Marissa Meyer UK visit! Find out about her next book Cress in my interview, and win some signed Lunar Chronicle goodies!

Hold on to your androids UK Marissa Meyer fans! As I not only come in peace but revealing exciting news! Marissa (author of Cinder and Scarlet - books one and two in the Lunar Chronicles) will be visiting the UK for the first time at the end of this month! Hurrah! The time and place? March 26, 6:00p.m., at Waterstones Bromley. There will be an author talk, signing, and Q&A and she’d love to meet you guys! Marissa asked for my help spreading the word on my blog and she was kind enough to take the time to answer some of my burning questions and put together a giveaway for you guys too but more on that later. For now I’d like to welcome Marissa to the blog as she talks about the next book in the series Cress, planning the end of the series and her favourite character to write about…

Click on the image to go to the facebook page!

 

Interview with Marissa Meyer 

1.) Your books feature a lot of different characters, who is your favourite to write about? 
Probably Captain Thorne. He's this great mix of suave and arrogant, hilarious and obnoxious, and I'm never entirely sure what he's going to do or say next, which is always fun for a writer. I also like to think of him as a mix of Captains Mal Reynolds and Han Solo, so writing him is like paying homage to some of my favorite characters of all time.

I love Captain Thorne too! He's so funny.

2.) What is your favourite fairytale and re-telling?
It's so difficult to choose just one! I love Disney movies, but I'm also fascinated by the dark, eerie versions of fairy tales that don't show up in many of our movies or retellings today. So while I ADORED Tangled, I also love the Grimm version of Rapunzel in which the prince gets his eyes stabbed out by thorns. I feel like there's a place for both types of tales in our storytelling.

I'm always so shocked to see how morbid and dark the original tales are compared to the Disney re-tellings!

3.) Is it difficult to take such a well-known story and make it your own?
I think for me the most difficult part was finding a way to retell it that would make it my own. I'd tried writing retellings before this but they were always too similar to what other authors or creators were already doing, so I never finished them. But when I finally landed on the concept for The Lunar Chronicles, taking popular fairy tales and giving them a futuristic spin, I knew that was the story I wanted to tell. I love how I can use the basic story archetypes to craft something that seems familiar, while still writing a story that, to me, feels brand new and unique. I hope readers feel the same way!

We certainly do! It's so clever how you create a new spin on these old tales that have been re-told countless times. 

4.) Do you know how the series will end? Do you write towards it? Or see how the story unfolds?
Oh yes, I've had all four books planned out since before I wrote a single word. I'm one of those neurotic planner types! And I've had a draft of Book 4: WINTER written since early 2011, so while there's still a LOT of revision that needs to happen, I do have a very good idea of where everything is headed. It helps a lot with foreshadowing and set-up.

*Fan-girls and try's to think of a way to bribe the ending out of Marissa* 

5.) What can readers expect from the next book in the series?
Book 3: CRESS is my retelling of Rapunzel, but instead of being stuck in a tower, Cress is trapped in a satellite orbiting Earth. She also happens to be a master computer hacker and she's been forced to spy on the leaders of the Earthen Union and report back to Queen Levana for years. However, she's become an Earthen sympathizer and is now working to find a way to escape her imprisonment and help Cinder in her plot to save the world.

I am excited! I LOVE the sound of this one already.

 Thanks for stopping by the blog Marissa! 

As if all that excitement wasn’t enough Marissa is providing ONE swag pack for ONE lucky UK winner (sorry International people but with the visit being in the UK we wanted to keep the emphasis on that! We still love you :) ) which will include bookmarks, stickers, temporary tattoos, and signed book plates. To win this fantastic prize simply read the rules and fill in the rafflecopter, good luck!

Rules 
*  To enter please fill in the Rafflecopter
*  Open to UK residents only
*  End date: Sunday 24th March 2013
* Winner will be contacted by email and will have 1 week to reply else another winner will be selected.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway