Juliet

Heart’s Blood (to be published Nov 09) is loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. Very loosely!

Studying languages other than one’s own is extremely helpful for anyone writing fantasy or historical fiction. It improves our use of the English language, since the knowledge of French, for instance, will provide keys to the meanings of English words. Without a knowledge of other languages it’s possible for a fantasy writer to blunder badly when naming characters and places, for instance. This applies whether it’s the real world or an invented world.

No matter what you are studying at college, anything that expands your knowledge and helps you to think in new ways will be good for your writing in the long run!

First of all I have to tell you that I discovered you quite by accident in a way I never expected. I ordered some clothes from a Delia’s catalog and it came with an advertisement for Wildwood Dancing when my purchase came in the mail. It was the first and only time I have seen a book advertised in such a way and so, I thought, ‘what the heck, I’ll give it a try.’ I am so glad I did! I enjoyed Wildwood and Cybele, but then I read Foxmask and I was addicted :)

I am so impressed with your amazing talent. Thank you so much for your insightful answers in the interview above- I love hearing about the writing processes of talented authors and your answers were particularly thoughtful and articulate.

I was wondering though, you mentioned working on a book in the Beauty and Beast framework and I was wondering if that was still something you were working on or would be published soon? I read many years ago Robin Mckinley’s ‘Beauty’ and loved it, but I would be so interested to see what you could bring to the story! Thanks

Nicole

I’d be interested to learn more of how your higher education influenced your writing – I read somewhere (probably Wikipedia, knowing my love for that flawed source of information) that you credit it for honing your writing. I’m in my second year at college, and, quite frankly, grasping for any motivation that will entice me to stay. So, if you find time between researching/writing/editing, and don’t find it too intrusive, I’d love to hear about how your education helped you.

Thank you for this nice comment! I would love to write a fourth book in the Bridei Chronicles – it all depends on my publisher. Yes, it is related to sales numbers. The series was less popular in some parts of the world than some of my other books.

There is some news about the German editions of the Bridei Chronicles on my website – all three books will be out this year in new mass market editions.

Thank you so much for your books

Henrike

I think it’s very likely I will do more with the Sevenwaters series, yes – I left certain plot strands open at the end of Heir to Sevenwaters. I’m less likely to write a prequel. When I’m reading, I prefer not to know what’s going to happen in the story, and with prequels (unless they’re set a long time before the main story) one does tend to know what lies in the future for characters (for instance, it would diminish my enjoyment of a happily resolved love story if I knew one of the couple was going to die in childbirth.) Still, there are ways around that.

all the best

Juliet

I’ve just read Heir to Sevenwaters.
Are you planning on doing more with this series, or revisiting earlier characters, such as Sorcha’s mother in a prequel?

Regards,
Tam.

Re publication dates, now that I’m with Penguin in the US, the US editions of the adult books are more likely to come out at the same time as the Aussie ones, as with Heir to Sevenwaters. I appreciate how frustrating it is to have months to wait. It does take a bit of cooperation between the various publishers to have simultaneous release of all English language editions.

I have been fan of your books for about five and a half years now, and with each new book my love for and appreciation of your writing grows, as my well-worn collection of the books shows. I feel as though each woman tells me something about myself, and the trials they go through and lessons they learn develop my understanding of life and the nature of pure and strong love. I cannot describe in words how much each character means to me. I am generally one who reads a book, appreciates it, and moves on. However with your books I find it impossible to do so. With each rereading comes a new discovery, a missed detail, a fresh insight.

But I ramble. The point is, thank you. Thank you for bringing to me women who are wholly themselves and strong, each in their own way.

Mary

P.S. I live in the US, and the wait between the AU publication and the US publication always kills me. Any way to push it here a bit faster?

P.P.S. I strongly recommend to you the indie-folk band The Decemberists, particularly the album “The Crane Wife,” based on the Japanese folktale quite similar to Hugh’s tale of Toby.