Interview with William Alexander, Author of GOBLIN SECRETS

1. Goblin Secrets is a wonderful fantastical journey about clockworks and witchworks, and lots of magic in between. What inspired you to write the story of Rownie, which is Rowan made small?

Many thanks! One of the earliest inspirations for the book was my collection of theatrical ghost stories. I went around to all of the actors and techies and directors that I knew, and asked for their best tales and anecdotes of backstage oddness. Several of those tales became part of Rownie's story; they helped me create the goblin troupe and the masks that sometimes misbehave.

2. How would you describe Goblin Secrets?

A book about a boy who loses his home and helps build another one.

3. What was the best part about writing Goblin Secrets?

Listening to the characters is always the best part. Dialogue always comes first when I write, and I loved writing dialogue for the goblin actors—especially Essa and Thomas. And Semele. All of them, really. And I find that the most unsettling thing about Graba is the rhythm of her voice.

4. What was the most surprising part?

Graba—Rownie's adoptive grandmother—always surprised me. She's based in part on Baba Yaga, one of the most rich and ambivalent characters in any folktale tradition. Graba might help you, if she feels inclined to help you. She might eat you instead. There's no way to know beforehand whether she'll decide to be your ally or the worst enemy you could possibly have. I love that ambiguity, but it made her one of the least cooperative or predictable members of my cast. Graba does whatever Graba wants.

5. How else did you background as a folklorist come into play?

The democratic sense of magic in Zombay comes out of that background. Any charm or curse might stick, if well-spoken. And my time as a folklore student also helped me create my goblins and changelings. People all over the world have imagined themselves surrounded by small and mischievous folk—often with funny ears.

Like I said last week in another Inkpot post, the idea that goblins used to be children has stuck with me a long while. I've always wondered how that transformation actually happened. Rownie wonders the same thing. Goblin Secrets doesn't actually answer that question, though. Not yet. It's still a secret.

Anyway, goblins steal children. Everybody knows that. But my goblins are the children they steal.

6. Do you think participating in the arts can change people?

Yes, definitely, absolutely, yes. And I'm sure that this is a good thing, but not everyone agrees. The arts in general—and fantasy in particular—is constantly accused of being both frivolous and dangerous. Theatrical arts were outlawed in England pretty soon after Shakespeare's day, and for both reasons: because they were silly, and because they were frightening. Both are true, of course. This stuff is silly. And fun. And frightening. And afterwards you might not be the same.

7. What kinds of "essential information" did your mask maker friends impart about their art for this book?

Jeff Semmerling and Bidou Yamaguchi were both very generous with their knowledge and time. We chatted about masks for hours. Jeff works with leather in carnival traditions, and he told me tales of Mardi Gras and theatrical anthropology. Rownie's long walk with the fox mask came from that conversation.

Bidou is a master of the Hōshō school of Noh mask carving in Japan. Some of the masks described in Goblin Secrets are based on Noh masks, carved in wood and showing different facial expressions when tilted in different directions. And the unChanged Child mask is based on Ko-Omote, the first Noh character a carver learns—and the very last to be mastered.

I've got several masks hanging on my wall at home, including a fox mask by Jeff and an unfinished Ko-Omote by Bidou.

8. What else would you like to tells us about Goblin Secrets?

That I love the cover! I've heard horror stories about cover illustrations, and how often they misrepresent the book trapped between them, so I braced myself for disappointment. But Alexander Jansson's work is gorgeous and haunting, and the cover of Goblin Secrets actually looks like the book that it is. Whew! (Thanks to everyone at McElderry Books who made the cover happen.)

9. Will you be returning to Zombay, the setting for Goblin Secrets?

Definitely. That place isn't done with me yet. The next Zombay book is about music and shadows. It runs parallel to this one, sharing a few scenes and characters but otherwise unfolding in different parts of the city. Zombay is a big place. Cities are always full of different stories unfolding at once.

10. What's next for you?

Next I will focus on secret projects which I cannot yet reveal to the world. And help my toddling son learn how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on his ukelele. And I need to choose a title for the second Zombay book. Titles are hard.

