Saturday, November 16, 2013

Sci-Fi Month: Interview with Marissa Meyer + Giveaway


And on our third Saturday, we have an author who many people are obviously quite excited about: Marissa Meyer! Now I'm sure I'm one of the many people DYING for a copy of Cress, but while we pine for it, have a read of the interview and enter the giveaway for a swag pack! (I actually have one of these myself haha)





Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.







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Seeing as though this interview is part of Sci-Fi Month, I’ll start off by asking some questions to do with sci-fi:
1. What do you think is the appeal of sci-fi?

I think it’s human nature to look to the future, and wonder where we, as a society, are heading. Sometimes that future looks very vast and shiny and exciting, with things like hover cars and transporters. Other times it’s dark and scary, like The Hunger Games. Either way, it’s intriguing to us.

2. Why did you decide to write sci-fi?
Weirdly enough, I never would have thought in a million years that my first novel would be science-fiction. I was always the fantasy lover: dragons and sorcery and the like. But I wrote a science-fiction story for a writing contest a few years ago, a futuristic retelling of the fairy tale “Puss in Boots,” and I completely fell in love with this concept of combining fairy tales and science fiction. I couldn’t find that it had been done before, and I felt like there was a lot of potential there. So, since I didn’t have much literature to draw on for inspiration, I went back to my sci-fi loves—Star Wars and Firefly—to inspire my futuristic world. I think that’s why my books are so character-oriented, as opposed to technology. I really think of them more as “space opera” than sci-fi.

And now I’m going to move onto random questions:
3. Kiss, kill, marry- Kai, Thorne, Wolf 
Oh, I have indeed done this before, and my answer doesn’t change, lol. Kiss: Kai, because the paparazzi would have a hayday with it. Marry: Wolf, because I think he would be such a sweet and doting husband. Kill: Thorne, even though I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE him, I think he would start to drive me crazy after a while.

4. Would you want to live in the world that you’ve created? As in, would you want to live in the Third Era?
Yes, though it’s not all great and wonderful. The plague is terrifying, and the Lunars are slowly digging their talons into Earth, which is a scary prospective. But there is lots of awesome technology, plus: world peace!

5. Name a book from your shelf that is yellow.
Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn.

6. Seeing as though your Lunar Chronicles books are based on fairy tales, what’s your favourite fairy tale?
I don’t really have a favourite, but I’ve always been drawn to the fairy tales that have dark, gory beginnings that haven’t quite made it into our modern day, Disney-fied culture. Such as how Cinderella’s stepsisters chop off their toes and heels to fit into the slipper, or how the wolf tricked Little Red into devouring parts of her grandmother in the very old versions of the tale. I’m just so intrigued by how bizarre these stories were, and how unlike the stories we tell our children today.

7. Since this blog is named Looking for the Panacea, what would be your Panacea Candidates?
Oh wow – so many candidates! Divergent would certainly be on the list; I’m eagerly anticipating the final instalment with everyone else. And also Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama. That’s one of those books that I tend to push on everyone who will listen. It’s dark and mysterious and eerie and I absolutely love it.



Giveaway Details:
  • Open internationally i.e. to everyone!
  • There will be one winner who wins a swag pack containing signed bookmarks, bookplates, stickers and temporary tattoos.
  • You must be 13 or older to enter, and have your parents' permission if under 18
  • Giveaway ends on 30th November
  • Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond
  • We are not responsible for any items lost or damaged in the mail

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18 comments:

  1. Great interview. I loved learning how Marissa got into writing sci-fi. And I'm SO pining for Cress.

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  2. Killing Thorne? NOOOOO. I think I would kill Kai.. I also really like how dark fairy tales are originally :) And I love the unique use of Sci-Fi. I never really liked Sci-fi books (more of a fantasy girl too), but these books showed me that I can enjoy them!

    Great interview, thanks for sharing <3

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    1. NYOOOO! You can't kill Kai!! I would personally kill Wolf lol. Not the biggest fan of that guy.

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  3. Ooh Nara, you've gotten some brilliant interviews for this month =) And you have some seriously EVIL questions!

    I'm looking forward to Cress, I think both books so far have been wonderfully creative stories.

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    1. haha evil questions are fun! It's interesting seeing how authors answer them :P

      I'm really looking forward to seeing some Cress x Thorne haha (from the excerpts, it seems that it might happen hehe)

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  4. Great interview. It was neat to hear her process and who she would cliff! :)

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    1. I have to admit, I really didn't expect her to kill off Thorne!

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  5. Great interview! I think I agree with her answers to the kiss-kill-marry question. Although, I wouldn't mind kissing Thorne. ;)

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    1. Of course you wouldn't mind :P Who would? haha

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  6. Cinderella’s stepsisters chopped off their toes?! O.o I didn't know that! I love discovering little things like that too, though I haven't read nearly as many older versions of fairy tales. This is a great interview! And it reminds me... I still need to pick up Scarlet! Thanks for sharing. :)

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    1. I didn't know either! Didn't see that in the Disney version haha.
      You must! Scarlet is so good- plus you get introduced to this new hilarious and fabulous character :D

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  7. Hey, I want to read that Puss in Boots retelling! But I want to read all the things Marissa Meyer writes so I guess that'a a given.

    I *mostly* agree with the Kiss, kill, marry, but I would totally switch Kai and Thorne. Marry Wolf! <3 He's my favorite. ^_^ (I even said so on Twitter yesterday before seeing this interview!)

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    1. haha so true. I will literally read anything she writes. Except maybe the Sailor Moon FanFic haha.

      Aww but I love Kai. I'd kill Wolf lol

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  8. AH, I love this! The Lunar Chronicles is definitely my favorite on-going series at the moment, and I love getting to read her answers! Though the Kiss/Marry/Kill question breaks my heart just a little bit, because I'm such a Thorne fan ALL the way!

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    1. Thorne is hilarious! But I do agree that he would probably get annoying after a while. Those types of people are fun to read about but would be annoying in real life haha

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  9. Wow..
    Great giveaway / contest.
    I hope I can have similar giveaway like this too.
    Hope everyone enjoy it. Good luck.

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