About the book:
1. How did you come up with the story of The Circus Rose?
When I was in college, I wrote a collection of fairy tale retellings that included the beginnings of my first two books, Tides and Mechanica. I started dreaming of a circus-themed retelling of “Snow White and Rose Red” way back then, eleven years ago now, but I didn’t start seriously working on it until late 2017, when I made the formal proposal of the idea to my editor. Thankfully she had faith in the project, and it took off from there! The Circus Rose is set in the same universe as my last three books, so it was especially fun to get to expand that world and its timeline; the four novels span about two hundred years.
2. Whose point of view did you like writing, Rosie or Ivory?
I enjoyed them both for very different reasons, because their voices are so different: Ivory is an engineer and she thinks about things in steady, carefully-built ways, whereas Rosie has a really different view of the world, and her narration is in verse. On the days when I felt more logical, I preferred writing Ivory’s point of view, and when I felt a little more abstract or off-kilter, I enjoyed writing Rosie’s.
3. Which of the characters from The Circus Rose are you the most similar to?
I think at this point in my life I’m most similar to Rosie and Ivory’s mother, Mama Angela Blackwood: I’m a single mom trying my best to parent and build a business (as a writer and as founder of The Old Knitting Factory, a bed and breakfast that offers childcare-inclusive arts residencies to single mothers).
4. What was the hardest part to write in The Circus Rose?
To be honest, the whole first draft! I wrote The Circus Rose at a really challenging time in my personal life, right after my marriage ended, when I was learning how to make ends meet as a single mom. I’m really proud of the fact that I got the first draft done on time for my deadline: it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
5. Where can readers purchase The Circus Rose?
The best place to buy The Circus Rose is from your local independent bookstore! I’d also love for people to order from Black-owned bookstores like Brain Lair Books (in South Bend, the town where I went to graduate school), Pyramid Books, or Books and Crannies.
About You:
1. If you won a prize for something, what would it be and why?
Hmm . . . I would love to win a prize for getting up with my 3 year old at 5 every morning without openly weeping about it. That would be very validating.
However, I hear they don’t give prizes for parenting, so I definitely think I could win some kind of cheese-eating contest. Cheese is my true love.
2. If a director wanted to make The Circus Rose into a movie and wanted you to act in it, who would you be and why?
I love to daydream about my books becoming films, just like most authors do . . . I would really love a stop-motion film like Coraline or The Corpse Bride, so I wouldn’t be acting in it, but I’d be delighted to voice a side character like Bonnie or Miss Lampton.
3. What are some of your favorite tv shows and movies?
My favorite TV show of all time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My favorite movies are Ever After and Away We Go. I love anything with some whimsy or magic in it that also isn’t afraid to deal in big emotional, ethical, and/or political themes.
4. If you could have dinner with any 3 people (fictional, real or dead), who would it be?
Angela Carter (my favorite writer), Cassandra Mortmain (the protagonist of my favorite book, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith), and Oscar Wilde. I think Angela and Oscar would dominate the conversation, but I’d kill to listen to them trade witticisms and I think Cassandra would too.
5. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Reading is always my favorite activity -- love of reading is what made me want to write. I am also an avid cook and knitter, and I live near the beach in Connemara and I try to put my feet in the water every day.
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