Watch out for part deux tomorrow - For the rest of you lot who haven't read ANGEL yet, I'm giving away two copies (pre-ordered) with the next installment, so watch out for it!
Shall we start?
1. HOW DID THE IDEA FOR ANGEL COME ABOUT?
"I've known the characters of Alex and Willow for a long time; they were both originally characters in a fantasy novel of mine which was never published. But they refused to go away, and I began to play with the idea of putting them in a contemporary setting, with a totally different storyline. I knew early on that Willow was psychic, and that Alex had been hired to kill her - and that instead, they fall in love - but for a long time, that was all I knew. Then about a year ago, I was looking at a non-fiction display of angel books in a bookshop, and thinking about the fact that all of these titles seemed to be about angels as friendly human helpers, rather than the more religious aspects that we historically identify with angels. And I started wondering...what if angels aren't really good and kind, like we think? What if they have their own agenda - and are really beings to be feared? Suddenly the two story ideas came together, and I knew that I had my novel. Angel wrote itself very quickly after that!"
2. NAME A BOOK THAT YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN:
"Well, the obvious answer is Harry Potter, so that I could live in a castle with an indoor swimming pool and have a fleet of cars and swan about wearing loads of bling, etc, etc. ;-) But presumably you mean a book that I wish I'd written for more than just greedy reasons! (And I do love Harry Potter, actually, but I wouldn't quite put it in that category.) One that comes instantly to mind is Tabitha Suzuma's new book, Forbidden, which I thought was amazing - she turns all of your ideas about a very taboo subject completely upside down as you find yourself falling in love with the main characters, and longing for them to be able to be together. Really, really beautifully done - I imagine that this is the one that's finally going to win Tabitha some major awards. (I should mention, though, that it's not for younger readers - and be warned, it's a real tearjerker!). Another is Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines, which I think must be one of the most brilliant concepts ever - the sort that when you hear it, you immediately think, oh, I WISH I had thought of that! "
You greedy... I agree, I wish I wrote the HP books and pocketed all the royalties. :D
3. IF YOU WERE NOT A WRITER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
"I would want to work in film in some way - I think I'd be great in the editing room! But as to what I might actually be doing, that's a different story. I'd probably be a teacher. I teach a lot of writing courses, and really enjoy getting concepts across to people."
4. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO HAVE TEENAGE PROTAGONISTS RATHER THAN ADULT ONES?
"Well, I'm a children's writer, so for better or for worse, the story ideas that come to me are almost exclusively ones for children's or teenage fiction - somehow, it's just the way that my mind works (not to mention that I love reading children's fiction!). It never really even occured to me to have adult protagonists in Angel. In a way, I think it's a very teenage story in its themes and issues, simply because of that sense of isolation that many teenagers feel. This is heightened in Angel, whose protagonists really are incredibly isolated from the rest of the world - Willow because of what she is, and Alex because of how he was raised. In a very real sense, they're perfect for each other in a way that nobody else could ever be - and because of their age, you also get that great, all-encompassing love; the kind that just sweeps you away and devours you when you're young. So the age of the protagonists probably gives Angel a greater sense of passion and romance than might have been possible otherwise. (Which is never a bad thing!)"
5. WHAT IS THE BEST AND MOST DIFFICULT ASPECT OF DEVELOPING THE PLOT?
"I tend to work my storylines out before I start to write, so I suppose the best aspect is that feeling of 'Ha! I've got it nailed before I've even started!' And then, of course, the most difficult aspect is getting 70,000 words into the story and realising that despite all your planning, the mid-section isn't even remotely working and is all going to have to be redone (as happened with the first draft of Angel). A lot of my career has been spent doing series fiction for younger children - titles of around 15,000 words - and it's possible to plan those out pretty precisely, with little deviation from your plan once you write it. So when Angel refused to play the game at first, that was a bit of a shock! What I learned is that such a long novel (Angel is over 100K) is really totally different from shorter stories. You can plan all you like, but you're just not going to know everything before you start; it's a process of discovery, and of letting the characters lead you. So with book 2, Angel Fire, although I've planned out the rough spine and know the general events and how the story ends, I haven't tried to control it as much as I did Angel - I'm just going to trust that the characters will lead me in the right direction when the time comes."
Isn't she a darling? I adore her. Watch out for part II tomorrow!
Excited about Angel? You can find out more about Angel on Angel Fever, where you can read the first 45 pages of this amazing book, listen to the playlist, follow Alex and Willow in their road trip, win a signed advance copy and so much more!
You can add Lee at twitter (@LA Weatherly) and Angel Book (@Angel book) too!
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