Once in a while, an idea takes hold of me, and I just can’t be satisfied until I sit down and write it. Skyward was one of those books. Some of the initial ideas had been floating around in my head for years, but once everything clicked together in my mind, it consumed me. I had to write this story and I could not be satisfied until it was written. I abandoned the other book I was working on and started banging out chapters on my laptop, actually writing a big chunk of Skyward while flying around the country on tour.

It was as if I—like Spensa, the protagonist of Skyward—had found a broken-down spaceship in a cavern, and I couldn’t rest until I knew what it felt like to fly the thing. Her story was inspired by tales I loved as a child: when someone would find a dragon egg and then raise the hatchling to soar with them in the air. Skyward didn’t really come alive until I re-imagined this style of story in a science fiction setting, taking my own spin on the idea—a spaceship taking the role of the dragon, pointing the story in a new direction.

People often ask me my favorite part of being a writer. I have a tough time deciding. I delight in the original inspirations—the beginning of an idea, and imagining what could happen with it in a book. I love writing the first chapters, then love the ending chapters even more. But hands down my favorite part is being able to say, “The book is out and you can read it right now!” That trumps everything else.

So, I present to you Skyward (out today worldwide in print, audio, and ebook). May it consume your life as fully as it did mine.

As always, I hope to see you while I’m on tour (you can see my full tour schedule on my Upcoming Events page), but if you can’t make it, that’s okay. The greatest compliment you can give me is to read my books.