The paperback (right cover) is out today!
Hop over to Amazon, Book Depository or your local book shop to get a copy. You won't regret it!
Please welcome Chelsey to Books for Company. She is the author of Infinite Sky, a YA contemporary book.
Thank you for doing this interview, I loved getting to know more about 'behind the scenes' of Infinite Sky and your thoughts and influences.
Iris is a young teenager in Infinite Sky. Do you have a specific reason for choosing this age for her?
Iris is thirteen when the novel opens, and I definitely chose this age for a reason. I vividly remember being thirteen. The increase in freedom, the moving away from childish things, the desire to be treated as an adult, and the inability to handle adult affairs. The secrets kept from your parents, and the guilt about keeping them. The realisation that your parents were people before they had you, that they are not on this earth for you alone – that’s a big one! – and the increasing importance of your friends. This growing awareness of the version of yourself outside of the home. I’m really interested in identity so it’s unendingly interesting to me.
It’s also a time when you are experiencing so many things for the first time, and waking up to the complexities of the world. There is an intensity there, and that’s what I love to write about too.
Iris is a young girl living with her dad and brother, having to grow up without her mother around. Is this a big part of the story in shaping Iris’s character?
Absolutely. I lived with my parents for half of the week each after they split, and so I got a good idea of living in a male-only household. The difference between my parents’ houses was quite striking, and fit quite neatly along gender stereotyped lines! To have had that always, with your mum missing completely at an age when you are just getting used to wearing bras and getting your period – becoming a woman – well, it’s quite a poignant idea to explore.
Also, I really wanted to look at the idea of mothers leaving, as it’s not something we’re very comfortable with in England. It isn't as often experienced, discussed or understood as fathers leaving. Mums who leave are demonised, or written off as mad, but I wondered about the ones who might leave because they cannot submit their freedom.
What three words would you love to hear a reader use when describing Infinite Sky, and what three words would you use to describe the book?
Readers have been describing it as beautiful, intense and heartbreaking, which will do for me too.
Infinite Sky, for me, teaches us not to 'judge a book by its cover’ – in this case not to judge a person using cultural stereotypes. Is this something you believe in and wanted to concentrate on in the story?
I suppose so, yes. This comes up again and again in my stories: outsiders who want to be accepted versus conventional, narrow-minded people. The desire to fit in is very strong in humans, isn’t it? We need reassurance that we’re ‘normal’ all the time. Especially teenagers. So it’s a really fun thing to look at.
How did the idea for Infinite Sky arise, and did much change from your initial draft to the final book that was published?
The idea started out as a story about an only child, Iris, attempting to find out about her estranged mother. It was a sort of detective story, with Iris piecing together the facts about what made her mother leave, and what kind of person she was. Gradually, it changed, because readers wanted more depth, the story, for some reason, felt one-dimensional.
I began to draw more from my life and experiences to bring more of myself to the novel. I brought in an older brother, and brought the mother a little more into the story. Still though, the story needed conflict. This is when I decided to bring in a family of Irish Travellers, and Infinite Sky really started to take shape. As soon as Trick Delaney arrived, and Iris began to spy on him, I knew I had a strong story, and I felt this lovely rush of excitement and confidence. I knew that unless something terrible happened to me, I would complete this novel. It was the first time I’d felt that, and it proved to be true.
Absolutely. I lived with my parents for half of the week each after they split, and so I got a good idea of living in a male-only household. The difference between my parents’ houses was quite striking, and fit quite neatly along gender stereotyped lines! To have had that always, with your mum missing completely at an age when you are just getting used to wearing bras and getting your period – becoming a woman – well, it’s quite a poignant idea to explore.
Also, I really wanted to look at the idea of mothers leaving, as it’s not something we’re very comfortable with in England. It isn't as often experienced, discussed or understood as fathers leaving. Mums who leave are demonised, or written off as mad, but I wondered about the ones who might leave because they cannot submit their freedom.
What three words would you love to hear a reader use when describing Infinite Sky, and what three words would you use to describe the book?
Readers have been describing it as beautiful, intense and heartbreaking, which will do for me too.
Infinite Sky, for me, teaches us not to 'judge a book by its cover’ – in this case not to judge a person using cultural stereotypes. Is this something you believe in and wanted to concentrate on in the story?
I suppose so, yes. This comes up again and again in my stories: outsiders who want to be accepted versus conventional, narrow-minded people. The desire to fit in is very strong in humans, isn’t it? We need reassurance that we’re ‘normal’ all the time. Especially teenagers. So it’s a really fun thing to look at.
How did the idea for Infinite Sky arise, and did much change from your initial draft to the final book that was published?
The idea started out as a story about an only child, Iris, attempting to find out about her estranged mother. It was a sort of detective story, with Iris piecing together the facts about what made her mother leave, and what kind of person she was. Gradually, it changed, because readers wanted more depth, the story, for some reason, felt one-dimensional.
I began to draw more from my life and experiences to bring more of myself to the novel. I brought in an older brother, and brought the mother a little more into the story. Still though, the story needed conflict. This is when I decided to bring in a family of Irish Travellers, and Infinite Sky really started to take shape. As soon as Trick Delaney arrived, and Iris began to spy on him, I knew I had a strong story, and I felt this lovely rush of excitement and confidence. I knew that unless something terrible happened to me, I would complete this novel. It was the first time I’d felt that, and it proved to be true.
Find CJ (Chelsey) Flood
Amazon UK
Buy Infinite Sky
Lovely interview! It's made me want to go and read Infinite Sky again... :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Maya! Love to hear that <3
Delete