With the release of Ridley Pearson’s newest novel Kingdom Keepers Inheritance: The Shimmer I had a chance to ask the celebrated novelist about his new work and how it feels to go back to the Disney Parks with his beloved characters.
Laughing Place: You have successfully created two Kingdom Keepers book series. Why did you choose to set the storyline in the future and focus on your main character’s kid?
Ridley Pearson: Walt Disney envisioned a small community around EPCOT. It was a visionary moment for him, far ahead of his time. I had visited Reston as a child with my parents — one of the first such communities — as my father was so interested in the concept. INHERITANCE provided me with a chance "to realize" Walt Disney's dream of a futuristic community surrounding a park. If I was going to "to build" the CommuniTree, I felt it only right to put it twenty years into the future (since it isn't there now!) and that would mean dealing with the kids of Kingdom Keepers, an idea that lit me up.
Laughing Place: Finn Whitman has been the lead character for ten books, how hard was it for you to place him in a supporting role for the new series?
Ridley Pearson: A terrific question! Extremely hard. In fact, in early drafts of the The Shimmer, Finn and the other Kingdom Keepers played much larger roles in the storytelling. My editor and I eventually turned the story more onto Eli and friends; we do see the original Keepers in all three books!
Laughing Place: What difficulties did you have in creating Eli Whitman and bringing out aspects of Finn and Amanda that readers would recognize but also help make Eli a unique lead character?
Ridley Pearson: Eli and friends were a thrill to get to know. They have combined personalities and combined "abilities" due to their parents. It has been fun getting to know them, their quirks, their aspirations. Probably the most fun of working on the INHERITANCE books!
Laughing Place: With the original Kingdom Keepers series, we saw the sequel with The Return, was Inheritance always part of a three series plan, or was there something else that brought you back to this world?
Ridley Pearson: I had written about the Keepers in the present (books 1-7) and the past (The Return). I have such a hard time "leaving" this series, these characters. I decided to try a shot at writing in the future, and I hope it works. I had been trying for five years or more to find a believable and fun way to explore the international parks. When I began the conceptual work for Inheritance, I suddenly had a "portal." (literally!)
Laughing Place: Charlene saw an incredible growth from the first book to now. Did you intend for her to have such a transformation, or was that part of the organic process in your writing?
Ridley Pearson: Charlene has grown organically; and I hope the other Keepers as well. She was/is based in part on our eldest daughter, Paige. Storey, in the later KK books is based on our daughter, Storey. Characters "take over" the author. It may sound trite, but it is absolutely true for me, in my younger reader books and my adult crime novels. The more I write the character, the more I live with the character, the more defined the character arc becomes.
Laughing Place: You were one of the first authors to embrace the Disney Parks as the backdrop to a book series, how do you feel your books have influenced middle grade authors/readers?
Ridley Pearson: Oh, I doubt I've had any influence on other authors. We all have our loves and inspiration. But from the emails over the years, the books have apparently offered young readers some guidance and modeling. I intentionally write about teamwork in my novels for young readers, about the ups and downs of communication skills, work habits and personality. During the pandemic some of my readers, now in their mid-to-late 20s have written me that they reread the Kingdom Keeper novels repeatedly, multiple times, to have a sense of grounding and optimism. Those emails are treasures to me.
Laughing Place: How far ahead have you planned the series? Do you write the story one book at a time, or do you have a master plan for the whole series? Will there be a fourth series?
Ridley Pearson: I am a writer who plans everything. I get teased by friends about it. I am a firm believer in the strength of beginning, middle and end — one of the more difficult challenges: the rock solid structure of a story so that it delivers by the end. Inheritance has been planned/outlined as a trilogy from the start (I did not have that luxury with Kingdom Keepers; it began as a stand alone!) I am having such incredible fun writing the books that I will leave at least a small door open so that if readers and Disney are interested we might continue…
Laughing Place: You write about the Disney Villains, do you have a favorite villain? Why?
Ridley Pearson: Having a favorite Disney villain is an oxymoron. As, if they are doing their job, they frighten one and make one never want to see them again. The Imagineers have played tricks on me in my visits into the parks after closing hours. They once had Maleficent give me a jump scare at 4:30 in the morning inside Disney Hollywood Studios. Enough said. I'm still in therapy.
My thanks to Ridley Pearson. Kingdom Keepers Inheritance: The Shimmer was released on February 21.