Toby (then) with September Morn

Interview

Q: This book has been called "a female Harry Potter."  What was your inspiration?

I grew up around horses. Above is a photo of me at age 6 on horseback, and one of me today with a friend’s horse. I wanted to write about women and winged horses because horses – and particularly those that can fly – are an avenue of power for women. When I was growing up, girls were still being told not to let boys know how smart we were, so to pair a girl with such a powerful creature in a working relationship is a kind of wish fulfillment. 

Q: What went into the detail of the women’s interactions with the winged horses?

In addition to being around horses myself for most of my life, my sister is an equine therapist and my niece rode jumpers. I wanted to create a lot of realism because the bond between women and horses is so strong and easy to romanticize. I explored some of the difficulties of learning to ride. Lark, the girl in the novel who bonds to a winged foal, has never done it before. Here she is with this creature that she now loves more than anything, and she has to go through the complicated and difficult process of learning to work with it.

Q: You chose to give the horses webbed wings and not feathered, why?

It’s not stated in the book, but in the back of my mind these horses share a common ancestor with dragons. Feathered wings are common in images of flying horses and certainly they can be beautiful, but the webbed wings tap into that same primal power that dragons have, and I wanted that in my horses.

Q: This book is part of a trilogy?

Yes, Air and Graces has just recently hit the shelves, and the third book, Airs of Night and Sea, is due out in December 2008.

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