INTERVIEW WITH SANDRA WAUGH AUTHOR OF LARK RISING

Lark has foreseen two things—she will fall for a young man with sage green eyes, and he will kill her.

Sixteen-year-old Lark Carew is happiest close to home, tending her garden and gathering herbs for medicines. But when her Sight warns her that monsters called Troths will soon invade her village, Lark is summoned on a journey to seek help from the legendary Riders of Tarnec. Little does she suspect that one of the Riders, Gharain, is the very man who has haunted her visions. Or that the people of Tarnec have called her there for another reason: Lark is the Guardian of Life, the first of four Guardians who must awaken their powers to recover four stolen amulets. Together, the amulets—Life, Death, Dark, and Light—keep the world in Balance. To take back the Life amulet, Lark will have to discover her true inner strength and give in to a love that she swears will be her downfall. (From Goodreads)

And now, it is my great pleasure to introduce my fellow inkpot member, the immensely talented Sandra Waugh!

As you know, I loved LARK RISING! How did you come up with such an interesting and fresh premise?  

That a hawk stopped by on my porch one morning is old news by now, but truly—that was what that tied together loose threads of a story I’d been trying to understand. I sat down and wrote the first pages based on that brief moment and the rest followed, fleshed out over many, many lawnmowings (I think it’s also old news that I work out my stories while mowing the lawn!).  I followed a classic fantasy trajectory but hopefully (as you say!) from a fresh perspective.  It follows from all that mowing that so much of the story is about Nature and the fragility of Balance.

I work out most of my stories walking my dog, so I totally understand that!  Your fantasy world is so unique. I loved Lark’s connection to the earth and all of her creatures.  The world was both achingly beautiful, and at times, terrifying.  Can you describe your world building for us?

 It’s just past my doorstep.  I live in an old house with about four acres of grass and garden and woods—it’s my job (beyond just lawnmowing) to try and hold back the wilderness. It’s basically impossible. But even so, I kind of love the challenge because it has brought me up close and personal with my surroundings on a daily basis. I’ve watched Nature struggle and thrive, and some of the most beautiful moments—the first spring crocus, the fattest wild autumn raspberries; discovering a hummingbird moth (who KNEW there are such things as hummingbird moths!) or watching a crowd of fireflies dancing above the back field. There are, too, the dark things (hearing the coyotes at night closing in for a kill, or finding too late a vine has sucked the life from a tree) But… the magic is right there in all of it.

Well, you’ve certainly woven those elements of danger and beauty into LARK RISING.  I love that your magical world is really just a version of the one out your window! One of my favorite parts of LARK RISING was the heart pounding climax.  I could not stop reading!  Lark, who begins her journey as a timid girl who loves to toil in the garden and spend her time with her cousin, Evie, and her grandmother, must dig deep within herself and find the courage to face her fate, and the dangers that come with it.  Was the climax hard to write?  

Actually, I think it was my favorite part! I love action, and heart-in-mouth threat. I also love that Lark had grown enough to face such threat. And I loved her bravery in those moments.  But… there are some very sad moments as well and so admittedly I was often choked up while working.

I shed a few tears while reading it, too! Which is your favorite character from this book, and why? They are all favorites—after all, good or bad, you have to love your characters!  But today I’ll choose the Bog Hag. I had the best time writing her—all knobs, and sticks, and rage, and glee. She flew onto the page.

Which character are you most like? Or who would you like to be friends with?  

There are pieces of me in every character, but I am probably closest to Lark, and so I would love to have as my friends her best friends: Evie and Quin.  They are free where she is not.  They can cajole her out of her timidity as well as shield in difficult situations.  And best—they are true of heart.

I would love to have all three of them as friends!  I can’t wait to read the sequel (hand raised to interview you again!), which focuses on Lark’s cousin, Evie, who must take back the amulet of Death.  Can you give us a hint of what we can expect from SILVER EVE?  

Well… here’s a bit of blurb: A Healer without home or purpose Evie Carew has found the perfect place to disappear: Rood Marsh. She can easily fade into the vast wilderness of reeds and leave behind the violence now claiming her innocent world; leave behind the tragedy that broke her heart.  But the girl is not alone in the marsh. A Rider, a seer, and Breeders of Chaos all seek her, for they know something she does not—Evie is one of the Guardians, one who can help save the world from the coming destruction by reclaiming the amulet of Death. But fulfilling her destiny, meeting true love or a brutal death, is a matter of who finds her first.

And now, a few questions for our readers to get to know you better!

Favorite Book: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Favorite Quote: ‘I say there is no darkness but ignorance.’ Twelfth Night, IV, ii

Favorite Food: crusty baguette

Favorite Ice Cream: Rum Raisin

Favorite Place:  England.  All of it.

Thanks so much, Sandra! 

You can find Sandra on her website (http://sandrawaugh.com/) and on  Facebook,Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest or Tumblr.

The Cabinet of Curiosities: the Curators Speak

The Cabinet of Curiosities is a disturbing little project helmed by four curators: Stefan Bachmann, Claire Legrand, Emma Trevayne, and me, Katherine Catmull. Each week on our web page, we post the stories—the unsettling, creepy, or quite terrifying stories—of some of the objects in our Cabinet of  . . . well, curiosities is a pleasanter word than horrors. 

A collection of those stories, entitled The Cabinet of Curiosities: 36 Tales Brief & Sinister, was published yesterday by Green Willow/HarperCollins. It includes

eight never-before-seen tales and other new material, as well as cover and illustrations—awful ones, in the best sense—by Alexander Jansson. 

Both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly have awarded it stars, which we keep chained in a little silver birdcage under the stairwell.

