Hi Emma, thank you for being on my blog today to discuss your debut novel Dangerous Play.
How excited are you for people to read your book?
So excited! And scared. And pleased. And shocked that I’m here after so long. And nervous. And thrilled. I am feeling ALL the feels.
Can you tell us a little bit about Dangerous Play?
Dangerous Play is a contemporary young adult novel about Zoe, a field-hockey team captain, who desperately wants to win the NY State field hockey championship and earn a scholarship to her dream college. But when she’s sexually assaulted, she and her ride-or-die team become vigilantes to fight rape culture in their town. It’s got feminism, friendship, and field hockey.
What inspired you to write the book?
This team of fierce, hyper-athletic, determined girls showed up when I was in the middle of writing something else. I told them to go away, but they didn’t listen. Even though they showed up sudden and loud, I had been thinking about some of book’s components for some time. For instance, I’d long noticed a gap in YA literature; while there were powerful books that followed a survivor’s journey, I didn’t see any books about overall rape culture. I’d also never seen a book about girls’ sports and the kinds of friendships that can happen on an intense, competitive girls’ team. I started writing Dangerous Play back in 2014. Thankfully, now there are books like Moxie, which address rape culture. And while there are more books featuring athletic girls (like 2021 debuts In the Same Boat, by Holly Green, and The Knockout, by Sajni Patel) there are few that feature full teams. As a result, I was thrilled when the girls of Dangerous Play showed up, filling a need I’d had for a long time. In many ways, this was the book I needed both when I was a teen and as an adult.
What advice would you give to Zoe?
Zoe begins as a girl who is fierce on the field but timid in the rest of her life. It was such a privilege to watch her grow into being her authentic self everywhere. I’m not sure that I have advice for Zoe. She’s a force. She grows so much over the course of the book, so I have no doubt that whatever comes her way in the future, she’ll find her way.
What was the hardest thing about writing Dangerous Play?
Dangerous Play has a gigantic cast. While I felt I knew all of the characters inside and out because I’d spent so long getting to know them, communicating that on the page in as few words as possible was deeply challenging. It was particularly important to me to get the intersectional feminism right, as I want to be as inclusive as possible. I was so thrilled to see the Publisher’s Weekly review because they praised that in particular. (PW review: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250750488)
When coming up with new book ideas, what comes to you first plot or the characters?
I may have questions or scenarios that simmer, but I can’t write anything until the characters show up. For example, as I said earlier, I had long wanted to write something about rape culture and something about the friendship on girls’ sports teams. But I didn’t know those would go together until this fierce group of girls showed up, demanding to be heard.
Was this the first book you ever wrote?
No. This was the third book I took to completion. But Dangerous Play is the book that got me my wonderful agent and my book deal.
Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was ten. Truthfully, I was doing more dreaming than writing for most of those years. I was scared. But when my second child was born, I just thought, if not now, when? Which is pretty silly since I was working full time and had two young children. But hey. It’s never too late to go for that lifelong dream, right? At one point in Dangerous Play, the coach tells the girls to “play as big as you dream.” I think that’s something us writers need to do too. It’s easy to get lost in the dreaming. But we have to play as big as we dream.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
These days the biggest thing I do is mom. Mom-ing during pandemic times is like an Olympic sport. Also, I was a teacher for many years and I still love to offer workshops and presentations as well.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Keep going. Celebrate every little success. Train your family to clap and cheer when you finish a draft—or even if you finish a hard sentence. Find the signs to keep going even in the rejections. Lean into the joy. And then, keep going.
Finally, if anything, what do you want readers to take away from your book?
I hope that Dangerous Play finds the readers who need it. I hope this book helps them feel seen, heard, and empowered. My grand hope is that in ten years, rape culture and misogyny are gone and this reads like historical rather than contemporary fiction. But I also think power and powerlessness are enduring issues. I think even if we were to solve societal inequities (and wow there’s a lot to do there), there will likely always be individual feelings of powerlessness. In many ways, Dangerous Play is a blueprint of hope for those moments of powerlessness.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND EMMA KRESS:
Please join Emma Kress for my August 3rd 6pm (eastern) launch through Northshire Bookstore with Nova Ren Suma! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northshire-live-emma-kress-dangerous-play-tickets-162585961989
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emma_kress
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emma_kress?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kress.emma/
Facebook (professional): https://www.facebook.com/Emma-Kress-104816784920770
Free audiobook link: https://soundcloud.com/orangeskyaudio/dangerous-play-by-emma-kress
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