A former intern on the Emmy-winning show The Legend of Korra, Adalyn Grace is a full-time writer based between San Diego and Arizona. An active and engaged Twitter and Goodreads user, she is a regular attendee at SDCC and an active member of Pitch Wars, a mentoring program for aspiring writers. All the Stars and Teeth is Adalyn’s first YA novel.
Today, Adalyn is on the blog to answer our Ten Terrifying Questions – read on …
Adalyn Grace
1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?
I was born and raised in Arizona, and lived there until I was 18 and in my last semester of school at Arizona State University (which I finished online). At that time, I moved to Burbank, California to intern at Nickelodeon Animation, on the show The Legend of Korra, which was a really amazing experience! I remained there in Burbank for about a year, and while I loved my time there, working on Korra helped me to realise just how much I wanted to work on my own stories. I moved to San Diego for a bit of a slower lifestyle, and started working at a bar as I wrote and queried my manuscripts.
2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?
Apart from a storyteller, the only other job I’ve ever wanted was to be the person who made Pokémon real! Haha. I always knew I wanted to tell stories; when I was 12, I thought maybe that meant being a film director. When I was 18, I was at Nickelodeon to see if I wanted to work in screenwriting or animation production, but realised there that I really wanted to focus on working on my own stories, rather than help others bring their stories to life. And I’m not 30 yet, but once I get there I hope I’m still lucky enough to be creating stories for a living.
3. What strongly held belief did you have when you were younger that you do not have now?
I was such a brat growing up! Haha, I always used to think it was so important to be right, and to know everything. I can still be pretty stubborn sometimes, but I realise now that we’re not made to know everything. And if you don’t know something, it’s better to admit that, learn, and be okay with being wrong sometimes.
4. What are three works of art – book or painting or piece of music, etc – that you can now say had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?
Twilight, Kingdom Hearts, and Sailor Moon.
I realise I sound like a giant nerd, but each of these stories had a huge influence on me while I was growing up. I was so passionate and so in love with these stories, and they’re what made me fall in love with storytelling. I realised there were so many different mediums in which a story could be told, and that’s something I’ve always really appreciated.
While Kingdom Hearts and Sailor Moon got me writing, it wasn’t until Twilight came out that I really realised it could be a career. I grew up in the same state as Stephenie Meyer, and was lucky enough to get to go to her early signings and meet her a few times before she super blew up into the giant success that she is. I was young when the first books came out, maybe just about in middle school, and seeing her at those signings was so influential. Twilight made me fall in love with YA books in particular, and really helped pave the path I’m on today.
5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a young adult novel?
It’s what felt right! Working on Korra really taught me how much I wanted to be in control of my own story. When you’re writing a book, it’s all you. You create the story. You come up with the plot and the characters. Eventually you’ll receive feedback and suggested changes from your editor, but it’s always still very much your story, and you decide what’s right for it.
I definitely do love stories in many mediums, and I can easily see myself dipping back into animation one day. But there’s a certain freedom to writing a book that I very much enjoy.
6. Please tell us about your latest book!
All the Stars and Teeth is a young adult fantasy about a morally grey princess who is forced to team up with a pirate in order to save her kingdom from a dangerous new threat. The story unfolds in a kingdom that’s built upon seven different islands, each with their own unique setting and magic system (which I had SO much fun writing!) On their journey, the princess and the pirate team up with a stowaway and a man-eating mermaid, and become a crew full of mischief and banter. It’s the first in a duology, with the sequel, All the Tides of Fate, out next year!
7. What do you hope readers will take away with them after reading your book?
The main character of the book is Amora Montara, who is very much an unapologetic female heroine. She is proactive about what she wants, and is willing to go to whatever lengths in order to achieve her goals. When I wrote her, Game of Thrones was airing, and I was hearing a lot of buzz about why Sansa Stark was a weak character, and how Arya was so much cooler because she had a sword and could fight. It often felt very much like what was being said was “Sansa is too girly to be cool.”
This really bothered me. Sansa is a great character, and I hated that just because she enjoyed things like courting and gowns, that she was viewed as weak. I hated how often the sisters were pitted against each other.
This is just an example of a prevalent issue in media—we are taught as a society to heavily judge women. We’re taught that women should be complacent and kind and grateful. Or, that they should shun all femininity, pick up a blade, and dive into a fight. For so long it was always one or another, and I found that so frustrating. If a female character fit somewhere in the middle of that, they were always (and still often are) judged so harshly. If they’re not super polite and always making the right decisions, they’re seen as annoying. If they’re too into dating, they’re called a slew of different terms I’m not sure I’m allowed to say here . . . But you can fill in the blanks. We don’t have these same labels and expectations for men.
I wrote Amora because I wanted a character who both loved fashion and dating and who didn’t need to reject her femininity to also love action, adventure, and being in the thick of battle. I wanted to create a female heroine who makes mistakes, who wants things loudly and without apology, and who does all the things a male character gets to do without being judged for it. Amora doesn’t always make the right decisions, but she’s true to herself. My goal in creating her was to normalize this, and to normalize giving female characters the same room we give male characters, and I hope that readers feel that on the page.
8. What do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?
Crafting worlds and magic is my favourite thing ever. It’s funny because Amora is the first part of All the Stars and Teeth to come to me, but typically I think about worlds or a certain magic that would be fun to explore. The reason there are seven islands in the book is literally because I was incapable of narrowing down my choices in magics, and wanted to write more of it.
Overall though, I really admire just being able to take absolutely nothing but an idea and a blank page, and crafting that into something for others to consume. It takes a ton of work, but is very much its own sort of magic.
9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?
I’ve always been very ambitious with my goals. I’ve never been shy about the fact that I want to be very successful in my career. I wanted to sign with a great agent, to write books with a great publisher, to hit those bestseller lists, maybe one day have a tv or movie deal . . . I’m always dreaming big, and I make myself work hard for it. When I’m drafting a new book, my goal is to write it within 1-2 months, writing 2,000 words a day. I definitely have high standards for myself and ambitious goals, but it’s as you said—a lot of artists do. And I think it comes from the fact that part of our job is to be judged by the public. So, although we can never please anyone, we often tend to judge ourselves as critically as we can before anyone else gets to. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be as great as we can be!
10. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Finish. 90% of writing is editing, but you can’t edit what isn’t there. You’re the only one reading your drafts, so don’t be afraid to try things. Don’t be afraid to get it wrong. You often have to make mistakes and get things wrong before you can tell what’s right. So try all the things, and finish the draft. Only then can you edit and polish it!
Thank you for playing!
—All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace (Titan Books) is out now.
All the Stars and Teeth
As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous magic.
When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic...
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All the Stars and Teeth – Sue Kim's Mini YA Library