Damian: Wings is geared towards the young adult market. Young adult fantasy fiction appears to currently be taking the publishing world by storm. What compelled you to write about teenagers as main characters? How do you manage to relate to and stay true to the unique youthful identities of your teenage characters without slipping into melodramatic stereotypes?
Pike: I love teenagers. I always have. Teenagers are the most concentrated source of potential in the world. Their whole lives are in front of them and they get to decide what to do with it! What could be more exciting? I think that it is this excitement that keeps any author’s teenaged characters from becoming stereotypes. The fact is, I don’t know a lot of teens who really fit the stereotypes. They are so much more than that. And when I write my teens, I consciously try to capture that “more” quality, rather than simply what you see. I also try to avoid the word “just” when I am thinking of them. I never think, “Oh, they’re just teenagers; it’s just high school.” There are few periods in our lives as pivotal as high school. There’s no just about it!
Damian: What do you read in your spare time? Who are some of your favorite authors?
Pike: I have been exploring the young adult genre in a way that I really haven’t been able to the last few years as I’ve been taking care of my young children. I have a fondness for mystery — Mary Higgins Clark especially — but I find that I really do gravitate more toward YA as I discover new debuts, old favorites I haven’t read yet, and timeless classics that just beg to be re-read! Recently I have really enjoyed Bones of Faerieby Janni Lee Simner, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, and Wintergirlsby Laurie Halse Anderson. Favorite authors? Way too many to list!
Damian: In Wings, you write about supernatural characters, and you do so with surprisingly fresh interpretations on traditional paranormal archetypes. Do you have any personal beliefs regarding supernatural phenomena?
Pike: Thank you! I personally believe in the possibility of there being more mysterious and amazing thing out in our world than we dare to believe... and I hope that I’m right!
Article comments
1 - Rebecca Bridson
I loved the book Wings but the ending for me was not satisfying.
Who is Laurel in love with? David or Tamani?
Aprilynne Pike has written their characters really well but maybe too well. You can tell from the start that David loves Laurel and they are happy together until Laurel finds out she is a faerie. Then Tamani comes along and makes it harder on Laurel by charming her with his looks and his smile. How is she going to be completely happy when she is in love with both of them?
Then at the end of the book we find out that Tamani has loved her since she was little and that makes it harder on Laurel because she now feels that she is cheating on David when she is with Tam and Tam when she is with David. Then at the end she kisses Tam but she is still in love with David.
So who is she going to go with Tam or David?
2 - maria
Anyone know when the rest of the series will be out,or the titles of the books?
3 - Lisa Damian
The second book in the series is entitled Spells. She is also working on a stand-alone novel separate from the series. I don't believe the release dates have been announced as of yet.