Sarah Fine’s latest novel, Of Metal and Wishes, is a re-imagining of The Phantom of the Opera. Set in a slaughter house this novel is unique and filled with intriguing characters.

Tell us five random facts about yourself.
I’ve climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.
I once played the Wicked Witch in a musical production of The Wiz.
I’m left-handed.
I put cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes on just about every food I eat (okay, except breakfast food).
I have the approximate musical tastes of an adolescent boy.

Describe your novel in five words.
Bittersweet. Romantic. Creepy. Passionate. Startling.

How did you come up with the concept of reimaging of The Phantom of the Opera? What are the challenges of reimaging something so well known?
The Phantom of the Opera parallels didn’t actually come to me until I was well into writing. Initially, I just wanted to tell the story of young characters working in a slaughterhouse, overcoming a system designed to crush people. When I realized that Wen and her “Ghost” were taking me into Phantom territory, I knew I could either embrace that similarity or try to take it in a different direction. I decided to embrace it—but I also refused to let it rule my decisions about where I thought the story needed to go. I think the key to doing a solid reimagining is to keep a few recognizable elements in place, but avoid trying to remain utterly faithful to the original tale. It’s about making something new, with homage to the old.

You chose a slaughterhouse as the setting for the novel which is both unique and terrifying. Why a slaughterhouse?
The inspiration for this book is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and the documentary Food Inc. The novel has haunted me since I read it as a teen, and I was watching Food Inc. — specifically the footage of undocumented workers toiling in a poultry processing plant—when the idea for Of Metal and Wishes came to me. I just had to set a story in that kind of place (inspiration is so random sometimes).

There is a lot of social discord between the Noor and the upper class. How do you craft that strikes a balance between social commentary and storytelling?
Story comes first. Of course, the themes I end up writing about are those that mean something to me, and social justice is one of them. Going back to the original inspirations for this book, it’s clear that those things were on my mind (so maybe inspiration isn’t that random). But as an author, the story is the object, and if it doesn’t resonate, anything else I include doesn’t matter. Ultimately, it comes down to the characters and their goals, and whether I can render them in a relatable, complex way that honors their journeys.

Wen and Melik are fantastic characters. How did you craft a believable romance that didn’t dominate the story?
First — thank you! Wen and Melik are very different. They come from cultures with varying, and somewhat opposed, values, and they don’t always understand one another. But both of them are passionate about caring for the vulnerable despite risks they face, and that isn’t something that needs translation. They admire and respect each other, and that comes along with a bit of fascination and intrigue because of their differences. And both of them are committed to their goals—and their primary goal isn’t to be together. I think that’s the thing that keeps the romance, while important, from taking over.

What one YA novel do you wish you had when you were a teen?
I could make a list here, but if I had to pick one, maybe Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver.

What are you working on now?
Now that Of Dreams and Rust, the sequel to Of Metal and Wishes, is complete, I’m starting a completely new project that I’m totally excited about! But that’s all I’ll say for now.

Fill in the blank
If I weren’t a writer I would be…………well, I’d be a full-time psychologist, but if we’re talking fantasy job … I’d probably work in a bakery.
If I could have one supernatural power it would be………………. Invisibility. Or the power to unsee things.
My hollywood crush is…………………………. Theo James.