Below is an interview with fantasy author Fran Laniado who has written a literal fairy tale. In answering my questions, she shares her love of writing, her experiences with the publishing process, and her success as an author. Be sure to check out her links, and consider buying her book! If you do, be sure to leave a review, especially after reading her answer about how important reviews are to indie authors.
About the author
Name/Pen Name: Fran Laniado
Book Title: Beautiful: A Tale of Beauties and Beasts
Genres: YA, fantasy, fairy tales retelling
Links:
Beautiful Book Summary
Eimear is a faerie who leaves the land of her birth and comes to the World, looking to make a new start. When she meets the arrogant, cruel, beautiful Finn, she casts a spell in anger that she can’t undo – even when she realizes that she may have ruined Finn’s life. Thrown together by an accident of fate, with no reason to like the other, Finn and Eimear must begin anew together.
Book excerpt
Like all babies, I was born.
I say this because many people will assume that I came into being in some strange other way. Sprung fully grown from the head of my father perhaps. Or emerged from an oyster shell like a pearl. Or hatched from the egg of a swan.
If so, I am sorry to disappoint such fanciful readers.
Faeries are born just like humans, amidst blood and screams from both the mother and the child. I was no different in that way; of that much, I am sure.
Review excerpts
“It was a beautifully written story. I loved the twists we got in this one and the fresh take on the story.” – Cross Road Reviews
“this retelling has a unique concept and definitely fulfills it. One of the best things about Beautiful is the consistent, fairy-tale-feel to the tone. ” – The Orangutan Librarian
Talking Shop
What is the central theme or message of your story? What do you want readers to take away from it?
It’s hard to boil an entire story down to a single theme, but I do hope readers come away from the story with an understanding that people are the way they are for reasons. We may form judgments about them and those judgments may be correct (at least to an extent). But without the whole picture, it’s impossible to really know somebody. We also bring our own experiences and bias’ to other people. Sometimes we aren’t able to see the beauty in someone until we’ve grown a bit.
What’s the best review/compliment that you’ve received about your book?
To be honest, the best compliment I’ve received is probably from people who said that they enjoyed it. When I decided to publish it, I told myself that I’d consider myself successful if people (any number) read it and enjoyed it. So when that happens, I feel like a success!
How active are you in the online writing community? How has this community helped you as a writer?
I think my activeness waxes and wanes according to my mood. But I have found that people are so supportive and helpful. I’ve asked questions on forums and social media and found wonderful resources (or just gotten great advice/suggestions) thanks to other writers. Hopefully I’ve been able to be helpful to them sometimes too in some ways.
How long did it take to write your book from the day you got the idea to write it to the day you published it?
About four or five years. It started as a story story. I expanded it for NaNoWriMo one year and spent a few years after that rewriting it. But it doesn’t feel like that long because it went through phases: the short story phase, draft one, revision etc.
How long have you considered yourself a writer? Did you have any formal training, or is it something you learned as you went?
I have a BA in literature, and I took some creative writing classes in high school and college. But I think that creative writing is instinctive. It’s hard to teach. You learn it as you go. I’ve loved to write for years, and I’ve written. But I’ve only recently started feeling comfortable calling myself a writer. I think I needed to be able to point to something and say, “I wrote that.” My standards for others aren’t so high. Anyone who writes is a writer regardless of publication, but for my own comfort, I needed that external validation.
What were your expectations for writing and publishing your first book? Have they changed since then?
When I first decided to publish, I was very clear with myself that I’d consider it successful if people (any number of people) read and enjoyed it. I expected to sell all of three copies! I’ve sold more than three, and people have said really lovely things about it. So by those standards, I consider it successful. I think I read so many interviews with authors who were underwhelmed by the release of their first book that I deliberately set my expectations low to avoid that! But one thing that’s surprised me a bit is how hard it is to get reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Those reviews are sooo important in terms of sales and they really don’t need to be more than a sentence long. So I’m surprised that so many readers aren’t willing to write them.
How well do you handle criticism, either while writing, editing, or reviews? Do you ever use that criticism to change your story?
I think I handle it pretty well most of the time. I think when I first send a draft for feedback I prepare myself for whatever may come. I wait until I’m feeling strong (ish) before I delve into them. Sometimes there’s an initial sort of hurt feelings when I first get the criticism, but then I process it and decide what to do with it.
I will absolutely use criticism to make changes when I agree with it. With reviews it’s a bit different because the book has already been through several rounds of critique with editors and beta readers. They’ve given their feedback, and I’ve made my decisions based on whether or not I agree. I’ve made the decision to publish regardless of reviews. I think reviews are for readers, to help other readers decide whether the book is for them. They’re not for authors in the sense that the book is already published. There’s nothing to change.
Do you focus on word count, hours spent writing, page count, or another way to measure your daily or weekly progress?
When I’m in the drafting stage, I usually measure progress by word count. Later on in revisions, I stop paying attention to that so much. At that point I feel like my words have reached a certain quantity, and I want them to have a certain level of quality too.
