From a dystopian future filled with corruption, Lynne Stringer tells a story of hope in Keeper of the Archives with a lesson on never judging a person by their appearance.

What do you love about writing novels?

I love finding new worlds to inhabit and I love what my characters show me. Sometimes I feel like I’m just writing down notation about their day.

What was the inspiration for Keeper of the Archives?

The inspiration came from a couple of different places. I read a book that talked about water shortages worldwide and how some countries are already running out of water so I wondered what would happen if every country ran out of water. Then I imagined the world after that trying to put itself back together. That’s where Sendirian City came from, which is where the novel is set. I have also always been fascinated by people who can hide what they’re thinking (something I definitely can’t do) and wondered what it would be like if a person could see what everyone was like no matter how much they tried to hide it. That led to Eden, my protagonist, receiving this power during the course of the story.

Who or what inspired Eden and Izrod as characters?

Eden was a little bit of wish fulfilment because she does an excellent job of hiding who she is and it’s a skill I’d love to share. I found Izrod fascinating because I wanted to explore what made him who he is. He’s a complex character with a lot of different layers.

Did you have any personal experiences that contributed to this book?

Not with this one, no. When I decided to make Eden’s father an alcoholic, I was thinking of my grandmother, as her father was an alcoholic. However, I didn’t know too much about her experience so asked some friends who, sadly, had experience in that area and they helped me style those scenes.

There are some powerful themes in Keeper of the Archives, including corruption, experimentation, and hope. What was enjoyable and what was challenging about writing these themes?

Hope is a theme that I try to bring to the fore in all my books because it’s important that people know we can be hopeful about the future even when the world looks dark. Eden’s world definitely looks dark in the first half of the novel, both in her home life and through what happens to her. It was satisfying to bring hope into her life.

The experimentation theme was challenging and extremely dark and it was hard to work through that, both with what it put the Sendirian City locals through and what it put both Eden and Izrod through, but it was an important thing to explore as it will help the reader understand them as characters.

When it comes to corruption, whether it’s through government abuses or something else, I think it’s important to always be on the lookout for corruption, so I like including that theme in my books. But we also need to be reminded that it’s not always where we think it is.

What aspect of Keeper of the Archives are you most excited about?

After spending so much time writing in the world of Verindon, where my other books are set, I’m looking forward to everyone experiencing the world where Sendirian City is located. I’m hoping it will inspire a lot of imaginations.

How did the writing process of this book compare to your previous books?

This one was a lot more difficult. I don’t write an outline but I usually have a good idea where the novel is going. However, with this one, I started with absolutely no idea; I only knew a few of the early scenes. That was scary, but the start of the story intrigued me, so I wanted to see where it might go. Fortunately, it went in fascinating directions.

Was there anything about writing this book that was a new experience for you?

As mentioned above—going in pretty much blind. It was scary but exciting.

What do you hope your readers will take away from Keeper of the Archives?

A realisation that we all hide things and that people aren’t always who they appear to be. I hope people will remember not to judge others so much by what they see. Everyone has a lot going on behind their masks.

Do you have any other projects in the works?

I’m working on a prequel to Keeper of the Archives at the moment, tentatively titled Terror in Twin City. I have a bit more of an idea of where this one is going, but we’ll see if it works or not. Hopefully, you’ll be able to read it in a couple of years.