NYT Best Selling Author Melissa Marr

Book Nerd Interview

Melissa Marr grew up believing in faeries, ghosts, and various other creatures. After teaching college literature for a decade, she applied her fascination with folklore to writing. Wicked Lovely was her first novel. Currently, Marr lives in the Washington, D.C., area, writes full-time, and still believes in faeries and ghosts.

Social Media

Website

   

---

What’s one thing that readers would be surprised to find out about you?

If they follow my Twitter or FB page, they probably wouldn’t be surprised by anything. I’m pretty wide-open with my readers. The one thing a couple readers have commented on in person was that they didn’t expect me to be so short. I’m 5’2” (which is a fabulous height, IMO!)

What was your first introduction to YA literature, the one that made you choose that genre to write?

I don’t read OR write in any particular genre. I love everything from classic lit to SFF or romances. Likewise, I simply write. I think focus on genre is too akin to self-imposing limits. I dislike limits.

I have YA books (the Wicked Lovely series & the upcoming Carnival of Souls), but I had an adult release in 2011 (Graveminder), an anthology I co-edited with Kelley Armstrong (Enthralled; 2011), a collection of my short stories (Faery Tales & Nightmares; 21 Feb 2012), a manga series (Desert Tales; 2009-2011), and an upcoming children’s series with Kelley (The Blackwell Pages; 2013).

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?

I always fail at the superlative questions. I’m simply not an –est fan. Experiences are so vast that choosing any one as the best/favourite/most/least feels too limiting to me. I loved school. Even in the depths of my party stages or years of exceedingly bad choices, learning was one of the things that I clung to. It still is. Life, IMO, is about learning—both in classrooms and in the world at large. I crave new information and experiences and have an ever-expanding list of things I’d like to try/know/see.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?

I wouldn’t. Every change in a text has ripples, and I’m not good with even pondering ripples in someone else’s text. I’m okay with fanfiction because it’s a fun “what if” exercise, but I reallllly dislike when people mess with other folks’ books (the whole “just add monsters” to classics). I taught classic lit for twelve years, so the appropriation of or interference with other authors’ texts sends me into rants.

 Can you share a little of your current work with us?

All I’m allowed to share right now is that Carnival of Souls releases 4 September 2012. The only real info my publisher has put out there is what it says in the Publisher’s Weekly Preview—the book is “about three teens forging their own destinies in the daimon dimension” (http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/50717-fall-2012-sneak-previews.html)

What was a time in your life when you were really scared?

In chronological order-- when my son broke his arm, when my spouse was overseas for OIF (back before there was regular email/phone contact), when my mother was in the cardiac unit, when my daughter texted from China “just saw a dead body in the river,” when my father had a heart attack . . . They’re all fine, but almost every fear in my life is tied to those I love.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

There’s nothing of note in my basement or attic. Until 3 years ago, we were a Marine Corps family. That means we donated or discarded everything we didn’t need (& in some of my moods, I discarded things we did need too). I’ve kept a few things—a few baby clothes and picturebooks, letters from my husband when he was deployed—but for the most part if I could get rid of it, I will. 

My closet . . . the most unusual thing there is my shoe collection. I love shoes and boots, so there are far too many of them in there.

What are 4 things you never leave home without?

iPhone, ID, money, water. I’m pretty practical on this front. I’m not a make-up person, but I require music/note taking/snapshot taking so my iPhone is my all around writer-and-living tool. I have book notes, photos, & playlists on it. I’m strict on making sure I have hydration, & I’m picky about my water because I drink so much of it. I like a high silica content (Volvic or Fiji) because it feels better (smoother). It sounds silly, but if I don’t have my water, I end up drinking things like juice or soda instead. So I carry my water everywhere.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Being a writer requires living a full life. Try new things (with appropriate safety measures in place!). You can’t write if you don’t experience life. Keep your phone/notebook with you to jot down notes. Keep a camera (or phone) in hand to snap images you might use later. Talk to people; try foods or films or exhibits you might not usually; read/see/listen to things you wouldn’t normally. It’s in the widely lived life that I discover new stories & characters.

---

Dangerous promises and beguiling threats swirl together in a dozen stories of enchantments, dark and light, by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr. Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from under the seas, or manifest from seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention—with amorous or sinister intent—relentlessly.

From the gentle tones of a story-teller’s cadences to the terror of a blood sacrifice, tales of favorite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with . . . or to fear.

You can purchase Faery Tales & Nightmares at these following Retailers:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Book Depository

Wicked Lovely Series by Melissa Marr

---

Melissa  & I at The Kepler's Event. She is as amazing as she is a writer.

Fellow Book Nerd Courtney

---

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you Melissa for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive one Signed Copy of Faery Tales & Nightmares 
(this can be personalized) by Melissa Marr.

a Rafflecopter giveaway