“What If” Scenarios
If you could be in a writer’s group with up to four famous writers, who would they be?
I think I’d like to be in a group with other writers who do similar things with fairy tales but have different approaches. Kate Forsyth writes wonderful historical fiction with a strong fairy tale/ folktale influence. She’s also written fantasy, though, so she could comment from both “sides.”
Juliet Marillier writes amazing fantasy, with a strong historical influence. Jane Yolen is wonderful both in terms of genre and in terms of writing for different audiences/age groups. I think Robin McKinley would round out the group nicely.
You are transported into your book for one day. What role do you play? How do you alter the events of the story?
Hmmm… Is it cheating to say the narrator?! If I need to pick an actual character I think I’ll say Meav. She’s a tertiary character who is only in the story for about that long. She doesn’t really know the details of the plot or anything, but her role causes the characters to realize important things about themselves and their relationships. She doesn’t change the story per se, but she brings it to a head that ultimately drives it to a conclusion.
You’re offered a contract to rewrite your book in another genre. Which genre do you choose and why?
The easiest choice would be romance because there’s a romantic subplot in there already. I could just emphasize that more and make some of the other elements secondary. But I think that it might be interesting to try to write it as historical fantasy. I was very careful in writing it to not set it in a specific historical time/place. I wanted that “once upon a time” kind of feel. But it might be kind of fun to pick an era and set it there and see how historical events might impact the story. It would still have to be fantasy because that’s a huge part of it, but I think that making it historical would change the feel of it significantly.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
It’s kind of a boring answer, but what I would do is more or less what I’m doing right now: write the next book. I wouldn’t think about budgeting in the way that I do now. I would be able to invest more into making the next book what I want it to be: spend more on editing and design etc. And of course I wouldn’t have to worry about a day job, so I’d have more time to focus on writing, which would be nice. But I’m sure that there’s a downside to being a best seller too. You have to deal with negative responses as well as the positive. And having a huge, varied response to my book might influence what I write next in a way that I don’t see now.
Would you rather own your own book store or your own publishing house, and what would you sell or publish?
I’ll say my own publishing house, because I think it would be really great to have a say in what kind of books are shared with the world. That’s not to say I think it’s a feasible thing right now: I know nothing about owning a publishing company! But I’m sort of realizing how much of a say publishers have in the books that are discussed.
Look at something like the controversy surrounding the novel American Dirt, or Woody Allen’s memoir. Or just take a look at the emergence of things like #OwnVoices and We Need Diverse books. I think people don’t quite realize that publishing is an important political role. It would be a huge responsibility in that sense, but I’d try to publish books that I see a need for in the word. That need could just be books that people will enjoy, or it could be something larger.
Just For Fun
One year of your life you’d like to do over.
I think I’d do over the year after I finished college. If I had to live my life over again I would probably make some different career decisions, and I think that having that knowledge early on would have been helpful. I also think that adjusting to full time work after having been a student for my entire life was a little difficult in ways that I didn’t anticipate. If I could do it over again (with the knowledge that I have now!), I might be a better working right from the beginning and make fewer mistakes.
One bucket list item you’ve completed and one that’s still on your list.
One bucket list item I’ve completed is writing and publishing a novel. One that’s still on my list is living in another country for a time. I think living the day to day life in another country for an indefinite period gives you a sense of perspective that you don’t really get when it’s just a special trip for a limited number of days.
Favorite time of/part of your day.
, the pI’m a total night owl. I love the hour or so before bed, when the work of the day is behind me and I can focus on winding down. It often feels like the only time that’s really my own.
Your most unrealistic dream job.
Maybe full time author. I don’t say that to be down on myself, I say that because I see and understand how hard it is to make enough to live on by writing. If nothing else most full time writers are a lot more prolific than me. It takes a lot of output to earn enough to comfortably support yourself.
Of course, it’s harder to produce that output when you’re working another job! But aside from that most writer, regardless of how they’re published, have a day job. If they can quit their day job eventually, it tends to be only they’ve had at least a few books published. It’s just a fact of life. It’s something that you do because you love it, not because you’ll get rich. I think the only way to get rich is to have best selling books that are picked up for movies/TV series.
Favorite Halloween costume ever.
As a little kid I think I rotated all the princesses from fairy tales as Halloween costumes. I was into fairy tales even then! I got really into it too. I still love Halloween. I don’t dress up anymore, but I think the combination of candy and make believe doesn’t lose its appeal with age!
A talent you have and a talent you wish you had.
A talent I have is (I hope!) writing. One I wish I had…do I really have to chose only one?! I wish I were a good artist, in terms of drawing and painting. I’d love to produce some artwork to accompany my writing. Sadly stick figures are about as far as my abilities take me there!
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I love the depth of this interview and the effort extended to uncover/wring out every last drop of insight. Well done!
Really fun interview to read! I love Fran’s central message behind this story 😀