Today we are pleased to have joining us Marissa Meyer, author of Cinder, a futuristic retelling of Cinderella. Guys! Be excited! Cinder is a 2012 debut, and a little birdie on the inside tells me (Misty) it's fabulous! Make sure to stop back on Friday for a guest post from Marissa!
Now let's get down to business.
"Serious" Questions:
~Can you tell us a little bit about Cinder and the series?
Gladly! CINDER is a young adult futuristic retelling of Cinderella. In it, Cinder, a 16-year-old cyborg mechanic, must piece together her mysterious past in order to protect her country from an impending war. It's the first in a four-book series, each of which revolves around a different fairy-tale-inspired heroine (Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White), as they join forces to save the world and find their happily-ever-afters. CINDER is scheduled to release in early 2012.
~Why fairy tales? What is it that calls to you, personally, as a writer, and why do you think readers connect to them the way they do?
I’ve always loved fairy tales. When I was growing up, I loved them for the romance, the magical kisses, the dresses, the princes in their fancy castles. Now I’m drawn to them for their timelessness—these are story archetypes that have been retold and recycled in 8 billion different ways, yet authors and artists and movie directors are still coming up with new ways to tell them. And because they still relate to issues that every society deals with, whether it’s childhood neglect a la Hansel and Gretel or just wanting to improve your social status a la Cinderella—these stories hold as much meaning for us now as they did in the time of the Grimm Brothers.
~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written?
EVER ever? Gosh, that’s a lot of scenes. Can I say every single kiss? I’m a big fan of kissing scenes. The fun part of writing a four-book series with four different heroines who have four different romances is that there’s lot of opportunity for great kissing! Book 2: SCARLET (Little Red Riding Hood) will have some particularly smoldering ones.
Quickfire, Silly and Random stuff:
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?I love this question, because I was tempted at one point to call my Rapunzel character “Arugula”! I ended up settling on “Cress” though, which is also a type of lettuce. If I were in a fairy tale, I think my odd name would be something geeky and literary, like maybe Pencil or Comma.
~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
The fairy godmother waved her magic wand and Pencil found herself with this a real live book deal—a dream come true! She was about to retire to Hawaii and do nothing but lie on the beach and drink fruity cocktails for the rest of her happily ever after . . . when it occurred to her that she still had to write the rest of the books. And back to work the princess went.
~Best fairy tale villain and why?
I’m partial to Rumpelstiltskin. He’s sly, crafty, can actually spin straw into gold (quite the feat!), and goes after what he wants. I also love that the story leaves open a big mystery: why does he want the queen’s firstborn at all? It could be very cruel and awful (maybe he plans to eat it!) or more sympathetic (maybe he just wants a family).
~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?
I always loved The Little Mermaid—it was my favorite Disney movie as a kid, and I only fell in love with it more once I read the Hans Christian Andersen version and learned how truly tragic the story was. It has so much depth to it (pun kind of intended). As for now . . . it’s so hard to choose! Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are probably neck and neck for my all-time favs. As for least favorite . . . I don’t know that I really have one, although something about the end of Hansel & Gretel always bugged me. I felt like the dad got off way too easy in that tale!
~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?
Cinderella’s ball! I love big beautiful dresses and dancing and food!
~Would you rather:
-- live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower?
Tower, definitely! Just think how much reading you’d get done.
-- ride everywhere in a pumpkin carriage (messy) or walk everywhere in glass shoes (uncomfortable)?
I’ll take the carriage, with hopes that the fairy godmother had the sense to scrape all the guts out of it.
-- have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming?
Between getting engaged and getting my book deal for CINDER both in the past few months, I think I already have both!
Thanks so much for the fun interview, Ashley and Misty!
~Can you tell us a little bit about Cinder and the series?
Gladly! CINDER is a young adult futuristic retelling of Cinderella. In it, Cinder, a 16-year-old cyborg mechanic, must piece together her mysterious past in order to protect her country from an impending war. It's the first in a four-book series, each of which revolves around a different fairy-tale-inspired heroine (Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White), as they join forces to save the world and find their happily-ever-afters. CINDER is scheduled to release in early 2012.
