               A Fuse #8 Production
My Reviews CollectedA Selection of Kidlit Bloggers I LikeChildren's Writer/Illustrator BlogsBlogs by Children's Book EditorsChildren's Publisher BlogsBook Related in Some Way (Maybe)Podcasty GoodnessRecent Posts
Recent Comments
Most Commented On
Archives
Blog
Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (22)
Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1)June 22, 2007 Have I mentioned how much I love blogs that can you can set up to post in your absence. Ah, science!Alrighty. Today we feature the third and last interview of a smart-type writerly person  age of the kidlit persuasion. Voila, Kirsten Miller. She was grilled by Jen Robinson. She was sixty-minuted by Miss Erin (new term). Now she has me to face, and watch how she fares. If you've not read Ms. Miller's truly fun Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City then you've done yourself a severe disservice. Tsk and yet again tsk. There's not much we know about the elusive Ms. Miller. She works in advertising here in New York City and finding a photograph of her can be almost impossible. Speaking with her, though? Entirely within the realm of possibility. I've just finished your latest Kiki Strike novel Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb] and I've noticed that you are very good at pulling different elements and cool details into your work. For example, a deceased character in the book is a definite version of Sarah L. Winchester of The Winchester House. In another part we see a urinal with the signature "R. Mutt, 1917," on the side. Where do you pluck these little ideas from? My head (much like my father’s) holds an amazing store of useless information. I collect strange facts the way crows gather shiny objects. (Actually that crow thing is a myth.) You’d think I would be a big hit at cocktail parties, but surprisingly few adults want to hear about the giant pigs that once roamed New York’s streets or the carp that spoke in Hebrew to workers at the New Square Fish Market. Thank goodness for twelve-year-olds. When I’m reading, there’s nothing I like better than discovering a tantalizing snippet of information tucked into the text. That’s why I try to base many of the more bizarre elements in my books on fact. If anyone bothered to investigate whether there’s really a castle in the middle of the Hudson River or tunnels under Chinatown, she might be pleasantly surprised by what she found. I suppose it’s a way of making detectives out of one’s readers. I do try to avoid adding details unless they’re meaningful in some way (or they make me laugh). The mansion of the recently-deceased socialite in The Empress’s Tomb, for instance, is a combination of the Winchester House and a Fifth Avenue mansion built by Doris Duke’s father. Both Doris Duke and Sarah Winchester were women who discovered that money could buy almost anything but happiness. A little nod to them fit the overall story quite nicely. Okay. I simply must ask you this. In Kiki Strike one of the characters is taken to St. Vincent's Hospital. While there, Ananka went to a nearby library branch. BUT instead of the super cool Jefferson Market Branch that used to house a women's jail AND was where Mae West was tried for her play Sex Ananka went instead to the Abiele Branch which, nice as it is, does not exist. Why the switcheroo? New York Public Library can be protective of its name.  I’ve never been in touch the New York Public Library. (Just let them try to censor me, though!) I live a few blocks away from the Jefferson Market Branch, and I’ve always loved both the building and its bizarre history. I keep a mental list of spots around New York that I think would make fabulous settings. (India House, the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the Police Building, Pomander Walk, Weeksville, etc.) Jefferson Market has always been at the top of that list. At some point it will make an appearance in one of my books, but I didn’t want to waste it on a relatively minor plot-point. Now that I know that the NYPL is so touchy, I’ll be sure to come up with something extra special. "Kiki Strike" was not the first girl-spy book out there, but it certainly feels like it. It's a cliched question, but where did you get the idea? The best spies are people that everyone else overlooks. (In the business, they’re called “Gray Men.”) For the most part, adults still see girls of a certain age as innocuous—if they see them at all. That gives girls the ability to fly under the radar, so to speak, in ways other people can’t. My inspiration came from many different places, but I must give a great deal of credit to Arthur Conan Doyle and the Baker Street Irregulars. (Hence the name of Kiki Strike’s band of girl geniuses.) I’m a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes books, and I loved the idea of a pack of Victorian urchins roaming London in the service of the city’s most famous detective. However, I was always a little put out that none of them were girls. Posted by Elizabeth Bird on June 22, 2007 | Comments (22)
June 22, 2007
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Moriarty commented: One small detail: I have found out that Kirsten Miller does not work in advertising. She is dedicating her life to Kiki Strike, apparently. (I suspect the advertising rumor was a bit of deliberate disinformation!)
January 18, 2008
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) K.T. commented: Does anyone know how to get in touch with Kirsten??? I'm in love with her books, and I have a few questions...
January 19, 2008
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Fuse #8 commented: E-mail me and I'll ask Kirsten to contact you, if you like. Click on my name at the beginning of every post and it will take you to my e-mail address.
September 2, 2008
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Sabine Kagerer commented: My daughter loved Inside the Shadow City, we listened to the German version on CD while driving. Will the other book be translated as well?? Will there be any more?
September 2, 2008
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Fuse #8 commented: I think that I can say with certainty that there will be more Kiki Strike books coming out. I can't speak to the German translation, however. You might want to check out the Kiki Strike blog and post the question there.
November 18, 2008
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Fan of Kiki commented: I loved both books and I'm waiting for more. Is Kirsten working on another Kiki Strike book? If so, do you know when it will be released?
January 25, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Mocha commented: How can I contact her I ADORE her books!!!
January 25, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Fuse #8 commented: Try emailing her at kikistrike@gmail.com.
February 26, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) llamabuddy commented: will their be any more books after empress tomb?
February 27, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Fuse #8 commented: Yes, but not in 2009. She has another book coming out unrelated to "Kiki".
March 2, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Kiki-reader commented: I really liked the Kiki Strike books. I really hope to read the next one, when will it be out?
March 24, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) joanie commented: when is the next book coming out i tryd to find it on the web but it wasn't there!!! please tell me!!!!!
April 7, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) KikiStrike commented: Kiki Strike needs a new book to come out there is still so much more that can be told, what about they find a secret room that was hidden well and it leads to more rooms and it goes on forever.
April 9, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) jeej commented: kirsten miller is such a good author. When is the next kiki strike coming out?
May 27, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Hi commented:
May 27, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Fuse #8 commented: Eventually there will be one, but don't expect it in 2009. She hasn't even started working on it yet.
August 24, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) ihate commented: i totally hate your book.
August 24, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) a girl commented: hi i really love your book. please write more because when i read your books i can't even put it down it is so good. i am going back to school and there are going to be a lot of book reports and for the book reports i would like to review your books and tell everybody in class that you write the best books ever!!!!
September 23, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) veronica commented: Id just like to say that the first time i read kiki strike:inside the shadow city i couldnt put it down and know im doing a book report on it and im pretty sure there will be more to come and since i cant use the same book over again,you'll have to write a knew one, and fast!!!
October 17, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) Abigail commented: this book is the best book EVER! im in love
December 27, 2009
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) tEE Hee commented: I ABSOLUTLEY LOVED IT. when i found out there was a second one( my family and i were at the mall and i was looking for witch and wizard and found this instead) I litterally strted to hyperventalate, and i was on my knees and threatening to make a scene. i know i sound 5 but thats how much i wanted it. i loved the last sentence in the empresses tomb, " I'm going to claim the throne to Pokrovia." Oh and i totally love Iris and in the first book, i never saw the big part coming.
January 27, 2010
In response to: Behind the Kiki: An Interview With Kirsten Miller (pt. 1) kiki (my real name) commented: i love this book its always a good read even if i am 16 plus its always fun to see my name in big letters across the cover lol.
Advertisement
|
Advertisements
|
