JASMIN MCGAUGHNEY is a Torres Strait Islander and African American writer and editor. Moonlight and Dust is debut YA fantasy novel, featuring 16-year-old Torres Strait Islander Zillah, who is caught up in the world of exclusive high school parties after her sister has a mysterious accident. Read on for a Q&A.
What inspired your foray into writing?
Like most of us in the industry understand, being read to in childhood was essential in forming my love for storytelling. Mum never made reading never felt like a chore or a bore – and it was instead an adventure, something magical and interesting. I loved reading about how Cathy Freeman planned her 400m sprints, or about Egyptian and Greek Gods, I loved imagining that Peter Pan was real, and that magic ran through my bloodline and I only had to grow up a little before I could use it. Naturally, this love of reading expanded into a love for writing. I’d have to credit ‘Deltora Quest’ series by Emily Rodda for the books that were a turning point for me – when my nine-year-old self started writing out her own fantasy stories.
What sparked the idea for Moonlight and Dust?
Two things inspired Moonlight and Dust. I was actually completing a master of philosophy (creative writing) and needed to write a fantasy novella for young adults. I was researching how to write Torres Strait Islander characters in a culturally appropriate way within speculative fiction. It was actually a bit of a struggle. I churned through many drafts and ideas but kept on hitting delete. And then I was commissioned to write a short story for Unlimited Futures: Blak + Black Speculative Fiction edited by Ellen van Neerven and Rafeif Ismail. In this short story (titled ‘The Breakup’), I wanted to write something in response to the question: What would an Island girl like me do if she rocked up to a town and started dating a vampire or superhero? Twilight was such a massive movement in my teenage reading life – one of the first young adult books I ever read. But there are so many things I reflect on in that book now, that are frustrating to me (like many others, I know). ‘The Breakup’ then turned into my master’s novella which rolled into Moonlight and Dust. The events of the story have changed many times, but the essence of it – the strength of culture and my people – is what I wanted to see represented on the page in ways I never got to see as a young adult myself.
What can you tell us about Zillah and how she navigates life without Nik?
Zillah is brave and smart and funny, but these are aspects about herself that she doesn’t fully believe herself to hold. Her whole life she has walked as a sort of reflection or shadow to her sister, being very aware of the differences between the two of them. When she no longer has easy access to Nik, Zillah learns that her way of stepping through the world is just as powerful and just as valid as Nik’s.
In what ways did you draw from your own cultural background to shape this novel?
This is a lovely question! My answer is very simple: it’s family! Many Island people will tell you our families are big and important. For me, my family influence so much in my life that it doesn’t feel realistic for them to not feature in and influence stories like this.
How did you go about developing the magical components in this book?
Not going to lie – this was hard! And I believe it was difficult because I developed the characters (Zillah, Nik, and Artie) before I had any idea what the tensions, joys, and magics of their world would be. There were so many tweaks, and I had so much help (especially from the A&U editors) to form a magic that was balanced in terms of fun and danger. Moondust, the liquid the kids can take and gain powers from, is something I don’t fully unpack and explain in the book, and that’s because I think the origin story of Moondust needs its own story!
Did you know from the beginning how the central mystery would unfold? Or did it come to you as you wrote?
I definitely didn’t know the details! All I knew, was that I wanted Zillah to display her agency and her bravery. The editors at A&U really helped me shape the ending into something worth reading! To be honest, endings are extremely difficult for me – I don’t love writing them and I don’t even love reading them (most of the time), but that might be because the thought of my favourite stories ending is a little sad.
What reflections or conversations do you hope your novel sparks?
Mostly I hope it lets young readers know they can be in stories like this. They can write stories like this, read them, critique them, and see value in them like so many ‘mainstream’ books. I’d also love to bring more awareness to the Torres Strait Islands in general – and in particular, spark conversation around the devastating impacts of climate change and the rising waters on the islands my people continue to live on.
What do you love about the fantasy genre?
For most of my life, fantasy has been a sort of escapism. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve seen the genre as a way for me to unravel myself and the ways I feel about things. It’s a chance to investigate my worries and hopes – almost from a safer distance than contemporary fiction or nonfiction can allow. Fantasy, to me, is pure enjoyment while also being 1000 times deeper than that too. I think its usefulness is like clay, and we (as authors and readers) get to shape it into whatever we want to see in the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photograph Credit: Nisha Hunter, 2023
Jasmin McGaughey is a Torres Strait Islander and African American writer and editor. She is the author of the Little Ash series presented by Ash Barty and illustrated by Jade Goodwin. Jasmin started her publishing journey as a black&write! editor intern while she studied a Master of Writing, Editing and Publishing followed by a Masters by research, investigating fantasy literature written by people of colour. In 2023, she won a Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award. She has written for Overland, Kill Your Darlings, SBS Voices and Griffith Review and recently co-edited Words to Sing the World Alive. Jasmin’s always loved storytelling, and she is proud to be able to work and learn in this field.
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