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Description
Sixteen-year-old Desdemona Gray doesn’t even bother with crushes on cute boys now that she’s forced to wear a hard plastic back brace all day. What guy would want to literally have to knock on a girl to be let in? So she squashes down every impossible desire until an uber-awkward brush with a boy brings out all her frustration and she changes…into a tiger. In that bewildering moment, she is captured by Ximon, the leader of a fanatical group hell-bent on wiping out the five remaining tribes of shape-shifters, known as the otherkin.
With help from a handsome, mysterious fellow captive named Caleb, she escapes and goes on the run, finding allies and learning the truth behind the legends of wizards and were-creatures. Then Ximon goes too far, and Dez must tap into all her buried desires to find her inner tiger and save herself, her new friends, and the boy she loves.
NINA BERRY, Author of OTHERKIN: Book I in the Otherkin Series -- Q&A:
1. Where did you get the idea for a girl with a back brace who could shapeshift?
I had a backbrace myself from age 14 to 16. I also played Dungeons and Dragons and read a lot of fantasy. Talk about a nerd! But I had wonderful group of equally nerdy friends. In one game of D&D, I played a character who was a were-tiger, and somehow I connected that character, who was very unlike me, to the idea of a girl who wore a back brace. I felt that the two things both touched on the idea of body image which so many teens (and adults) struggle with. I started thinking about all the ways animals and people combine in legends throughout history. I really enjoyed building my own world and system of rules to explain it. Then the character of Dez the boy she likes, Caleb, came to me, and I thought their adventures would be so much fun to hear about, I had to write the book.
2. How did having a back brace yourself change you?
It made me learn how to deal with adversity and pain over the long haul. I learned that I am pretty strong when it comes to those things. On the other hand, I stuffed down a lot of my negative emotions along the way, and had to deal with them later. In a way, this book is another way of dealing with the anger and frustration and shame that came from having to wear a back brace during some very key years in my life. I figure other people have had to deal with those emotions during their teen years for various reasons, and I thought maybe they could relate.
3. Who are your favorite authors? William Shakespeare, George R. R. Martin, David Simon (of TV’s The Wire), Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Dorothy Dunnett, C.S. Lewis, Neil Gaiman, E.B. White, Judy Blume
4. How did studying film and TV affect your writing?
Film and TV scripts are very strongly structured, so I always plan out my book before I write it with a fairly detailed outline. However, things change in the writing, and I always leave myself open for that. To write a scene, I think about how it might “look” on screen, and describe the action as it plays out in my head. I also love to write action, and try to give those scenes are real cinematic feel.
With help from a handsome, mysterious fellow captive named Caleb, she escapes and goes on the run, finding allies and learning the truth behind the legends of wizards and were-creatures. Then Ximon goes too far, and Dez must tap into all her buried desires to find her inner tiger and save herself, her new friends, and the boy she loves.
NINA BERRY, Author of OTHERKIN: Book I in the Otherkin Series -- Q&A:
1. Where did you get the idea for a girl with a back brace who could shapeshift?
I had a backbrace myself from age 14 to 16. I also played Dungeons and Dragons and read a lot of fantasy. Talk about a nerd! But I had wonderful group of equally nerdy friends. In one game of D&D, I played a character who was a were-tiger, and somehow I connected that character, who was very unlike me, to the idea of a girl who wore a back brace. I felt that the two things both touched on the idea of body image which so many teens (and adults) struggle with. I started thinking about all the ways animals and people combine in legends throughout history. I really enjoyed building my own world and system of rules to explain it. Then the character of Dez the boy she likes, Caleb, came to me, and I thought their adventures would be so much fun to hear about, I had to write the book.
2. How did having a back brace yourself change you?
It made me learn how to deal with adversity and pain over the long haul. I learned that I am pretty strong when it comes to those things. On the other hand, I stuffed down a lot of my negative emotions along the way, and had to deal with them later. In a way, this book is another way of dealing with the anger and frustration and shame that came from having to wear a back brace during some very key years in my life. I figure other people have had to deal with those emotions during their teen years for various reasons, and I thought maybe they could relate.
3. Who are your favorite authors? William Shakespeare, George R. R. Martin, David Simon (of TV’s The Wire), Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Dorothy Dunnett, C.S. Lewis, Neil Gaiman, E.B. White, Judy Blume
4. How did studying film and TV affect your writing?
Film and TV scripts are very strongly structured, so I always plan out my book before I write it with a fairly detailed outline. However, things change in the writing, and I always leave myself open for that. To write a scene, I think about how it might “look” on screen, and describe the action as it plays out in my head. I also love to write action, and try to give those scenes are real cinematic feel.
Comments & Discussion
I have been literally dying to read Otherkin by author Nina Berry. I expected so much from it and guys, I got everything and the moon from the novel (what’s up in-book reference?). It sounded like the perfect mix of everything a reader like...
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