Author Interview: Kiera Cass previews The Selection

For my spotlight on upcoming dystopian/post apocalyptic fiction series, I interviewed over 20 authors with novels coming out in the genre in 2012/13.  These are exclusive first looks at exciting new works.  Enjoy!

Author Kiera Cass is all kinds of cool. THE SELECTION starts a dystopian romance trilogy pitched as THE HUNGER GAMES meets THE BACHELOR.   It comes out Summer 2012 with HarperTeen (HarperCollins).  If I wasn’t dying to read it before, I certainly am after reading Kiera’s interview answers.  Wow.

Here’s the teaser:

17-year-old America Singer is one of the eligible young women selected to compete to become the next queen. She finds herself falling in love despite only wanting to break her family out of the lower castes and leaving her boyfriend at home.

And even though she can’t quite reveal the cover yet, I can show the logo:

And the interview!

Why do you think people are drawn to "dark" stories?

Well, I have to say that for a dystopian, I don't think The Selection is that dark. But I know that one of the reasons I enjoy darker stories is that it's always fun to see people who have it worse off than me, but in a totally safe way. In real life, I would never wish for kids to have to fight to the death a la The Hunger Games. You'd have to be pretty jacked up to think that was okay. But in a book? Wow. All kinds of wow.

If THE SELECTION had a theme song, what would it be and why?

I guess I'll give you the song that I think captures America's feelings about the whole Selection deal: Fairy Tale by Sara Bareillis.

What fictional character from another book would America chose as her best friend and why?

Alas, America isn't the best at making friends. But I think she'd enjoy chatting with Rhine or Jenna from Wither by Lauren DeStefano. Though their situations are completely different, I feel like they'd have fun commiserating.

What are your top 5 Dystopian lit recs and why?

These are solid reads:

Unwind by Neal Schusterman

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

1984 by George Orwell

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

What's on the top of your to-do list before the world ends? (you know, in case it ends next year)

I need Rob Pattinson to give me a hand massage. Other than that, I'm good.  

How does your novel stand out from others in the genre?

I think what sets The Selection apart from other dystopians is that I never set out to write a dystopian novel. The inspiration behind The Selection came from wondering about Esther and Cinderella. I always wondered if Esther ever loved someone before she was taken off to the palace to marry this king. That's a detail the Bible skips over. And Cinderella never asked for a prince. She just wanted a night off. But what if that night off led to this guy who we see as a happily-ever-after, but she saw as a disaster? So I knew I wanted to write about a girl who would get the attention of this prince, but she was already in love and didn't want him. And I knew there would be an event she was curious about, but the effects of being a part of it would be way more than she bargained for. That was all I knew. I had to dream up a backdrop for this story, and it turned out a futuristic monarchy worked the best. I hope that people get into the world, of course, but my dream is that they really love the characters.

Thanks Kiera!

Visit Kiera’s website

Follow Kiera on Twitter @kieracass

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