Lot's Wife Edition 5 2015

42
ARTS & CULTURE
By SHEONA
BELLO
Meeting Kyra Hannah
Meet Kyra Hannah; Monash student and third year
Philosophy major. She’s taken a step beyond senseless
scrambles of immediately captured thought on café
serviettes, short vignettes and insightful blog posts; this
girl has published her debut novel, the first instalment of
the Earthborn Trilogy, Genetic Cliché.
With an adventurous mind, scarily sound vocabulary and
admiration for authors before her, Kyra’s words are being
read across the world, proving that Vampire Romance is
out, and dystopian sci-fi is in.
What is Genetic Cliché about?
In Genetic cliché, I speak as Jotham, a perceived villain of
society. A teenager created, based on his society’s idea of
perfection whose villainy stems from his realization and
fighting against the dystopian world in which he lives. In
fighting against the constraints and dystopian environment,
Jotham is a figure of vigilante justice and freedom of
expression. The book follows his thinking, journey and
experience as a teenager in that reality. Human genetic
modification is the underlying theme explored here, but I’m
not afraid to throw in some batman references!
Thematically, Genetic Cliché is ringing all sorts of
Orwellian, Gattaca-esque bells for me, was that your
intention?
I think all the concepts I was learning throughout high school
are subliminally littered throughout Genetic Cliché. I have
infiltrated a mix of language learnt from biology, concepts
from Philosophy and of course, intuition of structure from
English. Certainly, as I reflect on the thematic concepts
throughout the book, Gattaca was definitely a source of
inspiration. You don’t realize how much of a sponge you are
as a student, but I’m proud to have blended all my subject
learnings into insight which fed the inner workings of this
book.
Where did it all begin?
This book has been in works for a while now, having started
writing it at 16 years of age with my best friend. I was
infatuated with reading – a pastime I have enjoyed for as long
as I can remember. My best friend and I took the ultimate BFF
move and committed to writing a book together. Sadly our
novel partnership only lasted the first two pages. We’re still
best friends, but I held fast to our initial vision of writing a
published book.
I’m interested in Jotham, the protagonist, and the idea of
perfection as embodied by him. Was this just two teenage
girls’ infatuation with some boy band member taken to the
next level?
In a way, yes. At 16, we were in love with British actor, Alex
Pettifer. Physically, Jotham is based on him.
Mannerisms however – given my lack of credibility in
mirroring that of Mr. Pettifer – were based on observations of
family and friends. We definitely gave ourselves a challenge
in the beginning: choosing to write from the perspective of
not only a male... but a depraved male. How on earth would we
nail that lens and voice? He didn’t totally portray the villain
I wanted him to be. There were some violent acts he had to
perform, but as readers gain insight into his idea of right and
wrong, it is clear that the villainous aspect of him is imposed
by his society, not by readers.
Beginning to write when you were 16 and book finished
now at 21... with talks of this book being just the first in a
trilogy, have you put a deadline on the sequel?
This being my first book was a huge learning experience. It
all began in the middle of high school when of course, VCE
would soon take precedence, and being a teenager meant a
lack of commitment. It was only at 19 when I was at university
that I was drawn to finishing it. The whole novel is 350 pages
and the final 120 only took 6 months for me to complete – at
that stage, I had the drive, a goal and everything I needed to
achieve it. I’m aiming to have the second two books written
within five years. I’m actually heading on a road-trip to
Central Australia in a few weeks so I can get acquainted with
the setting of the next book.
Your timing ties in perfectly with good old TEEL paragraph
learnings in high-school English – you must have been top
of the class!
I never thought I was amazing at English, but I certainly
enjoyed it. I guess with my insatiable hunger for literature,
imagined worlds and language as satisfied with extensive
reading, my vocabulary developed. I began to catch on to how
writers structured their novels, curated chapters and refined
the stories that made my favorite books.
From being a girl with a dream to a published author, how
did you make that happen?
Honestly it has been such a profound sequence of events.
First an editor form New Zealand offers to edit the
manuscript free of charge, my mum’s promotional company
offers to brand the book, in my artistic splendor I craft
the prefect cover page artwork, and we find an overseas
publisher willing to print small batches at a great price. Next
minute, my baby is for sale on Amazon! It’s all happened so
fast I’m still trying to catch my breath.
Where can we see you next?
In promotion of Genetic Cliché, we will be taking to the streets
of Melbourne and specifically some ‘underground’ style posts
to get in touch this city’s street art scene. I’ve created a host
of posters and stickers which subliminally refer to Genetic
Cliché, and communicate the underground personality of the
main character Jotham. Additionally, I’m beginning to craft a
second project exploring my wild dreams in vignette style.
Kyra Hannah’s debut novel, Genetic Cliché
is available online at Amazon.com.