Interview: Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli, Rob DeFranco, authors of 'After the Red Rain'
After the Red Rain by Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli and Robert DeFranco
What it's about (courtesy of Little, Brown):
On the ruined planet Earth, where 50 billion people are confined to megacities and resources are scarce, Deedra has been handed a bleak and mundane existence by the Magistrate she works so hard for. But one day she comes across a beautiful boy named Rose struggling to cross the river--a boy with a secretive past and special abilities, who is somehow able to find comfort and life from their dying planet.
But just as the two form a bond, it is quickly torn apart after the Magistrate's son is murdered and Rose becomes the prime suspect. Little do Deedra and Rose know how much their relationship will affect the fate of everyone who lives on the planet.
INTERVIEW WITH BARRY, PETER AND ROBERT
Tell us about Deedra and Rose!
Barry: Deedra has the capacity for bravery and selflessness in a world that only rewards greed and naked self-interest. She's not a superhero or a warrior — her strength comes from her innate curiosity and her willingness to step back and observe and learn. Rose, meanwhile, is the one unsullied, unbroken thing in a world that's crumbling underfoot. He's decent and kind, and while he's powerful, he would rather avoid a fight than win one. They make quite a pair!
Robert: Rose is a nomad, on a journey to find answers, where Deedra is resigned to her fate and lives a relatively confined life. They share a bond over feeling like outsiders and lack of understanding of where they came from. Rose's curiosity awakens Deedra's curiosity and puts them on a path of change while driving them into harm's way.
Peter: In a way, Deedra and Rose are your typical teenagers struggling with issues of identity and individuality and love. But in the midst of your teenage angst imagine having the weight of the world on your shoulders on top of everything else. You discover something about how society is structured, and you have to decide: Are you going to stand up for what's right or follow the herd? I hope these characters encourage readers to really have the courage to be different and use their voices to initiate changes in and deeper thinking about our world and society.
What type of disaster (natural or man-made) do you think will end Earth?
Barry: Well, there's ending the Earth … and then there's ending life on Earth. The former would probably be in a few billion years, when the sun expands to swallow the planet. The latter is too easy to contemplate, and it'll be a combination of the two — man-made problems with natural consequences. If we don't rein in our ruinous environmental practices, we're going to wipe ourselves out by coastal flooding, starvation, drought or some hideous combination thereof. Either that, or an asteroid will relieve us of the responsibility and smack into us and the whole planet will choke to death on the debris. Have a nice day! :)
Robert: A disaster will not end Earth. Earth may change so drastically that it will be uninhabitable for us, but we will be living on other planets before then.
Peter: When people stop reading books.
Is there more to the story? A sequel or another story set in the world?
Barry: We did a lot of work thinking about the history and the nature of this world, as well as the history of the characters, and then we really just buckled down and tried to distill it as much as possible into one book. That said, there were things that just couldn't fit, or the book would have become a sprawling mess of a thousand pages! So, yeah, there are further stories to tell.
Robert: Yes, the origins.
Peter: We'll see! Actually, yeah, it's called After After the Red Rain. lol.
What are you currently working on?
Barry: I have a book coming out in 2016 titled The Secret Sea. It's about the unlikely combination of a disease that only attacks identical twins, quantum physics and a little-known fact about a very real tragedy. Trust me, it all comes together!
Robert: I am writing a new book now and producing the film The Devil's Rooming House, based on a book I acquired and developed.
Peter: I currently wrapped production on Nurse Jackie and American Odyssey and am thrilled to be a part of Supergirl premiering on CBS in October.
Favorite line from After the Red Rain?
Barry: Hands down, it's got to be this line of dialogue: "Well, then, you should get your knives." In context, it's pretty seriously badass, and I just love it.
Robert:He seemed more chiseled into existence than born.
Peter:
Deedra examined the disc. On the smudged side, she could barely make out what appeared to be letters: Two Ds, with a V between them.
"I don't know what it is."
Lissa suddenly exclaimed with excitement. "Wait! Let me try..."
She snatched back the disc and poked her finger through the hole in the middle, then held it with the shiny side out. "See? It's a mirror!"
I like the idea of lost history being rediscovered in spite of what may be inaccurate interpretations of that history, or of a certain "artifact" (the idea of a DVD being an artifact — yikes). I think even today we find things from years ago and give them a purpose or a definition that may be wrong, and sometimes it ends up being creative or funny and other times it's serious. Fascinating.
Jessie Potts, also known as Book Taster, adores books in all forms. She also does reviews for RT Book Reviews magazine and works in the submissions departments at Dreamspinner Press and Entangled YA. You can follow her on Twitter (@BookTaster).