Hey everybody, welcome back to the blog! Today we’re continuing our meet-the author series by talking with the awesome Andrea Cremer. It’s just over a week until you can meet her at TeenBookCon! Time for the Q&A to start…
TeenBookCon: What was your inspiration for the female-led Guardian wolves in Nightshade?
Andrea Cremer: Calla was the inspiration for Nightshade. I walked around for about a week knowing that there was a girl who wanted her story told. I knew she was strong, independent, a leader...and also a wolf. While I was trying to figure out more of who she was I came across a poem by Margaret Atwood with this as the first stanza: Not you I fear but that other/she who can walk through flesh/Queen of the two dimensions. I knew instantly that these lines perfectly depicted Calla's role and her world. I grew up loving fantasy with strong heroines - from Eowyn in Lord of the Rings to Buffy the Vampire slayer - and I wanted my novel to follow the journey of a young woman who wasn't swept up into a magical world by someone else's power, but who was trying to master her own power.
TBC: You are a vocal supporter of the freedom to read and Banned Books Week awareness--can you tell us a little more about your passion for that subject and what your favorite banned book is?
AC: I'm a teacher and I believe that censorship is based on fear and ignorance that will only prevent our society from becoming a better place. Books are censored because of limiting views about subject matter, and frequently about difficult topics deemed 'inappropriate' for young readers. The truth is young readers, as much as older readers, are faced with the realities of life in all its joys and sorrows. Books offer safe spaces in which readers can encounter challenging subjects without judgment. These books also create important opportunities for parents to discuss the harder sides of life with their children - they should open dialogues rather than be silenced. I have so many favorite banned books it's hard to choose! Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Alice Walker's The Color Purple are definitely two of my favorites.
TBC: What are your top three "Books to have if stranded on a desert island"?
AC: Watership Down by Richard Adams, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling, and A Field Guide to Desert Island Botany.
TBC: Do you have any upcoming book projects you can tell us about?
AC: Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2) will be in stores July 26! Bloodrose (Nightshade #3) will be published in March 2012 and a companion novel to the series, the story of how the Witches War began in the Middle Ages, will be published in fall 2012.
TBC: That sounds like a busy schedule. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us and share some of what you have going on with our teens before they get to meet you on April 9th @ TeenBookCon!
Andrea Cremer is the author of Nightshade and the upcoming Wolfsbane. Find her on Twitter.
Andrea will be speaking on the Here There Be Ghosts…And Werewolves and Everything Else! panel with Rachel Hawkins, Stacey Kade, Saundra Mitchell, and Joy Preble.
Check back here again for another interview! ‘Til then, let us know what you’re thinking by leaving comments below…
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