An Author Interview with Siobhan McDermott, Author of ‘Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm’

Hello, everyone!!!!!!! Isabelle Knight here again with a super exciting post because, eek, as I’m sure you know from the title, this is actually an author interview!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With none other than Siobhan McDermott, author of Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm, which is a book I absolutely love!!! It’s got lots of adventure, magic, and aspects of Chinese culture! Go read it!!!

I myself am Chinese, and so, I’m always looking for a book that has aspects of Chinese or Asian culture. Those books are really hard to find, though, but I did find a few, including Siobhan’s book! And it’s amazing! I love it! My favorite characters are Mynah, Zhi Ging, Reishi, and Pou Pou!!!! Since I loved her book so much and it’s a book that I think is really unique and also really important to me, I actually reached out to her and asked to do an interview. And she said yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally did NOT scream when I got her email… And you have no proof that I did!!! (except maybe now I might’ve told you……. 0_0)

Anyway, enough of me blathering on!!! Below, you’ll find all of Siobhan’s amazing answers!!!

 How did Paper Dragons come about? Where did you first get the idea, and when did you know that you really wanted to write this? 

To tell you the truth, it didn’t come about in one single flash of inspiration. Instead, a lot of the ideas in the book had been swirling around in my head for years – some were over 20 years old before I finally gathered them together and wrote them down! I started writing Zhi Ging’s story during lockdown because I missed my family and friends in Hong Kong. It was the first year that I was not able to see them (I was living in the UK at the time). Paper Dragons is really a kaleidoscope of all the different book ideas I’d saved in notebooks over the years and my favourite memories of living in Hong Kong (all given a slight magical twist).

The world of Paper Dragons is so rich and detailed with a lot of aspects of Chinese culture. How did you really design the world? Did you plan it out ahead of time or did it just come together as you went along? How did you choose which aspects of Chinese culture to include?

Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say! I believe the best fiction always has roots in reality. Many parts of the book, including the dragon boats, are inspired by real elements of life in Hong Kong. In my very first draft, I was exploring the world alongside Zhi Ging. It was only when I read it back and decided to edit chapters that I came up with the final “rules” of the world. I like to write with a rough plan but always leave room for flexibility. I find that my first idea is not always my best idea so, when editing, if I think of something that would be more exciting, I will switch out entire paragraphs and chapters to make the stronger idea work. I chose parts of Chinese culture that reminded me most of home – particularly the dim sum that Zhi Ging and her friends eat. However, I have also saved some other elements for the next book in the series so keep your eyes peeled for even more food and Chinese legends.

Do you have a favorite character from your books? Why are they your favorite character?

This is such a tricky question! I think my answer has to be Malo. He has a great time waddling through the chapters. He is also inspired by a real pet duckling my mother had when she was growing up in Hong Kong. The apartment she lived in with her brothers and sisters was too small for a cat or a dog. Instead they had a pet duckling that they would feed instant noodles to every day!

This is probably a really sneaky question, but one I ask every single author I meet. Do you have a secret pen name that no one knows about?

Haha! I find my name (Siobhan) is already almost a pen name. If people are not familiar with Irish names they can find the spelling very confusing. I have heard it pronounced “sigh-bean” and “sigh-oh-baa-hon”. The correct pronunciation is “shove-on” becaush a “bh” sounds like a “v” in Irish.

Sometimes when people message me they also change my name. I have had a lot of emails that start “Dear Sarah” or “Dear Sophie”, so perhaps I will use one of those in the future if I decide I do want a pen name.  

What was the most amazing thing about writing Paper Dragons, and why would you choose that to be the most amazing thing?

The absolute best thing has been hearing that people enjoy the book, particularly readers like yourself who relate to the Chinese culture! When you are an author, you spend a lot of time by yourself. You have a small, close group (agent, editor, and a few trusted readers) but you never know what other people will think of your writing until it’s out in the world. One of my proudest moments was when a reader in her 20s messaged me to say she wished she had read a book with a main character like Zhi Ging when she was growing up. I’m so happy that people in the UK have also used this book to try brand new foods that they might not have heard of before. 

What’s your favorite part and least favorite part of the writing process?

