Fantasy author Leslye Penelope is living her wildest writing dreams. I recently spoke with her about her latest release, The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass.
Tell me about your latest book.
My latest novel, The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass, is an urban fantasy mystery about a young woman who sees her twin sister get into a car with a stranger, only for moments later, no one to remember her sister ever existed. The lead character, Zahara, believes she’s crazy since she’s the only one to remember her twin, but eventually finds evidence that her sister was real and hires a private investigator to figure out what could have happened.
It’s a genre mash-up story that takes place on the eve of the Y2K crisis and is about sisterhood, sacrifice, and the relationship between humans and technology.
Why did you decide to write it?
One of the motivating factors behind the story was the idea of sacrificing for your family. Annica, the twin who goes missing, is chronically ill, which affects the family deeply. Zahara feels she has to put her dreams on hold, not only to help take care of her sister but to support the family financially in the face of crippling medical debt.
Working with the theme of what you would do and give up for someone you love was really at the heart of the story. Zahara ends up risking everything, even ultimately the future of the world, to get the answers that she needs about her sister’s disappearance.
Who is your favorite character in the book and why?
Picking a favorite character is like choosing a favorite child, I love them all so much, but I would have to say Annica was my favorite to write. Her absence is this void at the center of the story and so I use found documents to paint a picture of who she is and to give the audience some clues about what happened to her.
Her personality is so different from her sister’s. Where Zahara is poised and contained, a ballerina who lives her life with strict guideposts, Annica is punk rock and anarchy. She’s a computer genius and hacker, so her story is told via emails, chat logs, message board posts, and actual computer code. Faced with frequent hospitalizations for sickle cell disease, she’s this vibrant, somewhat irreverent, and stubborn character who, I imagine, could light up a room.
What was the hardest part about writing the story?
I worked on this story on and off (mostly off) for almost 13 years. The core elements stayed the same during that time—the sisters, the disappearance, the world forgetting Annica—but the fantasy elements shifted and changed. Pinning down the larger plot of the story was difficult. I had several vastly different versions that I struggled over until it reached its current form. So virtually everything other than the core premise has gone through many changes since the beginning.
If you were to write a book about your life, what would be the title and why?
I don’t really ever see myself writing a memoir. I’m not sure my life has been that interesting, honestly. But if I did, I might call it Girl Electric. That’s actually the name of an unfinished YA fantasy manuscript that I’m quite certain I’ll never finish. And I’ve always liked the title. Applying it to myself, I think it could fit my life at different stages.
The word electric can mean untouchable, but also vibrant, powerful, and alive. As a kid, there were times I felt untouchable. I was extremely introverted, and we moved a lot. I went to five elementary schools in six years. (One of those was an all-white school where I was literally untouchable as the kids thought they might turn Black if they touched me.)
But as I’ve grown and worked on healing and happiness, the electricity is something that fuels me. It fires me up as I work on living my purpose and creating a beautiful and bountiful life.
What would you tell your 16-year-old self?
I would tell my 16-year-old self that other people’s opinions, especially when they’re not your people, don’t matter. I would encourage her to prioritize her own self-opinion and self-love. And to only concern yourself with the people who have proven they deserve your attention and care.
What is something readers would be surprised to know about you?
I have a tattoo from The Matrix on my arm. It says, “There is no spoon.” I saw the film five times in the theaters when it came out in 1999, and it’s still one of my favorite movies. In the film, a young psychic boy bends a spoon with his mind. He tells Neo, “Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon. Then you’ll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.”
For me, it’s a reminder that the obstacles in our lives can be overcome. It’s one of those “man in the mirror things.” The only thing we can change is ourselves, but that can actually change everything.
Tell me about a book that changed your life and why.
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler changed my life. It was the first novel of hers I ever read, and it began my journey into Black science fiction and fantasy. I’d always loved speculative fiction, but growing up, Black authors in the genre were few and far between. I was in college when I discovered Octavia Butler, and that led me to other amazing authors like Nalo Hopkinson, Tananarive Due, and N. K. Jemisin.
The seeds of the stories that I would one day tell were sown then, and the idea that I could be a published author felt a little more achievable, though it was still far away.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on several projects now, including a magical HBCU mystery and a cozy romantic fantasy. My reader newsletter is the best way to stay up to date on my new books. https://lpenelope.com/newsletter
Do you have anything you would like to add?
Readers and aspiring writers can check out my podcast, My Imaginary Friends, where I document my writing life with all of its ups and downs.
Use the Black Fiction Addiction affiliate link to purchase your copy of The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass by Leslye Penelope.
To learn more about fantasy author Leslye Penelope, visit her website: https://lpenelope.com