These set of questions were asked by readers from Goodreads and Marissa Meyer answered them personally. I cannot feature all but if you want to check it out, click here. Here are the questions and answers that caught my interest. From fangirling to the series, to Marissa's new series, and so much more!
Note: Careful on what you read if you haven't read the books. You might read some spoilers.
If you were to change something in the previous books what would you change?
If I could go back and change something, I would make the Lunar gift less powerful. Winter is mostly set on Luna, so we're in a society surrounded by people with the ability to manipulate and control, and it's really complicated parts of the plot for me! I've been able to make it work just fine, but I could have saved myself a lot of heartache by putting more restrictions on Lunars from the start.
Hi Marissa! I just wanted to tell you that I got really excited when I first heard about Cinder, since I love books which are based on other stories... Sooo I was wondering if you had thought about writing more books like this, maybe based on The Little Mermaid or something like that?? :)
Marissa Meyer Thank you! I actually did write a short story retelling of The Little Mermaid (the Andersen story, not Disney in this case). The story is called The Little Android and can be read for free on my WattPad page.
In addition to fairy tales I'm also writing a book called Heartless, based on Alice in Wonderland. Beyond that, I don't have any more plans for retellings (my next series will be superhero based), but I do love fairy tales and wouldn't be surprised if I get inspired for more retellings in the future. We'll see!
Can you share any details about your superhero series?
Marissa Meyer Ooh, good question! Everything is subject to change, but right now I'm calling it the Gatlon series, and it's essentially about a group of kids who go to a school for superheroes, and have to stand up to kids from a rival school who are walking the thin line between heroics and villainy. Plus, you know... action, romance, comedy... all that good stuff.
Is there anything you could share with us about Winter? :D Any teasers or such? ❤ Would love to know just about anything. Especially about Kai :D Will we see lots more of him in Winter?
Marissa Meyer I can't tell too much about Winter yet, but all of our main characters have plenty of page time in it (yes, including Kai!), plus there's just a whole lot of everything in this book, from fights to kissing...
Who would you date? Kai, Thorne, Wolf or Jacin???
Marissa Meyer Ha! Who WOULDN'T I date?? ;)
What is your biggest tip for writing a bad guy?
Marissa Meyer I would say it's so important to know WHY they're bad. It can be tempting to make a villain evil-for-the-sake-of-evil, but that's not very interesting. Ask yourself what happened in their past to make them the way that they are, and what are their motivations for doing the things that they do? Some famous writer (I don't know who...) once said that the villain believes they are the hero of the story, and I think it's important to keep that in mind.
Is it hard for you to keep track of characters (such as location, or keeping in character) at times when writing?
Marissa Meyer YES! I am constantly making lists of which characters are in a particular place and what it is they're doing there.
I also get confused all the time about weapons and injuries. I keep an ongoing file about who's been injured and what weapons or tools they have with them. Also - if a character has a gun, I try to keep track of how many times they've shot it so we don't get the Hollywood "neverending ammunition" syndrome. It can get really complicated.
Hello! After WINTER, will there be any more short stories or novellas after the final book has been released like your book, Fairest? Thanks!
Marissa Meyer There will be one more short story, currently titled "The Princess and the Guard" - it's obviously based on Winter and Jacin. :) I expect that will be released this summer sometime.
After that, I have some ideas of potential stories to add a bit more depth to the world, but nothing is cemented yet, and I am excited to move on to my other series. We'll see!
Can you estimate the page length of Winter? (I know it will be AMAZING!!! regardless) Additionally, what was the hardest obstacle when writing Cress?
Marissa Meyer Yes! The estimated (not-final) page count is posted on GoodReads at 800 pages, and that's going to be darn close!
Sidenote: 800 pretty pages! I cannot wait!
Who is your favorite character from the series of books "Lunar Chronicles"?
Marissa Meyer I don't think I have a favorite character (I adore them all for different reasons... even the bad guys!). That said, I enjoy writing the funny characters the most because they always make me laugh. I really enjoy writing Iko and Thorne. They're both just so ridiculous at times, but really heartfelt at others. They both knew who they were from the beginning, too, which makes my job a lot easier.
Whats it like to have books that so many people love?
