From the Backlist - Juliet Marillier

 

Fantasy author Juliet Marillier

It's time again to flip through the Supernatural Underground back list and today we are landing on an interview with Juliet Marillier. Conducted in 2012 by our own, wonderful writer Helen Lowe, the words, tips and insights remain timeless (especially after chatting about curses this month!)

Introducing Juliet Marillier:

Juliet Marillier’s historical fantasy novels for adults and young adults, including the popular Sevenwaters series, have been translated into many languages and have won a number of awards including the Aurealis, the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Sir Julius Vogel Award and the Prix Imaginales. Her lifelong love of folklore, fairy tales and mythology is a major influence on her writing. Juliet is currently working on the Shadowfell series, a story of tyranny and rebellion set in a magical version of ancient Scotland. When not busy writing, she tends to a small pack of waifs and strays.

In addition to this interview, you may find out more on Juliet’s website http://www.julietmarillier.com; she also blogs on http://www.writerunboxed.com.

Interview: Juliet Marillier and Shadowfell

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Helen: Juliet, Shadowfell is your third specifically YA novel, following on from Wildwood Dancing and Cybele’s Secret, and all three have strong romantic elements. Do you feel this is an increasingly important part of writing YA stories, or part of a continuing tradition?

Juliet: YA stories feature a young adult protagonist or protagonists and usually focus on that character’s journey toward maturity ( the tradition of the Bildungsroman.) Learning about love / relationships is an important part of that stage in our lives, so it’s not surprising so many writers are building strong romantic elements into their YA stories. I don’t remember quite such an emphasis on romance in the books my children read as young adults, so I do think the approach has changed. Within my genre of fantasy, there’s been an upsurge of paranormal romance, partly generated by the Twilight books, but also reflecting the popularity of this sub-genre with adult readers. There are far more female fantasy writers (and female fantasy readers) than there were, say, twenty years ago, and perhaps female writers are more confident about including a good love story in a fantasy novel.

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To read the full interview, including some great comments, click here.

To find out more about Juliet Marillier, click here.

Note: Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly here on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.