Interview with
SARAH REES BRENNAN
Sarah Rees Brennan was born and raised in Ireland by the
sea, where her teachers valiantly tried to make her fluent in Irish (she wants
you to know it’s not called Gaelic) but she chose to read books under her desk
in class instead. After college she lived briefly in New York and somehow
survived in spite of her habit of hitching lifts in fire engines. She began
working on THE DEMON’S LEXICON while doing a Creative Writing MA and library
work in Surrey, England. Since then she has returned to Ireland to write and
use as a home base for future adventures. Her Irish is still woeful, but she
feels the books under the desk were worth it.
What are you reading right now?
CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein. I'm loving it! I've been a
fan of the author since her take on Arthurian legend, THE WINTER PRINCE.
What first sparked your interest in
writing?
I was terrible at ballet. No, I really was, but I taught myself
to read super young and was endlessly fascinated with stories from then on.
That inspired me to become a writer from a pretty young age...as I recall, I
was five, and when I was seven I wrote my first book. (It was very, very bad,
and about ponies.)
What do you love the most about writing? The
least?
I love getting the ideas, and thinking about the characters and
planning my favourite scenes, and writing when it's coming in a flood...and I
hate when there's a revision you have to make, but it's hard to do and means
losing something you love.
Tell us a little about your writing process.
I'm very linear, because otherwise I'd write all the exciting
bits and none of it would make any sense. I like to write with my writing
friends if I can, and loud music if I can't...sometimes I write in front of the
TV! Very much not the ivory tower type: I feel like to write about the world,
writing in the world helps.
What are your passions?
Reading, obviously. ; ) Narratives of all kinds, so theatre and
cinema as well. Swimming and travelling!
What inspires you?
History. Fiction. Travel. Landscape art. Everything is
inspirational!
Why fantasy?
Fantasy is a way of talking about reality, writ large. Writing
about dragons tells us our own dragons can be defeated: writing about thunder
gods describes how we feel when we hear thunder.
Why young adult?
Young adult was the first fantasy I loved. I read Tamora
Pierce's SONG OF THE LIONESS before I read THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and my love
for fantasy was cemented by reading Diana Wynne Jones and Margaret Mahy, both
primarily writers for children. It's a very exciting time in your life, when
you change most.
How was THE DEMON’S LEXICON born?
I saw a documentary about human children who had been brought up
by wolves, and I wanted to write about what a member of a dangerous,
fantastical species raised by humans would be like.
How was UNSPOKEN born?
I read other books about romances in which the couple could read
each others' minds, and it was always romantic, unproblematic, and proof of soulmatery. And I always thought it
would be more complicated and embarrassing than that. Then I had the idea to
combine that with Gothic mystery. ; )
UNSPOKEN whiplashes back and forth between
hilarious and intense (and I mean that as a compliment). Which was more fun to
write: the humor or the drama?
Thank you for the compliment! Both, I think. I love writing
jokes, but I couldn't write a book that was all jokes - I tried once - but I also can't write a
book without humour. I don't care about the dangers characters face, unless
those characters have a sense of humour!
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Writers write. Don't talk about wanting to do it more than you
do it, don't worry too much about publication or your own flaws - write, write,
write and you'll get better.
Is there anything else you would like to tell
us about yourself?
I'm secretly a spy. (Oh no, I wasn't supposed to tell you that...)