Julie Kagawa brings us a world of fantastic creatures, dangerous fey courts, and faeries as you’ve never seen them before in her debut YA novel THE IRON KING, on sale now from Harlequin TEEN. Learn more about this first installment in the Iron Fey series from Julie, and be sure to check out THE IRON KING video and Book Browse preview!
by Julie Kagawa, author of The Iron King (Book 1 of the Iron Fey series from Harlequin TEEN, February 2010)
I’ll be honest: writing guest posts for me is hard. I think I started and erased the beginning of this post a dozen times before something finally stuck to the page. I don’t know why it’s so difficult to talk about myself. It would be easier if I was a world traveler or big game hunter or once ran with the bulls in Spain. Then I could say something like: “I’ve wanted to hunt lions ever since I was two and rescued my doll from a rogue cougar in the backyard,” and everyone would ooh and ahh and hang on every word I said.
And I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent, haven’t I? Right, back to what I’m supposed to be talking about. My name is Julie Kagawa, and my first YA novel The Iron King will be debuting with Harlequin TEEN this February. It’s about a girl named Meghan Chase who, on her sixteenth birthday, discovers her little brother has been stolen by faeries, and she must venture into Faeryland to get him back. Along the way, she discovers her own faery heritage, falls in love with an enemy prince, and must face down an ancient evil to rescue her brother. It’s a fun story, with goblins and phouka and faery princes and danger and romance. And Grimalkin of course. Can’t forget Grimalkin.
A lot of people have asked me where the idea for The Iron King came from. It all started with a single character, Meghan, and the story sort of evolved around her. Meghan is a normal teen who is pulled into this dangerous, fantastic world, and how she reacts drives the story forward. The other important element of the book is the Iron fey—the faeries of progress, technology, and the modern world, and how they clash with the ancient, traditional fey like Oberon and Titania. It was a lot of fun to write, albeit a bit frantic, since I finished it as part of NaNoWrimo, where you must write 50,000 words in 30 days.
You know, I’d imagine NaNo is almost as frantic as running with the bulls in Spain. If you fall behind, you’ll get trampled, either by hooves or an accumulating word quota. And NaNo lasts for a month, whereas bull running only lasts a few minutes, depending on how soon you fall down. Okay, I’m reaching. Check out The Iron King in February, if you like. Meghan’s adventures are much more exciting. 
Want to know more about The Iron King? Check out this great book trailer and read the first3 chapters of the book using the Browse the Book widget below!
Julie, hi from another HQN Teen author! The Iron King is at the top of my TBR and is going to be my reward for getting all my work done next week. Can’t wait to read it!
I just got an advance copy of The Iron King and am having a hard time putting the book down. The best part is that my niece is foaming at the mouth to get her hands on the book after me! I am so excited to read whatever else comes from this inspired author!