Samantha Shannon's debut dystopian fantasy novel, The Bone Season, kicks off a seven-book series that she signed the contract for before finishing college. It's a massive, intricate story set 200 years after a mysterious even changed the world as we know it in 1859. There are hidden penal colonies, clairvoyants, and political intrigue to put Machiavelli to shame in the blisteringly paced plot. We caught up with Shannon at BookExpo America 2013 and talked about how she keeps it all straight, how she managed to write while finishing up her studies, and what word she's trying to use less.