Fatima R. Henson is the author of the new young adult fantasy novel Love in the Age of Dragons. She also has written the middle grade novel Courageous Cody's Western Adventure. Also a history teacher, she is a native of Atlanta.
Q: What inspired you to write Love in the Age of Dragons, and how did you create your character Ayanna Grace?
A: I love sci-fi/fantasy and I am a huge fan of dystopian books, so I wanted to write my own dystopian story because of my interest in the genre. On top of that, I advocate diversity of all kinds in books. So Love in the Age of Dragons and Ayanna Grace came about as a combination of these two things.
Dragons are extremely cool and terrifying, and Ayanna is a smart, teenage girl who is also Black. I wanted to experience what it would be like for her to be in a world that is scary and very dangerous while still dealing with life’s other challenges like grief over the death of a loved one, romantic love, and trying to grow up in a chaotic environment.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the world in which the novel is set?
A: There is a long and varied mythos surrounding dragons, and I think they create a wonderful and fearsome backdrop for any story. I asked myself, “What are people most afraid of?” I wanted to figure out how a person survives even in the face of their worst fears.
Sadly, for so many people, tragic events come about because of natural disasters, for example. When you read the news, you see heartbreaking stories about how people have lost their homes, their possessions, and sometimes the people they love because of a hurricane, a tornado, or a fire.
There is a tremendous amount of sorrow and fear wrapped up in these stories, but also hope, resilience, and genuinely inspiring stories of heroism.
I think it’s this hope that remains, even in the face of our worst fears, and after everything that we hold dear in life has collapsed, that makes the basis for a good dystopian world. As a reader, I like to ask myself, “What would I do if my whole world fell apart in this way?”
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I’ve made a million changes along the way, but I had the final image of the novel in my mind from the very beginning and that’s the ending that stuck in the finished print of the book.
You would not believe just how many drafts I have of this story. Sometimes I look back and think, “Wow, I can’t believe I was going to kill that one character off.” I think writing and rewriting is the most fun aspect of the whole process.
As I write, the characters take on a life of their own and they end up telling me how the story should go. Seeing life through the eyes of the characters is the best part.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: I want the readers to feel as if they have survived a post-apocalyptic adventure and I want them to experience love, loss, and perseverance in an alternate world. I also want the reader to re-live their own feelings of being a teenager and dealing with love, lust, and infatuation for the first time and how we can get swept up in those emotions.
I hope the readers feel as attached to Ayanna Grace as I do. I think the difficult things that she goes through in life—her parents’ deaths; fighting to survive in dire circumstances; learning to become a leader—are very relatable and I hope her experiences resonate with the readers.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on a sequel to Love in the Age of Dragons and I’m having a great time writing. I love the way these characters dance with each other and I’m not done telling their story. I enjoy spending time in the world of the novel. I believe that by the time I’m done with them, none of the characters’ lives will ever be the same.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Love in the Age of Dragons won a gold medal! I am very excited that the novel is the recipient of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards gold medal for Young Adult –Fantasy/Sci-fi. This is a great honor, and I am very proud that people are enjoying my work.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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