Friday, September 13, 2013

Friday the 13th Surprises

Happy Friday the 13th! :D Instead of the unluckiness today is supposed to bring, I got lucky and was able to interview Marissa Meyer!!!!! (Yes, the author of the incredible book Cinder)! Here it is:

1. What inspired you to write Cinder?

It started when I entered a writing contest a few years ago in which the host had listed about ten random prompts and writers had to choose two of them to include in their stories. My two prompts: set it in the future and include a fairy-tale character. My contest entry was a sci-fi version of Puss in Boots and I had so much fun writing it that I thought I would try to do an entire series of sci-fi fairy tales! (The ironic part of that story is that only two stories were submitted for the contest—and mine didn’t win!)

A couple months after that I was drifting off to sleep when the lightning bolt struck: Cinderella… as a cyborg! I crawled out of bed and spent about an hour brainstorming and jotting notes. Thus, The Lunar Chronicles was born.

2. Wow, that's an awesome story! I'd love to read a sci-fi version of Puss in Boots. What are your top three favorite novels?
Only 3?! Let's see...

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
3. Fire by Kristin Cashore

3. You have good taste. ;) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Getting to work in my pajamas! Oh, and seeing fanart of my characters - I LOVE that!!

4. Yes! Working in your pajamas has to be one of the best things about writing. What is the hardest thing you've had to do in your writing?
Every now and then you have to kill off a character that you really, really love. I don't know that it ever gets 'easy' to do it. One book that I'm working on that will follow the Lunar Chronicles has an incredibly heart-wrenching death scene in it. I cried like a wee child when I wrote it.

5. Killing your characters is a little bit like killing yourself. It's always so hard! What is the best piece of advice you could give to teen writers who want to get published?

Have fun with it!! There will be time to worry about agents and editors and book deals later, but when you're first getting started, the only thing you should be thinking about is writing the story that appeals to you and enjoying the process of imagining and creating. Writing is work, but it can also be a lot of fun.

Thank you so much, Marissa! :D

11 comments:

Cassie said...

Wow, is this for real?! It's great :) I just got Scarlet from the library yesterday!

Anonymous said...

I haven't read any of this author's books, but just reading this interview makes me want to go pick one up! :) And I love the idea of sci-fi fairy tales. :)

Anonymous said...

This is awesome! :D I love Cinder!

Dr. Mark said...

Great interview! It was really interesting to learn more about the author and book. Blending two different environments like that has always intrigued me. I've got some ideas for a short story or two with that general theme, but I'll keep the details to myself. ;)

Keep the great stuff coming!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, you're lucky! :D

Didi said...

Oh my goodness!!!! You are definitely lucky! I really like the book Cinder. It is one of my many favorites. :) I can't wait for the third book to come out!!! :)

Unknown said...

Great interview, Magic. There is one thought in it that I think can equally apply to adult writers. It is "...the only thing you should be thinking about is writing the story that appeals to you and enjoying the process of imagining and creating." That was really well said on Marissa Meyer's part. Well done.

The Magic Violinist said...

Thanks for all of the comments, guys! :D Marissa is great (and so are her books)!

@Roselle I totally agree! :) If you're not writing something you enjoy, how is anyone else supposed to enjoy it?

Christine said...

Whoa!! How on earth did you score this?! How cool! I would love to read her story about Puss in Boots. I love that little guy :)

The Magic Violinist said...

@Christine P I'd love to read something like that, too! :D

I just sent her an e-mail and she e-mailed me back saying that she'd love to do it! :) I was so happy when I got that e-mail! (Especially since she's so busy with edits right now).

Boquinha said...

What a great interview! I love reading these. I have entire books all about how writers write, why they write, what their rituals are, etc. It's so interesting to see what makes them tick and how they operate! Thank you for this!