11. Is there anything you'd like to say to readers?

Keep reading! Read ravenously. The way things are isn't the only way that they could be, and spending time in imaginary places is one of the very best ways to figure that out.

Here are the links to the two mask makers who helped with William's research, as well as his cover artist:

Bidou Yamaguchi

http://bidou-yamaguchi.com/

Jeff Semmerling

http://bidou-yamaguchi.com/

Alexander Jansson

http://www.alexanderjansson.com/

--Nancy Holder

First Line Mix & Match - with prizes!

Update: We have a winner - the prize goes to SilentPages! But everyone else should totally play just for fun.

Below are five first lines, and five books. Can you match each first line with the book it belongs to? The first person to match them all correctly will get a signed copy of the book of their choice!

(And we're on the honor system - no looking them up! You can do it from memory or try to figure it out. Some of these are easy ones... next time, we might make it a bit more challenging...)

Ready... set...

THE FIRST LINES:

1. "Consuela wrestled with an armload of jeans, trying to catch the hangers on insufficient hooks."

2. "She knew every inch of the forest, every narrow path that twisted and wound its way beneath the silver branches."

3. "I awoke tied to a chair.”

4. "The eunuchs said the windows were ceiling height to allow the concubines their privacy, but Jin Lian knew it was also a way to keep them trapped."

5. "Last June, my parents jumped off a roof because of a pinky ring."

THE BOOKS:

Go!

Goblins

Fantastical literature has given us many different versions of the roguish goblin, from Christina Rossetti's seductive fruit mongers to J.R.R. Tolkien's violent and villainous fighters, from the bankers of Gringotts to the glass-toothed critters chronicled by Spiderwick.

The following Inkies have all written books about goblins, and this is what they have to say:

Jennifer Nielsen

What a fun thing to be able to compare my goblins with those of other Inkies! The goblins in my books are from The Underworld Chronicles and are primarily in Book 1, Elliot and the Goblin War. This book tells the story of how 11-year-old Elliot Penster becomes king of the brownies and accidentally launches an interspecies war with the goblins.

One of the wonderful things about using goblins as characters is that there is a lot of latitude in the “classic definition” of what a goblin should be. Generally speaking, a goblin is a twisted sort of fairy: smaller in size and grotesque in appearance. They’re not necessarily evil, but they are lazy, disorderly, and mean. They also tend to be troublemakers to humans, but can be appeased if the family leaves food out for them.

These were exactly the qualities I wanted as antagonists for Elliot and the Goblin War, but I did make some changes so that these goblins would be unique to this series.

Primarily, I wanted to give the goblins some magical abilities that would make them even more threatening to Elliot. In particular, they have two abilities. The first is they can scare other creatures to death. If Elliot is lucky, he’ll get away from a goblin attack only having been scared half to death.

The second goblin ability is in blowing things up. This is a definite departure from traditional mythology, but I added it because…well, it was funny.

As the series progresses, the goblins definitely evolve as characters and eventually learn to get along with Elliot. To be sure, they were some of the most fun mythological characters I got to play with throughout the stories.

Cover art by Gideon Kendall

Hilari Bell

I have to confess, I’m not really sure what a “classic” goblin is. My vague, personal definition is a small, not particularly pretty humanoid, with some form of magic. And more important than any of the above; not particularly good, either. If not outright evil, goblins should at least be mischievous. So when I wanted small, mischievous, neither good nor evil creatures to torment my heroine, befriend her, and ultimately be championed by her—well, goblins sounded like a good fit.

Of course, then I had to evolve my goblins to suit my story, with differing magical powers that defined what types of goblin they were, and a social order built on equal trades, with a horror of being indebted to anyone because that left you unequal, always owing the person you were indebted to. Though they soften this rule for friends and family, so that when favors were done for those close to you only a token needed to be paid in exchange. And that token could be anything—a pinecone, a pretty pebble, a button. Which is why, after my heroine became the general of the goblin’s army, she always wore a vest covered with loosely stitched buttons.

