Author, speaker, consultant and media expert, Sarah’s expertise is working with gifted and talented young people who have the capacity to become high achievers.  She has an ability to raise expectations and aspirations of all young people she comes into contact with.  Sarah Newton has shared her wisdom with millions who have tuned into her TV and radio shows, followed her writing and listened to her thought-provoking talks.

Hailed as ”The Supernanny for Teens” by TV Times Sarah has worked in this field now for over 19 years of her life. Sarah is also the founder of Talented Teens, Teenage Dr Love and the editor and creator of Celebrity Parent Advice. Sarah is also leading the way forward in personality led parenting and youth coaching.

What set you along this life path, working with teens?

I worked with young offenders and children at risk of offending for 10 years as a police officer in London. When one of the young people I worked with took their own life, it made me think there had to be a different way to deal with youth and I started on the track I am on nowadays.

A catch phrase when speaking about trolling (online bullying) is, “You can’t troll a troll”, which boils down to an eye for an eye. As a global community, how do you suggest young adults approach trolling?

As a global community, I think we need to see “trolling” as a crime and label it as such. If you said these things in public they would be, so why is it different on-line? I think all social networks should stop anonymous accounts and be on top of this more than they are.

Young adults themselves need to think more before they start these accounts and turn comments off on YouTube, for example if it upsets them too much, then have some else manage their account so they can field some of the offensive comments. I see so many young people engage with the trolls and this only puts fuel to the fire. Never answer anonymous comments on Ask FM, etc. It really isn’t worth it. Always think what a potential college/employer might think if they saw your comments back to these people. A girl in the UK has just had to pull out of a very prestigious job because of comments she made on twitter 4 years earlier. Be careful what you write; it may come back to bite you.

In your opinion do parents place too much emphasis on the academic achievements of their young adults rather than their hobbies or personal life goals?

In my opinion No they don’t. While I recognise the importance of hobbies and life goals, I also know that education is the key to opening doors and I believe that we should always have high expectations for our children when it comes to education. I have never heard an adult saying they wished that they had tried less at school.

Do you believe in the generation gap, and how much of an issue do you think it plays in the effective communication between young adults and their parents?

I think the gap has gone and we have more of a generation lap now, with young people lapping their parents in their knowledge of such important thing such as the Internet. A lot of the study results coming out about this are showing that parents and young adults are becoming closer than ever, with young people looking to their parents more than ever before for advice and guidance and most of them citing parents as role models. I think young people will always feel misunderstood; I think that is the nature of things, but I feel communication is better and different than it was when I was a teenager.

What can young adults gain from visiting your website www.sarahnewton.com?

They will find someone who understands them, the world they live in and offers different perspectives to the adults in their lives.

The majority of my site is aimed at parents and adults who work with youth, however one of my projects, Talented Teens, http://sarahnewton.com/talented-teens/ shares inspirational stories and advice about young people for young people and we do have a very cool little gadget which allows young people to discover their talent. You can find it in the left hand column on this page http://sarahnewton.com/c/blog/

Lauren Galley, Teen Mentor, Actress, Model and President of Girls Above Society transitioned from her high school AP program to college at age 16 embarking on a journey driven to create an anchor of empowerment for teen girls. Launching (at age 17) Girls Above Society gives Lauren the platform of teen to teen mentor-ship combined with film visuals creating a social media movement.

As a voice to young teen girls, Lauren has been heard on Fox News, Best Ever You Radio, and as a Co-Host on the UK Radio Show “Tabloid Talk”. Her writing has appeared in International Talent Magazine, Babble, Talented Teens, Living Intentionally, and THINK covering issues of the many pressures young teens are facing in today’s society.

Lauren has recently been named Chief Teen Mentor for Best Ever Teens Website, a development of the Best Ever You Network. As an actress Lauren has also been seen on ABC Family’s “The Lying Game” and National Commercials such as FOX Sports and Jarritos. To book Lauren for a speaking engagement or a “Girl Talk” contact: girlsabovesociety@att.net

Belinda: This afternoon I finished watching the documentary Bully. It focused on the failure of ‘the system’ when it comes to bullying, teen violence and verbal abuse. It barely touched upon the damage that exclusion can have on a person. Girls in particular use exclusion as a way to show dominance and status in the school yard. What message would you have for anyone being excluded, and to someone who witnesses someone else being excluded from a social situation?

Lauren: Being excluded can leave girls with many negative feelings.  A Clique of girls will exclude others to show dominance, importance, and the desire to be exclusive psychologically makes one think it must be an amazing group, there’s only a few, so I want to be a part of it.  Girls being excluded are left with the feeling “I’m not good enough”.  They feel they don’t measure up due to the fact they aren’t pretty enough, popular enough, etc…  Girls who put themselves in cliques are full of insecurities and feel the need to “create” a world in which they are special. I remind girls to surround themselves with friends who have the same interests, morals, and values. That clique of popular girls might seem like the best thing ever, but if you really watch and observe, they have closed themselves to so many great, talented, smart girls they will never have the chance to get to know because they are basing their group on popularity and looks.  Those Popular girls won’t be popular after that school term and everyone moves on…. Observing someone being excluded would be my cue to go meet that person. Chances are they are the type of person I would want to be friends with!! My friends don’t judge me for my looks, or popularity and I’m very grateful for that ~ I’m not the popular girl and I feel like I have so much more than any girl in a clique!!

