I recently did an interview with Claerie Kavanaugh over on her blog where we talked all about the behind the scenes of Golden, Jaded, and writing.

You can read the full interview here.

Here’s a quick highlight of a few of my favs:

4. Jade was especially interesting to me as a heroine in dystopian society because she is a quiet rebel who doesn’t wish to change her society, but instead, survive and claim ownership of her life. Why did you choose this route for her?

Everyone writes about taking over a government—heck, I have stories about this. This is the heart of dystopian literature-see an injustice and work to fix it. But what happens if you weren’t meant to be a hero? What if you just had to live?

Jade is a hero, there is no doubt, but her goal isn’t to save by destroying or dismantling, it’s just to save. She just wants her family and friends to make it out alive and have a better life. If she could sway the Commander into being a reasonable man and treating his society fairly, that would be her goal. She doesn’t want to run the government and neither did her father. Her dad’s goal was to bring down the dictatorship and reestablish a democracy where everyone had a say and was able to live their own lives.

So for me, Jade’s goals are the same as her father’s: to let everyone survive.

Let’s be real—what teenager is going to lead a rebellion on her own? What teen is going to overthrow and entire societal structure by herself?

Realistically, to change society, a person can’t do it alone-they need a team. No eighteen-year-old can change a government without the help and knowledge of older, more experienced people.

Will Jade change the society? Maybe, but she has a lot of people, specifically adults, working alongside of her. She’s not leading, she’s supporting the ones who are better equipped to lead.

Jade’s goal is to survive. If she can’t survive, her goal is to make sure her people are not hurt. Her priority is to take care of those around her. To me, this makes the story a lot more believable and approachable because an eighteen-year-old girl really COULD one day end up in this situation and if she did, her goal would be survival, not to become the leader of an entire nation.

And you’re right, she’s a quiet rebel. I love this about her because it shows you can be in control without being loud or aggressive. Being acutely aware of the people and situations around you leads to valuable information and observations that will allow you to have the upper hand. Jade always has the upper hand because she pays attention and uses the information she gleans to her advantage and strategically plans what she will do and say in very subtle, but effective ways.

They say that the quiet ones are dangerous. I know this to be true because I’ve lived this. Growing up I was quiet because I was observing, and oh the things I learned! I have so much knowledge and power that I could change people’s entire worlds if I wanted to. Jade knows this to be true and she uses it to her advantage. She doesn’t call attention to herself; she uses what she has and she survives.

7. If the Baers from the Golden Trilogy and the Diamond family plus Jade got together to throw a dinner party, what would happen?

I imagine that would be rather interesting. Jade and Auluria would get along brilliantly. Auluria would definitely teach Jade and thing or two about taking care of herself. Dov and Roan would have a serious heart-to-heart and I know Roan would definitely respect Dov. Dov would definitely have some educating to do. Everyone from the Baer family would have serious issues with the Commander and I’m positive they would be working with Jade to free her from his tyranny. The Commander would definitely still be bent on destroying Jade, so he’d acknowledge the Baers when he needed to, and when he couldn’t sway them to his side immediately, he’d be very cold. Alice would be mortified of how in-your-face Eden and Berwyn are; she’d likely also be very wary of Auluria because she is very similar to Jade and has clearly bonded with her. Lines would definitely be drawn-The Diamonds on one side and Jade with Auluria and the Baers on the other…of course, Jade has to pretend to have no issues with the Diamonds, and the Baers will be very sensitive to this when trying to help her. The whole thing would be a sight!

Be sure to check out the full interview here.

Do YOU have questions for me? Hit up my comments…and I’ll probably answer you in video form, because that’s what I love to do 😉

Stay inspired,

-K.M.