Interview with Annette Masters, Author of Dragonfly Down
18 Jun 2025
What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Dragonfly Down?
As a YA author, I like to write about issues facing teens, and the communication rift between adolescents and adults is a universal conundrum. Most teens share the idea that adults don’t listen, adults never understand, and adults convey a condescending notion that kids are not experiencing “real life” yet. But teens are living a real life. A really stressful life. With the pressures of academics, athletics, extracurriculars, group projects, bad romance, mean girls, new jobs, family drama, financial anxiety, and the looming gravity of what will happen after graduation stacked on top of the trauma of social media, teens are juggling more real-life problems than most adults.
With this prickly space of disconnect in mind, I created a teen who faces unimaginable trauma, but her adults don’t listen, don’t understand, and don’t take her seriously. Laurel Greenleaf’s lack of support is so profound that she begins to question her mental stability. The novel is an extreme example of what might happen when adults check out and kids go it alone. With only herself to trust, Laurel dodges her famous family, the press, and law enforcement in a brutal search for the truth—even if it will destroy her.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Dragonfly Down, what would they be?
I listened to the instrumental version of “It’s Quiet Uptown” from Hamilton on repeat as I wrote the first draft of Dragonfly Down. I really love the song’s “unimaginable” reference to loss and grief while inferring the strength of family, the hope of healing, and the power of human resilience. It explores some concepts of loss that I tried to include in the novel.
What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I love reading a great story in any genre, but my favorite books are often thrillers, historical fiction, or historical biographies. I’m drawn to thrillers that integrate history, antiquities, or old abandoned estates in the middle of nowhere. I’ll buy any book with a crow on the cover, and I lean toward YA thrillers with an Ivy League or boarding school trope. I love reading biographies and memoirs, but I prefer listening to memoirs if the author narrates the work.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood, The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner, The Mayfair Bookshop by Eliza Knight, Main Characters by Hannah Orenstein, and The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig. I just finished The Queen’s Companion by Eliza Knight, Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten by Lisa Unger, When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain, and The Cold Light of Fate by Kim Catanzarite.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
The midpoint “aha!” moment and the last paragraph before the epilogue. Both of which have spoilers, so I can’t talk about them.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
With Dragonfly Down, I listened to “It’s Quiet Uptown” from Hamilton and “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” by Taylor Swift because the first draft had a melancholy quality. During revisions, the work had a sense of hope and resilience (and it was 2024), so my headphones played The Eras Tour set list (before and after TTPD).
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
Be kind.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
I’ll leave you with the advice my protagonist gives to readers: “Knowledge is power. Courage appears when you need it. Base your decisions on facts, not fears. If you need help, go to someone who believes in you. And trust your intuition.” –Laurel Greenleaf, Dragonfly Down.
Annette Masters is the author of the new book Dragonfly Down
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