We’re baaaack!...and ready to chat with another of our TeenBookCon 2011 authors! Today, we have Texas author Joy Preble in the hot seat answering a few of our questions. It’s time to get to know Joy!
TeenBookCon: What was the inspiration for the inclusion of the Russian folklore in Dreaming Anastasia and Haunted?
Joy Preble: I'd always had an interest in Russian stories, both folkloric and fiction. My maternal grandmother - a woman who was gloriously unhappy on the grand scale of say, a Tolstoy novel - had sparked that interest in me with her stories of "the old country." I wanted something organically Russian to ground the magic for the fantasy elements. This is, after all, a story connected to the Romanovs. And so I began extensive reading and research - both of the folk tales and characters as well as of Russian fairy tale structure. There's a guy named Vladmir Propp who actually wrote the seminal analysis of Russian story form way back in the early 1900's. The more I read, the more excited I became about how these tales would not only give my novel a fokloric structure, but would also serve as thematics and metaphors. Baba Yaga's forest, for example, is always a place of change and transformation. Her house is indeed on chicken legs in the stories. (btw, if anyone has ever seen the anime movie, Howl's Moving Castle, that's basically Baba Yaga's house in the all the fairy tales) After that, I stirred in a Russian lacquer box - which is a traditional form of folk art) and the nesting dolls (stories within stories). The rest all flowed from there.
TBC: Do you imagine Dreaming Anastasia and Haunted as movies and if so, who do you see in the lead roles?
JP: Every author would love to see their novels become movies. What's weird and wonderful is that now that I'm a working author, I actually know people who I count as friends whose books have indeed been optioned for movies and/or tv, which is totally cool. So I keep my fingers crossed. As for cast, I think I would prefer unknowns. That way no one is sitting there thinking, "Hey that's Minka Kelly playing Anne." That being said, if my dreams came true, I would love to see Ian Somerhadler, who's Damon Salvatore on Vampire Diaries, play Ethan. Love is probably not a strong enough word. Ian, are you listening?? And because writers are also rock stars to me, I'd like Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, who write eps for Vampire Diaries and who used to write for Buffy, to write the screenplay. (Okay, yes, I've thought about this way too much)
TBC: What are your top three "Books to have if stranded on a desert island"?
JP: This is always such a hard question for me! But I guess if I was forced to pick only three, I'd choose The Hunger Games so I could study up on how to survive the stupid island; A Wrinkle in Time because I never tire of re-reading it; and the first Harry Potter so just possibly I could figure out a way to transform my muggle self into something more Hogwarts' worthy. (it could happen)
TBC: Do you have any upcoming book projects you can tell us about?
JP: Right now I'm working to finish book three of the Dreaming Anastasia trilogy, so that's pretty all consuming. It's slated for spring 2012. Beyond that, I've got at least two projects in the works, both YA. The first one, set here in Houston is a novel that I like to say is about love, faith, football and double pecan waffles. The other one I'll keep under wraps for right now, but I'm very excited about it! Hopefully, readers will get to see one or both of these novels in the not so distant future.
TBC: Excellent! We can’t wait for your upcoming books and we’re so excited to meet you on April 9th at TeenBookCon. Thanks so much, Joy, for taking the time to answer a few questions and let our teens get to know you a bit better before meeting you!
Joy Preble is the author of Dreaming Anastasia and Haunted. Find her on Twitter.
Joy will be speaking on the Here There Be Ghosts…And Werewolves and Everything Else! panel with Andrea Cremer, Rachel Hawkins, Stacey Kade, and Saundra Mitchell.
More interviews coming soon! ‘Til then, let us know what you’re thinking by leaving comments below…
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