TAMZIN MERCHANT:The idea for the book came to me as a dream.
That night I had this dream, and it was like a whole book.
He told me to write it down and I was so wired and excited.
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I saw the book.
That was three years ago.
It took seven drafts.
So now that it’s done, what excites you most about it?
You get felt and get an old-fashioned flatiron and cloth, and then you steam the hat by hand.
It’s kind of the opposite of sweatshops, this love of the creation of things by hand.
And I researched a lot of alchemy as well.
I got some books and there are some very bizarre illustrations which are symbolic representations of science.
It really made me rethink my chemistry when I was from high school.
It’s tough to enter the young-adult fantasy space without at least thinking about or acknowledgingHarry Potter.
Harry Potteris an amazing series because of the way [J.K. Rowling] weaves in her world-building.
One element that I wanted to draw on was how it’s not set in an alternative world.
It’s not like in Narnia.
So for kids reading this book, I weave in real history with invented magical history.
The book ends on a cliffhanger.
Well, actually I got a two-book deal.
So it was very much like, yes, I got plans for the next book.
I’m making the story whole to confirm that it’s satisfying for book 2.
I would have playedChutes and Laddersso much more as a kid if it was calledSnakes and Ladders.
It sounds so much more exciting and perilous.
A chute isn’t very scary.
It sounds like such a minor setback.
Anyway, you also have season 2 ofCarnival Rowcoming up, which I read wrapped filming in August?
We finished the first five in August.
We’re not wrapped.
If not for COVID, it would have been out ages ago.
What can you tease about Imogen Spurnrose’s story line in season 2?
Eventually, it does happen that Imogen is called upon to not wear a corset, which was wonderful.
You just don’t get the right amount of oxygen that your body needs to get through a day!
She gets taken down a whole new level by the people she meets in season 2.
Because we haven’t finished the season, I can’t really say how that will go.
And to me, that’s the show at its best.
The Hatmakerswill be published Feb. 2 by Norton Young Readers and isavailable for preorder now.
