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The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Laura Lam (view source)
Revision as of 17:24, 14 January 2013
, 17:24, 14 January 2013no edit summary
Recently I sobbed my way through ''The Mad Scientist’s Daughter'' by Cassandra Rose Clarke, which is coming out at around the same time as Pantomime through the parent imprint of Angry Robot Books. As the tagline says, it’s a tale of love, loss, and robots. It’s very literary and light on the sci fi, and it’s a beautiful book and I recommend picking it up.
* '''BB: Sounds great - will definitely keep an eye out for it!'''
'''I absolutely loved the extracts from various sources which start off each chapter of Pantomime. (As you can tell, there's a lot I loved about the book!) Were you always planning on writing these parts or did you add them to the narrative after your first draft?'''
* '''BB: Which YA characters (or authors!) would you most like to see taking part in a circus, and what acts do you think they'd be good at?'''
LL: Technically the Farseer books aren’t marketed as YA, but I read them as a teen so I’ll say The Fool from the Farseer trilogy would be an amazing additional to the clown troupe or the acrobats. I actually made Drystan, the leader of the clowns, dress in white motley as a little nod to the Fool. Karou from [[Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Liani Laini Taylor|Daughter of Smoke and Bone]] also had a lot of training so she’d be a great addition to the circus as an aerialist or an acrobat, and her Naga Chimaera friend, Issa, would naturally be the snake charmer. Gemma Doyle from [[The Diviners by Libba Bray|Libba Bray’s books]] could be the tarot reader or psychic.
* '''BB: Fab picks! I enjoyed Smoke and Bone (and really loved the [[Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor|sequel]]) and think Gemma Doyle is wonderful - I'd definitely go to any circus with her, Karou and Issa in!
LL: I keep having to fight the urge to apologise to all reviewers! When I originally wrote the book, I didn’t think of keeping the twist secret, mainly because I’m usually an open book, if you pardon the pun. When the publisher suggested it, I was initially a little torn, but it has been a great way to create curiosity about the book and to let the reader be surprised. But it does mean that most reviews have had to be vague and skirt around the actual plot and characters. It’s just as hard for me to speak about the book while not giving anything away!
* '''BB: I can imagine - I really appreciate you doing this interview, as I think in your shoes I'd just be hiding away until everyone had read it!'''
'''What's next for Laura Lam?'''