As usual with Meyers work,Renegadesis not your average superhero story.
And I looked again and it was not that at all.
I dont even remember what it was.
Julia Scott/ Feiwel + Friends
But maybe a girl and a guy fall in love!
After many, many renditions of the book, the school element ended up getting taken away.
So the Renegades in that version had been a small vigilante street gang, almost.
Like rebel heroes?Exactly.
So that was the Renegades.
Like Nova, she has two powers: One of her powers is she never ever sleeps.
Then Adrian has the ability to draw anything and bring that thing to life.
Is it kind of likeHarold and the Purple Crayon?Sort of!
Maybe thats where the idea came from!
I was curious whether Adrians power came fromhimself,or from his marker.Its from him.
So can he use any marker?He can use anything, yeah.
And I honestly dont know where that idea came from.
But its funny the way your characters are like, Oh, great.
And then, of course, set it in astorythat I hope will feel very original.
Its the catchall term: If you have an extraordinary ability, then youre a prodigy.
Within that umbrella, they start to distinguish themselves between heroes and villains, of course.
So youre not really a superhero.
Its just a little crane that flies around.
So I love that theres that inherent familiarity.
Its not a genre that ever seems to tire itself out.
Theres always going to be a new way to tell the story of Cinderella.
Why did you want to tell both sides?I think the story required it.
So really, it was a necessity.
But Adrianalsohas very believable and justified reasons for being against the villains.
I wanted to be able to draw on that as much as I could.
Tell me more about Novas tinkering abilities.
Is that just her brain, or is it a power, too?Its not a power.
Its just something that she has always been into.
Actually, in one of the earlier drafts of the book, Nova didnt have any superpowers.
Im just really fascinated by those skills because I do not have them at all.
Your action scenes are so cinematic.
Can you break down how you write one?
Do you visualize all the action first in your mind?Action scenes are very hard.
Theyre not something that comes naturally to me, and I imagine probably not for many writers.
I always end up getting into situations where its not just a one-on-one battle.
There are always multiple people with different weapons and powers.
So its like youre storyboarding it.Exactly.
Is it pretty standard at this point?Yes and no.
I mean, on average Id say 9 or 10 months.
But like,FairestI wrote in a couple of weeks.
It was really easy and fast.
WhereasWintertook me like two years so it really kind of depends.
When youre building a new world, how do you keep everything straight?
I was constantly having to refer to all those people but thats alotof people to keep track of.
IsRenegadesthe start of a series?Itll be two books a duology.
This book has had a complicated path.
So finally, I was kind of at my wits end after Id written the fourth draft of it.
I had a little bit of a breakdown on this phone call with my agent.
I was like, I dont know if I can write another draft of this book!
Its just not coming together.
And shes like, Well, have you thought about making it a standalone?
But then in writing as a standalone, it became clear thatactually,their story can fill two books.
So yeah, its been a journey!
Renegadeshits shelves Nov. 7 but is available for pre-order now.
