Once Upon an Interview: Janni Lee Simner

I've been doing way too much talking about myself lately. Even I'm sick of hearing about me. So today, I'm going to talk about someone else for a change. Welcome to the latest installment of Once Upon an Interview, a recurring segment on Sarah's Journal in which I ask other writers about my favorite obsession: fairy tales.

Today's author interview is with Janni Lee Simner. Janni's fourth children's book, Secret of the Three Treasures, was recently published by Holiday House. She's also published more than 30 short stories, and her first young adult novel, Bones of Faerie, will be published by Random House in 2009.

ONCE UPON AN INTERVIEW WITH JANNI LEE SIMNER:

What is your favorite fairy tale?
Do the ballads count? I find both Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer deeply compelling.

Among actual fairy tales (rather than tales of Faerie), I'm intrigued by The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I mean, if your father locked you and your sisters into your bedroom every night, wouldn't you sneak out to dance, too? I imagine one of the princesses explaining to the reader, "The wonder isn't that we left at night; it's that we ever came home, at all."

Do you (either consciously or subconsciously) use fairy-tale themes or motifs in your writing?

More and more often, it seems. Last October I had a story in Cricket ("Heart's Desire") about a bookish Cinderella who'd rather stay home and read than go to the ball. (And who can blame her?) I don't know that I've used fairy tales that directly anywhere else, but when I wrote my story for Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales ("Stone Tower"), my editor pointed out that it had Rapunzel-like elements. Which is funny, because I wasn't thinking about that when I wrote the story, but looking back, it's pretty obvious. I mean, the story begins with a girl locked in a tower!

I probably use Faerie (in the sense of those ballads) a lot more--the folks who steal children and work magic by moonlight and report to the Queen of Air and Darkness and such. I can't seem to get enough of them, and I recently sold a young adult novel that deals with them.

My current children's book, Secret of the Three Treasures, draws on a different tradition, though--that of the artifact-recovering, ruins-exploring, tomb-raiding Indiana Jones-style pulp adventurer. But that's a sort of fairy tale, too. :-)

If the protagonist of your most recent novel met Cinderella’s fairy godmother, what would he or she do/say?

Whip out her list of demands, of course! Tiernay West (the protagonist of Secret of the Three Treasures) has her three wishes all lined up:

- Transport to someplace more interesting than her ordinary Connecticut hometown. (Marrakesh, perhaps. Or Vladivostok. Or--since surely distance means nothing to a fairy godmother--Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.)

- A mysterious stranger looking to hire an adventurer of her considerable skills.

- And (since fairy godmothers are into the whole clothing thing), proper outfitting for her adventure: sturdy boots, khaki jeans, vest with many pockets, GPS, magical pocketknife, the works. She'll bring her own hat, though. An adventurer always brings her own hat.

But if that fairy godmother started in with the whole business about glass slippers and fancy dresses and getting to the ball? Tiernay would look at her through narrowed eyes and ask, "Did my Mom send you?"

What would your protagonist do/say if he or she met Little Red Riding Hood's wolf?

"Tiernay West, professional adventurer, at your service! Grandmothers to be found? Dark woods to be explored? I'm on it!"

What would you do/say if you met a fairy godmother or talking wolf?
To the fairy godmother: "You leave that Cinderella alone. She's just fine the way she is!"

To the wolf (from a safe distance): "Okay, I'm listening. Tell me your side of the story."

If you could be any fairy-tale character, which one would you want to be?

The old woman at the fork in the road. Because she knows everything, she gets to be part of more than one story, and no one messes with her and gets away with it.

What does your (or your protagonist's) happily-ever-after look like?

After kicking back with a few root beers in her favorite smoky cafe, Tiernay heads off on her next adventure.

Because there will always be a next adventure, forever and ever and ever.

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For more information about Janni Lee Simner, please visit her website at: www.simner.com

For more about the Secret of the Three Treasures, please visit: www.secretofthethreetreasures.com

Thanks so much for joining us here, Janni!

Once Upon an Interview: Greg Fishbone

Welcome to the second installment of Once Upon an Interview! (This is a new recurring segment on Sarah's Journal in which I ask other writers about my favorite obsession: fairy tales.)

Today's author interview is with Greg Fishbone. Greg is the author of THE PENGUINS OF DOOM (FROM THE DESK OF SEPTINA NASH), coming from Blooming Tree Press on 7/7/07. (How much do I love that title?)

ONCE UPON AN INTERVIEW WITH GREG FISHBONE:

What is your favorite fairy tale?

There's a story called "The Magic Fishbone" that's kind of obscure but it has such a cool name! A version written by Charles Dickens has been passed down in our family for generations. I always thought it would make such a great Disney movie...

Do you (either consciously or subconsciously) use fairy-tale themes or motifs in your writing?
Not so much recently but I have in the past. I once wrote this rockin' sci-fi version of Sleeping Beauty with aliens and spaceships and everything.

If the protagonist of your most recent novel met Cinderella’s fairy godmother, what would he or she do/say?

Septina Nash has her own kind of magic, so meeting a fairy godmother wouldn't phase her. I could see her asking what courses she should take to become a fairy godmother herself someday.

What would your protagonist do/say if he or she met Little Red Riding Hood's wolf?

If Septina ever had to deliver a basket of goodies to her grandmother, a Big Bad Wolf would show up to stop her. Guaranteed. As to what happens next, your guess is as good as mine.

What would you do/say if you met a fairy godmother or talking wolf?

