Guest Post With Author Jo Treggiari

What are some things that scare you about the future? What are some things that excite you about the future? And most importantly… do you plan on teaching your kids how to skin a rabbit?

The thing that scares me about the future is the human race.

The thing that excites me about the future is the human race.

I think that it is in our nature to balance between total self-annihilation and pursuits of incredible beauty, selflessness, and genius, and the desire to treat each other well.

I thought a lot about the human race, not only while I was writing this book but also ever since I’ve had children. I know how lucky I am that my children were born in the Western hemisphere. There are so many things we take for granted. Safety, shelter, food. I wondered what it would be like if all that was stripped away. Along with all the accoutrements of relative wealth – the technology, the electronic devices – all those things which are really a luxury but are so commonplace that they have almost become a right, and a necessity.

But of course, they aren’t really. Our basic needs for survival are the same as every other human on the planet. In my book, I took everything away from my characters and then I figured out how they would live. Survivors are always interesting because they have lived through something unimaginable; the ultimate in worst case scenarios. And in a way, an apocalypse brings out the best and the worst in people, which is what I kept in the back of my mind while I was writing the book.

Skinning a rabbit is remarkably similar to skinning a turtle, only without the pesky shell, so when they are a bit older my kids can read my book and find out how to do it.

I think I’ll teach my kids whatever I can to help them survive, whether that’s looking for cars when they cross the street, or outrunning a tsunami. Isn’t that what parents do?

Jo Treggiari's first book, a middle-grade fantasy THE CURIOUS MISADVENTURES OF FELTUS OVALTON, came out in 2006. Her post-apocalyptic adventure ASHES, ASHES was published June 1, 2011 by Scholastic Press. She's just finished a punk rock YA- FIERCE and is working on an urban fantasy, BRINY DEEP.

Thanks so much to Jo for taking the time to stop by In The Next Room. Ashes, Ashes is an intense novel,  you can find my review here, that I highly suggest everyone pick up. To learn more about Jo's book visit her website http://jotreggiari.com/