A venit randul Marrisei Burt sa imi acorde un interviu pentru blog. Thank you very much for the interview !! Marissa Burt este autoarea seriei STORYBOUND.
STORYBOUND (HarperCollins, 2012)
Inkheart meets The Neverending Story in this sweeping fantasy about a twelve-year-old girl who falls into a magical world – and discovers that it may be up to her to save it. In the land of Story, children go to school to learn to be characters: a perfect Hero, a trusty Sidekick, even the most dastardly Villain. They take classes on Outdoor Experiential Questing and Backstory, while adults search for full-time character work in stories written just for them. In our world, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild has always felt invisible. But all that changes when she stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, opens the cover, and suddenly finds herself transported to the magical land of Story. But Story is not a perfect fairy tale. Una’s new friend Peter warns her about the grave danger she could face if anyone discovers her true identity. The devious Tale Keeper watches her every move. And there are whispers of a deadly secret that seems to revolve around Una herself… With the timeless appeal of books like A Wrinkle in Time and the breathtaking action of Inkheart, Storybound has all the makings of a new classic. Brimming with fantastical creatures, magical adventure, and heart-stopping twists, Storybound will leave readers wishing they too could jump through the pages into this enchanting fairy-tale world.
1. Hello Marissa! Thank you for granting me this interview. I’d like to talk first about your recent fantasy book, Story’s End. How did this story come into being?
STORY’S END is the sequel to STORYBOUND. Both books were born out of my love for good stories that immerse you in a fantasy. My favorite books are ones that invite you in to an otherworld, so much so that you’re almost a bit sad to leave. That love for story turned into an idea of a land where characters from books were training for their own tales.
2. What was the most challenging aspect of creating this character of Una?
I think one of the challenging (and fun!) things about creating any character is to consider how to make him or her active in the story. Sometimes the plot or setting can carry you away until you realize that all these external things are happening to your character, which may be appropriate in small degrees. But the kind of stories we want to read about are when the characters do something – when they grow or change or save the world. 🙂
3. How did you approach the research needed for this book?
One of the great things about writing fantasy novels is that most of the „research” is spent dreaming up a good setting and plot. With Story’s End, it was fun to research some cowboy slang to work into the setting for The Ranch, the district where characters from westerns live and train.
4. What are your current/future projects?
Right now, I’m working on a new middle-grade fantasy series tentatively titled THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN, which is about a girl who discovers an ancient order of magicians and her place in their history.
5. If you had to be one of your protagonists, who would it be?
All of them! 🙂 I get attached to all my characters, so it’s hard to choose. I would definitely live at Bramble Cottage!
6. Who are your favourite writers and why?
What a tough question! Some of my favorite books to read as a young adult (and to this day!) are The Lord of the Rings trilogy, anything written by L.M. Montgomery, and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series.
7. What was the book that most influenced your life — and why?
Another difficult one! I think the most influential book would probably depend on the season of life I was in at the time. The first sci-fi/fantasy novel I stumbled across might have been C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet. I remember reading it in the 5th grade and being captivated by the idea of traveling to another planet. I didn’t know it was part of a trilogy at the time, so was very happy to discover the continuation of the story many years later.
9.What is the greatest challenge you have faced in your career as an author?
I think it has been difficult to prioritize. Once a book is out there in the world, there are an infinite combination of opportunities for connecting with readers, growing as a writer, and networking with other authors. The instant online availability of this can be overwhelming (and distracting!) I’m learning that these other opportunities can eat up all my writing time unless I really prioritize and make space for creative work.
10. Describe your writing room.
I have a little table tucked under my bedroom window. I prefer to work from home if at all possible, so I closet myself there and write away.
11. Take us through a typical day in the life of Marissa Burt.
My typical day involves lots of ordinary Mom activities like making breakfast, packing lunch, caring for my three small sons, and the million other things that are involved with running a household. I squeeze writing into any nooks and crannies and typically have several afternoons a week to focus on my work. One of these is spent catching up with online business and correspondence and the others working on new projects.
12. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you so much for your interest in Storybound and Story’s End! I hope they bring you may happy hours of reading and that you’ll get lost in the Land of Story. 🙂
Thank you!!
O seara frumoasa,
Roxi!
falling in love with books 