Kekla Magoon Interview--Part 1

Kekla Magoon recently took the time to answer some questions for us.  I will share Part 2 of Kekla's responses on Sunday. 

THANK YOU, KEKLA!

From Book Slammer Yoshi:

Q) Why did you choose to write Tina's narrative in a poetic form? Why create such a difference between her narrative and the narrative of the other characters?

A)Tina’s voice came to me in that simple poetic way. I wanted to find as many different ways as possible to differentiate the voices because there are so many to keep track of. I kept her voice all in poetry partly for that reason. I like that she stands out in that way. She is a younger character, who isn’t as concerned with the controversy, so it felt right for her thoughts to be shorter and more confined to her relationship with Tariq, and how much she misses him in each small moment of her day.

Q) Why choose to include an attraction between Kimberly and Al in such a chaotic time? Reading it, it felt sort of wrong morally for them to focus on themselves rather than the tragedy around them. Why make them so detached?

A) Feelings of attraction don’t necessarily play by moral rules. Even though both Kimberly and Al are working on organizing efforts to help the community after Tariq’s death, their thoughts often stray to other, more selfish places. This happens to a lot of people, even if they know they should be spending their thoughts and energy on something that helps others. A lot of readers find Kimberly and Al’s relationship morally wrong on different levels. That is okay with me. I didn’t expect readers to like every character in the book, or to agree with all of their viewpoints. That was part of what I wanted to do with the book, to challenge people to decide if they agree or disagree with the actions and choices and values of the characters.

Q) Do you feel like youth outside of neighborhoods like Underhill feel the same as the characters in the novel do about a race bias murder? Do you think that this feeling of shock, that it could happen to me that Will felt a universal feeling that many African American youth feel despite their neighborhood? Why did you write this story? To appeal to children facing these difficulties in neighborhoods like Tariq's? 

A) People feel a lot of different ways about race bias murder. Will’s fear that what happened to Tariq could happen to him is certainly a fear that many young people of color share. I share it myself. I wrote the story because I wanted to give people a chance to think about these issues in the context of fiction. It can be very difficult and painful to think about the real-life people who have died in similar tragic circumstances, like Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown, and to discuss their stories without getting heated or upset. So, reading a fictional story can give people a way to discuss some of those feelings without having to talk about real life too directly. Sometimes, reading a story like this can help people find common ground and find healing.

Q) Did you intend to portray Tariq as a morally straight character or was it up to the reader to make that decision?

A) It’s up to the reader to make that decision. I offer many viewpoints about Tariq and what happened to him, but just like in real life, the book doesn’t offer easy answers to those questions. I hope that it inspires readers to trust their own opinion.

From Book Slammer Barnabas: 

Q) What is the best part about writing realistic fiction?

A) It gives me the opportunity to directly explore and discuss some very important issues taking place in the real world. I engage with the world through my books, and while fantasy can provide metaphors and allegory about our real-life struggles, I enjoy the direct access of realistic fiction.

Q) Are all of your characters at least loosely based off of real people? If not, how do you usually come up with original characters?

A) My characters are not necessarily based on real people. Sometimes they are partly inspired by people I know, or things that I feel myself. Other times they are composites of my observations about people in general, or of strangers that I have interacted with briefly.

Q) How much do you value realism in your works? For what reasons would you consider sacrificing some realism?

A) I try to keep my books as realistic as possible. I do research on historical time periods, or locations, or any real life characters and events that I include in my books to be sure they are as accurate as possible. Sometimes in my historical fiction, I have made small tweaks to a historical timeline. Not moving big important events around, but adjusting smaller things to help the story flow more smoothly. I always explain those choices in an author’s note at the end of the book.