Today I have the second part of my interview with Freda Warrington to share with you.  In case you missed it, here is part one.  I hope you enjoy the rest of this interview!

Fantasy Cafe: You mentioned starting on a young adult novel on your blog.  Can you tell us anything about it?  Are there any other books not part of the Aetherial Tales coming out in the near future?

Freda Warrington: Bit wary of talking about it, as it’s only a proposal at the moment, but I’ll just say that I love the Alan Garner, Ursula le Guin, Susan Cooper, Joy Chant, Garth Nix style of dark fantasy that treats its young readers like adults, and I’ve always wanted to try something in that vein. I’m working on a couple of other ideas too, but nothing definite as yet. Sorry to be so vague!

FC: In a post you wrote on Elfland inspirations for BSC Review, you discussed how some writers do not seem to understand why someone would choose to write fantasy instead of mainstream literature. What about reading and writing fantasy appeals to you?  What are some fantasy books that you find especially poignant and thoughtful in spite of the fact that they are not “serious literature”?

FW: Actually my answer to the previous question has set me thinking that some of the very best fantasy is written for children – it can be very dark, intelligent and grown-up (Alan Garner, Philip Pullman are two examples that spring to mind) while some fantasy aimed at adults can be quite juvenile. Red Moon, Black Mountain by Joy Chant has always stuck in my head, particularly for a section where a character saves someone’s life by swapping places with them as a sacrifice to an earth goddess… the way it was written, as he voluntarily goes to his death, was so powerful. The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle was another beautiful, elegant and moving story. Or think of Frodo, trudging towards his doom in Lord of the Rings… and later leaving home to go with the Elves because he just can’t go back to his old life after what he’s been through.

That whole theme of bravery and quiet self-sacrifice touches me more than any lurid battle scene. Yes, it appears in mainstream fiction too… but you can use fantastic themes to get to the heart of matters that realistic fiction just can’t reach. It’s the timeless, mythological archetype of the hero’s journey. And I’ve always loved the idea of going through the back of a wardrobe into another world! Obviously I’ve never grown out of it!

FC: I’ve been noticing a lot of great fantasy is aimed at young adults lately, too – Kristin Cashore’s Fire, Laini Taylor’s Lips Touch: Three Times and Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief series all come to mind as some of my recent favorites.  Why do you think so much of fantasy written for younger readers often ends up being some of the very best?  Is there a different approach to writing books for young adults as opposed to adults that makes this possible?

FW: And Philip Pullman – he constructs a story around really deep questions of religion, atheism, philosophy and so on. You get an exciting yet profound narrative that doesn’t talk down to its readers. In any case, there’s probably a large, blurred band of fiction that’s enjoyed equally by adults and children. My personal feeling is that fiction aimed at younger people is allowed to be very direct, very simple – I don’t mean ‘simple’ as in unchallenging, but rather that the author feels obliged to say exactly what they mean. With adult fiction, there may be a tendency to dress everything up in complications or cleverness that don’t necessarily do the story any favours. I think it’s the directness that can make the difference. If the author’s got something powerful to say, all they need to do is say it. That’s the strength of really good fiction, whether it’s for adults or children.

FC: In spite of the supernatural events surrounding them, your characters have such everyday problems and concerns that make them into very real, sympathetic people.  How important is making your characters relatable to you?  Which of them do you relate to the most?

FW: Very important – I think that’s why I’m finding myself more comfortable with contemporary settings these days, and characters who have “real life” problems as much as “fantasy” problems. I suppose I relate the most to Rosie – hurriedly adding that her story isn’t autobiographical in any way! Or only in small ways, which I’ll leave to the reader’s imagination. She developed as a sort of conglomerate of people I’m very, very fond of – friends who are in some ways ordinary and down-to-earth, and yet at the same time beautiful, bright, witty and lovable. I feel she’s someone who, although she makes a lot of very human mistakes in life, would be a great friend.

