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YALLWEST Interview with Marissa Meyer

Marissa Meyer, author of the hit series The Lunar Chronicles, a series set in a furtuistic society and inspired by Cinderella, sat down to talk to YALLWEST teen ambassador Arden Rosenthal about herself and her books.

YALLWEST TEEN AMBASSADOR - Interview with Marissa Meyerby Arden RosenthalMarissa Meyer has impressed million of readers with the world she has created in The Lunar Chronicles. She has brilliantly crafted fairy tales we all know from our childhood with ever-changing science, new-and still discriminatory- social standards, danger, and just a tad of romance. In the series, in which three out of the four books have been released, depict a futuristic society in which is equally distributed to the nations and has not had a World War in 126 years. However, the world faces growing conflict with the Lunar society-people of the moon who can control others with “bioelectricity”. As the Queen of the Lunars becomes more and more dangerous and the fate of the Earth is threatened, The Lunar Chronicles meets an unlikely hero. I was able to ask Marissa Meyer some questions regarding the first book of the series, Cinder.Do you see this earth as an actual possible future for our earth? Like most dreamers, I love the idea that someday humanity could achieve world peace, and I do think it’s logical that for that to work, we would need fewer countries fighting over boundaries, resources, and cultural differences. While I think it’s highly unlikely the planet could ever be divided quite as neatly as I’ve done it in my futuristic world, I’m going to stay the optimist and go on believing that the result – world peace! - could still be a possibility, someday, somehow.Did you have a defining moment when you knew you wanted to be an author? I can’t remember ever not wanting to be an author. I loved reading as a kid, and I think as soon as I realized that there were people out in the world who get to come up with these stories, and that was a real job you could do, I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. It’s always been my dream.What inspired this twist on Cinderella? I entered a writing contest a few years ago in which the host had listed about ten random prompts and writers had to choose two of them to include in their stories. The two prompts I chose: Set the story in the future and include a fairy-tale character. My contest entry was a sci-fi version of “Puss in Boots” and I had so much fun writing it that I thought I would try to do an entire series of science-fiction fairy tales, so I started to brainstorm what futuristic twists I could give to some of my favorite stories. A couple months later I was drifting off to sleep when the lightning bolt struck: Cinderella… as a cyborg! My head instantly filled with all sorts of ideas and I had to crawl out of bed and start taking notes. That idea would eventually turn into Cinder and The Lunar Chronicles.Each book is a twist on a different fairytale. Is there a specific reason for this or are these ones you just grew up loving? I wanted to choose stories that I personally love and also that most readers would be at least somewhat familiar with. I began with making a list of tales that fit those two guidelines, and from about a dozen or so that I listed, I ended up choosing the four (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White) that I had the best ideas for and that I could envision tying together into one continuous story.What are you most looking forward to in regards to YALLWEST? Like many of the readers who are coming, I’m most looking forward to seeing the authors! There are lots of authors in the line-up who are dear friends of mine who I haven’t seen in a while, so I’m excited to see everyone and have a good time. There are also authors coming that I adore and admire as a reader of their work, so I might be doing a bit of fangirling when I get there.Have you always been/are you fascinated with the concepts of cyborgs? And would you want to be one? I’m not sure where my interest in cyborgs started, but it’s certainly not new. I grew up in a family of Star Wars and Star Trek lovers, so the concept of being both human and machine is one that’s been in my head for a long time. I think we all dream about having unique skills and strengths that go beyond “normal” - whether those skills are earned because you’re a wizard or a superhero or a cyborg! It’s a fantasy that everyone can connect with, myself included. I’m not sure exactly what skills I would want if I were a cyborg, though… the ability to write my books faster, maybe, ha!Check out more YALLWEST Ambassador interviews here…Do you see this earth as an actual possible future for our earth?

Like most dreamers, I love the idea that someday humanity could achieve world peace, and I do think it’s logical that for that to work, we would need fewer countries fighting over boundaries, resources, and cultural differences. While I think it’s highly unlikely the planet could ever be divided quite as neatly as I’ve done it in my futuristic world, I’m going to stay the optimist and go on believing that the result – world peace! – could still be a possibility, someday, somehow.

Did you have a defining moment when you knew you wanted to be an author?

I can’t remember ever not wanting to be an author. I loved reading as a kid, and I think as soon as I realized that there were people out in the world who get to come up with these stories, and that was a real job you could do, I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. It’s always been my dream.

What inspired this twist on Cinderella?

I entered a writing contest a few years ago in which the host had listed about ten random prompts and writers had to choose two of them to include in their stories. The two prompts I chose: Set the story in the future and include a fairy-tale character. My contest entry was a sci-fi version of “Puss in Boots” and I had so much fun writing it that I thought I would try to do an entire series of science-fiction fairy tales, so I started to brainstorm what futuristic twists I could give to some of my favorite stories. A couple months later I was drifting off to sleep when the lightning bolt struck: Cinderella… as a cyborg! My head instantly filled with all sorts of ideas and I had to crawl out of bed and start taking notes. That idea would eventually turn into Cinder and The Lunar Chronicles.

To read the rest of the interview and learn more about YALLWEST, click here.

By Nat, the Geek Girl

Southern California native who likes movies, books (Shadowhunter Chronicles, NA, YA fantasy, Red Rising series), TV shows (The Sandman), and San Diego Comic-Con. I also like to write, but don't get to do much of that aside from on here. I fell into the BTS rabbit hole, and I refuse to leave.