Cover art by Cliff Neilsen

William Alexander

The idea that goblins used to be human, and that they used to be children, has always stuck with me. I'm pretty sure that I first absorbed this piece of goblin lore from George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin, and David Bowie later reinforced it when he kidnapped a potential new goblin babe in Labyrinth. Wherever I got it, I still find it haunting. Goblins are the vampires and werewolves of childhood. They are the monsters that you might become.

My own goblins are likewise small humans transformed. Everyone knows that they steal children, but not everyone realizes that they are the children that they steal. They are also traveling actors, which fits the mischievous temperament that goblins always seem to have. My hero runs off with this theatrical goblin troupe, and he has to decide whether or not he can possibly trust them.

Cover art by Alexander Jansson

Far-Reaching Shamlessness

There's a lot of exciting news this week.  Um, I even have some for a change.  But more on that later...

New on shelves this week, Ellen Booraem's SMALL PERSONS WITH WINGS is out in paperback, with a slightly modified cover. (But still with sparkles!). Official pub date was Feb 16. If you haven't gotten a chance to read this fantastic fairy novel, GET ON IT!

We're lucky here in the Inkpot to have some amazingly talented authors, and we always love it when one of them earns the recognition they deserve.  Grace Lin is just one example.  Her award-winning middle grade fantasy WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON is #26 on Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine's "100 Greatest Books for Kids."  She's in amazing company, too.  SO COOL!!!!

Grace isn't the only Inkie getting recognition. Nancy Holder's horror novel THE SCREAMING SEASON, is a Bram Stoker Award nominee. Winners will be announced at the World Horror Convention. How awesome is that??? Meanwhile, she sold a piece to ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: FIGHT BACK!, the second in a trilogy of mosaic novels about a zombie pandemic, edited by Stephen Jones.

And not to be outdone, William Alexander's GOBLIN SECRETS received a starred review from Kirkus this week:

Alexander’s world, blending steampunk and witchy magic, is impressively convincing and evocative in its oddities. Though highly textured, it’s tightly woven and reassuringly seamless.

The result is wryly humorous and bearably yet excitingly menacing: Even while much is left unexplained, Rownie’s triumph is both gripping and tantalizing.

Steampunk goblins? WIN!


I have a review to share as well! POSSESS got a fabulous review in the School Library Journal's March issue, that called it a "fantastic YA debut":

This tale of possession, duplicity, angels, and demons is set in foggy San Francisco and is a wonderful addition to the field of paranormal romance. It's also a mystery and a tale of teenage outcasts and bullies, and loss of a parent. While some of the story is predictable, the humor and occasional twists will keep fans of the genre hooked and wanting to finish this book in one sitting.

*dances*

Which leads to the last piece of shamelessness for this week...

I was finally able to reveal my cover for TEN this week! To celebrate, there's a huge contest going on at Me, My Shelf and I - an online scavenger hunt for ten clues (see what I did there???) and the grand prize is a signed, annotated copy of the unbound galley of TEN!

Are you ready for the cover?

And yes, I totally freaking LOVE it!  :)

Interview with Sybil Nelson, Author of the Priscilla the Great Series

If you haven't already done it, check out the high-action superpower fantasy series, Priscilla the Great. Think The Incredibles meets Kim Possible, with some Alex Rider thrown in for good measure. Please welcome the rather amazing Sybil Nelson to The Enchanted Inkpot!

Okay, first of all, tell us a little about your nice, strong action heroine, Priscilla the Great, and her series.

Priscilla the Great [Book One] is about a quirky, spunky, tomboyish twelve-year-old girl who one day discovers she can shoot fire out of her fingers. A couple of things that set apart this book from your average superhero books are the humor and the family element. Priscilla has a hilarious sense of humor and a quick wit. She often gets herself into outrageous situations. Throughout the novel she also grows closer to her family and they all learn to appreciate each other a little more.

Then there's you—writing multiple books as Leslie Dubois and Sybil Nelson, working on a Ph.D. in Biostatistics... please explain your seriously underachieving life!

I’ve always been somewhat of an overachiever and I have such diverse interests that I can’t limit myself to one thing. I won’t even get into my musical talents. I’m currently practicing for a piano performance.

I have to ask a time-honored question: How did you come up with the idea for the Priscilla the Great books?

