Karen Foxlee is an Australian author who writes for both kids and young adults. She grew up in the Australian outback mining town of Mount Isa and still frequently dreams she is walking barefoot along the dry Leichhardt River. Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy, Karen’s first novel for children, was published internationally to much acclaim while her second novel for younger readers, A Most Magical Girl, won the Readings Children’s Fiction Prize in 2017 and was CBCA short-listed the same year. Her next book was the internationally successful Lenny’s Book of Everything, which has won multiple awards including the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Indies Book Award, the Queensland Literary Award, was a CBCA Honour Book and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
Today, Karen Foxlee is on the blog to answer a few of our questions about her new book, Dragon Skin! Read on …
Karen Foxlee
Please tell us about your book, Dragon Skin!
KF: Dragon Skin is the story of a ten-year old called Pip. She’s a girl who never wants to go home. She’s recently lost her best friend and her mother isn’t the same since her new boyfriend moved in. Pip spends a lot of time sitting near the waterhole at dusk because at home things are frightening and she has to turn off her light, shut her bedroom door and pretend she doesn’t exist. One evening at waterhole she finds something remarkable; a tiny injured magical creature. Pipe embarks on a journey to save this little creature and in doing so a journey to save both herself and her mother. Dragon Skin is a magical story about baby dragons and what you need to save them. It’s also about toxic relationships, the transformative power of friendships, grief and resilience, heartbreak and hope. I hope children and adults alike love it.
Where did the first spark of inspiration for this story come from?
KF: I think the inspiration came from a couple of sources. I was thinking a lot about the place where I grew up, Mount Isa, way out in the middle of nowhere in far north west Queensland. It was a brilliant place to grow up, rugged, harsh, but incredibly beautiful and we had so many freedoms. We ran wild, exploring the bush and the hills and walking for kilometres along a what we called ‘the creek’ but was really the dry Leichhardt river. I also really love thinking about magic and especially magic in the ordinary everyday world. I really wanted somehow to combine these two things; a harsh outback mining town and a magical creature. That was basically my starting point. I had an image in my head of a girl sitting at dusk near a small waterhole. A girl who is going to find something incredible. I started writing from there.
What was the most difficult challenge you faced while writing Dragon Skin?
KF: In the beginning, Dragon Skin was a short story. I think one of my biggest challenges was realising it didn’t really fit that form. I knew it was bigger than a short story, but I also loved that version of it intensely. Once I started writing it in longer form, and it expanded and opened up in new ways I was really happy that I had let go its older form.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
KF: I think I loved a lot of things. I loved trying to bring the landscape of my childhood to life, the vast skies of north west Queensland, the red ochre hills and the spinifex. I love writing about the friendships in the story, they are so special and transformative for Pip. I also loved the delicate balancing act of writing something that can be read as a simple fantasy story and also something more complex, looking at themes of domestic violence and grief.
If you had to describe your character Pip using just three adjectives, what would they be?
KF: Brave. Hopeful. Resilient.
This book is bound to be treasured by young readers. Which books did you read as a child that you still treasure today?
KF: Gosh, there are so many stories from my childhood that still have a place in my heart. Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytales and any stories that had an adventure in them like Barrie’s Peter Pan, Baum’s The Wizard of Oz series, Sinuhe the Egyptian by Mika Waltari. I loved The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I also remember winning Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre as a school prize when I was twelve and I fell in love with it and treasure it to this day. I used to act out parts of it in my bedroom.
‘I also loved the delicate balancing act of writing something that can be read as a simple fantasy story and also something more complex, looking at themes of domestic violence and grief.’
Do you have a favourite dragon from legend, literature, film or TV?
KF: I’ve loved a lot of different dragons over the years but probably my favourite was Falkor from The Neverending Story. The dragon in Pete’s Dragon was pretty special too. My daughter and I have always had a soft spot for Mushu in Disney’s Mulan as well.
What is the last book you read and loved?
KF: I recently read Circe by Madeline Miller and I found it completely captivating. It was so brilliantly told and utterly believable and one of those books where I just gasped at the end and bawled my eyes out. And I’m currently reading Rabbit Soldier Angel Thief by Katrina Nannestad and I really love it also. She’s a brilliant storyteller for children.
What do you hope readers will discover in Dragon Skin?
KF: I really hope readers enjoy Dragon Skin. I wrote it in the hope that it will be a page-turning fantasy story but one that also shines a light on deeper issues such as domestic violence and toxic masculinity. I think it is important that these things are discussed and not hidden and I really hope that this story might spark conversations in the classroom about these topics. I also loved writing the friendships in this book. Pip finds strengths through her connections with her two new friends Laura and Archie, as well as her beloved friend Mika, who stays on as a steady voice in her ear. I hope that readers take away the message that there is always someone who will help. I hope that the main message of Dragon Skin is one of never giving up on hope.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
KF: I’m currently writing a junior fiction series about a young girl with anxiety who is very good at helping monsters. She travels the world with her archaeologist mother and has all sorts of incredible adventures and she really loves to wear sparkly red shoes. I’m also writing about a magical pirate ship with kitchen staffed by stolen children. It’s high adventure and lots of magic, completely baffling at the moment but I know there is something good at its heart.
Thanks Karen!
—Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin) is out now.
Dragon Skin
How to save a dragon:
1) Assemble equipment. Water, Weet-Bix, sugar, syringe, sticky tape, scissors.
2) Believe in everything.
Pip never wants to go home. She likes to sit at the waterhole at dusk and remember Mika, her best friend. At home her mother's not the same since her boyfriend moved in. They don't laugh anymore and Pip has to go to bed early, turn off her light and pretend she doesn't exist. When she finds a half-dead creature at the waterhole, everything changes...
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