"Of course I'll autograph your copies of THE PENGUINS OF DOOM. Just get in line behind the Jolly Green Giant, Elvis, the Trix Rabbit, and Chewbacca!"

If you could be any fairy-tale character, which one would you want to be?

It'd be cool to be Aladdin, with that flying carpet and genie-infested lamp.

What does your (or your protagonist's) happily-ever-after look like?

I think "happily-ever-after" is shorthand for "nothing interesting ever happened to these people again" and that's not for me. I need new challenges and adventures, and I think Septina would as well. In fact I know she would, since she's been bugging me to write a sequel.

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Greg Fishbone is the founder and president of the Class of 2k7. He's also a lawyer, a Bostonian, and a great guy. For more about Greg, please visit his website at: www.gfishbone.com

For more about THE PENGUINS OF DOOM, you can visit the Septina Nash website here: www.septinanash.com. To whet your appetite, here's what it says on the Amazon book page: "Dear Reader, In order to make this book I had to escape from a mad scientist, adopt a trio of wild penguins, become an Olympic freestyle skateboarder, collect a whole bunch of empty yogurt containers, and find my missing tripletsister. In order to enjoy it, all you have to do is read every page. Thanks for doing your part! Sincerely, Septina Nash, Main Character."

Thanks so much for joining us here, Greg!

Once Upon an Interview: Carrie Jones

Welcome to a brand-new segment on Sarah's Journal: author interviews! But these won't be your run-of-the-mill author interviews. In keeping with the fairy-tale theme of INTO THE WILD, these will be author interviews with a fairy-tale twist. Today, for the very first interview, I'm very excited to welcome Carrie Jones.

Carrie Jones is the author of TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND, coming from Flux/Llewellyn on May 1, 2007.

ONCE UPON AN INTERVIEW WITH CARRIE JONES:

What is your favorite fairy tale?
Puss in Boots, with the Master Cat as a character, because:
1. It’s a cat.
2. It inspired the title for a Crash Test Dummies CD.
3. I like to say "Meow."

Do you (either consciously or subconsciously) use fairy-tale themes or motifs in your writing?

Well, I think Stith Thompson said there were 40,000 different motifs. Yes, 40,000! So, you have to figure everyone who writes must be using some. Sure, it might not be the obvious glass slipper, but how about the evil stepmother? The lowly girl snagging the high born guy? And if you go by Katherine Briggs' definition of motifs as "strands that make up the tale" it seems every writer has to have them. How can you have a tale without strands?

In TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND, there's evil, there's good, there's a quest to figure out which is which. There's a blue guitar, which may not seem magical to most people, but I think it falls under the motif "magic object received from a fairy." Sure, it was given to Belle, the main character, from her dad when she was a baby, but her dad's dead, so I think that counts.

If the protagonist of your most recent novel met Cinderella’s fairy godmother, what would he or she do/say?

Belle would say, "I'm hallucinating aren't I? Or you're punking me, right? Because you can not exist. Although, oh, maybe you can exist, because who am I to say what exists or not. I mean, it's not like I know everything, the sum total of everything in the universe. But... I mean fairy godmother? Cinderella's fairy godmother? No offense or anything, but that's so weird."

She would then pause.

Then she would say, "Those are some really nice shoes."

What would your protagonist do/say if he or she met Little Red Riding Hood's wolf?

"Why are you so angry? Is it just low blood sugar? Because, I mean, there's a McDonald's right down the street and they have take-out. I'll buy."

What would you do/say if you met a fairy godmother or talking wolf?

"Hi. Would you like a fudge bar?"

This is pretty much how I greet everyone.

If you could be any fairy-tale character, which one would you want to be?

Well, I couldn't figure out how to answer this. So I went to the internet and took a quiz, which doesn't say which fairy-tale character I want to be, but which fairy-tale character I am.

So, according to the internet I am a fairy.
I've got to say I’m cool with that.
Magic mushrooms sprouting up where I walk? Sounds good.
Ability to do magic? Yep, I'll take that.
Sparkly dresses? Sign me up.
Now, which fairy to be......

What does your (or your protagonist's) happily-ever-after look like?

Happily Ever After looks like a place where everyone tries hard to be kind. There's a lot of guitars and fudge bars. If you're a bigot or you're mean, you get booted out. There's a really big boot that does this, it's that same boot from "There was an old lady who lived in a shoe, she had so many children, she didn't know what to do." Only, it's a boot, obviously. How could you fit that many kids in a shoe, or a flip flop or a stiletto heel? It has to be a big, warm boot, preferably UGGs.

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Carrie Jones is a founding member of the Class of 2k7, a graduate of Vermont College's MFA program, and a Maine resident. She's also super-sweet (which may or may not be related to her professed fondness for fudgicles). For more about Carrie, please visit her website at: www.carriejonesbooks.com

And if you'd like to know more about TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND, here is the description from Amazon: "It isn't every day that my high school boyfriend, Eastbrook High School's Harvest King, tells me he's gay. It's not every day that the Harvest Queen is dumped in the middle of a road with the stars watching the humiliation and the dogs barking because they want to come help tear my heart out and leave it on the cold gray ground. It isn't every day that my entire world falls apart. Belle believes that Dylan is her true love-maybe even her soulmate. Until one cold night when Dylan drops the ultimate bomb: he's gay. Where, Belle wonders, does that leave her? Should she have some­how been able to tell? Is every guy that she loves going to turn out to be gay? This beautifully-written debut explores what happens when you are suddenly forced to see someone in a different light, and what that can teach you about yourself."

Thanks so much for appearing here, Carrie!