Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She’s studied art, screenwriting, and film production, but realised her real passion was writing stories for children. She’s the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many different languages. She lives in Southern California with an embarrassing number of cats.
Today, in honour of the release of her new book Unlocked (a Keeper of the Lost Cities novella!), Shannon Messenger is on the blog to answer our Ten Terrifying Questions – read on!
Shannon Messenger
1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?
I’ve always lived in Southern California (USA). I was born in city right in the heart of the desert—but my mom hated the heat. So we moved to a suburb closer to San Diego when I was in elementary school. I grew up there, and then moved to LA to go to USC for college. But I missed being close to my family, so I moved back to my hometown about a year after I graduated, and I’ve been there ever since.
2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?
When I was twelve, I wanted to be a Disney animator. It combined everything I loved—princesses, drawing, and magic! I even started college as an art major. But despite all of my training, I always felt like what I drew never came out as cool as what I’d pictured in my head. Eventually I got frustrated, dropped my art classes, and signed up for a Broadcast Writing and Production class on a whim (mostly because it sounded like a class where I’d get college credit for watching TV). That was where I fell in love with writing. By eighteen, I’d switched to being a film major and my new dream was to become a screenwriter. But after working in Hollywood for a bit, I realised the industry is very collaborative—and I prefer working solo. So I switched plans once again, working to become a published author. And that’s been my dream (and now my job) ever since.
3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?
Ha, I probably shouldn’t admit this, but … when I was eighteen, I thought reading books was tedious and boring. (I know!) I hadn’t grown up that way—reading had been my life as a kid. But school had drained away the joy. Most of my middle school and high school teachers made me feel like I should be focusing all my energy on the college reading list—and many of the “classics” tend to be very slow and depressing. (Why does everyone die in those books???) So by the time I graduated high school, I only read something if it was assigned for a class. But once I finished college and no longer had professors running the show, I started choosing my own books again and slowly fell back in love with reading. That’s actually why I decided to write for kids. I wanted to write to the part of myself that had seen books purely as journeys into imagination, and create a story that twelve-year-old me wouldn’t have been able to put down.
4. What were three works of art – book or painting or piece of music, etc – you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?
Eek, this is hard, because I tend to find glimmers of inspiration everywhere! But three huge influences were Ella Enchanted (the book—not the movie), The Lord of the Rings (the movies more so than the books…) and X-Men (the old TV cartoon). Ella Enchanted was the first children’s book I read as an adult, after I’d decided I wanted to write for kids—and it proved my theory that children’s books don’t have to be “dumbed down” or “simplified” to make them age appropriate. They just need to be a great story that focuses on young characters. The Lord of the Rings movies made me fall in love with elves. (Particularly Legolas!) I hadn’t read much fantasy before that, so I’d mostly seen elves as Santa’s helpers or tiny shoemakers. Watching them on screen as these beautiful, powerful creatures filled my head with stories. And the X-Men cartoon made me want to write with a larger cast of characters, where each had a different power. Growing up, all the kids at my school were obsessed with that cartoon, and we’d all argue over which mutant was the coolest. I wanted my books to have the same feel—not just one hero, but many heroes, each valuable in their own way.
5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a book?
I actually did try quite a few other avenues. Art felt too limiting, because my creations were restricted by what I could make my hands draw or paint. Screenwriting had so many rules—and so many people involved with every project—that my stories never truly felt like they were mine. Other craft projects I tried seemed to simply create a whole lot of stuff I didn’t know what to do with. It was only when I started writing my first book that I finally found the true freedom to create whatever I wanted. And I’ve been hooked on telling my stories that way ever since.
6. Please tell us about your latest novel!
Unlocked is book 8.5 in my Keeper of the Lost Cities series, and that “.5” should tell you it’s something a little bit different—and something extra special. It’s definitely still the next part of Sophie’s story, but it’s told in a new way. The rest of the Keeper books are limited to Sophie’s POV (meaning the only thoughts we hear are Sophie’s, and the only scenes we see have Sophie in them). But when I sat down to write Book 9, I realised that was going to severely limit the next portion of the story. Something huge had happened to one of the other characters at the end of Legacy, and to properly show all the changes that caused, I needed to be able to write in that character’s POV for certain scenes—but I also knew it wouldn’t work to write the entire book that way. So my editor and I decided that the best solution was to break that piece off and move it to Unlocked as a novella. (But don’t let the word “novella” fool you—it’s still hundreds of pages and full of huge revelations!) And since the plot for the series has been so intricate, and the world of the Lost Cities is so detailed, we figured it would also be smart to include a series guide to help readers stay caught up on everything’s that happened—and give them tons of new details. Plus gorgeous art, fun activities, and all kinds of other surprises. Unlocked turned out so much cooler—and more gorgeous—than I’d ever imagined, and I hope readers love it as much as I do.