To celebrate the book’s publication, I’ve roused my three fellow curators from their magnifying glasses and blood-smeared notebooks to answer a few questions. Also, see the conclusion of the interview for some astounding news.

Curator Catmull: How did this Cabinet business, in which one of us posts a story every week, begin? I know, of course. I am pretending I don’t for dramatic effect. 

Curator Trevayne: I was boiling my bones on a beach in Mexico when the idea of our collection came to me. Naturally, such an endeavor is best not attempted alone, so I quickly recruited the others for assistance. "Assistance" in this case meaning I found three people far more talented than myself and relaxed with a giant chocolate cake as they scurried around making the place neat and tidy and altogether more wonderful than I ever could have imagined on my own.

Stefan Bachmann

Curator Bachmann: I was terribly flattered to be asked to join this intrepid group of curators, as I had been known to shriek ecstatically about their writings at unsuspecting bookstore patrons long before they had any idea who I was, or that we would be embarking on these adventures together. I continue to be pleased by this fortuitous development almost every day, even when chasing nasty, pointy-toothed stories in Siberia.

Curator Legrand: In the fall of 2012, Curator Trevayne approached me asking if I would care to join her and Stefan Bachmann in a new and exciting venture--the telling of short stories for those souls--either young or young at heart--who crave tales of the strange and unsettling. I had read and thoroughly enjoyed Curator Bachmann's first book, The Peculiar, and had had a peek at an early draft of Curator Trevayne's Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times, and knew them both to be utterly talented. And I, of course, was eager to stretch my writing skills in new directions. So it took me no time at all to agree to join them--and I'm so glad I did.

Curator Catmull: And I was invited when—after careful calculations checked via abacus and a rusty, steam-powered computing machine—the other three determined that each month contains four weeks. They have been unable to shake me since, and I plan to die in the Cabinet, though not for several weeks at least, unless I miscalculate while animating these carved onyx cobras. 

Which brings me to my next question. Which is more fun—collecting the Cabinet objects, or writing about them? 

I’ll begin: for me, crawling on my belly through a nest of fire ants to reach a cursed goblet rumored to turn any beverage it contains into a flesh-devouring acid is considerably more enjoyable than writing. What about you?

Curator Trevayne: Being a person who quite likes comfortable cushions and readily-available cake, I should likely say that sitting in my rooms and writing the stories is more enjoyable, but I simply cannot deny the allure of visiting peculiar circuses, wandering bizarre museums, or riding the skeleton train to

Emma Trevayne

the sound of their violins. Those skeletons--how we danced and danced! It is always a relief to return home with all my fingers and toes (the former make eating cake that much easier) but also always a delight when I am called away on another escapade.

Curator Bachmann: I am a rather timid soul in essence if not generally in practice, and I do so prefer scribbling in the silent corners of my house to visiting deserted hollows at midnight or ripping out beating hearts, which alas, one is practically forced to do if one is curious (because what is a heart, really, and what dwells within it, pounding its little fists day in and day out as if it wants to escape?)

Curator Legrand: As much as I enjoy fighting my way through scorpion-ridden catacombs and running for my life through medieval villages overrun with goblins (did you know that we Curators can travel through not only time but also universes?), I must say that, for me, the writing of my stories is the most enjoyable thing. For often, when I am writing, I am happily ensconced in the Red Room at the Cabinet itself, which is my favorite writing spot. Sandwiched between the Bottomless Pit and the fairies' mortuary, the Red Room is...well, I shan't tell you why it is such a deep shade of crimson, nor why the air inside it is so pungent. Perhaps you will visit us someday and discover why for yourself.

Curator Catmull: Please tell us the collecting adventure associated with one of the stories in this book.

Curator Trevayne: Oh, what a great many grand adventures I've had in search of curiosities for the Cabinet, it is difficult to choose just one. However, what comes to mind is the strange incident detailed in "Spidersong." Having traveled quite far and wide for our dear collection, it was strange indeed to happen upon one very nearly on my doorstep. However, there I was, walking through a lovely forest with my dog, and I heard the oddest, most beautiful music. Being a music lover, I naturally followed it, only to run screaming in horror when I discovered its terrifying source--for though I am, as I said, a music lover, I most positively do not have the same affection for our eight-legged, er, friends. I fled home, dog at my heels, and immediately transcribed the tale.

Curator Bachmann: For years, I had been hearing whispers of a little house, small as a doll's, that could rush about on clickety spider legs; I could not have anticipated the difficulty of finding it, however. Its owner had it hidden away, walled up under a staircase. People always try to hide their wicked pasts, but it is we curators’ job to find them. We always do, eventually. And then we take great pleasure in publishing them in children's books for all to read.

Claire Legrand

Curator Legrand: To write about the silver-haired, pug-nosed girl called Quicksilver, I had to journey to the far north, and wander through many icy, underground labyrinths, to which I unhappily lost several digits. (Luckily, Curator Bachmann is a skilled brewer of tonics, and managed to concoct one for the re-growing of maimed body parts right before I returned home from that trip, largely digit-less.) There, I found a stranger hiding in the city hall of a hidden settlement far beneath the Arctic seas. The stranger had vibrant red hair and flaky white skin, but I could not tell if it was a man or a woman. It wore a strange necklace that vibrated with power. To obtain this fascinating artifact, I had to beat the stranger in a game of Nine Lives (which has nothing to do with cats, but rather with testing the skillset of the underground city's resurrectionist). It was a close game, but I eventually bested the stranger--I suspect not through my own virtue, but rather because the stranger, I think, was tired of bearing such a burden.

