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| Anna Fischer, 2014 |
1.
Darcy’s introduction to the world of publishing seems to be very rosy, and
seemingly ideal. How much of it was lifted from your own experiences?
She does get lucky, but in the
hottest part of the YA boom a few years ago, it wasn’t uncommon to meet debut
novelists in her position. Six-figure advances were flying around then (much
more than now). Pretty much all her experiences, from the big money to an
editor asking her to deliver a happy ending, are based on something that has
happened within earshot of me.
2.
Afterworlds combines both a
paranormal story and a contemporary one effortlessly. Was it difficult to unite
two potentially clashing genres?
I’ve always wanted to write two
stories that were in different genres, and yet which were interwoven with each
other at the level of plot and theme and language. Everything in Darcy’s
real-life world has an effect on her novel, because she’s just left home, and
so is growing up and learning an re-writing her novel all at the same time. She
bases her novel on her mother’s childhood, on her parents’ religion, and even
on her friends’ unpublished works in progress! It’s sort of my 150,000-word
answer to the question, “Where do you get your ideas?” From all around. And as
Darcy’s experiences make their way into her novel, hopefully that weaves the
two strands together.
3.
Through Darcy and Lizzie you touch on a lot of big, and often sensitive,
issues. Do you think that there’s a limit to the number of subjects like
terrorism, death, divorce that you can explore in one novel?
My favourite thing about the
novel as a form is that it scales so well. You can flit about the whole world
(as in Brooks’ World War Z) or keep
yourself contained to a single room (as Donoghue’s Room mostly does). Likewise, you can go big with issues, or very
small. This is perfect for teenagers, who spend a lot of time thinking about
both big and small stuff. They have a lot of specifics to deal with, as well as
the whole world to inherit.
A
few quick ones!
4.
Favourite world?
The real one. It’s so much
gnarlier and more complicated than any fictional world.
5.
Fictional universe you’d like to live in?
Anything with personal flight. Hoverboards,
dragon mounts, superpowers – I’m there.
6.
Current read?
Matt de la Pena’s The Living. A tidal wave in California,
from the perspective of a cruise ship cabin boy. All the codes of wealth and
power turned upside down, and a great adventure novel to boot.
Thank you so much Scott! Make sure
you check out my review of Afterworlds
and then race to your nearest bookshop to buy yourself a copy – it’s out
today!
Sophie
Great interview and Afterworlds sounds really good!
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