Heritage, horror, romance, and monsters all come together in this YA author's latest novel.
Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood. Wednesday Books. pp.336. $18.99.
Konstantin Rega: What inspired this wonderful work?
Lauren Blackwood: Oh, well, I always wanted to write a book based on my heritage, Jamaica. And it was just about finding the right project. So after I wrote my debut novel, I wanted to write something that was similar in field, but a little more Gothic with some cultural folklore. In my last novel, I did Ethiopian folklore. This time was Jamaican folklore.
With that, how did you draw from your past or from your family history?
Well, I used to hear a lot of stories when I was little from my Jamaican grandparents. You know, Jamaicans are very superstitious. I grew up hearing about “duppies” all the time, which are kinda like ghosts. But, I did a little research as well, and there are just a lot of different creatures.
I find that in Jamaica they're very morbid. All their folklore has to do with like something really bad. But I was actually excited about that because that’s my vibe. There's a river spirit that, of course, drowns you. And then this huge bull that, of course, tries to kill you. Everything tries to kill you, which is great!
And are the YA and Fantasy genres what you like writing best?
Oh, yeah. I mean, I definitely love YA. It's really close to my heart, because when I was a young adult, there were not a lot of books, with characters who looked like me. So I really wanted to give that to modern teens.
You kind of get to delve into more of the angst, you know. Teens can be so smart but are often driven by hormones. And that’s great because you can, their poor decisions add more drama to the plot.
And so, how did you get into writing?
When I started writing, I loved reading romance and fantasy. And I'm like, “Oh, I write that stuff.” That was back in high school. Years later that I realized, “Wait a second, why am I not just writing about my experiences and like, people who look like me.”
So when you finished your first book, did you know where you wanted to go with the next?
Well, my first book, Within These Wicked Walls, had a framework because it's a Jane Eyre retelling. Though I made the setting Ethiopia. And so I really wanted to go that path with Wildblood as well. I really like to delve into classic novels, but give them sort of roots in a different culture.
So with Wildblood, where did your protagonist come from?
A few different places. Victoria’s introverted, like me. But I think that's where our similarities end. I wanted to give her this journey of coming into herself and standing up for herself.
And then she’s “wildblood.” Yet Victoria’s way more in tune with her supernatural abilities than most. It's because she's sort of more in tune with nature and accepting of her abilities than all the other wildbloods—because society sees them as lower class and something to be feared.
She kind of just really embraces it, though, and takes it on.
Who influenced you? What were you reading at the time?
But the first book that ever influenced me to write was Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, which is like nothing like what I'm writing. But I feel like the essence of it was something I clung to. Because, honestly, it felt kind of anime-esque. I love the drama of anime. I also loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. So I’m influenced by a lot of different things.
Oh! And also nature. I'm not really a woodsy type of person. But nature in itself is just so beautiful. It's just made so perfectly that there's no way I could not look at it and be inspired by it.
It’s interesting that you say that you're not a tree person, because all the nature magic and the environment really shines.
Victoria is very much an activist for the jungle. Like the Lorax, she speaks for the trees, you know. But I love nature shows and looking at nature. Just not so much the getting in there and digging around and stuff.
And I'm not really sure why I gravitate towards writing about insects. But I feel like there are spiders in every single one of my books.
And with your work, what do you want readers to get out of it?
There are just so many things. One of the main themes is about being angry and enraged—about being allowed to express that and not fearing it. Raging is sort of frowned upon in the book. And being able to take hold of your anger and use it for something good, something that benefits is important.
And then love is a huge theme. I went out of my way to make sure that there were all sorts of love being displayed, like friends and big brothers and lost love and romantic love. I wanted to show that you can feel all those at once for different people and the same person.
And are you working on anything currently?
Oh gosh, I am, but unfortunately, I can't talk about it. But it's gonna be the same vibe as my first two, which is I always do monsters; I always do romance; I always do a lot of blood.
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