An Author a (Mon)day: Marissa Meyer

An Author a (Mon)day is my sporadic feature where I ask authors a few questions about anything - themselves, their books and writing, to name a few. While it doesn't happen on a regular basis, you can be rest assured that it always happens on a Monday!

Last week, one of my favorite authors Marissa Meyer released Cress, the third installment of the Lunar Chronicles. I've read it, loved it and reviewed it! I've also been fortunate enough to been part of the official blog tour. AND, best of all, I'm going to get to see her on her official tour stop in NYC this week! To continue celebrating this amazing author who I love so much, I invited Marissa to participate in my An Author a (Mon)day feature.

Alexa: Hi Marissa! Thank you so much for agreeing to be on the blog today. Now, to kick things off... I'm sure you've gotten asked this before, but I'm still dying to know -- How did you decide which fairytales to draw inspiration from for the Lunar Chronicles? And how did you decide the order (series-wise)?

Marissa: When I first had the idea to retell fairy tales with science fiction twists, I made a list of my favorite fairy tales - there were about a dozen on the list - then I started brainstorming different things I could do to futurize them. What if Sleeping Beauty was trapped in a cryogenic sleeping chamber? What if Rumpelstiltskin was an android-gone-bad? That sort of thing. Little Red, Rapunzel and Snow White quickly became three of my favorites, that I felt like I had the best ideas for. I'd at first thought that each book would be its own stand-alone story, but it also became clear early on that I had this evil queen (based on the queen from Snow White) who was waging this war and tormenting everyone in the whole series. Then when I had the idea for a cyborg Cinderella (which came to me in a dream - true story), all the ideas I'd been brainstorming started to merge together into this ongoing story, with the feud between Cinder and Queen Levana at its center.

Alexa: Wow! That definitely sounds like an inspired process. So, to catch readers up to date, why don't you tell readers a little bit about what they can expect from WINTER? Everyone's been talking about CRESS already, so I figured I'd have you skip ahead a little bit! :)

Marissa: Great, I'm tired of talking about Cress! (Just kidding!) Winter is based on Snow White, and will be the epic conclusion of the story. Princess Winter, Levana's stepdaughter, has been raised in the luxurious courts of Artemisia, Luna's capital city, and has seen firsthand the destruction that can be caused when people abuse their Lunar gift. As a result, she's sworn an oath to never use her gift at all... which has come with the side effect of slowly driving her mad. There's only one person she feels she can trust - Jacin Clay, her best friend since childhood. Unfortunately, as a royal guard, Jacin is already under her stepmother's control...

Alexa: Yikes! It appears poor Winter is in quite the sitch. Hopefully, Cinder and the crew come to shake things up and save her from her (sad) fate? I'm definitely looking forward to reading that one, though the wait just might kill me ;) Okay, now moving on to other topics, what are you currently reading? If you're not reading anything, what was the last book you read that you would recommend to others?

Marissa: 2014 is shaping up to be a pretty amazing reading year so far! The first book I read was PLUS ONE by Elizabeth Fama (April release). It is BRILLIANT. I loved it so much and can't wait for it to come out so I can tell everyone about it. I also recently finished FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell (super cute - and really spoke to my own fan fiction roots) and FOOL by Christopher Moore, which I thought was hilarious. Next up is SOLSTICE by P.J. Hoover, who I"ll be presenting with at a book festival this February.

Alexa: FANGIRL was definitely a pretty cute book (and I identified with Cath so much)! And I've recently heard a bit more about PLUS ONE, too. Okay, so is there anything at all that you can share about HEARTLESS that we don't already know? It really does sound like it's going to be another fantastic book from you. :)

Marissa: Thank you! I've had this book lingering in my head for a few years, so it is SO EXCITING to be able to talk about it! Let's see, something that you don't already know... Well, this will be vague, but just like how ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS make use of popular nursery rhyme characters (Humpty Dumpty, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, The Lion and the Unicorn), I'll be bringing in some well-known nursery rhyme characters for some major roles - and hopefully giving them some new twists that readers won't see coming!

Alexa: You're seriously making me want to read HEARTLESS now because it keeps on getting even better in my head the more I learn about it! I can't wait. Okay, so, since it's February and the month of love, I have a few related questions for you. What was/is your favorite love song? Romantic movie? Romantic moment on TV, film or in a book?

Marissa: It's gotta be "Romeo and Juliet" but Dire Straits. I actually strongly dislike the story of Romeo and Juliet, but this song almost makes me like it. It's so pretty and heartfelt. (If there are any "Empire Records" fans reading this, it's the song that's playing when the girl is practicing ballet in the story... random reference, but I've found that a lot of people know exactly what I'm talking about!). Favorite romantic movie is probably "Pride and Prejudice," Kiera Knightley version, though I'm also a sucker for "Sleepless in Seattle" and "When Harry Met Sally." Oh, and "Tangled"! Most romantic moment from a film: the kiss on the baseball pitcher's mound at the end of "Never Been Kissed." ALL THE SWOONS.

Alexa: I smiled just reading your answer, as I love most of the choices you've made! I adore Tangled best of all, followed closely by Never Been Kissed (cue squealing).

Thank you so much, Marissa! It was an honor to have you on the blog today, and I can't wait to see you when you drop by Books of Wonder this Thursday for your tour. I'm sure everyone's really excited about Heartless now, and clamoring to snag their own copies of Cress!

If you want to find Marissa online, you can check out her official website, her Twitter, her Facebook page, and her Pinterest. 

MORE ABOUT CINDER, SCARLET & CRESS

Cinder || Scarlet || Cress

Series: Lunar Chronicles #1-3

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Publication Dates: January 3, 2012 || January 29, 2013 || February 5, 2013 || February 4, 2014

Why should you read this series?

I have a head-over-heels love affair with the Lunar Chronicles! There's something utterly magical about the way Marissa has managed to turn these fairytales into something that's completely hers. Each book has introduced me to characters that I've fallen in love with, romantic relationships and friendships to root for, and a story that's compelling and irresistible. If you haven't started reading this series yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

If you want to see more detailed thoughts on the books in this series, please go on and check out my reviews of Cinder, Scarlet and Cress.

P.S. If you don't own the books yet, you could always check out my tour stop + giveaway post!