An Author Interview with Deva Fagan, Author of ‘Nightingale’

Hey, guys!! Isabelle Knight back here again with a very special post!!! Because as I’m sure you know from the title, this is another author interview!!!!!! With none other than Deva Fagan, the author of Nightingale, a middle-grade fantasy book I reviewed earlier on my blog! Tis a fantastic book!!!!!

But yeah! I enjoyed Nightingale so much that I reached out to Deva Fagan to do an author interview!!! She replied!!!!!! (jumps up and down in excitement) So, yeah! We could only do five questions since I’m sure you all would much rather her be spending time to write books! ;D But it’s more than enough for a good blog post/interview, so I hope this will appease you.

Eeek! Anyway, I should probably stop rambling and let you hear from Deva herself!!!

1. What was your favorite part about writing Nightingale and why was that your favorite part?

​I really enjoyed writing the initial scene where Lark accidentally steals the magic sword out from under the prince’s nose! When I write, I always have a general outline of what is going to happen, but it takes quite a bit of intense mental work to turn those hazy vibes into actual dialog and description and stakes! Sometimes, though, there are scenes that I see really clearly in my mind right from the start–almost like my brain is playing me a personal movie. That scene was one of those, and it sort of just flowed out of me! That doesn’t happen all that often so when it does, it feels like a gift!

2. How did you come up with Sword and what made you decide that this magical sword was going to have a mind of its own?

​To be honest, it wasn’t a conscious choice! It was just obvious to me from the moment Sword appeared that it had a mind of its own! That said, I think it was ultimately important to the story that Sword be a character. Nightingale began for me as a book about heroism and what being a hero means. I think that a lot of times in the real world heroes end up being seen as almost no longer human beings, but as symbols or living weapons. So I felt it was important for Sword to be “a person,” to challenge that. Sword also provides an important perspective on the costs of being a hero, having worked with previous Nightingales. But I don’t want to say too much more lest I reveal spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read the book!

3. The world of Nightingale is so magical and so unique! How did you create that, and did you have to do a lot of research or preparation beforehand?

​Aw, I’m glad you think so! One of the things that inspired Nightingale was some reading I had been doing on the industrialization of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and tragedies like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, in which 146 workers died, in large part due to the fact that the factory doors were kept locked and they could not escape. I also read a very good book called The Radium Girls by Kate Moore, about women who worked in a clock-painting factory who were exposed to deadly radiation from radium paint, which the company owners told them was harmless (even though there was evidence to the contrary). Many of the workers later died because of this. These events were both part of what inspired modern labor movements and efforts to unionize to protect workers.

When I was writing Nightingale I wanted to capture some of that era, but in a fantasy setting. So I did definitely draw a lot of inspiration from the early 20th century in terms of the feel of the world. But I also tried to put a magical twist on it. Thus the factories in Lark’s world are processing aether rather than radium, and they have things like the ephemera to broadcast news, and magical soda fountains!

It’s always a bit of a tricky balance with research– you want to do enough to make sure your world is grounded and believable, but not get too distracted by research that you never actually create your own world!

4. What’s your best advice for young writers (or beginning writers of any age!) who are just starting out and ​want their book to be a huge success?

​My advice is to think deeply about what “a huge success” really means to you. I am going to be honest and say that most authors don’t make a lot of money! I still work a full-time job myself. So, if what you really dream about is having a lot of money, it’s probably better to go into some other line of work where you’ll have a better chance of getting rich! 🙂 Even if you define success as having lots of people reading your stories and loving them– which I bet most writers do dream of! I know I do–that isn’t something that we can control. 

What I try to do is to focus on the one thing I CAN control: my own writing and the joy and satisfaction I take from it. I never really know if anything I write will be “successful” in the sense of getting a lot of readers or winning awards or earning a lot of money. Obviously, it’s GREAT when that does happen! And I’m very grateful when it does. But ultimately, I know I need to focus on the writing itself. Making my stories the best they can be. Revising them as many times as I need to. Giving myself permission to try new things and follow my creative urges. Writing things that intimidate me so I can learn and grow. It’s not easy, but I am a lot happier as a writer when I can focus on that stuff, and recognize that ultimately being proud of my work is the only success I can control.

5. (and the usual sneaky question ;D) Do you have a secret pen name that no one knows about? ;D Just a sneaky question I ask all writers

Hah! I can say no, but if it’s a really secret pen name, would you believe me?

~ ~ ~

And yeah! Hello, it’s me Isabelle here!!!! Eeek! It was so exciting and so much fun to set this up and be able to ask Deva Fagan some questions and hear her wonderful responses!!! And I definitely agree with her on the writing tips part. It’s true – authors don’t make a lot of money. Though I would also say not to lose hope!! Because it has happened! What will happen will happen is my usual catchphrase haha.

Deva Fagan, thank you so so so much for doing this interview!!! I’m incredibly grateful, and I loved learning more about how your amazing book, Nightingale, came about!!! The Mirrorwood is the next book on my TBR! ;D

So, yeah! I guess that wraps up this author interview! Thank you guys so much for coming, I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I hope you’ll check out Deva’s books! They’re great!!!!!

Isabelle

P.S. Also, if you liked this interview, don’t forget to check out Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for book reviews, writing stuff, book stuff, etc! It’s fun!!! 🙂