Read the synopsis:
All her life Liesl has been enthralled by her grandmother's old tales of the Goblin King; a beautiful, dangerous figure who enraptured her spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now aged eighteen, Liesl can't help but feel her musical dreams and childhood fantasy are slipping away. But when her sister disappears Liesl find herself once again drawn to the figure that haunts her childhood memories as she journeys deep into the Underground to save her.
Impressed with the mystical plot and lyrical writing, I decided to interview S. Jae Jones or JJ, as she likes to be called, to explore her inspiration behind the magical world of Wintersong. Here's what she had to say:
"Hello JJ! Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. I first fell in love with Wintersong’s synopsis and, sure enough, it turned out to be the enchanting firecracker it promised to be."
"Where did the inspiration for Wintersong
come from?"
"Wintersong is
essentially a culmination of a lot of things I love: gothic stories, Underworld
tales, Mozart, the movie Labyrinth, the trope Death and the Maiden, etc."
"The epigraph of Wintersong is
from the popular poem, Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. Were you
influenced by any mythical stories or folktale legends before writing Winterising?"
"I’ve always liked fairy
tales, folklore, and myths from all parts of the world. I’m the most familiar
with western stories, and the one that influenced Wintersong in
particular was the story of Der Erlkönig, or the Germanic “king of the
fairies.” Der Erlkönig comes from a long line of fey figures related to the
Underworld, such as Gwyn the Hunter and the Herla king/hellequin.
But there are many other
myths and fairy tales woven into Wintersong: Little Red Riding Hood,
Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, Orpheus and Eurydice. Many of these
relate back to the trope of Death and the Maiden that had always fascinated me
as a child."
"Music is important to the main character,
Elisabeth, in the way she understands her worth in the world and uses it to
operate within the Underground. Do you have a soundtrack of songs you listened
to whilst writing Winterising?"
"I actually have a couple of
soundtracks for Wintersong. One consisted of the pieces of classical
music that either inspired me or were referenced in the text, mostly as a way
to establish a musical lineage for Liesl. Another consisted of songs that I
felt were emotionally relevant to the work in either lyrics or mood, which I
put together as a sort of “mixed tape.” The third was a list of instrumental
music that I had on in the background as I wrote, mostly because I can’t write
to music with words in it, lest the lyrics end up in my own work somehow. That
list rotated, depending on what I was working on or what piece I was just
really into at the moment."
"From conception to editing, how long
did it take to write Wintersong?"
"I drafted Wintersong
in 59 days, which is the fastest I’ve ever written anything."
"Your characters’ names are very unique
manipulations of commonly used names. How do you name your characters?"
"They’re not unusual names
in southern Germany and Austria. Liesl and Sepperl are both diminutives for
Elisabeth and Josef (like Liz or Joe), and Käthe is short for Katharina (like
Kate)."
"Do you have any advice for aspiring
writers that have a story cooking in their heads but cannot get it down to
paper?"
"I suppose the first thing I
would ask is why they can’t get it down on paper. Is it a lack of time?
In that case, it is a matter of making time. Maybe get up a half hour
earlier. Maybe arrange childcare once a week.
If the inability to get it
on paper stems from not knowing where to start, then I would try and
lift the pressure by writing in a journal. Tell the story to yourself and don’t
worry about prose, craft, or structure. What is it about the story you love?
Why? The more you talk through it without yourself, the more the story will
start to take shape, and you can start writing."
"What books are currently on your bedside
table?"
"Seven Ways We Lie by
Riley Redgate, Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang, and Windwitch
by Susan Dennard."
"What are you most excited about your
debut book being published?'
"Holding a physical copy in
my hand."
"What do you do when you’re not writing or
reading?"
"When I’m not at the day
job, I draw and play piano. I contributed the artwork of Liesl that serves as
the frontispiece of Wintersong."
"Describe a day in your week."
"I work as a customer
financial services analyst during the day. The job is fairly flexible, so I
like to go into the office early, around 7AM. I finish up around 3:30PM, so
depending on the day of the week, I’ll go to the gym for an hour before coming
home to take a shower and make dinner. Then around 7PM I will sit down to
write. I try to write until about 9PM, at which point I go to bed with a good
book."
"Quick fire round! Try to answer these in one or two words."
Favourite Wintersong character
Thistle
Biggest author inspiration
Philip Pullman
Favourite day
Halloween! I call it Goth Christmas.
Tea or coffee
Coffee first thing in the morning, tea in
the afternoon.
Favourite food
Korean food, especially when cooked by my
grandmother.
Cats or dogs
Dogs (I’m allergic to cats).
Favourite childhood story
Sitting on my family’s piano
bench at age 3, picking out the tune to Yankee Doodle using only the black
keys. I asked my parents for piano lessons, but my mother told me to wait until
I was 4.
Standalone or series junkie
Series. I like spending a lot
of time with characters.
Nocturnal writer or ‘early bird catches the worm’ writer:
Unfortunately, I’m a nocturnal writer despite the fact that I’m a morning
person.
Dream place to visit
Prague.
Biggest fear
I have a mild fear of heights that I
routinely ignore to jump out of perfectly good airplanes.
Which book would you want to be stranded on an island with
Does the entire His Dark Materials trilogy count?
*** What book are you excited about coming out in 2017? ***