FC: Dame Juliana, the famous artist from Midsummer Night, is in her sixties.  It’s a bit unusual to see an elderly woman as one of the main characters in a fantasy novel.  Did you have any concerns that people may not like reading about someone outside of the norm  – even a woman as vibrant and engaging as Dame Juliana?

FW: Goodness, where to start with this one! Is it unusual? I’m sure if we did some research we’d find plenty of fantasy novels featuring strong women over a certain age. I don’t think of Juliana as “elderly” in the sense of being 90-something, too frail to do anything and uncomfortably close to death… although even a character like that, about to “pass through the veil”, could be absolutely compelling… sorry, getting side-tracked by ideas there! And why is it the “norm” that only characters in their teens or twenties have adventures? Is there some convention of fantasy that once you hit thirty-two, say, you’re no longer interesting enough to take part in strange events?

Well, if it is unconventional to have a main character in a fantasy in her sixties, I’m glad. This opens a huge can of worms about sexism and ageism in general – a topic that we could talk about endlessly! I certainly think there’s been an unfortunate tradition of portraying females in genre fiction either as damsels in distress or evil witches. Now we are seeing lots of feisty, kick-ass heroines – but they are still very young and, let’s face it, still not very much like real women. The females I know in real life are intelligent, funny and quirky with a wide range of interests. They come in all ages, shapes and styles. They’re not sex objects or malevolent sorceresses or weapon-wielding martial arts experts. They’re real people. So I like to show women as real people in my novels, to try and redress the balance a bit. In fact, the true “norm” is that we all grow older. I think there is a tension between our desire to stay young and live forever (as seen in vampire novels, or in my ever-youthful Aetherial characters) and the reality that we get old and die. Perhaps creating Dame Juliana, a woman who’s still vigorous and creative but all too aware of her mortality, is my way of challenging the wish-fulfilment elements of my own writing.

So no, I wasn’t concerned that readers might feel uncomfortable with a character in her sixties. If they do – well, what does that say about our prejudices? Also, as I haven’t reached my sixties yet, I’m trying to cheer myself up by proposing that there’s still life and creativity ahead! The world has come around to the idea that life isn’t over at 40, and I think we need to see a broader range of characters in popular and genre fiction to reflect this.

FC: Yes, definitely!  I thought it was a nice change to see a story in which an older woman played a huge role, but it also made me realize that I can’t think of a single main female character in fantasy older than somewhere in her thirties (and even those were pretty rare – most of the ones I can recall are in their teens or twenties).  Why do you think there is such a fascination in fiction with coming of age and the beginning life and not with transitions during middle or older years?

FW: Possibly because it’s an age when everything is happening to the character for the first time. New experiences make the biggest impact on us when we’re young and everyone will remember those milestones as being the most vivid time of their lives. Of course we want to see the first time these things happened to the hero, not the second or tenth time! The ‘hero’s journey’ of myth and fantasy is a perfect metaphor for the whole coming-of-age journey that we go through. It mirrors the psychological transition of changing from child to adult, finding out who you are, detaching from your parents and proving yourself as a grown-up in charge of your own life. The prince has to defeat the dragon, complete the quest, find his true love and so on, in order to prove he’s worthy of inheriting his kingdom… and all that symbolic stuff!

And there is the more prosaic answer, of course, that young readers have a natural tendency to identify with characters of their own age. They may see older characters (say in their 30s or 40s) as of their parents’ generation, ie. ancient and boring! And of course, younger people are perceived as prettier, sexier, healthier, livelier – which they often are, so it’s just human nature to enjoy that. I hope that as readers grow older, they’ll become more open-minded and realise that adventures (transitions) can happen at any age.

FC: You completely succeeded at writing real women in both Aetherial Tales novels and that’s part of what I loved so much about them.  They aren’t perfect, they aren’t damsels in distress, they aren’t kickass – they seem like women you could meet in real life (aside from their involvement in supernatural occurrences, that is!).  Why do you think female characters tend to be portrayed at one extreme or the other (more helpless than usual or more independent than normal)?  What books have you read that you think achieve the right balance and feature “real women”?

FW: This question makes me realise I actually don’t tend to notice when a female character is well-portrayed and believable… it’s only when they are behaving in extreme, irritating or unrealistic ways – as if being viewed through a sexist prism – that this tends to jump off the page, throwing me out of the story and putting me right off the author. Still, if a book is titled, say, “Slave Girls of Gor” you know pretty much what you’re going to get!

If women have been shown as exceptionally helpless, beautiful, clothes falling off at the wrong moment, and suchlike, that would seem to mix the traditional, secondary role of women in society with male fantasies. (That role has only changed in the last forty-odd years, and it’s still under constant threat). Kickass heroines are a natural backlash, and that’s fine – it’s probably a different sort of male fantasy, but a female one too. However, I prefer not to write them myself because I want to show “normal” women as strong. And not just strong and good, but also complicated and flawed.

It’s probably difficult to find examples of females in fantasy who are completely realistic, because the nature of the genre means that fantastic things are going to happen to them. Ones that jump into my mind are Lirael and Sabriel from the Garth Nix Abhorsen books, or Lyra from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. Lessa in Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels I remember as a powerful character, although it’s a long time since I read those books. I loved Buffy and Willow – despite their superpowers and their beauty! – because they were also shown as realistic, complex, intelligent and witty people with real-life problems. All the examples I’ve given seem to be from young adult fiction again. Oh – and Phedre from the Kushiel series (Jacqueline Carey). I don’t know that you’d see her as realistic as such, given that one of her main attributes is getting a huge sexual kick out of pain – but a wonderfully portrayed, complex character, surrounded by equally strong, interesting and no-nonsense females. And I’m sure there are hundreds more examples… try Virginia Woolf, Margaret Atwood, Ursula LeGuin… the list is huge.

I could talk about this all day but I have to stop! Thank you for asking me to take part in this interview. It’s been great fun.

FC: Thank you for taking the time to answer a few (well, quite a few) questions, Freda!  It was wonderful to get to learn more about you and your writing.

Today I am excited to have part one of an interview with Freda Warrington to share with you.  Freda Warrington is the author of nineteen novels, and for more information on her and her books you can visit her website or her blog. Her work was brought to my attention with the recent publication of her first two Aetherial Tales books, stand alone novels set in the same universe.  The first of these, Elfland, was my favorite book read in 2010 (review), and I also enjoyed reading Midsummer Night (review).  However, since Elfland was her first novel published in the United States, I didn’t know much about her or her other books so I asked her for an interview and she was kind enough to accept. I hope you have as much fun learning about her and her books as I did!

Fantasy Cafe: First of all, thank you for answering a few questions.  Of course I’m particularly excited about the third Aetherial Tales novel.  Is there yet a release date for Grail of the Summer Stars?  Can you tell us anything about what it will be about, when it takes place in relation to the other two Aetherial Tales books, and if there will be any familiar faces?

Freda Warrington: Grail of the Summer Stars will be coming out in summer/ fall of 2012, as long as I’m not too late delivering the manuscript! I don’t want to say too much about it because it’s still a work in progress. However, I can reveal that it tells the story of Mistangamesh (Mist for short), a character who appeared briefly in Midsummer Night, and a new character, Stevie, who meets him and discovers that she, too, has a very peculiar past. Where Midsummer Night was set mostly in one place, Grail will have a broader scope location-wise, and a more epic feel. It’s a complete story in itself, but firmly connected to the first two books which I hope will please readers who enjoyed them. It will also complete an arc that’s been simmering in the background of the first two novels… that’s the plan, anyway, but we all know what can happen to plans!

As for familiar faces, see next question!

FC: Ok, I’m sorry, but I need to take a moment to ask some fangirl questions.  I promise I’ll get right back on track once I get these out of my system!  Are there more than just the three Aetherial Tales books planned? Is there any chance there will be more books with Rosie and Sam or possibly a book about the past of Rufus?

FW: Just the three books for the time being. I have ideas for another two at least – I don’t know yet if these will ever be written, but I hope so. In theory, an endless number of tales could be set in the Aetherial universe, because it’s completely elastic. It isn’t a place where there’s just One Big Quest and then it’s all over. Rather, it’s more of an imaginative landscape where all sorts of different characters, human and non-human, can play out their stories.

Funny you should ask about Sam and Rosie, and Rufus’s past – you’ll be pleased to hear that they all feature in Grail! Obviously in Midsummer Night, Rufus was very naughty and got away with a lot, so there is unfinished business between him and his brother, Mist. At some point I realised, too, that Sam, Rosie and Lucas have a part to play in the story. It’s not a huge part, but it is important. You won’t find the intense focus on them and their relationships that there was in Elfland, because this is not their story, but I hope that readers of Elfland will enjoy meeting them again and remembering what they went through in the past to bring them to this point.

FC: Why did you decide to set the first two Aetherial Tales books in modern times?  If there are going to be more than the three books (as I so fervently hope!) will any of them take place in a historical setting or even be set entirely in the Otherworld?

FW: I’ve written contemporary fantasy before – The Rainbow Gate, Dark Cathedral – and I’ve always been captivated by the idea of our everyday world hiding mysterious layers. One of my initial ideas for Elfland was that every single household is like a separate universe – just entering someone else’s house is so like landing on another planet, an author almost doesn’t need to bother creating a supernatural Otherworld! Exploring this idea in Elfland, by showing a couple of very different households in conflict, naturally felt like it needed a modern setting. A timeless setting, should I say. Meanwhile, because the feel of the narrative was all about the contrast between the everyday and the fantastical, the characters wouldn’t have worked in a historical period. I liked them being able to swear at each other, or jump into cars, or get sent to prison, or be rushed to hospital like ordinary humans, while they’ve got all this secret, magical stuff going on underneath. Likewise, in Midsummer Night, it would have been difficult to make Juliana Flagg a highly acclaimed sculptor, or have her ex-husband being a government minister who swans about in a Lamborghini, if I’d set it in a much earlier time. There’s so much fun to be had from playing with modern-day settings. Grail has a couple of historical episodes – originally it was going to have more, but I decided this would make the story too complicated – so the narrative is naturally concerned with how the characters, in a modern human world, learn to live with the knowledge they have they’ve had these enormously extended, strange and traumatic lives over thousands of years.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t write an Aetherial tale set in the past, or entirely in the Otherworld. For example, there’s a section in Midsummer Night where one of the characters accuses Rufus of “abducting” a female relative of his from the Otherworld realm where she lived. She denies it, insisting she went with Rufus of her own free will. I’m thinking that this, or something similar, might be an interesting story to explore in more depth. Certainly I think Sam, Rosie and Lucas have more to say and do.

Incidentally, Elfland’s original title was All About Elfland, which was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, as it isn’t really about a traditional Elfland at all… but as my editor wanted to simplify the title, the irony got kind of lost.

FC: Many of us living in the United States have only recently discovered your books with the publication of Elfland and Midsummer Night. Which books in your backlist do you think would be a good starting point for new fans who have discovered the Aetherial Tales books but are unfamiliar with your other books?  I particularly enjoyed how these novels were somewhat dark and character driven.  Are your other books similar?

FW: I believe they are in many ways. Although they might have very different settings and themes, they all originate from the same imaginative landscape in my head! So yes, they do all tend to be “dark and character driven.” The Rainbow Gate and Dark Cathedral are probably the most similar, in that they too have contemporary settings into which supernatural elements and fantastical events intrude. The Jewelfire Trilogy (The Amber Citadel, The Sapphire Throne, The Obsidian Tower), although set in an alternative world, have a similar character-centered, contemporary feel. The Court of the Midnight King is a bit different, as it’s an alternative history version of the story of King Richard III (Shakespeare’s famous “villain”!) and I’ve written vampire novels too, including A Taste of Blood Wine and Dracula the Undead (the latter being a sequel to Dracula).

I still get a lot of requests for the Blood Wine vampire series, copies of which are hard to find, although I hope they will be republished eventually. Unfortunately, many of my books are out of print, but you can get most of them online. Some have been reissued, including Dracula the Undead (Severn House), and my earliest novels – which are weird, dark, sword-and-sorcery tales – have been republished by Immanion Press as A Blackbird in Silver Darkness and A Blackbird in Amber Twilight, so these are easy to obtain. I have lots of Dark Cathedral, too.

If you go to my website, www.fredawarrington.com, you can find a complete list of my work and email me about it.

FC: As I have only recently discovered your books, I haven’t had a chance to read the Jewelfire trilogy yet. I noticed the description mentioned a race called “Aelyr.”  Are they at all connected to the Aelyr from the Aetherial Tales?

FW: Aha! You spotted that! Yes – I’ve long been fascinated by the idea of beings who look human but aren’t: for example elves, vampires, angels, demons, demi-gods and so on. My Aetherials, or Aelyr, are simply my own version of such a race. When I was writing the Jewelfire trilogy, it was conceived to be a traditional-style high fantasy, with a twist. The Aelyr appeared as my version of an elf-type race… beautiful, mysterious and fascinating to humans, but rather more sexy and less noble-minded than Tolkien’s Elves! When I started Elfland, although it’s a very different book, it made perfect sense to me that my non-human race would be part of the same other-race that I’d used in The Amber Citadel trilogy. Well, I see them as “cousins” who live in slightly different dimensions of the Otherworld, with different mythologies and different approaches to life – but basically, the same race.

I love the idea of making these connections between my novels, acknowledging that although they are separate stories, they are connected because they all emerge from the same inner landscape. It’s saying, the human imagination IS the Otherworld. I’ve played with other connections too – for example, it’s hinted that Peta Lyon, in Midsummer Night, might know the characters from Dark Cathedral. And in Grail of the Summer Stars I have a minor character, Fin, who appeared in The Court of the Midnight King. Small things like that. It’s fun, but I’m keeping it subtle and in the background, so if the reader misses it, it doesn’t matter, but if they pick it up and think, “Aha!”, that’s fine too.

FC: You mentioned on your blog that you do not want to write trilogies anymore, only stand alone books.  What made you decide you didn’t want to write longer, closely connected stories?

FW: Speaking in general terms, and not about any specific publisher, she hurriedly points out – what tends to happen is that when Book One comes out, the publisher makes a big publicity splash and it sells lots of copies. There will probably be less fuss over Book Two so it doesn’t sell as well. By the time Book Three comes out, the publisher has lost interest and also slashed their marketing budget. Then the reader may find Book Three on the bookshop shelf – but because Books One and Two are no longer there, and may even be out of print, they won’t buy it. I think trilogies or series only work if you become a massive seller like JK Rowling or Robert Jordan. That’s why I wanted to go for stand-alone novels. I’ve heard other authors say they’re doing the same. Although, as I said above, my Aetherial Tales are connected (and probably more than I meant them to be!) they can each be enjoyed separately.

Part two will be posted tomorrow.  I had a lot of questions, and even after cutting them back, the interview ended up rather long – especially since I asked a few more questions after reading the answers.  The next part will mainly be focused on general topics such as realistic female characters in fiction and the appeal of young adult novels.  I hope that you enjoyed the first part and will be back to read part two tomorrow!

Updated 2/13: Now that the rest of the interview has been posted, read the rest here.