Today we have author Rebecca Finlayson on the blog, talking about her experience with writing YA dystopian.
When
I go into a bookshop or a library in the UK it’s always satisfying to see so many
books on offer for the YA market. In our fast-paced world we can access everything
we want, when we want, at the touch of a button – and even get frustrated when
it doesn’t pop up instantly. (First world problems or what?)
Anyway, to see so
many YA books around and to know that teenagers are reading them and devoting
hours to them, is great and exciting for any lover of books, particularly.
The
challenge that I had with “X&Y” was making my book stand out. There are so many
great YA Dystopian books out there, after all. It was a mountain to climb.
The
first thing that encouraged me, though, was that I had a story to tell that –
as far as I could tell – had not been told before. Genetic engineering had been
touched on in various stories but it wasn’t the main story. I thought it would
be fascinating to look at it through the eyes of a teenager.
The
second thing was the position of my female lead. Olivia Adonane is from a very wealthy,
very powerful family, and so to have a protagonist in a position where she literally
has everything to risk made for very interesting writing from my perspective!
Another
important thing was setting. Most of the YA Dystopian books I’ve read and enjoyed
(The Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Gone series) take place in the USA. I
thought it would be really interesting to have the focus on Britain, and how it
would have adapted to the ‘System’ which is in place.
Apart
from the authors of the above books, one particular author who has inspired me
is Joanne Harris. She does plot so well, and the stories and twists of her
novels like “Gentlemen and Players”, “Holy Fools” and “Five Quarters of the
Orange” are just fantastic. I’ve learned a lot from her work about timing in
particular – for example, what to reveal and when to reveal it.
I
really enjoyed writing “X&Y”. The subject matter made for really
fascinating exploration, and putting the characters in a quietly brutal setting
was equally thrilling and difficult to work through. It’s been great having
people read my work and give me feedback from it, not to mention seeing the
number of downloads increase, particularly on my “free promotion” days!
Below
is the opening chapter of “X&Y”. You can head over to Amazon Kindle for a free
seven-chapter sample.
Excerpt:
Thunder
rumbles in the early hours of this morning and when I wake I think of Lily and
what we’re going to do today. We’re meeting before school so we can post off
our university applications together. To anyone who does not know who we are it
seems such a little thing, but in this day and age it is not. My Ambition means
I’m guaranteed a place at a prestigious institution, but Lily’s venture is a
little more uncertain. Her portfolio, given to her parents when she was still
in her mother’s womb, states that her Ambition is to be a waitress, which I’ve
always thought was some kind of mix-up, as I’ve never thought she was right for
the Service Industry. Very clumsy, and perpetually distracted by “higher
things”, as she calls them, her different Preparation Experiences in cafes and
restaurants have always ended spectacularly badly, though I will give her
current boss come credit; she is unremittingly patient.
Lily
is also extraordinarily clever, which is why I persuaded her to fill in a
university application in the first place. Strange, I think, considering her
family’s Ambitions, that her Tag gave her the chance to advance as much as she
has. I know that Lily thinks this is too risky, bordering on dangerous –
especially when the admissions boards find out about her humble family background.
What harm is there in trying, though? Despite her reluctance, I know when she
gets offered an opportunity to study Philosophy and Poetry she’ll be ecstatic
and all the fear will have been worth it.
My
own Ambition is very different. I will be following my father down the Designer
route. First, six years of medical school followed by three more years of
theoretical and practical study at the School of Human Design. I will learn how
to create Tags with which to start unborn babies off on their uniquely selected
paths, learn to further the research that reduces – and, hopefully, eventually
eradicates – glitches in the System, and such like. My father is the most
renowned Designer in the country, the head of the Triad – the Triad comprises
of the country’s top three Designers – and one day I will take his place. It is
a huge responsibility, but it is one for which I have specifically been Designed.
I have no need to doubt myself.
“Good
morning, father,” I chime, kissing him on the cheek as I bounce down to the
dining room for breakfast, schoolbag and big brown envelope at the ready. I
fling them down untidily on a chair and fix myself some cereal. “Where’s
mother?”
