Mundie Moms

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Author Interview with Heather Dixon, author of Entwined

Today have debut author, Heather Dixon to talk to us a little bit about her recent release, Entwined. If you haven't picked up I highly recommend it. You can read my 4.5 star review for it here.

"Azalea and her younger sisters dance in the mysterious silver forever every night, escaping from the sadness of the palace and their father's grief. What they don't understand-although as time passes they being to get an inkling of the danger they are in- is that the mysterious and dashing Keeper is tightening his snare with deadly purpose. Lush, romantic, and compelling, this debut novel by Heather Dixon will thrill fans." (quoted from the back of the ARC).

Congratulations on your debut release! I absolutely love Entwined. I love how you added something unique to this classic fairy tale. What inspired you to choose The Twelve Dancing Princesses to re-tell?

Thank you so much! ^_^ I started Entwined the same time I was taking both Latin and Ballroom dance classes in college, so I had a lot of dancing on my brain. Dancing is a really great medium to tell a story. As a child, too, I was really influenced by the beautiful Twelve Dancing Princesses picture books—all those beautiful dresses, the silver and jeweled forests! Like the princesses, I had a lot of sisters growing up, and knew what it was like to be buried—and loved—in the middle of a large family. So when the story sparked in my head, it wouldn’t let go. I had to write it.

Which of the 12 princesses/sister do you feel you related to the most?
Bramble! She’s such a turkey.

How did you decide on the characterizations (in making the characters your own)?
That was tricky. There were like a billion characters. The most important thing, I realized early in development, was that each character supported the story’s theme. The King, very regal, militant, and strict, doesn’t understand dancing. Azalea’s temper and protectiveness of her sisters, and her love for dance, made both of these characters at odds with each other. And, the supporting characters needed to have developments that strengthened the story as well (Keeper thriving on his hate for the captain general, Mr. Bradford’s love for Azalea overriding his fears). And so on. The Victorian backdrop made for marvelous whippish, unique characters. Dancing princesses? Definitely not tomboys. These’re corset-lovin’ girly girls.
This answer was kind of boring, sorry about that.

We are big fans of this time period and I loved how you brought Entwined to life with your vivid descriptions of the setting. Was there a certain castle that inspired your castle for the story?
Oh yes! I did a lot of research on palaces, looking at all the different rooms for staging and reference. The Ballroom I wrote looked similar to the Castle of Charlottenburg’s Golden Gallery:

The gardens, similar to Buckingham Palace:

But the look of the palace itself, I’m surprised to say, hit a little closer to home—

My city’s county building! In fact I remember driving past it for the first time, and being completely stunned. That Victorian gothic (Richardsonian Romanesque) look, with the clock tower, was exactly how I imagined the palace to be.

What authors inspired you to be a writer?
Wow, so many. I really love authors like Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, Charles Dickens, and JK Rowling (of course!). I also love lyricist Robert Sherman, and screenwriters Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, who wrote “Mary Poppins,” along with other classics. But my most influential and favorite would have to be Terry Pratchett. He’s so funny! He breaks the rules and his stuff makes the air turn to sparkles.

Have you read any books lately you'd recommend we go pick up?
I loved the Larklight series, by Phillip Reeve, and thought “The Red Necklace” by Sally Gardner had such beautiful prose. And of course I’m always going to recommend my favorite, “Going Postal” by Terry Pratchett.
___________________________________

Thank you so much Heather for being with us today! You can visit Heather on her site here. You can read more about Entwined on Harper Teen's site here. You can watch the book trailer here

6 comments:

  1. We loved the book, and we love the interview! Thanks, y'all!

    KH

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a good book trailer! I really don't like it when I watch book trailers and still have no idea what the book is about. I am really looking forward to reading this book. What an amazing cover as well!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay! I'm so glad you interviewed Heather! I bought her book the day it debuted! It's lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great interview! I really need to pick up a copy of Entwined. I keep meaning to, but keep forgetting, lol. I love the images Ms. Dixon included in the interview!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just got it last week. LOVE the inspiration photos. Oh WOW. Dying to read it now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great Interview!! I LOVED the Book! :D!

    ReplyDelete

Labels