Tuesday 11 September 2012

Blog Tour: Sarah J Maas Q&A (Throne of Glass)


Sarah J Maas’s debut, Throne of Glass, is one of my favourite books read this year so I’m delighted to be hosting a Q&A with Sarah and an extract from the novel as part of her blog tour.

1.   What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Read a lot, write a lot, and don’t give up. Also, live your life. Be curious, and be open to anything—good living translates into good writing.

2.   Which of your characters did you most enjoy writing?
Celaena, definitely. Always Celaena. She’s the reason why I stuck with this story for so many years.

3.   Which character from a book would you like to be for a day?
Oooh, tough question. I think I’d want to be Harry Potter (is that weird?), so I could go see all of the marvellous things in his world (Hogwarts! Diagon Alley!), and meet all of the characters that I came to love so dearly (Ron! Hermione!).

4.   If you hadn't been an author, what would you have been?
Well, I really wanted to be a marine biologist so I could study great white sharks, but I nearly flunked out of high school biology, so THAT dream quickly ended. But I like to think that if I hadn’t been too busy daydreaming about the stories in my head during class, I might have paid better attention, and would now be in a shark cage off the coast of South Africa. (Still a dream of mine to swim with sharks.)

5.   When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?  
Watch TV (I watch so much it’s disgusting, actually), see new places (love to travel), go to the ballet, watch movies, listen to music (I’m a big fan of movie scores). And read. I read whenever and wherever I can.

6.   What book, film and album would you take to a desert island?
Book: Oh, dear. Such a hard choice. Maybe The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, because it’s beautiful and heart-breaking and perfect. Or maybe Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy (I’m cheating because there’s an omnibus edition of all three books!), because it’s got such amazing characters that have owned a place in my heart since I was thirteen. Or maybe Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series, because those books changed my life.

Film: Ack! Even harder. The original three Star Wars films (if I had to pick one, it’d be The Empire Strikes Back). Or perhaps The Lord of the Rings. Or Howl’s Moving Castle. Too many choices!

Album: Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas). I could listen to that ballet over and over and over again.


7.   What television programmes do you never miss?
Too many. If I told you how many, you’d be embarrassed on my behalf. But off the top of my head: Psych, The Vampire Diaries, Doctor Who, America’s Next Top Model (I know, I know), Fringe, Grimm, Workaholics, Game of Thrones, Ancient Aliens (…it’s my secret shame), The Legend of Korra, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and The Inbetweeners. I also adore Battlestar Galactica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have a weakness for Korean dramas (they are the most addictive and charming thing in the world), and wish that Veronica Mars, Firefly, and Friday Night Lights had never been cancelled. (See? I told you I watch far too much television.)

8.   Tell us something about your next project
Well, right now I’m working on Book 2 of the Throne of Glass series. We’re still in the revising stage, so I don’t want to say too much about it until it’s in a more solid/final form! (I also don’t want my editor killing me for giving away any spoilers. Eek.)


If that didn’t make you want to buy yourself a copy of Throne of Glass, maybe this will: the stunning trailer.


I’d like to say a big thank you to Emma at Bloomsbury for asking me to be on the tour and conducting the interview with Sarah for me.

Sophie

2 comments:

  1. Wow, that really is a lot of television!

    I'm very much looking forward to second Throne of Glass book! and I adore Howl's Moving Castle (totally have a crush on Howl)

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  2. Love this Q&A sesh, Soph! Swan Lake - definitely good choice! Sarah sounds lovely! (Also YES to LOTR - best trilogy ever made!)

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