First Draft Episode #268: Katharine McGee

Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling author of The Thousandth Floor series, as well as American Royals and its sequel, Majesty.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• In her fanfiction, Katharine would correct existing books to have happier endings, like the His Dark Materials series by pullman.com/">Phillip Pullman (she got so attached to her new ending that she hasn’t yet gotten the courage to read The Secret Commonwealth, sequel to The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage) and the Redwall series by Brian Jacques

• Katharine wishes she knew about National Novel Writing Month when she was drafting her thesis

• Katharine has a soft spot for works that reclaim the stories of women who, to this point, have mostly been known for being adjacent to men as the men make history. Novels like The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley; Margaret George’s Helen of Troy: A Novel

• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

• Katharine edited Pretty Little Liars books 9-16 by Sara Shepard, and Kass Morgan’s The 100 (listen to Kass’s First Draft interview here), and some of Laura Avery’s books

• When Katharine first tried her hand at writing American Royals, she’d been watching a lot of House of Cards, so the tone of her book was MUCH darker than what ended up on shelves

• Katharine was lucky enough to go on book tour with Kendare Blake, New York Times bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series, Anna Dressed in Blood, and more (listen to us chatting on this live episode of First Draft!)

• Katharine cites Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series as a major influence over her vision for the future in the Thousandth Floor series

• Katharine pitches American Royals as Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown

• If you get the chance, ask Katharine about her feelings on how publishing is represented in the TV show Younger

• American Royals was featured in The Skimm; However, Reese Witherspoon’s sunshine.com/">Hello Sunshine remains a moving target

• The Secret Diary of Ann Boelyn by Robin Maxwell

   

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