“Still
in bed; she’s a little under the weather this morning. Not to worry though,
she’ll be up and about in no time,” he says while sipping his coffee and reading
the newspaper.
“What
is the news like this morning?”
“Calm,
as usual,” he smiles, and my curious doubts are quieted. Why do I harbour them?
Our Society is near perfect. While other nations are constantly embroiled in
bitter civil struggles, slowly destroying themselves from within, our country
enjoys peace and prosperity. The “Utopia”, that the old writers dreamt of, is
being achieved at last. I just wonder what the other countries are doing so
wrong. Father soon breaks me out of my reverie.
“Is
that what I think it is?” he asks, indicating the brown envelope.
“Yes,”
I say proudly. “I wonder which school will want me.”
“All
of them, I expect. Look how strong your application is, after all.”
“It
doesn’t hurt that I have your name on it, though,” I say slyly.
“True,”
he says, winking at me. “But if your Ambition was not to follow in my
footsteps, they would turn you down as any other school would turn down an
applicant whose Ambition did not meet with their requirements.”
“There’s
something I wanted to ask you related to that,” I say. “You know Lily, my best
friend?”
“Yes?”
His tone is careful. He has never met Lily and there’s something about his
wariness whenever I mention her that makes me uneasy, like he doesn’t think we
should be friends.
“Do
you know if her Tag and her Ambition portfolio got mixed up somehow before she
was born?” I ask.
“I
don’t know; I wasn’t assigned to her case. You would have to find that out from
her hospital. Why?”
“Well,
her Ambition is for her to be a waitress, but she’s not suited to that at all.”
“Waitressing
is a perfectly good and sturdy profession,” my father says, his tone
reprimanding.
“I
know; I’m not being high and mighty. It’s just that, Lily doesn’t seem to enjoy
it at all. She seems much more interested in pursuing Academia after Mandatory
Education is over. I just wondered whether her original Portfolio was along the
lines of some kind of Higher Educator, and the folder got mixed up in the
hospital.”
“That’s
impossible,” he says, though his dark eyebrows narrow a little over his
thick-rimmed black glasses.
“Are you sure this isn’t just some Secondary
Interest that she is feeling quite strongly about at the moment?”
“I
don’t think so,” I say, although my instincts tell me to shut up.
“Even
in between her work breaks she’s always reading a book of some poet or another.
She excels at school – really, she would do much better at my school – and it
crushes me to think she can’t do what she really wants.”
“She
wants to be a waitress,” my father says quietly. “If her portfolio says so,
then that is what her Tag has prepared her for, and that is what she will do. I
think you might be seeing more in this situation than there is.”
“But-”
I start to argue, about to reveal that I’ve helped her fill in university
application, but something in his voice tells me that would be dangerous. His
mobile phone rings and he frowns when he sees who is calling
“What
is it?” he snaps into the phone. His eyes widen as the speaker on the other end
rapidly relays information, though I can’t hear what he is saying. “I’ll come
immediately.” He clicks off, his expression a mixture of annoyance and
something else. Dismay?
“We’ll
talk about this later,” he says quickly as he dons his suit jacket and picks up
his briefcase and I assume he means our earlier conversation. “I have to go.
I’ll see you for dinner. We’re going out to The Glade tonight.” He kisses my
head and leaves. Soon I hear the car rev up and speed away, gravel flying
everywhere.
“Sure,”
I murmur, wondering what on earth that was about.
Find the book online:
About the Author…
Rebecca
Finlayson was born in the north of England - specifically Blackburn, Lancashire
– but actually spent most of her childhood in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire
(fans of Harry Potter will recognise that name!). Inspired by reading a
children’s version of “The Odyssey” 20+ times while growing up, she decided to
study Classical Civilisation at Warwick University and took a job as a Teaching
Assistant upon graduating. After two years she decided to take a year out in
order to do some charity work but, more significantly, pursue some writing
projects that had been nagging at her for some time. The first of these projects
to be completed, a Young Adult Dystopian novel entitled “X&Y” is now on
sale on Amazon Kindle. The second – a fantasy novel entitled “The Secrets of Nethiaria:
The Magician’s Book” will be out in Spring 2014.
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