Marissa Meyer It never stops being bizarre! I find that a lot of times when people compliment my books I feel like they're talking about someone else's books. It's really hard to connect the success of them to something that I wrote myself. Then you see the numbers - # of books sold, GoodReads ratings, etc. - and it just seems even stranger, like these things I concocted in my head have gone on to have a life completely separate from me.
I don't know if that makes sense. It's a weird thing to describe. :)
Will you write more books in The Lunar Chronicles universe after Winter?
Marissa Meyer Winter will conclude this series, but I do have some ideas for potential spin-offs set in this world. I'm talking to my publisher now. We'll see...
Have you cried at all while writing Winter?
Marissa Meyer Yes. Yes, I did. Though to be fair, sometimes I was crying from joy. ^_^
What was your inspiration for writing about the queen in your latest book? You had so many characters to choose from to write about. Why her?
Marissa Meyer Levana was one of the first characters I thought of when I decided to write a series of sci-fi fairy tale retellings, and I've long been fascinated by the evil queen from Snow White. I always wanted to know what would make a woman place so much value on her beauty that she would do horrible, unspeakable things just to stay the "Fairest of them all." So Levana's story has really been building in my head from the very beginning when I started writing this series.
Then as I was working on Winter, I found myself getting stuck on scenes that involved Levana and her relationships to Winter and Selene, so I decided to pause and write Levana's story. Once I gave it a chance, her story came pouring out of me, and I learned so much about her and made so many connections that I hadn't put together yet. It was definitely time to put her story on paper! And it did help me get past all those places that were giving me trouble in Winter, too, so it worked out really great. I'm just glad my publisher actually wanted to publish it, ha!
Marissa, what inspired you to make Snow White a person with dark skin, instead of leaving her the way that she's always been portrayed?
Marissa Meyer In my early, early conceptualizing for the series, I thought Winter would be your typical Snow White as described in the fairy tale: skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, hair as black as ebony.
However, one day not long into my planning process I was reading through a health and nutrition blog and I came across a photo of this beautiful black model with thick curly hair biting into a red apple. The second I saw that picture I thought - that's her! that's my princess! So Winter became black.
It's not a very scientific approach to character building, but that's the story, lol.
The beta readers have posted some pretty upsetting and terrifying reactions to really bad news in Winter, and the fandom (particularly on tumblr) is starting to freak out. Can you please give us ANY kind of re-assurance that we won't all want to curl up in a ball and cry all day after reading Winter? Anything at all? It's a long wait til November and we're doing our best to promote these books, but now we're scared.
Marissa Meyer Hahaha, I love my betas. ❤
I can't give any hints as to what's going to happen in Winter, but I will ask you to trust me! I think / hope the readers will find it to be a satisfying conclusion to the series.
My daughter is in school right now, but she asked me to send this on her behalf: I'm reading Cress right now and I loved Cinder and Scarlet! Your writing is amazing! I love writing sci-fi and I want to be an author. I was wondering...how do you tie up your stories and talk about the past and have so many secrets, with it still being so interesting?
Marissa Meyer This is a great question! I spend A TON of time rearranging my plots, moving scenes and subplots around, and trying to maintain a balance of characters throughout each book. I try to balance action with reaction scenes, too, so that if you have one "dull" scene where you're giving the reader lots of new information, then I want the next scene to be more exciting and suspenseful. Or if you have to convey a lot of backstory or resolve some mysteries, try to do it in an interesting way.
SCARLET SPOILERS: For example, I could have had Cinder learn a lot more about her history and cyborg surgeries from Dr. Erland, but instead I decided to have her discover that information on her own when she stumbles across the underground lair where she was kept by Scarlet's grandmother. It was a much more interesting and visual way to uncover that information - for Cinder, and for the reader. (at least, I hope so, ha!)
Hi Marissa! i was wondering which couple do you enjoy writing scenes for the most in the series?
Marissa Meyer I love writing scenes for each of the couples - kissing scenes are always my favorite to write! I also love romantic tension scenes in general, where the characters get to be all awkward and dancing around their feelings...
I don't really have a favorite couple, though. They're all so different and they all have moments that I absolutely loved writing.
About the Author
I now live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine, Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly, and playing all manners of dress-up.
Find her: Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads
GIVEAWAY!
- write/paste honest and clear infos on each entries, including the daily entries if you want yours to be valid
- winner will have 48 hours to respond on the email notification. If failed, I'll pick another winner
- Marissa and I are not responsible for any lost or damaged package
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Note: Careful on what you read if you haven't read the books. You might read some spoilers.