Curator Catmull: Obviously, we all share our Cabinet living quarters. But many are unaware that our individual rooms are—while contained within the Cabinet—located in entirely different cities. 

For example, my Cabinet rooms are located in Austin, Texas, a rather dry and dusty place where, in every single attic, mournful ghosts sing in harmony to the sound of lonesome guitars. I often wonder why it’s called “the live music capital of the world” when the dead musicians so very much outnumber us.

Curator Trevayne: My Cabinet rooms are located in London, England, a city filled with so many age-old mysteries it is rather difficult to believe someone didn't invent it for a story. Kings and paupers are buried here, as is an entire river which rushes, unseen, far below the streets. On quiet days, in the right places, you can hear it whispering...*

*I hasten to point out that this is, in fact, actually true.

Curator Bachmann: My own room is located in alpine Switzerland, surrounded by copious numbers of mountains and cheese, obviously, and with a lovely view of rolling pastures and a barn. The house that room belongs to is an old one, filled with new things, and sagging under the weight of all the many people who have walked through it over the centuries. There is a loose step on the front stairs, which I am convinced holds secret treasures, or at the very least a skeleton. There is a locked box in the basement that was there when we arrived and has never been opened. My room is under eaves, and was once the servant's quarters, and sometimes I am quite sure they never left, but have simply moved into the walls. . . .

Curator Legrand:  My Cabinet quarters are in a very old place called Princeton, New Jersey, where intellectuals who are very proud of their intellect attend classes and conduct research in an ancient university. I do believe the students think me odd whenever I go into town for supplies, for I can't seem to leave the Cabinet without taking some of it back with me. And Curating as we do is, of course, not something one can learn from a textbook.

Katherine Catmull

Q. Curatorial tale-spinning is not confined to the Cabinet. I myself am the author of Summer and Bird, the story of two sisters who wander into a land where a Puppeteer swallows birds alive, and where the earth and sky clash together like jaws—you know, that sort of thing. I am revising an even uncannier book right now, but on that topic I can say no more. What about the rest of you?

Curator Trevayne: I am the author of two novels about very strange music (Coda and Chorus, both available now), and one about a boy, a magical doorway, an evil sorcerer, a slightly mad Lady, and a clockwork bird (Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times, also available now). My next book, about maltreated faeries, will be available in 2015.

Curator Bachmann: My latest book is called The Whatnot and is the companion and concluding volume to The Peculiar. It concerns a brave girl with twig-hair fighting her way through a dreary and dangerous faerie world, desperate to return to the Victorian England she was stolen from. Furthermore, it concerns a boy with an eye that can see into a dying country, moving prisons, a woman with a porcelain face, cottages that are bigger on the inside than on the out, and one very nasty king. There are other books coming later, different sorts of books, about adolescents instead of children, about terror in deep places and running in the dark, but those are a long way off yet.

Curator Legrand: I have three other books either already out in the world or soon to be released. One is The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, about a practically perfect twelve-year-old girl who must face off against a nefarious headmistress to rescue her friend from an orphanage that is not what it seems. One is The Year of Shadows, about a lonely girl who must work with a group of friendly ghosts to save her father's failing orchestra--if, that is, some not-so-friendly ghosts don't first destroy her. The next is a book for young adult readers called Winterspell, and is a dark, romantic fantasy re-telling of the classic ballet The Nutcracker. 

ASTOUNDING NEWS. To celebrate the publication of The Cabinet of Curiosities, we are releasing a series of podcasts, in which each week one of the Curators reads one of his or her own stories. The podcast includes deliciously disturbing music composed and performed by Curator Stefan Bachmann himself, whose talents are almost injudiciously cornucopian. The first podcast, in which Curator Claire Legrand reads her unsettling tale “The Tin Man’s Price,” is available now--or you can subscribe to the entire series at iTunes.

The Gift of Fantasy

 The fantasy that gave me the greatest gift was Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series.  I was in first grade, and every few days I’d check out a stack of picture books limited only by the need to get my hands underneath it and my chin on top.  One day the school librarian handed me The Book of Three.

“I think you’d like this,” she said.

“I don’t know,” I said.  (Just like every kid in the universe confronting their first novel.)  “It’s awfully thick.”

“Give it a try.”  And she smiled.

So I opened that thick intimidating book and started to read, and fell into a real, long, dense story for the first time in my life.  I think I lived in Prydain more than I did in the real world for the next few years.  If Mrs. Burris had handed me some other book, a mystery for instance, I might not be a fantasy writer today.  Or even a writer today.  So that’s the fantasy that’s given me the greatest gift.  (And thanks to Mrs. Burris, too!)

                                                                        --Hilari Bell

From Elizabeth Bunce:

For me, it came about ten years ago when I read Sharon Shinn's ARCHANGEL for the first time. I had spent so many years reading To Learn the Craft, to soak up knowledge and study storytelling techniques, that reading had become more work for me than pleasure (although I didn't realize it at the time). I had lost sight of one of the most important things: Reading should be fun. But Archangel swept me away like no book had in years. I picked it up, dove in, and before I knew it, five chapters were past, and I REMEMBERED. Shinn brought back that sense of reading for pure delight that I had lost somewhere along the line. I've said that this is one of the most important lessons I've ever learned as a writer... but it's also the greatest gift: the reconnection to the experience of reading a great book for the pure joy of it. Thank you, ARCHANGEL!

