About

Kaylee O'Shay, Irish Dancer
book series

FAQs with answers from Rod Vick, creator of the Kaylee
O'Shay series

Q. Why did you write Kaylee's Choice?
A. My daughter is an Irish dancer, and I realized that there were no books out
there for girls with an interest in Irish dance. It's easy to find books about
soccer players, football players, basketball players, runners, but almost
nothing has been written to celebrate those in dance. Irish dancers need their
heroes, too.

Q. Are the characters in the book based on people you
know?
A. No. They're all fictional characters, but each has a very special role in
Kaylee's Choice. Kaylee is an underdog, a tiny little girl who we want to
succeed. But she also has her flaws. At times she can be selfish or can
display an awful temper. Yet, she is also quite sensitive. In short, her moods
are typical of those found in a young person approaching adolescence.
However, she is not based on anyone in particular.

Q. How did you come up with the name Kaylee O'Shay?
A. When I wrote the first draft, her name was Maggie Gordon! My daughter
decided she didn't like that name. We pored over lists of Irish names until she
found a combination she liked. Neither of us knew it at the time, but the name
Kaylee is pronounced the same as the word ceili, which is an Irish dance!

Q. How many books will there be?
A. There will be seven books in the Kaylee O'Shay series. Six have already
been published, and the seventh, Isle of Green Fire, will be out in November of
2009. But I'm working on some other Irish dance book ideas, too.

Q. Are Trean Gaoth Academy or Golden Academy
based on real Irish dance schools?
A. No. Remember, everything in Kaylee O'Shay is fiction. Trean Gaoth is
Kaylee's dance school. The words are Gaelic and mean "strong wind". I think
Trean Gaoth probably operates like most small dance schools. Some people
have wondered whether Golden academy is supposed to represent one of the
big American dance schools like O'Leary in New York or Trinity in Chicago, but
again, no. In almost every region of the U.S. there is a "big school" that is a
natural rival to the smaller schools, and Golden Academy shares this
relationship with Trean Gaoth. In Kaylee's Choice, Kaylee's friend Caitlin is
clearly jealous of the dancers from Golden Academy, but her reaction is a
result of her youthful immaturity. Kaylee is simply too naive to be jealous.

Q. Will there be any surprises in the final Kaylee book?
A. I like surprises and interesting plot twists. I wrote several into the final
chapters of Kaylee's Choice. I think it's fun to think you have everything figured
out, and then to realize that things are different than what they seemed. I can
also tell you that several characters have secrets that have not yet been
revealed, although some clues have been dropped in book one. Of course, I
can't tell you much more. After all...if I did, they wouldn't be secrets!

Q. I've heard that the final book, Isle of Green Fire, will
be more expensive. Why?
A. Because it's the last book, there are a lot of story lines to tie up. That's
going to take some time, resulting in a book that's longer than usual. And
Kaylee fans probably won't mind a longer last book. There will also be a
special appendix in the final book that looks back on all the "clues" to
mysteries from the first six books. Because printing costs increase when the
books are longer, Isle of Green Fire will cost a couple dollars more. I hope
readers feel the book is worth the expense.

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