The First Singers by Kat Doughty

1. Tell us about your book

The First Singers is a part one of a dystopian trilogy, mostly because if you are writing a dystopian novel, it has to be a trilogy. Right? The main character, Teena, lives in an old military base in San Jose, California, together with a couple hundred other kids. When a child reaches their eighteenth birthday, they go through a selection process called the Hunt. The few who pass will move on to the mysterious Island while the rest of them are killed. The book starts when Teena wakes up on her birthday and follows her on her quest to find out what is real and what is not.

2. How did you come up with the idea?

The thought process involved picking up toys in the playroom. Manual work seems to be the key to writing for me in general. There was also an afternoon of scouring the internet for a semi-interesting monster that doesn’t get used in almost half of the books that hit the market. The rest happened from there.

3. Who are your favorite writers?

Ah, a trick question, I love to read and I don’t really play favorites. I like original ideas, good story telling and interesting characters that teach me something about the world or even myself. I’ll read pretty much anything that sounds like it will hit at least one of those points. That and Terry Pratchett.

4. Tell us three things about you that no one knows.

I went bungee jumping once when I was fourteen. I am not entirely sure why, but I decided that I would, so I did. There is absolutely no way I’d ever do that again.
I also jumped out of a moving train once. If anyone wondered, it was not a good idea. Turns out there is an art to jumping out of moving trains successfully.
I failed an English as a second language class when I was sixteen.

5. What’s next for you?

I don’t know yet. I have a few different concepts in mind and I am really drawn toward science fiction for the next book, but I still have about three or four months of polishing the last book of the trilogy before I get to think about narrowing down the theme for my next project.

In the far future, Teena is ready to celebrate her eighteenth birthday by running for her life. Up to this day she lived in a former military base in the middle of an old, desolated city. Today will decide if she will join the fabled Survivor Island or if she will be killed by her former friends.

The First Singers on Amazon

Review:

Teena lives in a world where on a person's eighteenth birthday, they are sent out on a Hunt. If they survive, they are sent to the Island, a mysterious place where they get to live their lives in peace. The only problem is - everything Teena has been told is a lie. 
I thought that Teena was a good character. She is tough and worked hard to survive outside, but there is a naivety to her too. She has no idea about relationships and has led a very sheltered life. The lizard creatures, the Asin, are a suitably formidable enemy. I enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to fans of dystopian fiction like the Hunger Games.