***
If I could go back and change something, I would make the Lunar gift less powerful. Winter is mostly set on Luna, so we're in a society surrounded by people with the ability to manipulate and control, and it's really complicated parts of the plot for me! I've been able to make it work just fine, but I could have saved myself a lot of heartache by putting more restrictions on Lunars from the start.
Hi Marissa! I just wanted to tell you that I got really excited when I first heard about Cinder, since I love books which are based on other stories... Sooo I was wondering if you had thought about writing more books like this, maybe based on The Little Mermaid or something like that?? :)
Marissa Meyer Thank you! I actually did write a short story retelling of The Little Mermaid (the Andersen story, not Disney in this case). The story is called The Little Android and can be read for free on my WattPad page.
In addition to fairy tales I'm also writing a book called Heartless, based on Alice in Wonderland. Beyond that, I don't have any more plans for retellings (my next series will be superhero based), but I do love fairy tales and wouldn't be surprised if I get inspired for more retellings in the future. We'll see!
Can you share any details about your superhero series?
Marissa Meyer Ooh, good question! Everything is subject to change, but right now I'm calling it the Gatlon series, and it's essentially about a group of kids who go to a school for superheroes, and have to stand up to kids from a rival school who are walking the thin line between heroics and villainy. Plus, you know... action, romance, comedy... all that good stuff.
Is there anything you could share with us about Winter? :D Any teasers or such? ❤ Would love to know just about anything. Especially about Kai :D Will we see lots more of him in Winter?
Marissa Meyer I can't tell too much about Winter yet, but all of our main characters have plenty of page time in it (yes, including Kai!), plus there's just a whole lot of everything in this book, from fights to kissing...
Who would you date? Kai, Thorne, Wolf or Jacin???
Marissa Meyer Ha! Who WOULDN'T I date?? ;)
What is your biggest tip for writing a bad guy?
Marissa Meyer I would say it's so important to know WHY they're bad. It can be tempting to make a villain evil-for-the-sake-of-evil, but that's not very interesting. Ask yourself what happened in their past to make them the way that they are, and what are their motivations for doing the things that they do? Some famous writer (I don't know who...) once said that the villain believes they are the hero of the story, and I think it's important to keep that in mind.
Is it hard for you to keep track of characters (such as location, or keeping in character) at times when writing?
Marissa Meyer YES! I am constantly making lists of which characters are in a particular place and what it is they're doing there.
I also get confused all the time about weapons and injuries. I keep an ongoing file about who's been injured and what weapons or tools they have with them. Also - if a character has a gun, I try to keep track of how many times they've shot it so we don't get the Hollywood "neverending ammunition" syndrome. It can get really complicated.
Hello! After WINTER, will there be any more short stories or novellas after the final book has been released like your book, Fairest? Thanks!
Marissa Meyer There will be one more short story, currently titled "The Princess and the Guard" - it's obviously based on Winter and Jacin. :) I expect that will be released this summer sometime.
After that, I have some ideas of potential stories to add a bit more depth to the world, but nothing is cemented yet, and I am excited to move on to my other series. We'll see!
Can you estimate the page length of Winter? (I know it will be AMAZING!!! regardless) Additionally, what was the hardest obstacle when writing Cress?
Marissa Meyer Yes! The estimated (not-final) page count is posted on GoodReads at 800 pages, and that's going to be darn close!
Sidenote: 800 pretty pages! I cannot wait!
Who is your favorite character from the series of books "Lunar Chronicles"?
Marissa Meyer I don't think I have a favorite character (I adore them all for different reasons... even the bad guys!). That said, I enjoy writing the funny characters the most because they always make me laugh. I really enjoy writing Iko and Thorne. They're both just so ridiculous at times, but really heartfelt at others. They both knew who they were from the beginning, too, which makes my job a lot easier.
Whats it like to have books that so many people love?
Marissa Meyer It never stops being bizarre! I find that a lot of times when people compliment my books I feel like they're talking about someone else's books. It's really hard to connect the success of them to something that I wrote myself. Then you see the numbers - # of books sold, GoodReads ratings, etc. - and it just seems even stranger, like these things I concocted in my head have gone on to have a life completely separate from me.
