Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author ND Stevenson (SCARLET MORNING)!
Meet the Author: ND Stevenson
ND Stevenson is the award-winning, bestselling author and illustrator of Nimona and The Fire Never Goes Out and the cocreator of Lumberjanes and was the showrunner for the award-winning Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
About the Book: SCARLET MORNING
From the powerhouse creator of Nimona comes a breathtaking illustrated novel, the start of a duology, following two orphans who leave the only home they’ve ever known to sail with an eccentric crew of pirates.
Viola and Wilmur have been waiting for their parents for fifteen boring years in the colorless town of Caveat. Their lives are a drudge of salt, trash, pirate stories, and what-ifs . . . until one very stormy night, when Captain Cadence Chase breaks down their door. They cut a deal with the captain: Chase can take their most prized possession, a mysterious book, but only if she takes them, too. After all, if their parents aren’t coming, Viola and Wilmur might as well have a grand adventure to find them.
Setting sail into the treacherous and beautiful world beyond Caveat, the two inseparable friends must uncover the facts behind legend—and the key to saving all of Dickerson’s Sea from obliteration—before the truth tears them apart.
Wickedly funny, deeply emotional, and sharply incisive, Scarlet Morning is a tale of love, betrayal, and the extraordinary lengths we’d go to save a world broken beyond repair.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
If I can trace it all the way back to the beginning, I got really interested in girl pirates as an 8-year-old because a glitch on the library computer put pirate music over the video game I was trying to play. One of the characters was a cool, successful female pirate and I had all this mythology built up in my head about her even though I couldn’t see the visuals. Anyway, years later I finally tracked down what that game was and it turned out that she’d been a mouse the whole time.
YABC: Is your main character like you?
Viola and I are different in lots of ways, but we share a penchant for dragging our friends into imaginary worlds, and we both have an anxious voice in our heads that’s always screaming.
YABC: How do you know when a book is finished?
I like having an ending in mind before I start anything! Endings are my favorite part—knowing when to begin is way harder for me.
YABC: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I always knew I wanted to tell stories, but I became a writer by accident. I loved writing as a kid, but that got beaten out of me in art school; I decided I’d just be an illustrator. Then I fell into comics and became a writer anyway, and now I’ve come full circle working on a book that I started as a teenager!
YABC: How do you keep your ‘voice’ true to the age category you are writing within?
Honestly, I don’t think a lot about age groups while writing; I write what I’m interested in and let other people categorize it. I do find it very natural to write for kids though. I think that kids experience the world in a very intense, vivid way where they notice texture and detail a lot more than adults do, and this can turn even everyday experiences into an adventure, so I try to keep that viewpoint central when writing for kids.
YABC: What type of scene do you love to write the most?
Arguments, without a doubt! I love to try to “win” the argument from both sides. It’s a great way to figure out each character’s sense of self, wants, and insecurities.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
There’s a mysterious, villainous character named Ves who only appears very briefly in this book, but he factors into the plot in a big way. I had a lot of trouble getting into his head at first (male villains can be tricky for me), but once it clicked, he became one of my favorite characters to write!
YABC: What word do you have trouble overusing?
“Extricate.” I love it because it’s such a prickly, awkward word that it sounds like a cartoon character trying to pry themself off a cactus, but it does stick out so I usually end up deleting it.
YABC: If your character could meet a character from another book, who would it be?
I think Captain Hook is a sophisticated gentleman pirate who would feel a lot more at home in the Scarlet Morning world, but by a cruel twist of fate, he’s stuck in one controlled by children.
YABC: What is your favorite reading space?
Airplanes. I don’t know what it is. I can slam hundreds of pages in just a few hours, and I can’t do that anywhere else.
YABC: How do you plan to celebrate the launch of your book?
Throwing a pirate-themed party for my friends!
YABC: What hobbies do you enjoy?
I love movies, camping, antiquing, baking, mixology, and playing the Sunday crossword with my husband.
YABC: What’s your least favorite word or expression and why?
“Wriggle.” Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great word if you need something gross and slimy, but if it’s used to describe a puppy or someone’s toes I want to crawl out of my skin.
YABC: What fandom would you write for if you had time?
HBO’s Hacks.
YABC: What is your favorite holiday or tradition and why?
I LOVE Christmas, and decorating the tree while listening to Peter, Paul, and Mary’s holiday album is one of my favorite parts of the year.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
Writing feverishly on the sequel to Scarlet Morning, EVENING GRAY!
Title:SCARLET MORNING
Author: ND Stevenson
Release Date: 9/23/25
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Genre: Fantasy
Age Range: 8-12