From Erin Cashman:

For me, it was Lord of the Rings. I was having a hard time my freshman year in high school - 3 middle schools all joined together, and I found that my good friends were hanging out with another group of girls -- and one of the girls decided I was not welcome. One night I started reading Lord of the Rings, and instead of worrying or crying (as I had been doing every night) I completely forgot about my troubles and was swept up in the story. I read it straight through -- claiming a stomach ache and missing the next two days of school. For some reason, when I returned to school I didn't care that much anymore (maybe it was simply that a mean girl is not so scary when compared with the Nazgul!) and I sat at lunch with two girls I didn't know, who became good friends. I realized then the power of a good book - and the ability it has to transport the reader to a new world, away from the issues and problems of every day life. Lord of the Rings inspired me to
become a writer, and even to this day when I feel down, my escapism is often found in the pages of a fantasy novel.

From Dawn Metcalf:

I'd consider "starter" fantasy books like BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA by Katherine Paterson, PROTECTOR OF THE SMALL by Tamora Pierce, DRAGONSONG by Anne McCaffery and, of course, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by J.K. Rowling can start a lifelong love of fantasy books!

For old folks like me, I love transportive, quirky and somewhat shadowy fantasy and I'd give THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern, THE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE by Laini Taylor, NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman or THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger.

(And if kids are darker like me, then I'd probably wrap up a copy of HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE by Diana Wynne Jones, ARTEMIS FOWL by Eoin Colfer or our own William Alexander's GOBLIN SECRETS!)

From Pippa Bayliss:

I consider every fantasy novel I've ever read as a gift which isn't very helpful to you for your TOTW :) but what stands out as a particularly special novel to me was Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator'. It's the sequel to the better known 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and an old dilapidated copy found its way into my hands. My son was a reluctant reader so I started reading it to him out loud at bedtime. He loved it. Even though it was so old and strange, it became one of his favorites., and he'd make me repeat any parts that involved the 'vicious knids' - no silent 'k'. Just the sound of k-nids made him laugh and that alone gave us both a gift that I'll always cherish.

From Will Alexander:

I don't know if this counts, since it isn't a fantasy novel, but my first thought is Lewis Hyde's The Gift: a book-sized essay about the role of art and the artist in society. It's made up of the same raw material as a fantasy novel, given that it's filled with folk and fairy tales, and it's a boon to any artist trying to sort out their own gifts and how best to use them. (Hyde's Trickster Makes This World is also very, very good, but given the focus on trickster figures that one commits gleeful theft rather than offering presents.)


Let me try again with an actual fantasy novel. When I took over reading bedtime stories to my youngest sister, we first picked up The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. That was a gift, I suppose. "I loved this, and I think you'll love it, so here. Let me read it to you." It utterly failed as a bedtime story, though. We didn't sleep at all. We just read straight through until dawn, and finished The Dark is Rising while the sun was rising.

From Ellen Booraem:

One marathon weekend in the dregs of high school, THE LORD OF THE RINGS opened a new world for me. And I don’t mean just Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth—I mean the universe of fantasy written for anyone older than ten. My parents weren’t fantasy readers, so up to that point my experiences with speculative fiction consisted of fairy tales, Pooh, and a couple of other books distinctly written for younger crowd. I had no idea that you could give up childish things and still read about dragons and elves. Imagine how the top of my head blew off when I met Bilbo. And Gandalf! In fact, I barely slept that weekend—read the entire trilogy, day and night, stopping only for meals and to exchange a word or two with my long-suffering parents. Thank you, Professor Tolkien.

So tell us, what fantasy story has been a “gift” to you?

Interview with Transparent author Natalie Whipple

CONGRATS TO LIBBY FOR WINNING A COPY OF TRANSPARENT! Thanks to all for reading and commenting!
 
Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.

An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.

After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.

Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.
It is such a pleasure to welcome debut author and artist Natalie Whipple to the Enchanted Inkpot. Natalie and I have known each other online since before either of us were published, and had the pleasure of finally meeting this year. I'm excited to discuss her fantastic debut TRANSPARENT as well as give away a copy of her book!

Cindy: Natalie, your debut is such a fun mix of mutant powers, the mob, and just a girl who wants to be ordinary. In writing this story, which came to you first--was it Fiona, our invisible heroine, or something else?

Natalie: Fiona was really the star from the beginning. As a teen I struggled with feeling like nobody saw or understood me (Heck, I still feel like that sometimes!), and one day while I was thinking back on those emotions I started to wonder what it might be like to be really invisible. And not the traditional superhero invisibility where you can turn it on and off, but permanently invisible.

That's where Fiona's voice showed up, in those moments. For awhile I tried to ignore the idea, because I thought writing an invisible main character would be a big challenge (turned out it was—I rewrote the entire book). But she would not be ignored, and here we are!

Cindy: I like that your invisible heroine could not be ignored. I also really enjoyed the settings being Las Vegas and then small town Arizona. What prompted you to choose these places for your story?

Natalie: You know, it made the most sense. At least to me. I suppose Chicago or New York would be more traditional settings for mob-like stories, but this posed a big technical issue, because Fiona has to be naked to be invisible and it gets cold in the northeast. Las Vegas was the natural choice, because of its desert location and, of course, the same goes for Arizona. The southwest in particular was alluring to me because of its ties to secret government testing sites like Area 51. It felt like a place where Radiasure (the drug that caused mutations) could have been developed.

Cindy: I never even considered the no clothing and weather thing. The challenges we give ourselves as writers! You wrote a very powerful blog post about "passing" this year on your website. (please provide link? =) From speaking with you, and seeing your inclusion of Mexican-American characters in your debut, it's clear that diversity matters to you in your writing. It can be such a challenge to tackle, and I hear over and over from writers that they are so afraid to get it wrong. Could you talk a little bit about your thoughts on being more inclusive in your own writing?

