The Iron Knight

Q&A WITH JULIE KAGAWA, PLUS A FEW UNEXPECTED GUESTS

1. You’ve taken faery lore and created a unique spin on it—the Iron fey. How did you come up with the idea for iron faeries?

Julie: I always loved faeries (the dark dangerous kind, not the glittery Tinkerbell kind), but when it came to writing The Iron King, I started thinking—what are the fey afraid of? The answer in traditional mythos is iron, so what if there was a type of fey who had evolved from the very thing faeries dread? Then I remembered we already have “monsters” living in machines: gremlins, bugs, viruses and so on. And from that thought the Iron fey were born.

Puck: Yeah, and speaking for all of us normal fey, I want to thank you for creating another species that acts like our kryptonite, heavy sarcasm.

Ash: For once, I agree with Goodfellow.

Julie: Where did you two come from?

2. Who is your favorite character in the series? Or … if that’s too hard, why do you like each one and who drives you crazy?

Puck: Well, she likes me best, of course. I’m the handsome, charming one.

Ash: Yes, that’s why she gave you your own book. Oh, wait.

Puck: No one asked you, ice-boy.

Julie: I like them all in different ways. But I will say that Ash was the hardest character to write sometimes. It’s so hard to get him to talk! I’ll be pushing him to open up and say something and he just crosses his arms and acts stubborn.

Ash: …

Julie: See?

3. What is your favorite part of the Nevernever? Where would you live if you were a faery?

Julie: I was going to say the wyldwood, but on second thought, I think I’d live in the Iron Realm with Meghan and Ash.

Ash: See? She prefers my company to yours.

Julie: Not really. It’s just hard to find a wireless signal in the wyldwood.

Puck: *snicker*

4. Originally, the Iron Fey was meant to be a trilogy. How did The Iron Knight come about?

Julie: The Iron Knight came about because I love Ultimate Noble Sacrifice endings, and my editor (who is fantastic, by the way) liked HEAs (Happily Ever Afters). I had a very specific character arc in mind for Meghan, and Iron Queen was supposed to be the end of her journey, her accepting responsibility even at great cost. But my editor convinced me that we couldn’t leave Meg and Ash apart, and so I started work on The Iron Knight.

5. Do you have a writing routine? Anything you must have/not have in order to work?

Puck: Here we go.

Julie: My routine: Wake up. Get morning stuff done. Turn on laptop. Curse ‘cause it’s not picking up the router signal again. Wait two minutes until it does. Check email. Check Twitter. Check other email account. Check blogs. Chat a little on TweetDeck. Tell everyone I’m off to write. Open up document. Stare at it. Decide I need music to write to. Fiddle around with my playlist. Decide I’m hungry and need food. Forage in the kitchen. Come back, stare at document a little longer. Check email….

Ash: Why don’t you just turn off the internet?

Julie: Because then I couldn’t do any research.

Puck: Oh, research. Silly me, I thought you were just playing around on YouTube.

Julie: Shut up, Puck.

6. Tell us a little about other things that interest you, besides writing.

Julie: Well, I enjoy reading, painting and drawing, but I also love anime, manga and comics. I’m an avid gamer—I have a PS3, an Xbox 360 and a Wii. My favorite food in the whole world is sushi, and I’m taking classes in Wing Tzun kung fu.

Puck: *singing* “Everybody was kung fu fighting …”

Julie: Agh. Ash, stop him before that song is stuck in everyone’s head.

Ash: Too late.

7. Who are some of your favorite authors? What do you read for fun?

Julie: I have so many favorites I can’t list them all, but Neil Gaiman is one author whose books I adore. I read mostly fantasy and paranormal, both in YA and adult, but I’m trying to branch out into other genres, too. And I love manga, even though I can tear through the newest edition of Shinobi Life in twenty minutes flat.

8. Besides being a talented writer, you are also an artist. What sort of art do you do?

Julie: I like sketching and drawing, mostly cartoon-style art with pens and Prismacolor markers. For instance, I did a webcomic on my blog with Ash and Puck, “chibi style.”

Ash: It was mortifying.

Puck: But you looked so cute—Ow!

Julie: I also paint rocks. And I’ll let you ponder that one for yourself, lol.

9. Any advice for aspiring writers?

Julie: Persist. Never stop believing in yourself or your stories. Know that the road to publication may be long and hard, but the ones who made it are the ones who never gave up.

Thanks, Julie!

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.) Ash begins his journey in The Iron Knight to keep a promise he made to Meghan Chase. How important is it to keep promises when circumstances change? Under what, if any, circumstances would you not keep a promise?

2.) Ash and Puck have an intense relationship based on a friendship gone wrong. We might call them frenemies. Ash felt that Puck was responsible for Ariella’s death in the past. Do you believe Ash was justified in making his vow to kill Puck? How would you handle having a close friend cause hurt to another friend, whether accidentally or on purpose?

3.) In The Iron Knight, we learn of the many terrible things Ash has done in the past, including murder. How did learning the details of Ash’s past affect your opinion of him? In real life, who do you believe deserves a second chance?

4.) Through Ash’s quest to gain a soul, The Iron Knight explores what it means to be human, to have humanity. What are the key qualities of being human? What traits do you value in yourself and your friends and family?