Meet Jennifer Donnely Author of Deep Blue

 I have fallen in love with the new Waterfire Saga. The first book is set to be released on May 6, 2014. The Author, Jennifer Donnelly and I sat down to talk about this incredible new series from Disney Publishing.

I had a lot of questions about how this whole process happened. Disney approached the New York Times best selling author with a story arch and six of the main characters roughly outlined. Disney wanted an underwater saga that somehow related back to Atlantis and had these female heroes.

Jennifer Donnelly created the Mer Mythology and helped to create this underwater world. She also said she was very inspired by the incredible animators at Disney here in Glendale. Jennifer Donnelly spoke with great love of the

One of the things I loved about this first book, Deep Blue, is the strong female characters. The first main character we meet is a princess but not all of the leads are. They come from different places, have different socio- economic backgrounds, and have different talents or "powers". These
young women learn that they need each other to accomplish their goals and the tasks set before them. the theme of women working together and helping one another really resonated with me and I asked Ms
Donnelly about how that theme came about. She shared with me that she is a drawn to the idea of how we teach women to become leaders. there doesn't seem to be a set formula but the idea that failure breeds

success is one she wanted to bring across in the story. She wanted the young readers to know that it is okay to not get it right the first time.

We also discussed being moms. Her, of a tween girl, I of two boys, and how we think about what messages our kids getting from the books and movies they are exposed to. I know tha tthe princess fairtales I grew up on and loved made me cringe once I had boys. I want my boys not to be looking for a princess to rescue but for a partner. And Ms Donnelly wants her daughter to not be looking for a prince to make her happy.

I think that Disney, Ms Donnelly and the wonderful Waterfire series will be a pivotal series for both Disney and for Young Adult literature. I read most of the books my boys read. I want to know what they are reading and I love to talk about the story with them and the characters trials and triumphs. This  will be a series like Black Beauty, that moms will share with their kids for generations to come.

Ms Donnelly will be at the Glendale Barnes and Nobel at 210 Americana Way in Glendale CA on May 9th from 7-8:30 pm to talk about her book and sign copies. Now hurry and go buy the book!