Natalie: Blog Post: When You Don't Look "Right."

I'm glad you enjoyed that post! It was very scary to write, and I worried people would take it poorly. But everyone was so kind and understanding about it—this has given me courage to be more open about it and my feelings on diversity. Because it is an important issue to me.

I have written outside my race many times over the 15 or so novels I've drafted, and at this point I feel pretty comfortable with it because I've done a lot of research and have a lot of personal experience and now a lot of practice. But there was a time I was very scared about it, in particular when I was writing my first non-white main character, Toshiro. He was a 1st generation Japanese-American living in San Francisco. He also happened to be a ninja.

I was terrified to do it "wrong," first and foremost. But I was also scared to be confronted about it, because why did I, as a white female, feel qualified to right outside my race/gender? (And I actually was confronted about this and asked that very question quite aggressively, but that is a story for another time.) Well, I didn't exactly feel qualified, honestly, but I ultimately came to a very personal conclusion: I would rather TRY to be inclusive and get accused of doing it wrong, than to be accused of not including diversity at all. That was my decision, and I've done my best to stand by it since then.

Along with having my own experiences being surrounded by diversity (grew up in Bay Area) and technically being Polynesian (though not-so-much in appearance), I have done a butt load of research. And I will openly admit to being more comfortable with races I have more experience with. Of all the diversity I write, I tend to write the most Asian, Latino, Indian, and Pacific Islander characters. I have not only grown up around these cultures, but I have also studied the most about them. Even with all of my knowledge, I still double check myself by asking people from the culture I am representing to read my work. Because I really do care about representing as properly as I can.

People often ask me how I approach writing a character outside my race, and the answer is this: I approach all characters the same way—as human beings first and foremost. All humans, no matter the culture, want to be happy, to be loved, to feel connected, to be successful. I start here when I build characters, because this is the core. Then I build out—motivation, interests, beliefs, goals, family, gender, orientation, race, etc. When you see your characters as human first, it's much easier to avoid stereotype, I believe.

And...now I will stop because that was a very long answer, heh.

Cindy: As an author who does care greatly about bringing more diversity and inclusiveness into young adult books, I really appreciate your adding to the dialogue as well as writing the characters. You're a wonderful artist. How does this creative interest differ from writing? Do you find it complements your prose somehow?

Natalie: Originally, writing and drawing differed very little for me. They were both hobbies, both creative outlets that made me happy. Now that writing has become my job, I feel like there are some differences. Drawing is now a pleasure and relaxation activity that I guard fiercely. Many people have told me I should sell my art, but selling my words has taken a lot of the, er, enjoyment out of writing. Well, I'm not sure that's the right way to explain it. I still love to write, but because it's my profession I take it very seriously. Whereas art I do purely as enjoyment and I don't worry about how it'll be received—it's just for fun.

That said, I do feel like my drawing and writing compliment each other! I've been doing both since I was a kid, and even now as I write I often picture my characters as cartoons instead of real people. That's why it's hard to "cast" my books because I don't see actors. I see anime! Haha. I think my immersion in anime and cartooning in general has impacted my writing a lot; my style tends to be "episodic" as if you were watching a show, complete with commercial breaks.

Cindy: I know exactly what you mean about keeping our art just art--rather than turning it into a business. Tell us about what you're working on and what we can see from you, book wise, in the future!

Natalie: I just finished the first big edit on TRANSPARENT's sequel! It's called BLINDSIDED, and it's out January 2014. I also have another novel out April 15th, 2014 called HOUSE OF IVY & SORROW. Now that all my contracted work is almost finished, I'm hoping to go on submission with a contemporary novel soon, and I'm on the writing team for an amazing cRPG called Torment: Tides Of Numenera, out 2015.

So I'm keeping myself busy.

Cindy: I can't wait to read them both! And last but not least, what is your favorite pastry?

Natalie: Arg, Cindy, you know how much I like food! How can I choose a favorite anything? Hmm, I love all sweets, but I am a professed cupcake fan. And dark chocolate anything will get me. Also, it's pretty hard to beat a good old chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. Oh, the gooey goodness.

Cindy: I'm hungry now! Thank you so much for taking the time to join us at the Enchanted Inkpot, Natalie!

To find out more about Natalie and her books, visit her website:  http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/

TRANSPARENT GIVEAWAY:

Simply comment to enter. Tweeting, blogging, tumblr'ing, facebook statusing and linking directly to this interview will garner extra entries each. Followers of the Enchanted Inkpot also receive an extra entry. Please provide links in comment section to receive extra entries. I will select a random winner on Monday, 8/12 and post winner at the top of this entry. OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Good luck!


Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in April 2011. Her first published short story is featured in Diverse Energies, a multicultural YA dystopian anthology from Tu Books (October 2012). Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade. Visit her website at www.cindypon.com.

An Interview with National Book Award Winner, Inkie Will Alexander

An Interview with Will Alexander

by Nancy Holder

William Alexander won the National Book Award for his debut novel, Goblin Secrets, and the Earphones Award for his narration of the audiobook. His second novel, Ghoulish Song, just came out. So did the audiobook. He narrated that one, too. 

I'm so excited to interview my fellow Inkie Will about his work, and have a chance to talk about Ghoulish Song, which I loved every bit as much as Goblin Secrets. I enjoyed the mystery and adventure in both books, the lush writing, and the nods to the theater. And I'm really happy to hear that he's got more books in the works! 

Here's our interview: 

NH: First of all, congratulations on winning the National Book Award for your first novel, Goblin Secrets. Can you tell us a little bit about what it felt like to win it? 

