An Interview With Marianne de Pierres

 

 I'm so excited about today's post as I have read just about everything by Marianne de Pierres and I jumped at the chance to interview her! Angry Robot are hosting this blog tour to celebrate the launch of Marianne's latest book, Peacemaker, which is released on May 1st! Peacemaker has an amazing cover, courtesy of Joey Hifi and a fantastic plot. Read on to find out a little bit more about Marianne :)

1.       What comes first - the story or the characters?

It varies from project to project, but I would say, more often than not, it’s the setting. I become enamoured with these exciting, strange places I’ve created, and then I have to start thinking about the kind of people who live in them. That was certainly the case with my Glitter Rose themed short story collection, the Night Creatures series and the Parrish Plessis novels. With my Sentients of Orion space opera, the character came first but it then took a few rewrites to really understand the protagonist, Mira Fedor, properly.

2.      How do you pick your character's names?

Sometimes, they roll up and introduce themselves, but at other times, I literally scan lists and lists baby names and surnames on the Internet. Over at Shadowhawk’s blog, I recently wrote about how I select names of places and objects, and a little bit about characters at well. Names are SO important.

3.      Describe Peacemaker in five words

[a] pacy, magic-realism, crime, pulp Western 

Peacemaker

 4.      I'm really glad to hear there will be a sequel to Peacemaker next year, can you tell us anything about it?

The supernatural element is developed more deeply in book 2, as Virgin and Nate learn the true nature and power of the Korax.

Virgin grows through her experiences, and she begins to see Nate through a different lens. I’d describe book 2 as Gods and mayhem.

5.      You write both adult and YA fiction, which do you prefer?

I feel like I need them both in my life. Ideally, I’d like to alternate writing YA with Adult fic, but things never quite work to your plan in the publishing industry! Young adult readers are such a passionate, enthusiastic audience and I love writing for them. Sometimes though, the story I want to tell turns out to be darker than I’m prepared to go in a YA novel.

6.      What do you like about writing science fiction?

So. Much. Freedom. For the imagination. I can let my mind go wild as long as it’s anchored by logic. I get to play the creator of worlds. That’s a heady drink, in my opinion. Also, I’m a futurist, I think. Everything about what will come, fascinates me.

7.      Do you listen to music whilst writing? Does Peacemaker (or any of your other books) have a soundtrack?

Not any more. I find it hard to concentrate with music on. However, I’m always listening to music in-between writing sessions.

My dad was a huge Marty Robbins fan and I listened to him growing up. The Peacemaker soundtrack became a weird collision of classic western songs like Big Iron and pop beats like Timbr by Pitbull, ft. Kesha, and of course The Wild, Wild West by The Escape Club. 

Peacemaker does indeed have a soundtrack which you can find more information about here.

8. Are any of your friends/family recognizable as characters in any of your books?

Well, aspects of them at least. But you know that all fiction … is fiction, or so the disclaimer says!

9.     What books are currently on your reading pile?

The Little Brown Handbook (I’m teaching writing at the moment), New York Cult Recipes, The Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and White Shotgun by Attilio Bolzoni.

10. What's the last book you read?

The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connolly

11.  What do you do when you're not writing?

Blog, read, watch TV series (I could talk about my favourite TV all day and all night), play sport, coach sport. I find that exercise and sport are an essential antidote to my writing life. Balance is the key to avoiding writers block. It’s a tough industry, you have to be resilient to survive it. If all you do is write, then when the knockbacks come, they are almost intolerable.

12.   What authors inspired you to write?

A. C Clarke, Octavia Butler, D.H. Lawrence and Carlos Castaneda. But they are just a few of many. I’ve been influenced by everything from Mills and Boon romances through to Existentialist writers like de Beauvoir and Albert Camus. I sometimes think I’m too much of a sponge. Maybe that’s why genre blending attracts me.

13. You've written science fiction, crime and a picture book. Are there any other genres you'd like to write?

I’ll always be attracted to speculative fiction, so crime and mystery are about as mainstream as I’ll ever go. But mixing genres offers limitless variations. I would describe my next SF novel as Cormac McCarthy meets Michael Crichton, plus I’m working on another SF crime novel. Futuristic mystery is probably my current love, but who knows where my evolving taste will lead me in the future! That’s the fun of it.

 Marianne de Pierres is the author of the acclaimed Parrish Plessis, the award-winning Sentients of Orion science fiction series and the upcoming Peacemaker SF Western series. The Parrish Plessis series has been translated into eight languages and adapted into a roleplaying game. She’s also the author of a teen dark fantasy series.
Marianne is an active supporter of genre fiction and has mentored many writers. She lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband and three galahs. Marianne writes award-winning crime under the pseudonym Marianne Delacourt. Visit her websites at www.mariannedepierres.com and www.tarasharp.com.au and www.burnbright.com.au

 A huge thank you to Marianne for answering my questions and look out for a review of Peacemaker next week!