What inspired you to write the Daughter of... â€� Laini Taylor Q&A

Sohini asked Laini Taylor:

What inspired you to write the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series? I especially loved the way each of the settings have been described (Prague, Morocco, Rome). It makes me feel that I'm actually in the place!

Laini Taylor Daughter of Smoke & Bone came out of a day of writing for fun. I'd been struggling with another book that wasn't working out, so I gave myself a day to write something just for fun, without knowing what that would be. What appeared on the page was this blue-haired teenage art student arguing with her father, who turned out not to be human, and they were so vivid and alive, I wrote all day, filled with magic and delight. I had no story for them, no context, but I started asking questions, trying to figure out who they were, and gradually a story began to evolve. I eventually decided that Karou would live in Prague because I had been there to research Prague as a setting for another story which I didn't end up writing. It's perfect, being a real city where teenagers live and go to school, and having at the same time the dark Gothic fairy tale vibe that suited the story perfectly :-)

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