WA:Hiccup-inducing, muppet-flailing, astonished terror and joy.

NH: Has winning the National Book Award changed your life in any fundamental ways?

WA: The day-to-day stuff hasn't changed. I have two very small children, and neither one of them is easily impressed. My toddler is starting to appreciate my juggling skills, at least, but not so much the literary honors. And I'm still writing the books that I planned to write next anyway, so that bit hasn't changed either. 

On the other hand, yes, everything is different. I get to feel like an author rather than someone indulging in a goblin-haunted hobby. This is a tremendous relief. 

NH: You have created a rich, theatrical world in which masks, music, and theater are woven into exciting and mysterious fairytale-like adventures for your young protagonists. Can you talk about how the Zombay “universe” came into being? 

WA: My sense of world-building is messy and mostly intuitive. Lots of separate interests and questions glommed together in the back of my brain when I wasn't really looking, and eventually found expression in Zombay. 

The city itself began with the bridge: a great big span of stone and metal where artists, musicians, changelings, and former pirates live suspended between two very different sides of the city. The Fiddleway Bridge is a place set apart, and it's the only thing holding Zombay together. Both books bring their young protagonists to the Fiddleway.

NH: Ghoulish Song is described as a “companion” to Goblin Secrets. Can you tell us what that means? Is it possible to read one without the other? Is there an order in which they should be read? 

WA: It means that the two books tell separate stories that take place at the same time, in the same city, with several of the same supporting characters. If you do read both then you'll notice each one unfolding in the background of the other. But you can start with either. Hopefully the new book offers some of the same satisfactions that a sequel would have given, like recognizing familiar characters.

I wanted to capture my own sense of city living, with so many different lives and stories in constant overlap. And I wanted to give Kaile her own novel.

NH: Ghoulish Song is a story about a girl and her shadow. Other notable “doubles” in fantasy include J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. And of course lots of people have grown up having an invisible friend. What drew you to this theme of twinning? 

WA: This is probably Ursula Le Guin's fault. Plenty of people lost their shadows in my childhood entertainments--Peter Pan, that guy in the Hans Christian Anderson story, Link in The Legend of Zelda--but Sparrowhawk's shadow in A Wizard of Earthsea haunted me most. 

Le Guin's essay "The Child and the Shadow," from her classic collection The Language of the Night, unpacks shadow imagery as a Jungian archetype. (Such archetypes are very useful for writers, whether or not Jung was actually right about anything.) She describes antagonistic shadow-characters as abject parts of ourselves rather than evil twins; everything we would rather set aside and ignore gets hidden away in our shadows. The real challenge isn't defeating your shadow but reconciling yourself to it. This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine. 

For more stories about a young girl losing and contending with her separate shadow I very much recommend Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland books. 

Did I answer the question? Not really. I just gave you a list of reading material that I find delicious. That'll have to do. We work with what we're given. And my reasons for running with any theme are always shadowy, associative, and unconscious, so I really don't have a better answer. 

NH: What surprised you most while you were writing Ghoulish Song?

WA: The Reliquarian surprised me. She's a sort of museum curator in the Northside Reliquary, a place dedicated to collecting bones of every kind. She said and did several things that I didn't expect… 

NH: What was your favorite part about writing Ghoulish Song, and what was your least favorite?

WA: Finishing it. That's my answer to both questions. The finishing touches felt like a very satisfying loss. 

NH: Instead of chapters, Goblin Secrets was organized into acts and scenes, while Ghoulish Song was told in verses. What’s next?

WA: I'll probably have to blend the two and write something operatic. That was a joke. It was supposed to be a joke, but now it's got me thinking. Hmm. 

NH: You have planted your flag firmly in the arts—theater, music, and literature. Did anyone ever try to steer you toward more pragmatic interests? 

WA: Science is strong in my family, so I might have become some flavor of scientist--but science education isn't really designed to reward curiosity, not once you get past a certain point. Instead it brutalizes students by forcing them to memorize organic chem compounds. Only a few survive beyond the introductory college courses, and they have a long slog ahead before they'll get to indulge in basic curiosity and wonder. Or so I'm told. If true, it's a terrible loss. And it might explain why many of our best minds went into banking (rather than say, NASA), got bored, and destroyed the word economy in their boredom. They might have caused less damage as mad scientists. 

NA: What are you working on now?

WA: Science Fiction! As a kid I always figured I would write SF someday, and the time has finally come. The book is called Ambassador, and it's about a kid named Gabe Fuentes who becomes the representative of our world. Meanwhile his parents are getting deported (from our country, not from our world). 

After Ambassador I plan to write a proper sequel to both Goblin Secrets and Ghoulish Song called The Fiddleway Siege. 

NH: Is there anything you’d like to say to the Enchanted Inkpot community, and those who read our blog? 

WA: Read widely and wildly. Stretch your sense of the possible by first enjoying impossibilities. Don't skimp on the chocolate. 

Nancy Holder is a proud member of The Enchanted Inkpot. She has a short story in Shards and Ashes, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong, from HarperCollins 

Interview with Anna Staniszewski: My Epic Fairy Tale Fail

If you've ever been plagued waiting for that second book to come out in a series that captured your heart, I sympathize. Some say it's the waiting makes it sweeter, but I think of it more as torturous agony waiting to see the friends you miss most after a long, cruelly-enforced vacation. These are the friends closest to our hearts, the ones who made us laugh and care and took us on the wildest adventures once upon a time and we just can't wait for more! So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that Anna Staniszewski's sequel to My Very Unfairy Tale Life, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail was due out and I got the chance to interview her for her launch at the Enchanted Inkpot!

