Interview: Julie Kagawa

I'm extremely excited today to welcome Julie Kagawa, who's debuting with her novel The Iron King on February 1st (though, shh, there have already been sightings of it out in the wild). She was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions I threw at her about The Iron King and the writing process, and Julie's answers are adorable! I loved interviewing her, and I hope you enjoy reading. :)

Very click-able links: {website}, {blog}, {goodreads}, {amazon}

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1. Can you describe your book in three words?

Dark, romantic fairytale

2. One of the main things that I was wondering about when reading The Iron King's premise was the setting. Can you elaborate a bit more about what exactly the faerie-filled world of The Iron King is like?

The faeries in The Iron King live in both in the mortal world, and also in a parallel world called the Nevernever, or Faeryland.  The Nevernever is the land of magic and dreams, fueled by imagination.  You can meet anything in the Nevernever, from a talking cat to a fire-breathing dragon to the monster that hides in your closet or under your bed.  The fey were born from the dreams and fears of humans, and their world reflects that.

3. What inspired you to write The Iron King? 

I’ve always loved faery tales, the old, creepy faery tales, where the fey were primal and wicked and dangerous, not flower flitting sprites.  But when I first began writing a faery story, I got to thinking: what are the fey afraid of?  In myth, the answer is iron, so what if there was a type of faery that was immune to iron, that had evolved with progress and technology?  How would that affect the more traditional fey?  And then I remembered we already have “creatures” lurking in machines: gremlins and bugs and worms and such, and from that thought, the Iron Fey were born.

4. What was the writing process like? Any specific hard, funny, or simply memorable event that happened while writing The Iron King?  

Frantic.  I did the second half of The Iron King for NaNo, which is to write 50,000 words in a month.  It was a hectic thirty days, and I consumed more Mt. Dew then was definitely healthy, but I did finish a 90,000 word novel in a little under two months.  -- Can you say "wow?"

5. Would you say Meghan, the main girl, is like a reflection of you? Who you are or who you wish you could be? 

Oh, goodness no, lol.  We are somewhat alike in that we were both loners in school; I know what it was like to be ignored, to feel invisible, to never fit in.  But Meghan is more patient than I was at that age.  Her response to being teased is to ignore it; mine would’ve been to meet that person after school and punch them in the nose.  I was a rather angry teenager.

6. Favorites time!

· Book: Are you kidding? Just one?  Okay, okay, ONE of my favorite books is Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder.  Ahhh, Valek. (!!! ♥) 
· Song: Again with the too many to choose from. Ummm ... at the moment I really like Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant. Favorite songs are always subject to change, though.

· Food: Sushi and Mt. Dew (though not at the same time, bleh.)

· Hobby (other than writing): Video games and reading

· Place to write: My writing table, surrounded by books and empty Mt. Dew cans.

· Way to annoy people: Making a ticklish person shriek is always good for a laugh. :P 

7. And what's the one thing you absolutely, absolutely cannot live without when writing?   

Um ... *looks around at the empty Mt. Dew cans* 

8. Any heads up on books you're working on now?   

At the moment, I'm finishing up edits to the third book of the trilogy, The Iron Queen. 

9. Anything else you'd like to share?   

Just thanks for the interview!

Thank you, Julie, for joining us!  

Not to be biased or anything, but I've already gotten my copy of The Iron King ordered, and I can't wait to read it! The last thing I'm going to share is the trailer, just because it's so stunning and... sparkly. *o*