INTERVIEW: Sophie Masson author of Scarlet in the Snow

I love a good fairy tale retelling, as you all know, particularly if its mixed together with a hefty dose of romance, adventure and mystery. Sophie Masson is one Australian author who is giving all those American YA fairy retellers a run for their money. I really loved Midnight & Ashes, which was published last year, and now she's come out with a  new novel called Scarlet in the Snow which draws upon Beauty & the Beast, one of my own personal favourite fairy tales.



Sophie has been kind enough to join us today to answer a few questions about her new book: 



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Tell me about your new book: 
Scarlet in the Snow is what I call a 'fairytale thriller', which combines the mystery and magic of fairytale with the pace of a good thriller. And did I say it's also very romantic? Inspired by the Russian version of Beauty and the Beast, the Scarlet Flower, as well as having elements from two other Russian fairytales, Fenist the Falcon and Vassilissa the Fair, it's set in the same world as last year's Moonlight and Ashes, but in a different country. It's told in the lively first person voice of Natasha Kupeda, youngest of three girls, whose widowed artist mother struggles to keep the family going with portrait commissions after her husband dies, leaving many debts. One day, when Natasha is delivering her mother's latest painting to a client out in the wilds, she is caught in a blizzard and, pursued by wolves, has to find shelter in a mysterious mansion that looms out of the gloom--and so begins an extraordinary, frightening and wonderful adventure that will change her whole life.



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What do you love most in the world? 
My family.




What do you fear most in the world? 
That anything bad should happen to any of them.




What are your 5 favourite childhood books? 
Michel Strogoff by Jules Verne 
King Ottakar's Sceptre (a Tintin adventure) by Herge
The Stone Cage by Nicholas Stuart Gray (this is one of my favourites too!)
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jannsson
Black Jack by Leon Garfield
Agh! So many more I couldn't squeeze in!




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What are your 5 favourite books read as an adult? 
Le Testament Francais (Andrei Makine); 
Kristin Lavransdatter(Sigrid Undset)
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell(Susanna Clarke) 
The Ghost Writer(John Harwood) 
The Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko--And lots more, that's just a small selection!




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What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves? 
Card Games and Tricks; The Book of Vintage Cars; Men at Arms series: The Scythians; the Journal of the Royal Society of NSW, 1900!



How would you describe perfect happiness? 
A lovely family day with us all together in a beautiful spot--my new book out and lots of people enjoying it-the sun shining but not too hot--in the early-mid 20's--and a great cake to celebrate it all!