Q&A with Tracy Wolff

  

Photo by Mayra G. Calderon

 

 

Tracy Wolff is the author of the new middle grade novel The Aftermyth. She has written more than 60 novels, including the Crave series. She lives in Austin, Texas. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Aftermyth, and how did you create your character Penelope?

 

A: First of all, I want to say thank you so much for having me! It’s a joy to speak with you again. 😊

 

The Aftermyth was inspired by my lifelong love of Greek mythology, but its message comes from my frustration with how many of these myths, especially the ones centered on women, have been told.

 

We all know that history is told by the winners, by those who have claimed or seized power. The Aftermyth is my shot at herstory, at looking at these myths—and reshaping them—through a modern lens, one that is more compassionate and egalitarian.

 

My main character, 13-year-old Penelope Weaver, came to me as soon as I knew what I wanted The Aftermyth to be about. She’s curious, determined, and deeply empathetic, but she’s also unsure of her place in the world, especially when, in her opinion, she gets assigned to the wrong hall on her very first day at Anaximander’s Academy.

 

Despite all of that uncertainty, she’s someone who wants to do the right thing—even when the rules don’t make sense or seem unfair.

 

In many ways, I think Penelope represents readers who sense that the story they’ve been handed doesn’t quite fit with reality. And what I love about her is that she’s brave enough to start asking why, and to follow that question to a whole new ending … or should I say beginning?

 

Q: How did you create the world of Anaximander’s Academy?

 

A: Creating Anaximander’s Academy was so much fun! When I sat down to think about what I wanted the school to be, I realized I wanted it to feel less like a traditional school that we’re used to and more like an ancient place of learning.

 

The school itself is named after the philosopher Anaximander, who first gave voice to the concept of the boundless or infinity. I wanted to honor that in this school that is part academy, part labyrinth, and part logic problem.

 

Anaximander’s is inspired by early philosophical spaces and the idea that education isn’t just about absorbing knowledge, but about questioning it, testing it, and sometimes even breaking the confines of what we think we know.

 

The academy itself is constantly shifting, both physically and metaphorically. The buildings move, the rules change, the classes are hands on problems to be solved, and the students are expected to adapt to whatever comes their way. That design mirrors the core idea of the series—that stories aren’t static. They evolve based on who is telling them.

 

Anaximander’s—like The Aftermyth itself—is meant to challenge students to think critically, work together, and learn not just how the world works, but how it could work.

Q: This is your debut middle grade novel--what was it like to write for this new audience?

 

A: Writing for a middle grade audience is both fun and surprisingly freeing.  One of the most amazing things about middle grade readers is that they’re incredibly perceptive, but they’re also open-hearted in a way that allows me to create a world full of wonder, humor, joy, confusion and big emotional stakes that all coexist without irony.

 

While I was writing, I worked hard to honor that balance, to keep the story accessible and amusing as I invited young readers to engage with complex ideas about power, identity, and truth.

 

Writing The Aftermyth reminded me that hope matters and that, even in an original myth meant to denigrate Pandora, curiosity can be a form of courage. What’s not to love about that?

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The title The Aftermyth came from the central question driving the story: what happens after the myth we all think we know ends? Who lives with the consequences, and who gets to shape what comes next?

 

It also plays on the word aftermath, which suggests reckoning and consequence after something unpleasant. This story looks at millennia of skewed narratives and focuses on how we can begin to make them right.

 

For me, the title represents both reclamation and possibility. It suggests that stories don’t stop where tradition says they should, and that there’s power in imagining what comes afterward--especially for characters who were never given a voice in the original telling.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Right now, I’m working on the second book in the Aftermyth series and having a blast taking on a new myth with even more magic, mayhem, and mystery.

 

But I’m also working on the second book of the YA series spinoff to my Crave series, as well as an adult project that is a secret for now, but that I can’t wait to reveal!!!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: At its core, The Aftermyth is a story about curiosity, courage, and the power of asking questions—even when the answers could change everything.

 

My deepest hope is that readers come away feeling entertained, but also empowered to look at the stories they’ve inherited—about myths, about the world, and about themselves—and imagine new, exciting, wonderful possibilities.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Tracy Wolff.