Interview: Marissa Meyer, author of Cinder!

Okay, by now you guys know that I loved the book Cinder.  (It was in the top 5 portion of my Top 10 Retellings vlog, afterall...)  And if you followed FTF, you'll know Ashley and I have been passengers on the Marissa Meyer fan-train right from the very beginning.  Well, the book wasn't even out yet, so before the beginning?
Whatever, what I'm saying is, we love her, so it was a given that she'd be back this year for our 2nd FTF!  You can check out the awesome vlog Marissa did for us here (and enter to win a UK edition of Cinder while you're there!), but first, hang out here a minute as I chat with the lovely Marissa.
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Welcome back to FTF, Marissa! Let's dig in, shall we? What do you make of the resurgence in popularity for fairy tales?  (Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsmen, all within a very short time)?  Do you see it as a trend that will sort of peter out, or is it just getting started?

Being a lifelong fairy-tale fan, I couldn’t be happier about this resurgence. I love retellings and seeing the way that different people dissect and reinterpret these classic stories. I can’t get enough of them! However, like with all trends, I do think the fairy-tale craze will start to peter out, just as vampires have been fading the past few years and dystopias will no doubt begin to fade away soon, to be replaced with the Next Big Thing. That’s just how these things go. However, as fairy tales have been around for centuries (long, long before even the Grimm Brothers got a hold of them), I don’t think we have to worry about them ever going away entirely.

Can you please PLEASE give us more info on the next books? More than just those mean teases?! We’re DYING?! [*Ashley flails, falls to the floor, flails some more, dies*]
Lol – what else could you possibly want to know?! Each book continues Cinder’s tale as she tries to defy Queen Levana and learn more about her past, while also introducing us to three awesome new heroines (Scarlet/Little Red Riding Hood, Cress/Rapunzel, and Winter/Snow White), not to mention three more awesomely sexy heroes to go along with them. I’m really excited about the rest of the series and my plans for tying these different fairy tales together, all in the scope of my futuristic world. I’m having a ton of fun with them and hope readers will approve!

You had me at "awesomely sexy heroes"...

So, did you always intend Cinder's story to be so large? To take 4 books to finish?  
My original plan was to write a series of futurized fairy tales that each acted as a stand-alone, so that each girl’s story would be resolved at the end of her book, but that plan didn’t last for very long. I largely blame the villain, Queen Levana, who began to terrorize all the heroes outside of her own story (Snow White), and she began so cruel and dangerous that I was going to need all four books just to vanquish her. So from rather early on, I did know that Cinder’s story would continue across all the books and that my heroes and heroines would gradually come together to form one awesome band of misfits and rebels.

Did it ever feel like a stretch to you, trying to come up with 3 additional fairy tale to retell while also finishing Cinder's story?  And was it a struggle to make sure each of the heroines got their fair share of the story, while still keeping the other tales/heroines in play?
Not at all – the stories all came together very organically once I started brainstorming them, and they’ve since become so intertwined in my mind that it’s almost difficult for me to think of them as four separate fairy tales anymore. That said, it can be a struggle, particularly in the later books, to balance all the ongoing subplots and make sure nobody gets forgotten in the mix. Only time will tell if I’ve succeeded or not.

What impact do you think fairy tales have on society (especially with the same tales popping up in various forms in every society)?
Fairy tales are like little capsules that we use to store our dreams and nightmares in. They give us hope—that the evil queen can be destroyed, that we can marry a prince, that little elves might come in the middle of the night and do our jobs for us—and those fantasies can help us figure out what we want out of life and even light the way for achieving it (though good luck on those elves). However, they also take the scariest things about reality—rape, murder, helplessness, poverty—and put them in a safe box that we can read and analyze and deal with inside of a fantasy that doesn’t strip us of all control.

Of course, these things can be said of almost all fiction, but fairy tales have boiled it down into these rather basic tales filled with symbolism and whimsy and distinct lines between good and evil that everyone can relate to.

QUICKFIRE:
Favorite fairy tale: Least favorite question! It’s impossible to decide.

Most underrated fairy tale? Rumpelstiltskin.

Most overrated fairy tale? The Princess and the Pea.

Last year we asked everyone’s fairy tale hero/heroine name; this year, we want to know your fairy tale villain name: The Ogre (from Puss in Boots). Okay, it’s not exactly a “name,” but Ogre is one of my favorite words. It’s so much fun to say and carries such weight in four little letters!

Using that name, give us a line from your villainous fairy tale: Don’t listen to that Shrek guy—us Ogres are just as horrible as our tales would have you believe. Worse, even.

If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?
1. A log cabin in the mountains, with a plush writing room that overlooks snow-capped peaks.
2. An extra day added to every week (I would use it to read).
3. A never-ending supply of calorie-free yet delicious chocolate chip cookies.

Best way to read fairy tales? (ie location, snacks, etc)
In the middle of the night, by flashlight beneath the covers.

If one of your books was being turned into a movie and you could cast 1 character, which character would you cast and who would play them?
I would cast Ian McKellen as Dr. Erland. I think he’s the only character I really have picked out – there aren’t too many actors that in my mind resemble the rest of them.


I approve of anything Ian McKellan related. Thanks, Marissa!


Now, for the rest of you, make sure to check out the vlog, of course, which as I said has a giveaway attached. But because we love Cinder and Marissa so much, there's actually a SECOND giveaway right here on TBR! Make sure to stop by and enter!

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