Do you want the real answer or what I tell everyone? I’ll give you both and let you choose... [Editor's Note: Sybil agreed to share both of these answers!]

Truth: Due to a change in birth control, I ended up having my period for a month straight. I was so annoyed and wished that my period could bring me something besides cramps and chocolate cravings. I thought it would be cool if my period could also bring me superpowers. So I got the idea for a girl who got superpowers on her first period. I wrote the entire book in less than 30 days. When HarperCollins showed interest in the book, The Adventures of PMS Girl, they convinced me to get rid of the period concept and to change the book to Priscilla the Great. After eight months of editing with them, they ultimately rejected the book. It was later picked up by WorldMaker Media and is now published with Little Prince Publishing.

What I tell everyone: I really wanted there to be a book that triumphed the power of being a girl. There are lots of great action books for boys, but not so many for girls. I used to love reading comic books as a kid and I am addicted to the X-Men. I thought there needed to be a superhero book for girls that are like me when I was young.

Anyway, once I had the concept down, on came Priscilla’s personality. I was a high school teacher while I wrote this book and Priscilla is a combination two of my students, Ellen and Helen. (The rhyming of their names is purely coincidental). Helen would come to class every day with a different story of something ridiculous that had happened to her. I still remember having to delay class after she told me she had spent the whole day with her hands in her armpits because she shaved without shaving lotion and it was still burning her. I was laughing too hard to teach. Then there’s Ellen with her red hair and freckles. I always thought she was completely adorable, so I modeled Priscilla after her.

Thirteen is a tough age, and I like how you make that age come to life with Priscilla. Do you draw on memories of your own middle school days to write about her?

Not really, actually. My nose was almost completely stuck in a book during that time period. I think I more closely resemble Priscilla’s friend Tai.

Team Kyle or Team Marco? Or should we be watching out for Team Ian? Can you tell us a little more about Priscilla's budding love life?

Personally, Kyle is my favorite. He’s sweet and fun and totally into Priscilla. And while Marco does have that brooding, strong, silent type thing going on, I’m not sure he’s spirited enough to keep up with Priscilla. As for Ian, he’s just a thorn in Priscilla’s side. He even annoys me and I created him.

It is interesting to note that Marco will be the first character in the Priscilla universe to get a spin-off. I’m already working on Dark Marco, which tells of Marco’s life before he met Priscilla.

You've got a kind of mad scientist thing going with these books, and of course, you are obviously a science person. What part does your science background play as you write the series?

My science background has a lot more to do with these books than you might think. I can’t count the times I’ve been sitting in a lecture or at a conference and come up with an idea for the book based on actual science. Of course, I switch it up and make it fit a middle school book and a lot of it is completely out of my imagination, but real science definitely inspires what I create. The entire fifth book of the series, The Time Traveling Bullet, is based on these actual bullets that can bend around objects at the nano level. After listening to what Airy Bullets could do, I outlined the major plot development for that book.

How did you choose Priscilla's superpowers?

I write really fast and I write whatever comes to me. I originally wrote the book in less than 30 days and I just randomly picked a power as I needed it and they stuck. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t all powerful, though. That’s just boring. She has to have some weaknesses. So while most of the other Specimens have telepathy and super speed, Priscilla doesn’t.

These books are action-packed, plus you include pop culture references. Are you a fan of action movie or thrillers? Tell us about your cultural influences.

I am huge X-Men fan. And I love action movies. Literally, all it takes to entertain me in a movie is a few explosions. Add in a car chase or two and a few fight scenes and I am one happy camper. I am also a fan of pop music. I love pop music more than Priscilla does. I used to hide that fact, but I don’t care anymore. I love Justin Bieber and I don’t care who knows it! I also love Justin Timberlake, Usher, Big Time Rush, Kelly Clarkson, Ke$ha, Jason Mraz, Ludacris, Eric Hutchinson, PussyCat Dolls, etc. But for some reason I can’t stand Katy Perry or Rihanna. Ugh.

Being book people, we also need to know what you like to read. What were your favorite books when you were a kid? What about now?

