31 Questions About My Debut Year
Thanks to #MeetThe2020s for this marvelous list of questions!
1. Introduce yourself to future readers.
I’m Kelly! I live in Colorado Spings with my three-year old daughter and husband. We love outdoor activities and cooking together (messy but worth it!). We’re pescatarians. (Unrelatedly and very likely irrelevantly, I’m a Scorpio.)
2. Tell us about your book.
AGNES AT THE END OF THE WORLD tells the story of a girl who flees from an apocalyptic cult only to discover the world Outside has been ravaged by a terrible, mysterious Virus! Read the full summary on Barnes & Noble (and pre-order the book there while you’re at it!).
Published by Little Brown, Young Readers, AGNES hits shelves on June 9, 2020.
3. What were you doing three years ago?
Three years ago I was pregnant, freelance writing, and living on the gorgeous island of Honolulu! Straight up, it was much easier to be a pescatarian there….
4.What do you like to read?
Everything. But, especially, really great things. I don’t care what genre, I’m just after the magic, the transportation to another world, the feels… sorry, I got a little misty-eyed there! Honestly though, I haven’t watched television in over a year, because I’d rather be reading. It’s my calling.
Follow my reviews on Goodreads to learn more!
5. How did you get the idea for your book?
While pregnant, I had a recurring dream about a girl wandering the desert with a child strapped to her back. She was running from something, I was sure of it. Then I read Carolyn Jessop’s unforgettable memoir ESCAPE, and I knew: she was running from a polygamist cult (and metaphorically, the patriarchy, which I feel like I’ve been running from all my life). I put pen to paper, and three years later, here we are.
6. Pick a drink to pair with your book.
Apple juice. You’ll need the sugar to survive the apocalypse.
7. Where does your book take place?
In the Arizona desert, where I grew up. I created a fictional town called Red Creek, based on the FLDS compound said to be based in Colorado City, Arizona.
8. Tell us about your path to publication.
First I have to shout out to We Need Diverse Books. As a mixed-race writer tackling a book about spirituality and faith (a highly underrepresented topic in young adult fiction), I applied for their mentorship program just days before I gave birth (read the full story here!). New York Times bestselling author Jodi Meadows of My Lady Jane and so much more took me under her wing: She reviewed my early drafts, helped me revise, introduced me to the query tracker database, and generally helped me manage the rollercoaster of emotions that come with trying to bring a book into the world.
I remain firmly nestled under Jodi’s wing, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. Seriously though, I want to pass on some of her generosity. If you an aspiring writer with questions, contact me. Or better yet, apply for a WNDB mentorship. Applications open every October.
9. Introduce us to your main characters.
AGNES: A spiritual warrior who flees from a cult to save her brother’s life.
BETH: The sister who Agnes must leave behind (she narrates half the book). Only 14 years old, she’s forced to marry a patriarch with five other wives, then forced into a bunker to wait out the apocalypse.
EZEKIEL: Agnes’s 7-year old baby brother. He has type 1 diabetes, but medicine in forbidden in Red Creek. To keep him alive, Agnes must barter with an Outsider. He loves homemade macaroni and cheese, but he’ll settle for Kraft’s in a pinch.
MATILDA: The nurse who helps Agnes smuggle insulin to Red Creek.
DANNY: Matilda’s handsome, mixed-race son, very much based on my husband :)
(Literally, he read the book and was like, hey wait a minute…)
JASMINE: One of the first Outsiders Agnes meets after she runs. Jazz firmly believes in the divinatory power of butterflies. She also gifts Agnes her iconic red ribbon.
MAX: Ezekiel’s first friend on the Outside, and Jasmine’s boyfriend. He loves superhero movies.
10. Share the first line of your book.
Once, a girl lived in a double-wide trailer on ranchland, beneath a wide white sky tumbled with clouds.
11. What part of publishing has delighted you most?
Pulling off my revisions. Finishing a book is really like running a marathon—I’m still stunned I pulled it off, and you’re a better person on the other side.
Also, meeting new author friends!
12. What do you do when you're not writing?
I’m probably parenting or reading. Or both!
13. Who's your favorite minor character?
The Captain of the Burn Squad.
14. What were your comp titles?
Nova Ren Suma’s Imaginary Girls and Laura Ruby’s Bone Gap.
15. What are you the most excited about?
I’ll be doing a talk and book signing at the Northwest African American Museum with my mother, Jewell Parker Rhodes of Ghost Boys, on June 9. Check my events page to see updates about this!
16. What are you the most nervous about?
Oh jeez. All of the things. But I’m a nervous person, you know.
17. Describe your book using only emojis.
👩🏻🌾✝️😱📱⛺️🛐🌎
18. Share tips for surviving querying and submissions.
Set up a spreadsheet for tracking your queries with dates and responses (shoutout to Jodi Meadows for teaching me this). Expect rejection, some of them mean. Keep calm and query on.
19. How did you deal with rejection?
Hot chocolate and warm hugs.
20. What was your editing process like?
Brutal. But, after I read Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, far easier. Learn a method of outlining and/or beat sheeting that works for you and stick with it, is my advice! Also, rewrite with a vengeance. Know that your best work is waiting for you to catch up to it in the future—it’s not in past. If one, two, three, or a thousand chapters aren’t working, chuck them and start again.
21. Who did you first tell about your book contract?
My daughter, but she was only two at the time. Then I called the incomparable Jodi Meadows!
22. What are your writing rituals?
These days, I try to meditate first.
23. Are there any "Easter eggs" in your book?
Arizona residents will definitely find a few. The weather, the landscape, the little ironies of desert living.
24. One thing you and your MC have in common is...
We’re both caretakers.
25. What are you working on now?
I’m working on a YA historical fiction novel set in Jim Crow Georgia about two twin sisters separated in infancy after the brutal murder of their parents. One sister is light enough to pass for white; the other dark. They’re raised on separate sides of the color line without knowledge of each other. When they finally reunite, they’re worlds apart. But they’ll need each other to uncover the hate crime that stole their parents’ lives—and to put their mother’s troubled spirit to rest.
This book is yet another way I’m exploring my biracial identity.
26. Has the way you write changed?
Oh yes. I’m now a plotter, not a panster.
27. How do you stay motivated?
Staying motivated has never been problem: I’m always, always motivated to write and tell stories. The trouble is dealing with the panic I feel when my writing isn’t going well!
28. What book(s) are you currently reading?
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys and Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout.
29. What do you wish you knew before you started?
I wish I’d known about the Save the Cat beat sheet while I worked on my first draft. It would’ve saved me some serious time!
30. Shout out to your CP's and betas.
Sarah Glenn Marsh, thank you for helping me with the type 1 diabetes representation. Jodi Meadows, you have my undying gratitude. My friends Vanessa and Katia, thank you for your early readership (and Vanessa, thanks for your insights into cult life). And to my husband, who read a billion versions of this sucker and would’ve read a billion more.
31. Where can we find more about you?
Instagram: @kellymmcwilliams
Twitter: @KMcWilliams17
Facebook: @KellyMcWilliamsAuthor