Author Q & A with Eowyn Ivey

Welcome to The Review Diaries two year blogiversary!
I’m kind of amazed that we’ve hit this mark, but it’s here and it’s going to be even bigger than last years!

So for your pleasure today I have an interview with the lovely Katherine Marsh, author of ‘Jepp, who Defied the Stars’ and a giveaway of a proof of the book.
Later on I will have a giveaway featuring new exciting books from Random House and Mira Ink – so check back this afternoon for more details on that!

Up first is Eowyn Ivey, whose breath taking debut novel ‘The Snow Child’ has swept everyone away. So please join me in wishing her a huge welcome to The Review Diaries!

“The Snow Child was a hauntingly beautiful book, and I loved how you wove elements of fantasy with reality, are you tempted to explore other fairy tales in your writing now?”

Thank you so much! That really was the key for me with The Snow Child. Until I stumbled on the Russian fairy tale that inspired the novel, my fiction was lacking something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Now I know -- it's the fantastical. Now that I've finally figured it out, I'm enjoying exploring it further as a fiction writer. I'm once again working on a piece inspired by folklore and myth and set in Alaska.

“Has the reaction to the book surprised you in any way?”

I always joke that it would have been delusional of me to expect any of this to happen. As a bookseller, I felt I had fairly reasonable expectations about the publishing process. I knew I would be incredibly fortunate to find a US publisher, and I hoped that a few readers would stumble upon my story and enjoy it. The reception instead has completely staggered me.

“What has been your favourite part of the writing and publishing process?”

They are two such different parts of the work -- writing versus being published. I knew I loved to write well before my novel was published, but once The Snow Child was released into the world, I discovered the joy of hearing from readers. The emails I get are touching and amazing. I'm often surprised by the insights readers have into the story. And I love how they bring their own experiences and emotions to the page. That has been one of the most rewarding, and unexpected, aspects of the process.

“Has writing always been something you wanted to do? And how did you make the jump from wanting to write and writing for yourself to becoming a full time writer?”

I've known since I was a teenager that I wanted to earn a living working with the written word, and I've steadily kept my aim there. I just wasn't sure what form it would take. I started out as an creative writing major in college, but then switched to journalism and ended up working for nearly 10 years as a newspaper reporter. Then I went to work at Fireside Books and began spending my writing time on fiction, because I knew that is what I love to read and write.

“Do you have a specific routine or writing process, and does anything in particular stimulate your writing?”

Like a lot of writers, I really do better when I have a set schedule. When I wrote The Snow Child, my husband helped me get an hour or two each night to write after our daughters went to bed. Strangely, I now have more time to write but find it hard to get in the groove. The publication of The Snow Child has become a pleasant but huge distraction, and I'm now trying to find my way back into my next novel.

“Will you be doing any tours or signings in the US or the UK in the future?”

The paperback was just released Nov. 6 here in the United States, so I'm doing some events here in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. And I will be returning to the UK for some events the first week of December, but we're still in the planning stages. I'll try to post a schedule on my blog, Letters from Alaska, once it's set.

A huge thank you to Eowyn for taking the time out to talk to us!
If you’d like to find out more, you can find it on Eowyn’s website – and you can also find her on twitter here!

And if you haven’t yet read ‘The Snow Child’ how on earth have you missed it? Go pick up a copy now! It will be one of the most hauntingly beautiful books you’ll read this year!

Check back on the site later – the next post will be going live mid-afternoon and will include a fantastic giveaway for you!