Author Interview with Shannon Messenger on UNRAVELED and Writing

To celebrate UNRAVELED the next installment in Shannon Messenger’s award-winning Keeper of the Lost Cities series, I interviewed the incredible author of the series, Shannon Messenger! We talked about the new book, the first one from the point of view of fan-favorite character Keefe!

About UNRAVELED

While his friends faced their own challenges in Stellarlune, the ninth book in the series, Keefe was in the human world. Where did he go, who did he see, and what shocking secrets were revealed to him? This can’t-miss installment of the series is told entirely from Keefe’s POV and contains crucial clues about truths buried deep in the elvin world.

Interview with Shannon Messenger

Melissa: We’re excited to see what Keefe gets up to when he runs away to the Forbidden Cities. What can fans expect from this book?

Shannon: Keefe wasn’t just exploring and trying different junk foods while he was in “Humanland” as he calls it—he was doing some Very Important Things that are going to play a major role in the rest of the Keeper series. That’s why we called Unraveled, “book 9.5,” to make it clear that readers definitely need to read it after Stellarlune (book 9) or they’ll run into spoilers, and also need to read it before Book 10 so they’ll be ready for everything ahead. The coolest part is: we get to learn Keefe’s biggest secrets before Sophie does—with the added bonus of getting to see him react to our world. There are so many hilarious moments—and so many big reveals. I can’t wait for everyone to discover what Keefe is hiding.



Melissa: Will Sophie be in Unraveled?

Shannon: She is! She’s in a few scattered moments throughout the book, as well as one of the final chapters. But I think readers will find that she’s also very present, even when she’s not necessarily a part of the scene. And then she’s of course in the bonus chapter, which is a retelling of the now infamous Chapter 42 in Stellarlune, because I couldn’t do this book without giving that moment to my readers in Keefe’s POV. 

Melissa: What’s next for the series after this book, if you can reveal it?

Shannon: Next up is book 10—which I don’t have a release day for yet. But I promise, I’m writing it as fast as I can! There will also be Part 2 of the graphic novel adaptation of Keeper of the Lost Cities, which will be coming out as soon as the art is done. I’ve seen some early sketches and it is going to be AMAZING!

Melissa: How do you feel about the graphic novel adaptation?

Shannon: I love it so much! It’s always been a huge dream of mine to see my work adapted into a graphic novel format, and it was even cooler to finally watch it happen. Some of the scenes look exactly like they did in my head and others have these cool extra details from the artist’s interpretation. Such a fun collaboration.

Melissa: You have a large fandom. How did that grow, and are you a part of any of it?

Shannon: Honestly, I’m not sure I had much to do with it. I’ve definitely visited a lot of schools over the years and toured to a lot of cities—and I try to be as active online as I can be. But really it was readers and teachers and librarians and parents all telling their friends and students and children, “you have to read these books!” Which makes it extra special. 

Melissa: What’s your writing process like? (Either daily or for each book?)

Shannon: As I’ve gotten deeper into the series, I’ve realized I have to spend way more time plotting/outlining each book before I start writing, because there’s so much to keep track of. So I spend at least a couple of months doing a ton of brainstorming, both on my own and during weekly Zoom chats with my editor. We talk through plot holes and try to figure out the most logical way of weaving together all the scenes—and then, once I start writing, we do weekly check-ins to assess what’s working, what isn’t, what needs some additional brainstorming, etc. I’m a very lucky author to have someone to help me keep everything organized.



Melissa: What’s your favorite part about being an author, and why?

Shannon: It will never stop amazing me that there are people out there reading my stories. In a weird way, it’s kind of like my readers are all getting to hang out with my imaginary friends. Yes, there are deadlines and reviews and sales numbers and all kinds of other stressful things that come with publishing—but at the end of the day, I get to make my living writing about elves and sparkly alicorns and ogres and trolls and goblins. Best. job. EVER!



Melissa: What advice do you give to grown-ups who want their kids/students to read more?

Shannon: Let them read what they love. Growing up, I was one of those kids who’d go to the library and check out a stack of books each week—but by the time I got to college, I only read for homework assignments. The reason I changed was because I kept getting told what I should read and what I couldn’t read, and it made reading start to feel like work. So obviously encourage your kids/students to read widely and diversely and challenge themselves to try new things. But don’t take away the books they love. All reading is a win—especially when there’s TikTok and video games to compete with. 

Melissa: What’s your best advice to kid writers?

Shannon: Finish your book! I can’t tell you how many times a kid writer (or honestly, even a grown-up writer) will ask me, “How do I get published?” and when I ask them, “have you finished writing your book?” the answer is, “nope!” And obviously I understand that getting published is The Dream, so it’s easy to get fixated on that—but you can’t publish a book that doesn’t exist. So make it your goal to write a complete first draft. Then revise that draft—and revise it again (and you’re probably going to need to revise it a few more times after that). Once you’ve done all of that, if you feel it’s now the best book you’re capable of writing in that moment, then you can start figuring out how to get it published. But until then: Write! Write! Write! And Finish! Finish! Finish!



About Shannon Messenger



Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She’s studied art, screenwriting, and television production, but realized her real passion was writing for kids and teens. She’s the internationally, New York Times, and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall young adult series. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many languages. She lives in Southern California with her family, and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at shannonmessenger.com and on Instagram, X, and Facebook.



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