Leah Ford asked Ben Farrell:

I cant remember the last time i enjoyed a YA book and i thoroughly enjoy reading The Unseen. The childrens characters and interactions had me in stitches and your descriptions of them were wonderful. I could really imagine how they were. Are they based on your own children and or their friends?

Ben Farrell Leah! Thank you for all the kind words! It means so much that you enjoyed The Unseen as much as you did! After all the years of writing, rewriting, editing, editing and editing...well, "wonderful" is the closest word that approximates how it feels to have it out there in the wild!

The kids are amalgamations of numerous people I've known over the years. Most directly, Colman and Maeve are more interesting/cooler versions of us...well actually just me, my sister is pretty much as interesting as Maeve! What they accomplish in the backcountry is what I saw my students do in the backcountry (minus George of course), they saved my butt out more there than once!

I wanted this story to have kids doing heroic things without having to be superheroes. I wanted them to be in extraordinary situations and find a way to help save the day.

Thanks for the question! And, thank you again for taking the time to read The Unseen. Take care.

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