City is the last civilised place left on a drowned Earth, a floating town built from metal and plastic from the Time Before. It’s the only home doctor's daughter Libby Marchmont has ever known or wanted – until her father helps the wrong patient and she's forced to flee...
Storytelling is an integral part of being human, I’m sure it’s
what sets us apart from other animals. All human relationships are navigated
through stories – “Do you remember when we...?” I love stories and I’ve wanted
to be a storyteller since before I could read. There is, of course, a story
behind that: my mum was reading me a bedtime book and I asked, “If you write a
story, do you have to pay someone to make it into a book?” Mum explained that,
no, the publisher will pay you, and that was it – I knew exactly what I wanted
to be when I grew up.
The publishing landscape has changed significantly since I
was four, but I’m still happiest when I’m creating stories. My most recent release, Rising
Tides, like most of my stories, evolved over time. Aspects of the story
were prompted when different things crossed my awareness. First was an article
on the provisions left behind when Scott’s Hut in the Arctic was abandoned
after his ill-fated expedition.
A more recent explorer brought back a tin of
rhubarb and made a perfectly edible pie out of it – after nearly a hundred
years. Because doomsday scenarios ricochet around my head, I started to think
of scenarios where we might be compelled to eat 100-year-old supplies. And so,
the drowned world of City was born, floating above abandoned houses and
supermarkets packed with imperishable goods.
While I was writing other projects, this idea circled around
and was fleshed out. The character of Cosimo was next, although he started out
with a different name and backstory – I simply had a desperate boy on the
doctor’s doorstep needing to undertake the nautilus operation (the implant of
mechanical “gills”) that would transform his future.
More environmental doomsday followed – I read an article
about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a floating rubbish dump in the middle
of the ocean (and when they say “great” they mean it – estimates range from as
big as Texas to as big as the continental USA - being the sea, it does tend to
move and change). With a bit (a lot!) of artistic licence, that became the
Wastes, home of the reamers and boundary around the known world for my
characters.
My heroine, Libby, joined the party then. She's the polar opposite
of Cosimo - ferociously intelligent, but insecure, rule-bound and socially
hopeless. I knew putting the two of them together would make sparks fly, and I
loved putting them through all sorts of catastrophes.
Katy Haye
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About the author
Katy Haye spends as much time as possible in either her own or
someone else’s imaginary worlds. She has a fearsome green tea habit, a
partiality for dark chocolate brazils and a fascination with the science of
storytelling. Katy writes fast-paced fantasy for YA readers. As well as Rising Tides she has
written the Chronicles of Fane, the first of which, The Last Gatekeeper, is currently free on Kindle. Find out more at Katy’s website: katyhaye.com and find her on Facebpok and Twitter @katyhaye.
