Interview With Teen Author Miriam Joy

Here it is! The long-awaited recently announced interview with fantastic (and hilarious) teen author Miriam Joy, author of St. Mallory's Forever! Miriam will be responding to comments and answering any questions you might have, so be sure to leave her one! Enjoy! :D

1. Who or what inspired you to write?

I've been writing for so long that I can't really remember how I got started. However, the first thing I properly remember writing of my own accord was a play that was heavily influenced by JRR Tolkien. Oh, and I wrote Lord of the Rings fan fiction, though I didn't know what "fan fiction" was at the time. Later, the author Kate Thompson was a massive inspiration for me. Her novel "The New Policeman" was one of the main reasons I got interested in Celtic mythology, something that I write about a lot now. What was more, when I was about eleven or twelve I emailed her explaining how much she meant to me; after some correspondence, I sent her a story of mine and she encouraged me to keep writing. So she was a huge influence on me. But I think generally it was books that inspired me to write. Which would make sense.

2. What are your top three favorite novels?

Wow, so that's a difficult question. I find it hard to differentiate between "novels that influenced me" and "novels that are AMAZING", so I'm going to choose three that are on both lists. That means that even if something was awesome, it might not be here, because it didn't influence me. Maggie Stiefvater's "Ballad" is one of my all-time favourites and I re-read it whenever I'm sad. I absolutely adore the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, too, but my favourite of those would be "Ptolemy's Gate". And "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett will forever hold a very special place in my heart because it is the funniest novel about the apocalypse that I have ever read.

3. What is your favorite genre?

Well, I love Young Adult fiction, but that's a very broad term, as it incorporates a whole load of other genres. I think my favourite genre would have to be science fiction / fantasy, even if I have particular subgenres I prefer (for example, I'm a MASSIVE fan of 'urban fantasy' but not of 'paranormal romance'. The latter is similar to the former but with more kissing and less torture. Ugh). When I stray into Adult fiction, which is often, it's usually the SF section of the library, though I particularly like humorous fantasy such as Tom Holt or Terry Pratchett.

4. What is your favorite thing about writing?

Being able to take revenge on people I know in a way that doesn't get me arrested, i.e. writing them into books and then killing them painfully. No, I'm kidding. I just love writing. I love having the chance to live entirely different lives through my characters, and experience things I won't do in real life. It's also a great emotional outlet and sometimes I use my characters' problems to work through my own. I love the idea that one day I might help someone else work through their problems. And I like watching my beta readers' reactions when I do something awful to their favourite characters. There's a lot of that evil-genius style glee involved in my writing process, I'm not going to lie.

5. What inspired you to write St. Mallory's Forever!?

This question is difficult, because it wasn't actually my idea -- it was Mark's (one half of the Saffina Desforges writing partnership; yes, there are two of them). He's always wanted to write a novel set in a boarding school, and when he found out that Charley actually went to a boarding school, he wanted to collaborate. Initially, I just kind of came along for the ride. While I formed just as many of the characters and plot points as, say, Charley, the initial idea process wasn't mine.

6. What is your favorite thing about writing the same book with other authors? How about your least favorite thing?

Favourite thing is knowing that I'll get a reaction immediately, so I'll know if something works (and if it does, I get to watch them crack up over a line or whatever). Also, if I get stuck I knew I could just ask one of the others to work on it. However, I'm a control freak and it's hard to get over that to relinquish aspects of plot to other people; it can also be frustrating when documents cross in emails, edits don't go through, or people seem to be working to a different timescale! Fortunately we managed to overcome our difficulties though.

7. What advice would you give to other teen authors who want to get published?

Have a blog (that's how I met Mark). Talk to other writers on the internet (that's how I met Charley). Keep writing, keep improving, and make sure you're always learning. Be willing to take advice. Read craft blogs and industry blogs so you know what the writing world is doing before you send out a novel. And don't let anyone tell you that you're too young to be a writer. Follow your dreams! :)

8. Is there anything else you would like to add?

A fifty foot inflatable pink aardvark? Every blog post needs one ... what? That's not possible? Okay, I think we're done here.

Thank you so much, Miriam, for letting me interview you! And remember, she will be responding to comments so feel free to leave her a question, compliment, and anything else that comes to mind.