7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?
I always say that I feel like I did my job as an author if I make my readers laugh, cry, and want to throw the book across the room at least once before they finish reading. (Though I hope they’re careful with the book throwing, since my books are so thick!) But truly, what I’m really hoping for is to reach them the same way my favorite books reached me when I was younger. The stories that meant the most to me as a kid were the ones I couldn’t stop thinking about long after I’d finished. The ones I’d read over and over, either to look for clues to what might happen next or to simply spend more time with the characters. If I inspire that reaction in my readers, then I am a very happy author.
8. Who do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?
Wow, this is hard because I’ve gotten to meet so many incredible writers over the years. But since you’re making me pick, I guess I’ll go with Rick Riordan. I’ve only met him briefly, so I can’t really claim to “know” him. But he’s an incredible example of finding ways to keep his writing “fresh” (and his fans happy) despite writing numerous books with the same characters in the same worlds. Before I ever tried writing a sequel, I’d naively thought that it would somehow be easier, because all the groundwork was already set and you just had to keep building on it. But I learned pretty quickly how challenging it is to fit in all of the things that readers enjoyed about the previous books while also adding in new elements to keep things exciting—especially since you also have to keep all the plot and world details consistent and make the twists feel earned but also unpredictable. It’s a daunting task—but Rick Riordan makes it look easy.
9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?
The thing I strive for the most is to make sure that each new book I write feels a little bit better than my previous books—particularly since I’m writing a long series. Sure, certain scenes / plot twists will always end up becoming fan favorites—but that doesn’t give me an excuse to not push myself every time I sit down to write. I want to grow as an author, and my ultimate hope is to end the series on a high and have my readers love the ending—which may not sound very ambitious. But think of how many series have felt like letdowns when we finally got to the end. Finding a way to live up to reader expectations and have enough surprises in the mix to keep them guessing until the end is seriously, seriously challenging. I’m a little bit terrified about it, actually. ☺
10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?
There are so many things I could say. But the advice I wish I’d had when I was in the “aspiring” stage was to truly appreciate how magical that stage actually is. It’s the blissful stage when it’s only you and your story—just words and dreams and the beautiful chance to fall deeply in love with writing. It doesn’t always feel that way, since that’s also the stage when we’re chasing the bigger dream of publication, and it’s so easy to want to rush rush rush to the exciting book deal. But publishing is a business, and that means it comes with pressure and deadlines and marketing responsibilities—plus reviews and reader feedback and all kinds of other things that crawl into your head and make writing feel like work. The best way to cope with all of that is to step back and remind yourself what you loved about writing in the beginning—but if you rushed through that stage and focused too much on getting published (like I did) there won’t be as much to draw on. So try to remember that publishing will be there whenever you’re ready and enjoy this time to fall in love with words and embrace this rare moment when the story is only yours.
Thank you for playing!
—Unlocked by Shannon Messenger (Simon & Schuster Australia) is out now.
This book is part of our 2020 Christmas Gift Guide! You could win 1 Million Qantas Points when you order any product featured in our Christmas Gift Guide between 2 November and 14 December, 2020.*
Unlocked
Keeper of the Lost Cities: Book 8.5
In this extra special installment of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, the story picks up right from Legacy’s particularly devastating cliffhanger.
But chapters alternate between Sophie and Keefe’s perspectives to give readers deeper insights into both beloved characters. New powers will be discovered. Hard truths from the past will come to light. And all of your favourite characters will find themselves tested in ways they never imagined...
RECIPE: Toasted marshmallow and rhubarb cake by Nigella Lawson 
Ben’s fiction picks for Christmas! 
Read a Q&A with John Ferris, author of Behind the Enigma
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