Kelly deVos is from Gilbert, Arizona, where she lives with her high school sweetheart husband, amazing teen daughter and superhero dog, Cocoa. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. When not reading or writing, Kelly can typically be found with a mocha in hand, bingeing the latest TV shows and adding to her ever-growing sticker collection.

Kelly’s work has been featured in the New York Times as well as on Vulture, Salon, Bustle and SheKnows. Her debut novel, Fat Girl on a Plane, was named one of the “50 Best Summer Reads of All Time” by Reader’s Digest magazine. Her YA dystopian thriller duology, Day Zero and Day One, are strangely prescient of the 2021 political climate in the US. Her next book, Eat Your Heart Out, releases on 6/29/21 from PenguinTeen.

ARHtistic License is thrilled to be able to discuss Kelly’s work with her.

ARHtistic License: Your website proclaims “Fierce reads for the feminist in all of us.” By that, do you mean that your books feature a strong female protagonist, or that you deal with feminist issues?

Kelly DeVos: I have always been interested in girls and woman trying to perform in spaces that are traditionally male dominated. In Fat Girl on a Plane, I tackled the fashion industry. While ostensibly being focused on women, at the highest levels of design and advertising, the fashion decision makers tend to be male. In Day Zero and Day One, my protagonist, Jinx Marshall, is a coder. Computer science is again another space where the major players tend to be male. When I think of fierce feminists, I conceive of girls and women who are trying to be true to their own interests and advocate for themselves.

AL: Your heroine in Fat Girl on a Plane breaks into the New York fashion scene. Your descriptions of working for a designer feel so real. Do you also have fashion experience? Or how did you do your research for the book?

KdV: I worked for many years as an art director and graphic designer including for brands like Roberto Cavalli Eyewear and Tom Ford Eyewear. I worked on a lot of photoshoots over my career and also heard a lot of stories and gossip about the fashion world. So I tried to channel that when writing Fat Girl.

AL: Day Zero came out in 2019, and Day One in 2020, but I read them in early 2021, and I found them chilling, especially in light of the January 6^th attack on the Capitol. Your duology portrays a country divided into factions, with conspiracy theories flying, after an election that was allegedly stolen. How much of the book was inspired by the recent U.S. political climate?

KdV: Thank you so much! I was trying to make it as topical as possible. It’s strange to think about, but I actually wrote most of Day Zero in 2015, before the election. Like most of the people in my social circle, I assumed Hillary Clinton would win. The question that started the book was, what would happen if someone like Donald Trump won? Of course, now we know. But most of Day Zero was conceived before the 2016 election actually happened.

AL: How do you do your world building?

KdV: Honestly, whenever I think about world building, I reread books by Kristina Perez, author of Sweet Black Waves. Her world building is always so excellent and she considers all aspects of the world she’s creating. She addresses the world’s politics, religion and economics and all that stuff is existing in her stories in a really subtle way.

AL: Your soon-to-be-released book, Eat Your Heart Out, takes place at a weight-loss camp overrun by zombies. (And, according to rumors, it’s very funny!) Where on earth did you get the idea for this one?

KdV: I was thinking a lot about the toxic elements of diet culture and how, in some ways, that it turns people into monsters. In Eat Your Heart Out, I made that idea really literal. My main characters are forced to go to a fat camp that’s crawling with zombies. I did try to incorporate some Shaun of the Dead type humor to balance the scarier elements.

AL: What’s up next?

KdV: I’m currently working on a Dracula retelling from the perspective of Lucy Westenra that I hope will be coming out in the summer of 2022.

AL: Why do you write for young adults?

KdV: Like a of writers, I was a reader first and that’s how I fell in love with stories and storytelling. Books were so important to me as a young reader and really helped me navigate my coming of age experiences. I wanted to write for young adults in the hopes of offering something that might be similarly meaningful.

AL: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

KdV: Definitely a plotter. I’m honestly kind of in awe of pantsers because I truly don’t understand how they do what they do!

AL: How long does it take you to write a book?

KdV: At this point, I would say it takes me about six months to create a first draft. The amount of time that it takes to edit can vary a lot depending on what kind of feedback I get.

AL: What is your biggest writing challenge?

KdV: I feel like I come from the “plot is character” school of writing. So my top level note is always to reveal a bit more about my characters’ interiority.

AL: Do you ever get stuck?

KdV: I do sometimes get stuck and I have a couple of things in a drawer that I just don’t know how to fix. Sometimes, my way of getting unstuck is to move on to the next idea.

AL: What is the most fun part of writing a book?

KdV: For me, working on the first draft is the most fun. I love it when I have a new idea and I get to put it on paper!

AL: What is your favorite book about writing?

KdV: I personally use Outlining Your Novel and the workbook that goes with it. The writer of that book, K.M. Weiland, also maintains a website that contains a ton of great information that can be accessed for free.

AL: What types of books do you like to read? Which authors do you especially admire?

KdV: I go through phases. Right now, because I’m writing a lot of horror, I’m reading a lot more contemporary. I’ve also been wanting to learn more about Middle Grade, so I have been reading all the marvelous books written by Dusti Bowling. I would recommend her verse novel, The Canyon’s Edge, to readers of any age.

AL: How did you get your agent?

KdV: I got my amazing agent, Chloe Seager, through traditionally querying. I’d heard great things about the Madeleine Milburn agency and decided to send in a query.

AL: What is something about your books or about yourself that you wish your readers knew?

KdV: My dog, Cocoa, is responsible for any typos you find! LOL

Follow Kelly DeVos on her website, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Facebook.