Continuing our author interview series, I was able to snag Eleni McKnight, author of Home, to come chat with us about her dystopian novel! Ready to jump in?
1. In Home, certain books are outlawed. What creative place would you hide your book in if it were outlawed?
I’d hide my books in the vegetable drawer in the fridge because nobody ever looks there!
2. Suzannah life is dictated by the rules…are you a rule follower or a rule breaker?
I’m (surprisingly) a rule follower now. When I was younger, not so much! The older I’ve gotten, I now understand that you have to dismantle a defective system from the inside out, so you have to get inside the system first before you can start changing things.
3. If you were dropped outside of Home, would you be able to survive the reanimated dead, cannibals, and scavengers, or would you die pretty early on?
I like to think I’d survive because I’d climb a tree. I can knit and sew my own clothes, so I’d have a skill to barter with! Trust me, you don’t want to be naked after the apocalypse! (K.M. side note: that is a very good point! lol)
4. Are you someone who writes so much that you have to escape from it into the real world, or do you do so much other work that writing is your escape?
Writing is definitely my escape! I work a lot, and I hope that changes. I’m also going into graduate school in late August, that’s not going help much with my free time for “escape”, either.
5. What would be the first infraction you’d accidentally make if you were dropped into Home right now?
I’d mouth off to Deacon without meaning to, most likely. I am really good at infuriating people without meaning to because I want to solve problems, not wallow in them.
6. Knowledge is a commodity in Home, so will you share the funniest bit of random knowledge you know with us?
Random, like withing all the useless facts I know? That Nashville hot chicken was invented when a woman in Nashville found out her husband was cheating, so she made a chicken rub so hot to punish him an served it to him. It backfired: he liked it and asked for more.
7. What would Suzannah think if she were dropped into your life right now? Would she be able to do your job, live in your house, etc?
Absolutely not! She doesn’t know a thing about computers! I work in a call center in my Muggle job. That girl’s never seen a computer in her life!
8. If there were no rules inside Home, what would Suzannah likely be leaning to do for a living?
She’s always been told what she is and what she likes, and when the Maarses introduce her to books and open her imagination, she realizes how much she dislikes working in the laundry and cooking. And she starts to ask herself what she actually likes and what she wants to do. The sequel I planned leaves her experiencing how all genders can do all jobs, but she’s always been cut off from certain paths. I like to think she’d be a nurse.
9. If you were outside of Home, would you try to get back in, or would you fight to survive on the outside?
I’d fight to survive on the outside, I’d make the SubDeacons and Elders mad with how feminist I am. It would not be safe for me, because I don’t take it well when people try to tell me who and what I am, which is what happens inside Home: women aren’t considered “smart enough” to do what’s best for them without a father or husband telling them what they are. I don’t like people giving me orders. I rebel pretty easily!
10. If Suzannah were going to write a short story about you in revenge for what you put her through, what do you think she’d make you go through?
Probably skin me alive. Her story gets really dark. Nobody deserves what she went through, but writers do that to their characters, don’t they!
Home can be found here! Want to learn more about Eleni McKnight?
Have an author you want to see put through their paces with one of my quirky interviews and/or live broadcast interviews? Let me know in the comments below AND be sure to tell me which of these answers from Eleni was your favorite!
Stay inspired,
-K.M. Robinson