Today for Megan Crewe Week, I'd like to welcome Kaelyn from The Lives We Lost to my blog for an interview!
This is Kaelyn speaking from the perspective of the beginning of THE LIVES WE LOST (so, no spoilers for that book or book 3).
Jessica: Hi Kaelyn, thank you for joining me! I have a few questions about you, to start.
Where did your love of animals come from?
Kaelyn: I don't really know. I've found animals fascinating for as long as I can remember--trying to figure out what goes on in their heads, watching them relate to each other and the natural world, the way they can seem so much like people and yet be different in so many ways. I guess it's the differences that I enjoy the most. Animals as so straight-forward compared to people. Once you spend a little time watching them, you can figure out what they're after in any given situation without a whole lot of trouble. People, on the other hand--I don't know if I'm ever going to figure another human being out completely! So maybe it's also that I always felt comfortable with animals, like I knew what to expect. People can turn around and hurt you when you least expect it.
J: I have to ask: how did you come up with the names Fossey and Mowat for your ferrets?
K: Fossey is named after Dian Fossey, who devoted her life to studying gorillas, and Mowat is named after Farley Mowat, the nature writer who's spent a lot of time in the wild observing different species. They're two of the people I most admire--I'd love to have a career like theirs. So I named the ferrets in their honor. :)
J: How did you feel about your move from Toronto back to the island?
K: Oh, wow, I felt so many things! I mean, I was relieved, because I never really felt like I fit in, in the city. I'd had so much trouble making friends, and I didn't even like going out on my own that much. It was so overwhelming, having so many people around all the time. But at the same time, coming back to the island was scary. It might have been easier to go to a totally different small town where I'd be starting fresh. Because I knew that everyone back home had been sharing experiences and grouping off in ways I wasn't a part of, so I wouldn't really fit in there anymore either, and at the same time they'd have expectations based on the me they remembered, who'd only been eleven, and who'd been through a bunch of stuff myself since then.
And also I was pretty nervous about seeing Leo again. It's easy to let yourself not talk to someone and confront a problem when they're far away. But when you're going to be seeing them face to face… I had no idea how he was going to react. Or how I was going to react!
J: Now, when did you start to realize something was wrong?
K: Really, the first sign was how weird Rachel's dad was acting that time. Not that I had any idea *what* was wrong, but clearly something was. I was so uncomfortable when I left her house that day. And then when I heard he'd been taken to the hospital, I knew it was something big. I still don't think I was prepared when Dad told us how serious the situation was. I wasn't prepared for anyone to die, not really.
J: You wrote about everything that happened in journal entries to your best friend Leo. Did you ever plan on showing your journal letters to him?
K: Well, the original plan was to use the journal to practice saying things to him that I wouldn't need to show him, because I'd just say them when I saw him again. And then… After things got bad, I was pretty sure I wasn't ever going to see him again. I guess I hoped he might find the journal someday, if something happened to me, so that he'd know what we went through on the island.
Now that he's back, I could maybe see letting him read it sometime in the future. Not right now, though. Some of the things I wrote there--some of them were embarrassing. And some of them I'm not ready for him to know.
J: Do you have any suspicions as to what Drew was doing when he kept sneaking out?
K: I figured he had to be working on some sort of plan of action that he thought would help us. That's Drew. He's always crusading for one cause or another, so of course he'd be the first to champion our rights when the island was quarantined. I didn't expect him to be so focused on saving just our family, though. Obviously we were even more important to him than all his ideas about justice and fair treatment. I wish I'd made it more clear to him how important he was to me, before he left.
J: What was your first reaction when your mom got sick?
K: I want to say terror, but denial is probably more accurate. I just couldn't believe it. She was the most careful out of all of us--she hardly left the house. But all it takes is one bad moment… It wasn't right. If there was one of us who should have survived, it was her.
J: Before any of this happened, would you have ever imagined yourself being able to survive such an ordeal?
K: I think I'd have had trouble imagining that a situation like this could happen at all! Even after the epidemic started, I never imagined that the government would quarantine us like that, or that so many people would end up dying. I probably would have wanted to believe I'd survive, but I'm not sure I'd have been convinced. For a while there, in Toronto and after we came back, I didn't feel strong at all.
J: Well Kaelyn, thank you very much for coming by and chatting with me!
K: Thank you for taking the time to listen to my story!
I'm so glad she was able to answer some questions! It's always great to be able to delve a little deeper into a main character's mind.
Do you have any questions about The Way We Fall, or about The Lives We Lost? No spoilers though, for those who haven't read them!
Make sure you check out the Fallen World trilogy.
I have a special treat for one lucky US/CAN follower: A THE WAY WE FALL Journal and Pen, so you can keep track of your thoughts just like Kaelyn does (although hopefully minus the dangerous virus).
Some Rules (aka the not so fun but important part):
~ This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada only.
~ No P.O. boxes.
~ Must be 13 or older to enter.
~ Winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email. The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email, otherwise they forfeit their prize and I will choose another winner, who must abide by the same rules.
~ Neither Megan nor I are not responsible for lost or damaged packages.
~ No cheating! In this case, I have the right to disqualify entries as I see fit.
~ By entering the giveaway, you are agreeing to these rules.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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