Middle grade fantasy continues to be a huge hit with my 5th graders. They are always eager for a new series, so I jumped at the chance to interview author Siobhan McDermott about the newest entry in her Paper Dragons series. In book one, Paper Dragons: Fight for the Hidden Realm, Zhi Ging is desperate to leave the unwelcoming village of the Glassmakers and win an invitation to train as a Silhouette—and perhaps gain immortality.
When she is offered an unheard-of second chance, she must balance her new-found excitement with the distrust and skepticism of her fellow Silhouettes. But her new underwater school, Hok Woh, has bigger problems and even bigger secrets, and Zhi Ging and her fellow Silhouettes soon find themselves in the middle of a battle for the future of Hok Woh and all six provinces.
While Fight for the Hidden Realm leaves readers on a bit of a cliffhanger regarding Zhi Ging’s next steps, readers can rest assured that book two, Paper Dragons: The Rise of the Sand Spirits, picks up the pace and jumps back into the action immediately! And speaking of action, let’s jump into the interview!
Interview with Author Siobhan McDermott
Katie: You are sharing a hoop with a Silhouette-aged student who loves fantasy novels. What is your quick elevator pitch for why they should read the Paper Dragons series?
Siobhan: Paper Dragons takes place in a magical underwater school and is jam-packed with delicious dim sum, ageshifting immortals, lightning-breathing dragons, and one extremely greedy duckling. For fans of folklore, I’ve sprinkled little nods to both Irish myths and Chinese legends throughout Zhi Ging’s world!
Katie: What surprised you the most when writing book two?
Siobhan: How much fun I had! The ideas for book one had been swirling around in my mind for over two decades before I wove them together into Zhi Ging’s story. When I first opened a blank word doc for book two, I was a little nervous about coming up with brand new characters and challenges. Instead, I’m really happy to say that book two features my all time favourite Chau: a magical version of mochi that I now desperately wish was real.
Katie: Teachers often tell students to “Write what you know?” How have you been able to use “what you know” and your own life experiences to write such immersive fantasy?
Siobhan: Thank you! For me, it’s all about taking what you know and giving it a magical twist. I truly believe there’s only two words you need to kick start your imagination: “what if.” All you have to do is apply “what if” to any ordinary, mundane part of your life and it can trigger ideas that end up forming brand new fantasy worlds. For example, when I was growing up in Hong Kong I would often get ferries between islands. I’d spend most of those journeys peering down into the waves thinking “there’s so many buildings on land, what if there’s some underwater too. . .” That one idea stuck in my head for over twenty years, ultimately becoming Hok Woh: the underwater school made entirely from glass where children train to become immortal.
Katie: You mention in your first author’s note that the jellyfish didn’t appear until your first rewrite. If all writing is rewriting, how else has revision shaped your stories?
Siobhan: Oh, entire buildings, characters, and plotlines have vanished and morphed over my multiple rewrites! In fact, of the 43 chapters in the published book, only 3 have remained the same since my very first draft. It might initially feel tough, but killing your darlings is one of the most freeing parts of writing. You also don’t need to kill them permanently, not really. Every single sentence I cut gets saved in a secret doc with a word count that runs into the tens of thousands. Sometimes, it’s just about finding a better home for your initial idea. A couple of chapters I cut from book one were polished up and tweaked to form the foundations of a major moment in book two. The idea that inspired those original chapters works much better here than it ever did in book one! For any ideas you don’t reuse, being able to glance at them in the secret doc can also help remind you of how far your writing has come between drafts.
Katie: If you had your own personal jellyfish assistant, what type of jellyfish would you choose and why? (My personal favorite are the Pacific Sea Nettles, pictured, for their insistence on swimming upside down.)
Siobhan: Oh excellent choice! I think I’d have to go with the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish. They’re the largest species out there and their tentacles can stretch over 100 feet high. I’m pretty short myself so it’d be great to have one to help me reach the books on the top shelves the next time I’m at the library.
Katie: Switching gears, can you tell MUF readers about your path to publication? I know you’ve been involved in publishing for a long time. What led you to write for kids?
