Audrey McKinley can’t believe someone would ask her to ride the Ferris Wheel. Everyone in town knows she’s afraid of heights; the last time she rode the Ferris Wheel it ended with her having a panic attack. But ever since her dad lost his job after the Cohen factory burned down he’s been working too little. The carnival gives him a chance for some seasonal work, and she plans to spend the evening checking up on him and making sure he does his job. Maybe she’ll face her fears tonight, after all.
Grace Chang isn’t supposed to go to the carnival. It’s too close to the burned remains of the old Cohen factory—the place where her firefighter father lost his life. And they always rode the Ferris Wheel together, so that’s also something Grace isn’t supposed to do. But since her mom just announced they’ll be moving away from Clarkville the day after the carnival, Grace is sick of only doing things she’s supposed to do. She’ll be at the carnival. And she is definitely riding that Ferris Wheel.
Harlow Cohen is surprised anyone would want to ride the Ferris Wheel with her. Harlow used to be popular. But ever since her grandparents’ old factory burned down and so many people lost their jobs, many of the kids at school blame her—and her rich family—for their own parents’ worsening economic situations. Harlow can never resist a dare, but when a note arrives asking her to meet an anonymous person at the Ferris Wheel at midnight, she’s far from certain it will be a friend waiting for her.
Can these three girls put their differences aside long enough for their wishes to come true? And is it possible to save a friendship that once seemed lost for good?
In our last interview you said, "One of my favorite things to do as an author is visit elementary school classrooms and encourage the students to consider writing a book. The world is always in need of more stories." What kinds of stories do you think the world needs more of?
I think the world is in need of more diverse stories and more stories that encourage empathy. Now more than ever, I think it's important that we try to understand that other people's experiences are different than our own. I know for me right now, I'm also looking for hopeful or fun adventure stories. Sometimes the world can seem so dark; and sometimes on those days I need something fun to escape into.
Me too. I love the premise of THE CARNIVAL OF WISHES AND DREAMS, which you've described as having a "Night Circus/Ray Bradbury" tone. Did the story come to you this way, or did it develop as you wrote it?
I would say both. I knew I wanted a particular tone when I was first brainstorming the story. But for me there's only so much that I can plan in advance so some of the voice of the story came as I was drafting.
That makes sense. What do you feel are the necessary parts of a good story?
I think the most necessary parts of a good story is the marriage of the right character, to the right plot. I've had to abandon book ideas or develop completely different characters because I've realized that the main character I developed didn't match the plot. I also believe that character development in general is extremely important. You can have the best plot ever; but if you haven't developed a character that readers can root for, or be interested in, they may not stick around to finish the book or pick it up in the first place.
It's fascinating to think about whether or not characters match their story. If you could tell your younger writer self one thing, what would it be and why?
If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be this: Just write. Don't worry about what anybody else is doing and don't pay any attention to the negative voice in your head telling you that you can't do it, will never be good enough, etc. I lost a lot of years because I chose to listen to my own negative/critical thoughts about myself and I really regret it. While I knew from the time that I was in elementary school that I liked to write, it wasn't until I turned 30 that I was finally able to just ignore those thoughts and sit down and start writing.
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