In a post-apocalyptic world where animals and machines struggle for power and control, living far above China in a network of hot-air balloons, Mei discovers a rare special power. She also learns she's able to communicate with Rom, who is far away in a futuristic Las Vegas, through their magic journals. They've never actually met, but they realize they share a similar "kaimira" gene making them animal-machine hybrids. The first in a series of five books, The Sky Village offers complex characters and a rich plot in a dark and complicated new world.

We recently interviewed writer Chris Rettstatt, the heart and mind behind author Monk Ashland, and asked him about his new book and various other book-related things.

YPulse Books readers, let us know what you think are some of the new themes in YA sci-fi. The first three commenters will receive a free copy of Kaimira: The Sky Village.

Ypulse Books: What do you think are the unique challenges specific to writing for young adults?

Chris Rettstatt: So far I haven't encountered any challenges other than the astonishingly competitive market. Beyond that, I see only opportunities: to write about the things I care most about, like villages made of hot air balloons and battling biotech beasties; to feast on my absolute favorite entertainment and call it "research"; and to paint a few cave-wall pictures inside the Olympic-sized imaginations of the most important people on the planet - those young adults who will soon be our overlords.

YPB: What do reluctant readers need most to maintain interest in a book?

CR: We're all reluctant readers when presented with reading material that doesn't connect with us. Reluctant readers need characters they can care about, who feel real; stories that feel like they're going somewhere; and details that show that the author is digging deep to create an authentic and original experience. In short, they need exactly what all readers need: good stories that feel relevant and real.

YPB: What interests you most about reading and writing in the sci-fi/ fantasy genre?

CR: I like reading science fiction and fantasy because the stuff is just so cool. And once I invest the time to get neck-deep in a storyverse, I don't want to come out again anytime soon, and the best immersive series fiction tends to be sci-fi and fantasy.

I like writing science fiction because it gives me a non-preachy way of writing about themes that are important to me, like intolerance and violence. And also because I love making up crazy stuff and then making it feel real.

YPB: Do you think there is new and recent fascination with post-apocalyptic themes among teen books? If so why?

CR: I've heard this a few times recently. I think the trend has less to do with what writers are writing and more to do with what publishers are publishing. Post-apocalyptic fiction has been going strong for as long as I can remember. Just look at how many times Tokyo has been obliterated on TV and film. And in this Golden Age of YA literature, it makes sense that a few of us are going to shake the Etch-a-Sketch, so to speak, and create a fresh start and a new sandbox for our imaginary characters.

That said, when a community experiences a traumatic reminder of its mortality and its vulnerability to destruction, I do think the resulting surge of anxiety tends to erupt in a renewed interest in post-apocalyptic stories. And if there is something in the YA lit Zeitgeist giving a leg up to that sort of fiction, it would be convenient to connect it to modern fears of terrorist attack.

But my gut feeling is that many of today's post-apocalyptic stories have roots that are older than that. I think these more modern fears will be played out in the stories our children write. It scares me to imagine what forms their fictional disasters will take, oozing from primal fears caused by our generation's mistakes.

YPB: What's the best compliment you've ever received as a writer?

CR: When I was in 4th grade I entered two pieces in a statewide
competition. The theme was recycling, and the state was Arkansas. The first piece was a drawing. I spent weeks on it, planning it out, getting all the details right. I was very proud of it.

On deadline day, I found out I could have entered more than one category. So I scribbled out a story in about forty minutes, just for the heck of it. I didn't place in the art category, but I won for the story, resulting in a banquet where then-Governor Bill Clinton gave me a ribbon and shook my hand. From that time on, all my best writing has been at the last minute.

YPB: Where did you come up with the idea for The Sky Village and the entire Kaimira Series?

CR: The lines distinguishing human, animal, and machine are being blurred, and that's happening in our time. It's not fiction. Chimeras and artificial intelligence. Technology as the new leg of human evolution. It's hard to see what you're becoming while it's happening. Future generations, starting with today's young adults, will be faced with issues that most people today would call science fiction.

And there's a bit of the beast in each of us, irrational, relying on instinct, as well as a part that's machine-like, efficient and unrelentingly logical. Finding the balance is what makes us human.

When I visit a new place, and particularly a new culture, I enjoy imagining what it might be like in a few hundred years. And if I do a reading, I like asking teens to look two or three hundred years into the future and share what they see. Writers can create chimerical futures, but creating the real future is up to those teens.

YPB: I recently saw the video for The Sky Village, it's very compelling.
What has it been like marketing your book? What has been helpful? Successful? How do you think authors can best spend their energy when trying to get the word out about a new title?

CR: I'm still finding my way when it comes to marketing. I'm just trying different things to see what works. I'm not terribly good at (or comfortable with) marketing myself directly. But I love participating in discussions about young adult books and youth-targeted entertainment in general, and a nice side effect of engaging in those conversations is that it keeps me on the radar.

My best advice to authors is to make the experience be about more than your book. Attach your efforts to a cause. Use your role as author to support something that matters to teens even more than your book matters to you.

YPB: Tell us about Book 2.

CR: I can't say much about Book 2 without giving away the ending to The Sky Village (Book 1). But I can say that the second book is called The Terrible Everything and that it will continue where The Sky Village left off. In the first book, Mei had to walk in her mother's footsteps, adjusting to life in the Sky Village. In The Terrible Everything, she'll have a chance to walk in her father's footsteps as a member of the warrior-scientist tribe called the Scimurai.

YPB: Sounds great. Awesome responses Chris! Thank you.

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