I read so much as a kid I wouldn’t be able to pick a favorite. I do distinctly remember going through reading phases. I had a comic book phase, a romance phase, a Babysitter’s Club type book phase etc. I remember in high school going through a British Literature phase. All I read for a year was Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, the Bronte sisters, and Shakespeare. I think that phase has stuck a little because I’m completely addicted to historical fiction. I don’t know why, but I love reading about people who lived hundreds of years ago. Phillipa Gregory is one of my favorite authors right now. I also love to read contemporary Young Adult novels.

There's been a lot of talk in the past year or two about representations of minority characters in children's literature, both on book jackets and inside the books. As a black woman who has written books with white, black, and Latina main characters, can you give us a few thoughts on race in MG/YA fiction?

I could probably write a book just on this topic alone. But I’ll try to keep my thoughts short.

In a study by Andrew Weaver from the University of Indiana, he took made-up movie synopses and created six different movie posters, one with an all-white cast, one with an-all black cast, and several with different combinations. He found that white participants were more likely to want to see the movie with the all-white cast no matter what the plot was. It wasn’t a matter of racism, just a matter of them feeling that the movies with the black cast weren’t intended for them. I feel the same can be said about books. I think the publishing industry agrees.

Here is a great article by Justin Larbalestier about the subject. Her book Liar is about a black girl named Micah. But when Bloomsbury published it, they put a white girl on the cover. The publishing industry believes that books with black people on the cover do not sell. In fact, some stores and libraries won’t even stock them. If they do, they are relegated to an entirely different section. When I was a teenager, I used to hate having to go to a different part of the library to find books with people that looked like me. It felt like literary segregation. I became a writer because I wanted there to be stories that I liked to read that featured people of many cultures.

The reason why books and movies with black people don’t sell is because they don’t get the marketing power behind them that other movies and books do. I mean, white movies and books that aren’t marketed well don’t sell either. There is no difference. And until the publishing industry decides to invest in books with multicultural characters, the issue will persist.

Notice how I didn’t mention the music industry in the above rant. I don’t think Columbia Records is worried about what race of people is going to buy the next Beyonce song. In the music industry, I think race actually matters less. It’s not uncommon to see white suburban boys listening to hip hop or teenage black girls singing Taylor Swift lyrics. The movie and publishing industries need to take a note out of the music industry songbook and market everything to everybody.

Anyway, with that in mind, I have a Celebrate Black Books blog hop planned in which participating blogs will have a giveaway of books with black main characters or with minorities on the cover. It starts February 24. Go to www.SybilNelson.blogspot.com to participate.

How did you become a writer? What is your advice for a young person who would like to write books?

I became a writer by writing. That’s really the only definition. Getting published doesn’t make you a writer. Getting that story inside of you on paper is what makes you a writer. I started writing because I saw that there were stories that needed to be told that no one else was writing. So I decided to write them.

You seem to have a really full life. How do you find time to write?

I don’t sleep. Literally, I get about four hours a night. That’s it.

Let's end with a few questions about you. What are a couple of your quirks? And an Inkpot classic—what's your favorite dessert?

I don’t eat a lot of desserts. I’m more of a salty person than a sweet. But I can’t resist cupcakes. There are actually not one, but two stores here in Charleston that only sell cupcakes. They are glorious.

Um, I think from reading my interview you can see some of my quirks. I’m a black biostatistician who loves historical fiction and pop music. Doesn’t get much quirkier than that! I’m also addicted to the TV show Hoarders. Have no idea why. And my dream is to one day become famous enough to go on Dancing With the Stars. Another one is that I hate feet. I even hate it when my own children put their bare feet on me. So, of course they do it at every opportunity. Oh, and I recently found out I have this thing called synesthesia which causes me to see numbers and days of the week as colors. I really thought everyone saw numbers as colors and argued with my husband about it for weeks. I thought he was crazy. I finally put it up on Facebook and through the comments realized that not everyone did. Turns out I’m the crazy one! Someone finally told me about synesthesia and I looked it up and yep, that’s me. Wow, I have a lot of quirks.

Synesthesia, cupcakes, a knack for science, and a strong dislike of feet—plus a very fun action fantasy series about girl power, Priscilla the Great! Thanks, Sybil!

Interviewer: Kate Coombs