EPIC FAIRY TALE WIN!

  In an age of teen angst and dark tales, your characters are light and fresh and funny. How did you come up with hilarious characters such as Anthony the Gnome and Sir Knight?

From the start, the UnFairy Tale series was meant to be playful and funny. In My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, Jenny visits the Land of Tales which is the place where all fairy tales originated. I really wanted to play with the expectations we have of fairy tales. For example, a fairy tale land must have a brave knight: thus, the overly-heroic Sir Knight was born. I exaggerated his need to rescue damsels in distress until it became completely ridiculous (picture him saving fair maidens from swooping pigeons). I had a lot of fun weaving in fairy tale elements and then twisting them until they were wacky and over-the-top.

I'm all for wacky and over-the-top and this book delivers! I am also a huge fan of fairy tales and mythology and the Land of Tales is where, in your world, it all began. It's true that many cultures share remarkably similar stories, which fairy tale is your cross-cultural favorite?  

A fairy tale that I only discovered as an adult was "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." It's a beautiful tale that's reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, but in it, the heroine must go on a quest to rescue the prince (instead of the other way around). I think this tale was in my brain when I began working on the first book in the My Very UnFairy Tale series. I really wanted the main character, Jenny, to be the kind of girl who wouldn't hesitate to go rescue the prince. 

Or one of her friends. If there's one central theme in this book, it's friendship. I love the friendship between Trish, Melissa and Jenny and the loyalty of Princess Nartha, Aletha and Sir Knight. Do you think this lies at the heart of the best fairy tales?

Oh good question. In the more traditional recorded tales (the Grimms', etc) the characters don't have a lot of psychology to them. We get to know them purely through their actions, so on the surface, it doesn't seem like friendship is a huge part of the story. Yet, a big theme in many fairy tales in sacrifice, which I think goes right along with the idea of friendship. Maybe that's part of why fairy tales continue to feel relevant, because ultimately they focus less on magic and more on relationships.   

Yes! And, just like in reality, some "relationships" are saner than others. Your witch, Ilda, is a "crazy with a capital Q" teacher; so who was the craziest teacher you had in real life?

I won't name any names, but I had a science teacher who used to flex in front of the whole class while he was lecturing. He'd literally point at the board and flex his muscles, body-builder style. I don't know if he did it on purpose, but it was completely distracting and pretty disturbing.  

HAHA! (and Yikes!) Last question: Witch's cottage or store-bought goodie, what is your favorite flavor of Jelly Belly?

Definitely watermelon. For some reason, I'm a total sucker for fake watermelon flavor.

Fake watermelon is an epic win! And so is My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, coming March 1st.

Thanks, Anna!

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was named the 2006-2007 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of the 2009 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Currently, Anna lives outside of Boston with her husband and their adopted black Labrador, Emma. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. Her first novel, My Very Unfairy Tale Life, was released by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky in November, 2011. The sequel, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, is coming March 1, 2013. Visit her at www.annastan.com.

What We've Learned About Writing Fantasy

As I've been chipping away at the third book in my Unfairy Tale series, I've been reflecting on how much I've learned about writing fantasy over the years. The main thing I keep coming back to: Be patient with your story. The characters, plot, world, etc. might feel flimsy at first, but every round of revisions will make them stronger. 

That's my bit of wisdom. Let's hear what some other Inkies have to say.

Hilari Bell's 3 rules for writing about magic:

1st Rule: Magic must cause more problems for your characters than it solves. 

The title of the writing tip in which this appears is: Taking Away the Easy Button--'nuff said.

Corollary 1 of Bell's first rule: If the climax of your novel is a magical duel, it better be something besides magic that lets the hero win.

Corollary 2 of Bell's first rule: Don't make your magic so powerful that there's no excuse for the hero not to use it to solve his problems.

2nd Rule: Magic can't happen offstage.

Which not only means that the POV character can't just shut her eyes while magic is happening, it means that the author has to describe it in detail.

3rd Rule: All characters in your novel must react to magic in the way that a real person in that situation would.

Because the way to make your reader believe in the unbelievable is not to have the POV character accept it, but to have the POV character doubt it, and have it proven to him.

Dawn Metcalf's three magical tips: 

1) Read, read, read & write, write, write. (True of all genres, but still!)

2) Believe it. If you, the author, believe in yourself and your world and could answer any question that might come up in order to explain how everything works, then that will read true on the page.

3) Don't go with Idea #1. Your first idea lights the spark, but it's usually the easiest idea, the one that floats on the surface of your thoughts. Keep pushing, delve deeper, ask hard (and often contradictory/devil's advocate) questions in order to have what Terry Pratchett's witches might call Second Thoughts and Third Thoughts about your idea. It's amazing how it will gain width and breadth and spread in directions you never would have imagined. That is it's own kind of magic!

Lisa Gail Green's short but sweet advice:

1. Always write about what excites/interests you the most.

2. Write what scares you. Let go of your inner editor at least for the first draft.

3. READ.

Erin Cashman's writing encouragement:

1. Allow yourself a lot of imagination time. Take walks, turn off the radio if you're driving alone . . . really let the What ifs play out in your head. Have the courage to take a big leap of faith.

2. Don't talk yourself out of something because you're afraid it seems stupid. When I first wrote the scene when my main character communicated with a hawk I worried it seemed cheesy. It ended up being my editor's and my agent's favorite part of the book.

3. If a character has a power or gift, it should feel authentic to that character. Don't just put it in as a plot device. Think about what it would be like to be him or her, and write accordingly.