My absolute favourite part of writing is what I call my “Draft 0”. This is the very first time I write out the story in full. To make sure I enjoy it and don’t feel stressed, I have a NO RULES rule. In “Draft 0” I don’t worry about spelling and grammar, I don’t worry about finding the perfect adjective, I don’t even always write in full sentences! This is a secret draft just for me. No one, especially not my editor, will ever see it. It gives me the freedom to focus on getting all my ideas down as quickly as possible without worrying about being perfect. In my experience, perfectionism can cause long stretches of writer’s block. Be kind to yourself when writing and know a book is like a jewel; it takes constant, careful polishing to really shine.
My least favourite part is trying to stick to a word count. I’m naturally very chatty when I write and have to be strict with myself and not go off on too many tangents. One great tip I have if you have the same problem is to have a “Cut from Story” folder. I save all the ideas and sentences I remove from drafts here. I never permanently delete anything. Sometimes, an idea is good but just needs a better home. There is a scene in Paper Dragons: The Rise of the Sand Spirits that originally existed in book 1 but never quite worked. I kept it in my folder and managed to transform it into something much better for book 2. 

What did the first draft of Paper Dragons look like, and how many drafts did it take to get to the completed version?

Great question! A lot of people, when they’re starting out, compare themselves to other authors and worry their writing isn’t as good.  The truth is, every writer rewrites! Paper Dragons is 43 chapters long but only 3 of those chapters have stayed the same between my first draft and the version that got published. I wrote over seven drafts before it became the story you know.

When you were young, did you know you wanted to be a writer? Why or why not?

I actually wanted to be a lot of different things when I was younger. At one point I wanted to sell ice cream and I also spent a few years thinking about becoming a vet. I always loved reading stories but, because of the comparisons I mentioned in the previous answer, I spent far too long thinking I wouldn’t be good enough to write a story myself. I’m very happy I took the chance and decided to try!

Is there anything you hope readers will take away from your books?

I hope it’ll introduce certain readers to other cultures they may not have been familiar with before. I also hope it helps anyone who, like Zhi Ging, doesn’t always feel like they belong know that the way they currently feel is not permanent. There are people out there who will accept you just as you are and one of life’s greatest adventures is finding these future friends.

How do you stay motivated during tough writing days?

Bubble tea! When I’m really struggling to finish a chapter or solve a difficult part of the story, I bribe myself with a treat. Once I know I can get a snack after I finish, I work much faster. It’s important to remember though that motivation is linked to your emotions. I never recommend staying up late to finish a chapter or ignoring invites to see friends just to write. All my best writing happens when I’m happy and have slept well. If I write when I’m feeling tired or stressed, the same amount of words will take three times as long to write. Sometimes the best thing you can do to improve your writing is to take a breath and remember what you enjoy outside of writing. When my motivation is running low, a walk in nature or through an art gallery/museum helps to spark new ideas. 

What’s your piece of advice for young writers like me who want to get published and want their books to be a success?

My top tip would be to read as much as you can! This includes books in genres you wouldn’t naturally choose. When it comes to being a writer, there is no such thing as a wasted read. If you’re struggling to finish a book, make sure you switch on your own “writer’s brain” and ask yourself these two questions: 

1. I’m finding this story boring/uninteresting: WHY? How can I make sure my own writing doesn’t do the same thing?

2. If I wrote this book, what would I change to make it more fun for readers?
Being able to answer both of these questions will really strengthen your skills as a writer. Creative answers for question 2 also have the potential to inspire new plot twists in your own writing.

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Aaaand this is Isabelle! Hi! (waves foolishly). Anyway, yay, Siobhan McDermott, thank you so so much for doing this interview!!! I love your book so much, and I’m looking forward to book two in the series, as I’m sure many people are! If you’re reading this, best of luck with all your writing!!!

And to my lovely blog readers – ta-da! That was the interview! It was really amazing to be able to reach out to the person who wrote one of my favorite books and have her actually reply!! Hehe, and it was really amazing to learn more about Siobhan’s writing process!!! I hope you enjoyed this interview and I do hope that you’ll read her book! It’s amazing! It’s adventurous! Fun! (Aaaand I’m now resisting the urge to just act like Silveny from Keeper of the Lost Cities and go, “FUN! BOOK FUN! BOOK FUN! BOOK FUN!”)

But yeah, thank you guys so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this interview, and hopefully this shall tide you until my next long-awaited (not so long since I do Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, so you can be sure I will post AT LEAST once a week on Monday with a book review) blog post!!!

Isabelle