FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
General
Who is this MarcyKate Person anyway?
This is me in a very tiny nutshell:
- I am most often described by other people as a “nice girl.”
- I rarely get a good night’s sleep and I drink enough caffeine each day to give a horse a heart attack.
- I wouldn’t know what day it was or where I’m supposed to be without my iPhone.
- I like weird things and particularly enjoy writing about them.
- I wrote an opera as the equivalent of a senior thesis in college.
- I have minor obsessions with Depeche Mode, Tim Curry, Austenland, and the color blue.
How many novels have you written?
My Books
What is your SHADOW WEAVER series about?
Is MONSTROUS a retelling?
How long did it take you to write MONSTROUS?
Why did you end MONSTROUS the way you did?
* * * WARNING: SPOILERS * * *
The ending is something I wrestled with a lot in the first few drafts. I tried writing a pat little Disney-fied ending but it was so wrong and completely out of character for Kymera. The final epilogue went through many iterations and tweaks along the way (its current form was the result of 11th hour line edits that had me rewriting the entire epilogue!).
First, the book is more like a Grimm’s fairy tale than a Disney one – it’s dark, and some characters do die. At the end of the book, the main character makes a decision to do something very dangerous to protect her friends and the result is…unexpected (I know what you’re thinking and no, Kymera does not die – it’s something else entirely!). She actually gets exactly what she wants, but in a way that never occurred to her. While it might sound like it would be easier to let an adult character do the difficult task or to change the rules of magic in the world, it’s crucial to the story and her character that it be her. MONSTROUS is Kymera’s story, her battle – letting someone else make the hard choices in her stead would take away her hard won agency. It would be a huge let down, and, really, kind of a cop-out.
Part of Kym’s struggle throughout the book is that she needs to realize she must step outside the barriers that others would set around her to protect her. She has to take responsibilities – and the responsibility of protecting her city belongs to her. At the start of the story, she only has inklings of what that entails. A big part of her internal arc is discovering what that truly means. Her character may be a monster but she is constantly caged by others. Her father gives her restrictions, her dragon friend would whisk her away to hide her in his mountain home, and even when she finally breaks free, she’s captured and caged by others who would do her harm. It isn’t until the end of the story that Kym has true freedom and agency and the ability to finally succeed at the mission she’s had from the very beginning.
In other words, having anyone or anything else complete her mission for her would send a rather negative message to readers, especially young girls. It’s critical to Kymera’s story and character that when she has real agency, she makes the choice to bear the full weight and cost of the responsibility she’s taken on. Importantly, her actions are not done out of hate (which she was acting on in the beginning), but out of love – because the love she has for her city, family, and friends has grown so much larger than that hate and they’re more important to her than anything else. Kymera may be a monster in physical sense, but she is truly the best person in the book.
Will we ever hear from Kym again?
Wait - I thought MONSTROUS was a young adult novel?
That said, I, the very biased author, would like to believe MONSTROUS could be enjoyed by readers of any age. 🙂
Will MONSTROUS have a sequel?
I heard there is a prequel novella. Is that true?
It is! The prequel is called PRECIOUS and it will be at the end of RAVENOUS. It’s an extra 100 pages of story 🙂
Here’s a brief summary:
Princess Rosabel is trapped between her desire to see the world and the dark deal her parents made that keeps her confined in Bryre’s castle. With the help of her best friend, Ren, she’ll do whatever it takes—even courting forbidden magic—to save her family from the wizard’s wrath and earn her freedom.
You can also read it on Wattpad.
Do Kym and Ren every become friends again (or even more then friends)!
Writing
What do you use to write?
I LOVE to write, but I have trouble coming up with ideas! Can you help?
If you’re having trouble finding ideas, my best advice is to do things that inspire you. Dance! Sing! Get lost in a museum! Go for a hike! Read everything you can get your hands on! All these things keep those creative engines firing in your brain. If you’re feeling stuck it can be just what you need to get back on track.
Also, it can be helpful to keep a notebook (or folder on your computer) where you can jot down snippets of ideas when they come to you. I often find that one cool thing I wrote down months ago is the perfect thing to spark with another snippet later on. Good luck!
Plotter or Pantser?
If you were to sum up your life before you became a writer what would it be? What caused you to start writing? What is your passion in writing?
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