[AOTM] - Interview with Marissa Meyer / Cinder

[Anna, LoP BOTM & R2R mod]

Greetings Space Opera Fans!

Each month your Fab-5 MODS attempt to contact the authors whose books are up for group reads, and if we are lucky, sometimes they write back and answer some of our questions.

So ... what do inquiring minds want to know about the intriguing work of Marissa Meyer and the inspirations behind her cyborg-laden book, Cinder



I can hear some of you *SQUEEING* in the background. Oh, what? That's me? Oops ... sorry. Sometimes it just makes me really happy being a MOD.

Without further ado, here is Marissa Meyer's Lovers of Paranormal interview:

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Hi Anna and other Lovers of Paranormal, thank you for choosing Cinder as your July book club pick! I hope that many of you will enjoy it.


While I can't answer ALL of the posted questions, here are answers to a few of them. Enjoy!




1. What books have most influenced your life?

As a child I was totally smitten with Anne of Green Gables, largely because I felt like Anne and I were kindred spirits - all that untamed imagination! Then in fifth grade my uncle gave me the Lord of the Rings and that was huge for me, as it was my first time reading a book about an entirely made-up world. I hadn't realized writers could do that before - new creatures! new languages! all the possibilities! - and it made me want to create my own worlds, too. Then in college I fell in love with Harry Potter (and who didn't, really?). The imagination that J.K. Rowling brought into the world of Hogwarts was so inspiring and gave me a lot to aspire to.



3. Tell us about your Lovers of Paranormal book?

The Lunar Chronicles are all futuristic retellings of classic fairy tales. CINDER, the first book, retells the story of Cinderella from the point of view of a 16-year-old girl who is part human and part machine, making her a cyborg. Unfortunately, cyborgs are considered second-class citizens, and this causes some problems for Cinder when she starts to fall in love with the prince of her country, who doesn't know that she's a cyborg.

There is also a plague and an impending war and a race of evil Lunar people with power of mind-control...



4. We all need a hero! Tell us about your protagonist(s)? Was there a real-life inspiration behind him or her?


While I love the "rags to riches" theme behind the Cinderella story, I had no interest in writing about a girl who just waiting for her prince to come rescue her. I'm much more interested in the more modern princesses - like Ella Enchanted or Drew Barrymore's character in Ever After - girls who can stand up for themselves and who win the hero over by being witty and brave themselves. Cinder is an incredibly talented mechanic and that talent is the first thing about her that catch's the prince's eye (he, on the other hand, is pretty clueless about such things). She's resourceful and determined and not afraid to get dirty and stand up for what she thinks is right. On the other hand, she can get flustered just like any girl, especially when a cute boy is showing her attention that she's never received before. It was a lot of fun for me to play around with those different aspects of her personality.



6. What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the world building within your book?

Cinder is set in a futuristic version of China, in which most of our modern Asian nations have been conglomerated into one country called the Eastern Commonwealth. I wanted to bring together as many different cultures as I could, so I played around with different honorifics from the Chinese language, traditional clothing, foods, traditions, architecture, etc. At the same time, I didn't want the Commonwealth to seem like a charicature of "Asia," so I tried to layer this traditional aspects with elements of high technology and even western elements, which I thought would be most believable for this futuristic country.




8. What was the hardest part of writing this book?

Because CINDER sets up the entire series, it was important to me to lay a solid foundation for the upcoming books. There's a lot of foreshadowing and world-building, and a lot of things that may seem insignificant, but that become very important in the later books. It was a challenge to balance all of that groundwork while also keeping the story moving along and not letting the plot drag just to squeeze in more information.



12. What are your future project(s)?

My next book, FAIREST, will be out in January 2015 and is a prequel to the Lunar Chronicles focused entirely on evil Queen Levana and how she became the tyrant ruler of Luna. WINTER, the conclusion to the series and a retelling of Snow White will be out in November 2015, and in February 2016 I'll have a stand-alone novel out titled HEARTLESS - that one is a prequel to Alice in Wonderland telling the yet-untold story of the Queen of Hearts.


I also have a series idea in mind that involves superheroes and supervillains, and I am very excited to get started on that one!

Interview granted to LoP 07/11/2014

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Thank you, Marissa Meyer for taking the time to answer our author interview questions!


Be sure to visit our LoP Cinder BOTM discussion thread to find out who else is reading it and whether you want to scope out some book buddies.

HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Janine]

Terrific interview! As a writer, Ms. Meyers is one of my most inspirational authors. The Lunar Chronicles are amazing books! Thank you!

[Anna, LoP BOTM & R2R mod]

I'm always happy when an author takes the time to write back. The interview questions take a long time to type out, so it really is a gift to take a peek at the inspirations behind the story.

[Mary]

Fabulous interview!! Great questions and super fun answers. Marissa is SUCH a sweetheart - not to mention one of my favorite authors ever! Lovely job!!

[Mary]

I really admire Marissa Meyer! She managed to not only make me adore her imagination, but she isn't afraid to get dark and gritty with these classic princesses/fairy tale characters! Perfect example: Scarlet in Cress. I CANNOT wait for Winter!!!!!!!

[Patricia]

thank you marissa for the great interview

[Su]

Great interview! I was fortunate enough to meet Marissa at a writer's conference 2 summers ago. She was gracious and delightful, and even let sit with her at dinner...where, of course, I made a total fangirl out of myself. I'm not surprised she granted the interview, she's allowed me two. Very sweet and lovely lady, who LOVES Harry Potter...what could be better! I'm SO glad more readers are finding her work.