Siobhan: Of course! I’ve always loved middle grade books, particularly anything with a large dollop of magic. After a few years doing PR for non-fiction titles, I was lucky enough to land a role working with some incredibly talented children’s authors. Travelling around the country with them, hearing first-hand how they navigated that labyrinth between an initial spark of an idea to a published novel was incredibly eye opening. Quite a few of them still worked full-time too — with one hero of an author writing incredible fantasy books between shifts as a midwife. Chatting with them encouraged me to stop simply filling notebooks with ideas then leaving them to collect dust. Instead, I began scribbling after work and at weekends, plotting out a story that 10 year old me would have loved to read.
Katie: What advice would you give to fledgling MG authors?
Siobhan: Read as much new MG as you can! We all have our childhood favourites, the stories that made us want to become writers, but it’s so important not to rely on these as your only benchmark. There’s been some truly incredible MG writing published over the last few years (across all genres) and you’re doing yourself a huge disservice if you don’t read them. Take a look at the covers of books you loved growing up, then look at the covers now filling bookstore shelves. The artwork will be noticeably different, with illustrators and designers showcasing new styles and techniques, so why wouldn’t you expect the contents of these books to have also transformed across those same decades? Obviously certain themes are timeless, and a lot of great stories will share common ideas and emotions, but if you really want to write MG that sparks the imagination of readers, you have to understand how it’s constantly evolving. Don’t let your bar of what counts as “good” be solely guided by classics, it should be equally influenced by your contemporaries.
Katie: What are some of your favorite middle grade books or series?
Siobhan: How much time do you have?! Some middle grade books I’ve recently read and loved include:
Inkbound: Meticulous Jones and the Skull Tattoo by Philippa Leathley
Artezans: The Forgotten Magic by L.D. Lapinski
The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found by Jordan Lees
Heartseer: The Tale of Anise Star by Rowan Foxwood
If you’re a speedy reader and want a middle grade series with a few titles already published, you can’t go wrong with:
The Nevermoor Series by Jessica Townsend
The Amari Series by B. B. Alston
The Greenwild Series by Pari Thomson
The Cosima Unfortunate Series by Laura Noakes
Katie: Is there anything else that you would like readers to know about the Paper Dragons series? (Like, how long are you keeping us in suspense until book three??)
Siobhan: Ha! I’m working on book three as we speak so, hopefully, you’ll only be kept in suspense a teensy bit longer. I’ve had a sneak peek of the artwork Vivienne To, my illustrator, has dreamt up for the third cover and I’ll just say readers are in for a TREAT! It’s stunning.
Katie: No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round so …
Lightning Round
Coffee, tea, or bubble tea?
Oh definitely bubble tea! Either matcha with classic tapioca or a peach white tea with strawberry popping boba.
Class you’d most like to take at Hok Woh?
I think it’d have to be Calligraphy. That particular tutor (who you’ll meet in book two) was so fun to write! They very quickly prove their classes are about much more than just pretty writing. Instead, it’s all about different ways of communicating – particularly hidden messages and secret codes.
Favorite dim sum order?
Has to be a plate of char siu cheung fun (叉燒腸粉)! Pieces of bbq roast pork wrapped inside a silky rice noodle. I’ve been known to eat a second or third helping all by myself!
Dream job when you were a kid?
For years all I wanted to do was sell ice cream. I only changed my mind when I realised I’d end up eating it faster than I’d sell it.
Superpower?
I’d love to be able to speak every language in the world. I’ve been travelling recently and quite a few of the museums and galleries I visited didn’t allow phones/photos. I had to guess what a lot of displays were saying and research them afterwards. I’d also love not to have to rely on translation apps when looking at menus — although my gamble in Taiwan with a dish that Google claimed was “flesh of the moon” turned out to be delicious!
Katie: Finally, where can readers find you if they want to reach out?
Siobhan: You can find me on Instagram at @siobhanmcd91
Katie: Thanks so much, Siobhan! Eager readers don’t have long to wait, as book two in the Paper Dragons series, The Rise of the Sand Spirits, slithers into mailboxes and bookstores everywhere on March 11, 2025!
Biography:
Siobhan McDermott was born in Hong Kong and grew up on a steady stream of stories filled with Chinese legends and Irish folklore. She now lives in the UK and continues to order dim sum in Cantonese tinged with a distinctly Dublin lilt. Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm is her debut novel and was chosen as Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month. The story was inspired by moments across her life: from childhood ferry trips between Lantau Island and Hong Kong, to travelling around Taiwan, Italy and Spain.
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