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.  Will there be more books than Kaylee's Choice? A.  There are actually five books in the series so far:  Kaylee's Choice, Green Storm, Fire & Metal, Christmas in Ireland and The Secret Ceili.  I'm working on book six, The Winds of Ireland and I've just finished a book with a boy Irish dancer character, Dance of the Third-string Quarterback.  The Winds of Ireland will be out in November of 2008.   The seventh and FINAL book in the Kaylee O'Shay series, Isle of Green Fire, is expected to be released in spring 2009.   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 two Kaylee books? 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.  Will you ever write a book about a boy Irish dancer? A.  That's a great idea, especially since more boys are joining Irish dance schools.  Dance of the Third String Quarterback is now available for pre-order.  You can read about it by returning to the main page! Return to Kaylee O'Shay home page