Jackie Morse Kessler's YA debut, Hunger, is the first book in a series about the Four Riders of the Apocalypse. The novel expertly wove the concept of being Famine into a young woman's struggle with anorexia. It's a funny, thoughtful book with enough of a fantastical element to intrigue those of us who don't usually read mainstream issue books.

I read Hunger in a single sitting and have been waiting somewhat impatiently for RAGE, the follow-up about a self-injurer who takes up the sword of War. RAGE releases next week, so I'm pleased that Jackie took some time from her deadlines to answers some questions for the blog (we're sort of previously acquainted as we share the same literary agent).

Indigo Teen Blog: You have a "semi-secret identity" as adult author Jackie Kessler. For you, what’s the difference between writing for adults and writing for young adults?
Jackie Morse Kessler: Very little. The adult stuff may have more cursing and sex (may? Who am I kidding? My adult novels have more cursing and sex, without a doubt). Whether writing for teens or adults, what matters most is being honest to the story.

ITB: How important is humor to your writing?
JMK: It depends (don’t you hate those answers?) In the Riders of the Apocalypse series, Death has a penchant for gallows humor (it goes with the territory) — but that’s probably due to his being around for millennia, which is bound to give someone a rather warped view about what’s funny and what’s not. But in another story I wrote for the AFTER HOURS anthology, a ghost is trapped in what she believes is Hell, and there’s no humor in that story at all. There couldn’t be; it would have ruined the tension. That’s what a lot of the humor is in my stories: a tension breaker.

ITB: What I love about HUNGER is how despite all the fantastical elements, it’s very much a book about an anorexic girl. RAGE is about a self-injurer who takes up the sword of War. They may seem like obvious connections once they’re mentioned, but did you find it easy to match an issue to each of the four Riders?
JMK: Thanks! The thing about HUNGER and RAGE is that you can take out the Riders aspect to the books, and you’d still have a story. A very different story, granted, but still a story. But if you take out the eating disorder in HUNGER and the self-injury in RAGE, there’s no story there. The Horsemen tell the story of the protagonists, not the other way around.
         The next book, LOSS, is very different. It’s about a bullied teenage boy who is tricked into becoming Pestilence. In this book, the Horseman aspect is woven into the story from the very beginning, and it’s crucial to the book. So is the fact that Billy, the protagonist, is bullied in school and, to a different degree, at home, where he’s forced to take care of his Alzheimer’s-stricken grandfather.
          As for Death’s story, BREATH... **rubs hands gleefully.**  Stay tuned.

ITB: One of my favorite parts of Hunger is how the battle between Famine and War is seen as a battle between Loas.
JMK: Oh, I really like that scene. It was organic to the story. Lisa, as Famine, was in Haiti (although I don’t mention the country by name), and she helps a girl who is destined to grow up to be a powerful Mambo, a voodoo priestess. How could the scene not be about the battle between Loas?

ITB: Other than your Death, of course, which is your favorite fictional Death?
JMK: I’m extremely partial to Neil Gaiman’s Death in The Sandman comics, as well as Sir Terry Pratchett’s ALL CAPS speaking Death in the Discworld novels. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Piers Anthony’s Death in his Incarnations of Immortality series—specifically, in the novel ON A PALE HORSE (I actually have a hat-tip to that book in LOSS. You’ll see).

ITB: I know you're a comic fan. What are three comic series that you’d recommend all young adults read?
JMK: Yay, comic books!
1) THE SANDMAN by Neil Gaiman — fabulous, groundbreaking stuff. And I’m not just saying that because Neil is my god of writing.
2) WATCHMEN by Alan Moore. Saw the movie? You still have to read the series.
3) A new favorite: IRREDEEMABLE (and its companion series, INCORRUPTABLE) by Mark Waid (who is evil — and I have the t-shirt to prove it). Basically, imagine Superman snapping and becoming the most powerful supervillain ever. He wouldn’t rob banks. He’d slaughter people. And that’s exactly what the Plutonian does in the very opening of IRREDEEMABLE. It’s amazing beyond words.

ITB: Thanks, Jackie! Now a bonus question for your Death: Many guests have stopped by Post Mortem, the blog radio talk show you host on Jackie’s site. Who has been your favorite?
DEATH: I don’t pick favorites. How could I? They’re all marvelous. Mortals do such spectacular things in the time they’re allotted. For example: Twinkies. I promise you, God would never have come up with that. You people are amazing.