TV: Part of books feeling like home to readers often has to do with representation, and seeing yourself within the characters. You've been very vocal about the need for inclusivity both in books and in the publishing industry. Is there anything you've seen lately that makes you hopeful for the direction the industry is going in?

DJO: Absolutely. I think we are living in a real renaissance of young adult writers particularly, and at the same time sci-fi writers of color. That is, in part, because of the work these folks have been doing: the advocating, the speaking out. I does seem like publishing has just awakened to the fact that we exist and we are complex. It took too long and so there is still work to be done. When I look at my community of writers and the kind of amazing work that they are turning out, I do see a lot of hope, absolutely. I go around the country talking to young folks, hearing their stories and hearing their excitement about the world — about art, about stories, the spoken word, social media presence, or books they want to write or have written, movies... There is a huge amount of great work going on in the world and in culture. There is not a lot to be said about it right now, but I do see a lot of hope in the young people.

What I think people miss about this moment, too, is that there is a history to the resistance. It's all rooted in other things. As much as it is new, it is very much old and we have been fighting since we have been here. I think it is important to show that to the powers that be right now because both are true and I find hope in that, too. This is the work I have been doing all my life, and I think most of my friends have been trying to build a better world, too. It is more extreme and it's more urgent now, but it is the work that we do.

TV: Is there any one message from Shadowhouse Fall that you hope readers take away?

DJO: Definitely one thing about all my work, one thing in particular here, is looking at the power of community. Thinking about how much we can change when we get together and fight for it. This is a book that is explicitly a protest novel in the sense that the characters hit the streets protesting against violence and the different forms that it appears in in their lives. That is very much entwined with the larger narrative of what they are doing with their lives and trying to survive and the magical fights they are in. It is all tied together, not just like, "Oh, fight the power on one hand and then simply go off and do some cool magic stuff." They are all very much connected, whether it is the actual painting coming to life and fighting bad guys for you or it's you in your most difficult moment when you're most alone finding some kind of truth in a song or a book and that becomes a thread which is a lifeline that will pull you out of wherever you are. All those are forms of art saving lives and that's what is always on my mind when I am writing Shadowshaper books.

I just want people to walk away from anything that I have written and feel that their stories matter and that they should and need to tell their own story. This is a really important moment in the world and in culture and it gets better the more we tell our stories, period. Because no one else is going to tell them right and no one is even going to tell them sometimes, and if they do, they do it wrong. So it is important that people lift their voices whatever that might mean. It might be in a rap, it might be in a tweet, it might mean taking it to the streets. All those are forms of culture. It's got to come from all directions. All of that matters and has value. What is important is that people are raising their voices and telling their truth.

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