s it like using the device and who are some of your favourite writers who utilise unreliable narrators in their work?
I love making my narrators unreliable—it’s a fun way to create tension in a story, but I think it’s also a way to really make a character human. We’re all unreliable narrators in our own lives, to some degree, and using that device for my fiction makes the characters feel that much more real to me. E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars is one of my favorite examples of that (and another great summer YA thriller read!), as is Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. And if you’ve already read those, check out Rebecca Barrow’s The Tournament, out later this month!
What books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I loved Wake the Wild Creatures by Nova Ren Suma, which came out in May. And I know I said this already, but I highly recommend The Tournament!
If possible, can you share a little about what you are currently working on or any upcoming projects you have?
Right now I’m working on something secret that’s a little bizarre and a lot of fun. After I finish that I’ll be working on a new YA!
Finally, if you could only use five words to describe Kill Creatures, what would they be?
Propulsive, twisty, dream-like, surprising, lilac