~Why fairy tales? What is it that calls to you, personally, as a writer, and why do you think readers connect to them the way they do?
I’ve always loved fairy tales. When I was growing up, I loved them for the romance, the magical kisses, the dresses, the princes in their fancy castles. Now I’m drawn to them for their timelessness—these are story archetypes that have been retold and recycled in 8 billion different ways, yet authors and artists and movie directors are still coming up with new ways to tell them. And because they still relate to issues that every society deals with, whether it’s childhood neglect a la Hansel and Gretel or just wanting to improve your social status a la Cinderella—these stories hold as much meaning for us now as they did in the time of the Grimm Brothers.
~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written?
EVER ever? Gosh, that’s a lot of scenes. Can I say every single kiss? I’m a big fan of kissing scenes. The fun part of writing a four-book series with four different heroines who have four different romances is that there’s lot of opportunity for great kissing! Book 2: SCARLET (Little Red Riding Hood) will have some particularly smoldering ones.
Quickfire, Silly and Random stuff:
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?I love this question, because I was tempted at one point to call my Rapunzel character “Arugula”! I ended up settling on “Cress” though, which is also a type of lettuce. If I were in a fairy tale, I think my odd name would be something geeky and literary, like maybe Pencil or Comma.
~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
The fairy godmother waved her magic wand and Pencil found herself with this a real live book deal—a dream come true! She was about to retire to Hawaii and do nothing but lie on the beach and drink fruity cocktails for the rest of her happily ever after . . . when it occurred to her that she still had to write the rest of the books. And back to work the princess went.
~Best fairy tale villain and why?
I’m partial to Rumpelstiltskin. He’s sly, crafty, can actually spin straw into gold (quite the feat!), and goes after what he wants. I also love that the story leaves open a big mystery: why does he want the queen’s firstborn at all? It could be very cruel and awful (maybe he plans to eat it!) or more sympathetic (maybe he just wants a family).
~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?
I always loved The Little Mermaid—it was my favorite Disney movie as a kid, and I only fell in love with it more once I read the Hans Christian Andersen version and learned how truly tragic the story was. It has so much depth to it (pun kind of intended). As for now . . . it’s so hard to choose! Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are probably neck and neck for my all-time favs. As for least favorite . . . I don’t know that I really have one, although something about the end of Hansel & Gretel always bugged me. I felt like the dad got off way too easy in that tale!
~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?
Cinderella’s ball! I love big beautiful dresses and dancing and food!
~Would you rather:
-- live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower?
Tower, definitely! Just think how much reading you’d get done.
-- ride everywhere in a pumpkin carriage (messy) or walk everywhere in glass shoes (uncomfortable)?
I’ll take the carriage, with hopes that the fairy godmother had the sense to scrape all the guts out of it.
-- have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming?
Between getting engaged and getting my book deal for CINDER both in the past few months, I think I already have both!
Thanks so much for the fun interview, Ashley and Misty!
Oh course! We were happy to have you, and can't wait for Cinder! Thanks for stopping by!
So who else is super excited for Cinder? *raises hand*
Stop back on Friday for a special guest post from Marissa Meyer. And don't forget to leave her some love in the comments!
THIS IS AWESOME. Cinderella as a cyborg mechanic? That's definitely new. Thanks for the heads up; I'll definitely have to get my hands on it somehow. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd love the interview! Rumpelstiltskin scares me the most too, and I pretty much watch Disney movies FOR the kissing scenes and sappy endings, haha. Congrats to Marissa Meyer on her engagement and book deal!
This book sounds amazing! Also since we aren't even halfway through 2011 yet, right now 2012 sounds very far away.
ReplyDeleteAlso I loved that Marissa would be named Pencil. That cracked me up :)
Yeah, I liked Pencil, too! :)
ReplyDelete