4. Have fun and have faith!

Jennifer Nielsen's words of wisdom:

I've learned that magic has to have rules. As a beginning writer, I looked at magic as the er, "magical solution" to any sticky situation in which my characters might find themselves. Now I understand that within any world that I create, there must be strict definitions for what magic can and cannot do, where it originates from, who can and cannot use it, and whether there is a price for its use. Defining those rules gives structure and authenticity to a fantasy story.

Okay, now it's your turn! What's the biggest thing you've learned, as a reader or a writer, about fantasy?

Deadwood by Kell Andrews

CONGRATS TO TINA for winning a copy of DEADWOOD!
 
There’s something evil in Deadwood Park.

Martin Cruz hates his rotten new town. Then he gets a message from a tree telling him it’s cursed — and so is he. It’s not just any tree. It’s the Spirit Tree, the ancient beech the high school football team carves to commemorate the home opener. And every year they lose.

But the curse is no game, and it gets worse. Businesses fail. Trees topple like dominos. Sinkholes open up in the streets, swallowing cars and buildings. Even people begin to fade, drained of life.

Martin teams up with know-it-all soccer star Hannah Vaughan. Together they must heal the tree, or be stuck in Deadwood Park at the mercy of the psycho who cursed it.

cindy: It's my pleasure to have Kell Andrews join us at the Enchanted Inkpot today! Your middle grade debut DEADWOOD is unlike any other fantasy I've read before, and I enjoyed it very much. I liked the idea of old magic instilled in nature and the trees. What inspired the root of your novel? Was it based on any myth or folklore at all, or perhaps even a tree in real life? (I just noticed my "root" pun. Wasn't intended, ha!)

kell: People all over the world have believed that plants have spirits. I wondered why, and that's why I created a tree mythology from a science fiction perspective. My reference manual was the 1973 alternative science bestseller, The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, which explores the idea of plant sentience. This was the book popularized the 1970s idea that you should talk to your plants to keep them healthy. Most of the evidence in the book is actually pseudoscience, but the David Attenborough 1995 BBC/Turner Broadcasting mini The Private Life of Plants is more scientifically rigorous and covers related territory about plant survival mechanisms. I drew on the companion book too. 

Then, from that starting point of plant ecology and botany, I tied in some of the culturally ubiquitous myths about tree beings of all kinds.

cindy: I remember Prince Charles saying he talked to his plants. And a television show that displayed plants growing toward a speaker that played classical music and away from one that played rock (or something noisy and "dissonant"). ha! A fascinating area of study, indeed. I really appreciated the relationships you created in your novel--from the sibling friendships between Hannah and her older brothers, to the uncertain and awkward bond between Hannah and Martin. Even that between Hannah and Martin and the Spirit Tree. Were these interplays something you consciously wanted to focus on (family and friendship) or did they arise on their own in your writing?

kell: It was important to me to put both Hannah and Martin in strong, loving families. When I first planned the novel, Hannah had five older brothers, but even I got confused, so I narrowed it down to two. And Martin might living with his cold, demanding aunt, but only because his mother has been deployed to Afghanistan. She still shows up as an influential character in the novel, even if just by Skype and instant message.

And of course the relationship between Hannah and Martin is central -- neither of them is the person the other expected, but each was the friend that the other needed at that time. It just takes them a while to figure it out -- there are so many social pressures at that age, and nobody is really sure of themselves, even when they look confident to others.

cindy: Whoa on the five older brothers! I think the two she had stood out well individually. And I loved your emphasis on family. That came across. I also noted and appreciated your inclusiveness of diverse characters in the novel--was this a conscious choice or something that came naturally?

kell: The town where DEADWOOD takes place is an important part of the story, and it's a diverse place, like communities I based it on and where I've always lived. Hannah is a white Anglo and Martin is Puerto Rican. I'm white, so I was nervous about doing Martin's character justice. I chickened out originally and made his mother and grandmother, who raised him together, white, while only his father was Puerto Rican. But although Martin's ethnic background isn't central to the progression of the plot, I realized it IS central to Martin himself. He asserted himself and his identity, so I changed his heritage to fit. I found that he held that cultural identity very close, reflective of his feelings for his mother and grandmother, and I hope it works.

cindy: I truly do believe in staying true to your characters and their stories. I'm glad Martin spoke up. =) Could you share with us a little about your process in writing DEADWOOD as well as your journey to publication?

kell: I wrote DEADWOOD while my former agent was subbing an earlier middle-grade novel. That one didn't sell, and I ended up on my own again. I queried agents with DEADWOOD, but it didn't work out. Still, I had faith in the story and it has some timely elements, so I didn't want to shelve it. I found Pugalicious Press, which has been a good fit. And now I have a new agent for my subsequent work.

cindy: It is a fabulous debut--well written, entertaining, thought-provoking and original! Congrats to you! And last but never least, what is your favorite pastry?

kell: Do maple walnut scones count? Because yum.

cindy: Oh scones count for sure!! Great choice! And thanks so much for stopping by the Enchanted Inkpot! To learn more about kell, visit her tumblr here!

Deadwood giveaway!

I will be giving away my copy of Deadwood to one lucky winner! Simply comment in this post to enter. +1 entry if you are a follower of our blog. +1 if you tweet or fb status, etc, with a link to this post and mention of Deadwood giveaway. I will pick a winner on Wednesday, 1/16 and post winner name at the top of this entry. Good luck! (Open to US mailing addresses.)

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in April 2011. Her first published short story is featured in Diverse Energies, a multicultural YA dystopian anthology from Tu Books (October 2012). Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade. Visit her website at www.cindypon.com.