I don't know if that makes sense. It's a weird thing to describe. :)
Will you write more books in The Lunar Chronicles universe after Winter?
Marissa Meyer Winter will conclude this series, but I do have some ideas for potential spin-offs set in this world. I'm talking to my publisher now. We'll see...
Have you cried at all while writing Winter?
Marissa Meyer Yes. Yes, I did. Though to be fair, sometimes I was crying from joy. ^_^
What was your inspiration for writing about the queen in your latest book? You had so many characters to choose from to write about. Why her?
Marissa Meyer Levana was one of the first characters I thought of when I decided to write a series of sci-fi fairy tale retellings, and I've long been fascinated by the evil queen from Snow White. I always wanted to know what would make a woman place so much value on her beauty that she would do horrible, unspeakable things just to stay the "Fairest of them all." So Levana's story has really been building in my head from the very beginning when I started writing this series.
Then as I was working on Winter, I found myself getting stuck on scenes that involved Levana and her relationships to Winter and Selene, so I decided to pause and write Levana's story. Once I gave it a chance, her story came pouring out of me, and I learned so much about her and made so many connections that I hadn't put together yet. It was definitely time to put her story on paper! And it did help me get past all those places that were giving me trouble in Winter, too, so it worked out really great. I'm just glad my publisher actually wanted to publish it, ha!
Marissa, what inspired you to make Snow White a person with dark skin, instead of leaving her the way that she's always been portrayed?
Marissa Meyer In my early, early conceptualizing for the series, I thought Winter would be your typical Snow White as described in the fairy tale: skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, hair as black as ebony.
However, one day not long into my planning process I was reading through a health and nutrition blog and I came across a photo of this beautiful black model with thick curly hair biting into a red apple. The second I saw that picture I thought - that's her! that's my princess! So Winter became black.
It's not a very scientific approach to character building, but that's the story, lol.
The beta readers have posted some pretty upsetting and terrifying reactions to really bad news in Winter, and the fandom (particularly on tumblr) is starting to freak out. Can you please give us ANY kind of re-assurance that we won't all want to curl up in a ball and cry all day after reading Winter? Anything at all? It's a long wait til November and we're doing our best to promote these books, but now we're scared.
Marissa Meyer Hahaha, I love my betas. ❤
I can't give any hints as to what's going to happen in Winter, but I will ask you to trust me! I think / hope the readers will find it to be a satisfying conclusion to the series.
My daughter is in school right now, but she asked me to send this on her behalf: I'm reading Cress right now and I loved Cinder and Scarlet! Your writing is amazing! I love writing sci-fi and I want to be an author. I was wondering...how do you tie up your stories and talk about the past and have so many secrets, with it still being so interesting?
Marissa Meyer This is a great question! I spend A TON of time rearranging my plots, moving scenes and subplots around, and trying to maintain a balance of characters throughout each book. I try to balance action with reaction scenes, too, so that if you have one "dull" scene where you're giving the reader lots of new information, then I want the next scene to be more exciting and suspenseful. Or if you have to convey a lot of backstory or resolve some mysteries, try to do it in an interesting way.
SCARLET SPOILERS: For example, I could have had Cinder learn a lot more about her history and cyborg surgeries from Dr. Erland, but instead I decided to have her discover that information on her own when she stumbles across the underground lair where she was kept by Scarlet's grandmother. It was a much more interesting and visual way to uncover that information - for Cinder, and for the reader. (at least, I hope so, ha!)
Hi Marissa! i was wondering which couple do you enjoy writing scenes for the most in the series?
Marissa Meyer I love writing scenes for each of the couples - kissing scenes are always my favorite to write! I also love romantic tension scenes in general, where the characters get to be all awkward and dancing around their feelings...
I don't really have a favorite couple, though. They're all so different and they all have moments that I absolutely loved writing.
***
I now live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine, Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly, and playing all manners of dress-up.
Find her: Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads
GIVEAWAY!
- one lucky winner will receive a SIGNED copy of Fairest
- open internationally- write/paste honest and clear infos on each entries, including the daily entries if you want yours to be valid
- winner will have 48 hours to respond on the email notification. If failed, I'll pick another winner
- Marissa and I are not responsible for any lost or damaged package
a Rafflecopter giveaway
***
Click here for the Feb Feels schedule.
Thank you so much Marissa Meyer for the giveaway donation and for being a rockin' author!
