Victory Witherkeigh is the author of the new young adult novel The Demon. She also has written the YA novel The Girl. She is from Los Angeles.
Q: What inspired you to write The Demon?
A: When I reached the end of my first novel, The Girl, I realized I had more questions about the characters and their journey. I wanted to explore the deeper complexities of what it means to “come of age,” as I felt so many of the stories stop just as high school ends and the proper work begins.
Plus, there are still so many deities and legends across the Pacific Islands to explore!
Q: Can you say more about the connections between this new book and The Girl?
A: My debut novel, The Girl, is written as a companion book to my second novel, The Demon, which was released on Oct. 1, 2024. While the stories connect, you don’t need to read one before the other.
The Girl tells the story of a young Filipino/Pacific Islander whose family swears she is evil. For those who read my first novel, the story will pick up right from where she was standing, so to speak.
Q: What do you see as the role of Filipino mythology and history in The Demon?
A: The Filipino history and mythology role in The Demon is a magnificent structure for my characters to explore the journey of early adulthood and what it can mean to embrace or run away from your cultural identity.
As people transition to the reality of what it means to be considered a “legal adult” there are a lot of mistakes and bumps of reconciling what you thought you wanted and who you wanted to be with what life and society are going to deal you. The fantasy of what we thought would happen almost never is what people experience in this transition.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: I hope readers have fun and enjoy the thrilling journey The Demon takes as she learns the proverb, “Be careful what you wish for because you might get it.” I also hope those that can will try out some of the UC Berkeley food spots!
Q: What are you working on now? Will there be more books in this series?
A: I’ve got some ideas for my subsequent work. I’ve been researching for the past two years and working on expanding some new story concepts, but I do think there may be one more for this series. We’ll see….
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I’ve had fun sharing a fact about a character in The Demon that has nothing to do with the story. So, I’ll share that Mankukulum gets really attached to a pair of khaki cargo pants for no reason other than they are comfortable - opting for this pair of pants for nearly two years whenever he possesses someone.
Also, pick up your copy of my second novel, The Demon.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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