Belinda: Cameron Russell made fantastic points in her October 2012 TED talk called Looks aren’t everything. Believe me I’m a model. Do you think the message would have had as much impact if it were presented by a ‘nobody’ in society, and why do you think society is less tolerant of people who are physically ‘different’?

Lauren: The message Cameron gave was received with great impact because of who she is and how she looks. A “nobody” wouldn’t have a chance to drive home this message. We live in a super-driven media society 24/7, that has the power of trending what is “perfect”. Branding a product is now driven by women and men who exemplify the look of perfection. Sex sells … A perfectly normal size 10 girl will never sell a swimsuit because she is not considered sexy enough. Magazine covers, commercials, billboards, and Celebrity News all scream “This is Beautiful!” People are more and more defined by what they look like, not who they are and what they represent. Being physically different in today’s society means you aren’t good enough. My message to teen girls is similar to Cameron’s ~ BU. There’s No One Else Like It”.

Belinda: There is a trend on YouTube of young girls (and boys) asking the global community via their videos to tell them if they’re beautiful or dateable. What do you think are the biggest dangers with a trend such as this?

Lauren: This trend is an attention getting monster! After the girls (and boys) put up the video, they will then obsess over how many likes, comments, etc … they get. Receiving no comments will then cause further low self esteem (that’s why they put it up in the first place, right? They are wondering if they really do look good) which can lead to depression, self-harm, and many times suicide. This simple video has such a negative impact that comes full circle. The girls who get many likes and comments will then feel being sexy is a way to get boys attention, which can lead to being pressured to engage in activities they normally wouldn’t. They put up the video. The guys like it. Now what? This attention-getting idea is defining who they are by what they look like on the outside, not who they are on the inside.

Belinda: How can people get on board with your organization Girls above Society?

Lauren: My ultimate goal for Girls Above Society is to have girls all over the world giving “Girl Talks”. I have a blog and would love for teen girls to send me their stories and/or thoughts on how today’s media-driven society affects them. My monthly Magazine “Girl Power” features a Girl of the Month. I’m always looking for that great role model to feature. Sending in your stories could get you featured in the magazine. I really love communicating with teens today so follow me on Twitter @LaurenMGalley and connect with me through www.girlsabovesociety.org You can purchase a Girls Above Society bracelet for $1.00 with all proceeds going towards “Girl Talks”.

L. J. Smith (the initials stand for Lisa Jane) is the author of a number best-selling books and series, and her writing has spawned two television series and been translated into over thirty-five languages. She lives in the Bay Area of Northern California, USA, but she gets her best ideas watching deer in the backyard of a small cabin in Inverness or walking on the rocky beaches that surround that area.  She enjoys movies and music, and often listens to her favorite songs as she writes. She loves to hear from readers at info@ljanesmith.net, and to hold book-related contests on her website, www.ljanesmith.net. She reads all her email and Guestbook entries and even answers whenever she can.

1. Your latest project, The Last Lullaby, features strong female characters & a cast of outsiders. Can you tell us a bit about how you came to develop those characters, and whether you’ve felt at all compelled to address some literary stereotypes and offer your female readers strong role models?

The strong female characters were part of the first glimpse I had of the story.  It was so blessedly easy to watch them reveal themselves that I can’t really count it as work.  My very first concept, croaked into a mini tape recorder because at dawn I had to pin everything down faster than I could write—faster, really, than I could talk—was of these two sets of diametrically opposed characters in a world where all social norms are turned upside-down.

This means that there are strong girls both in the harem and outside in Crispy’s gang.  Crispy is the kid with burn scars all over the right side of her face and body, who, like Peter Pan, has no set age beyond “child.”  Her older friend Roach is even tougher and more competent than young Crispy, and even Old Useless, the elderly woman from the crazies’ pen, has magical powers of healing and prophecy.

Then there’s Brionwy, the singer of songs, and her friends, Melisande, Lyria, and Junhee—a dancer, an artist, and a martial artist.  All of them are strong in different ways.  Seventeen-year-old Brionwy, who begins merely as a depressed virgin courtesan with no interest in Catching the Eye of the Lord Overseer, ends up leading the revolution. Melisande the gambler and shadowy, soft-spoken Lyria are never afraid to risk their lives when truth or love is at stake, while delicate Junhee, brought up as a fighter in the Way of the Phoenix, is mentally and physically in top condition.

I guess the literary tradition I trampled was the one where a female is presented as very strong—but still needs an even stronger male to rescue her.  In The Last Lullaby none of the girls are rescued by stronger guys.  They rescue themselves or each other.  All the most deadly villains are females, too.  What fun!

2   Lisa, throughout your career, you’ve managed to create some fascinating antiheroes whom we’ve nevertheless come to love, despite theirflaws. Do you enjoy playing with reader expectation and empathy and character binaries, in that regard? Who is your favourite literary antihero?

Thank you for your kind words.  I do like anti-heroes because they’re so much fun to write, especially from their POV.  And my anti-heroes are, indeed, mostly binary.  They may be simply sullen, like Nick in The Secret Circle, or they may seem to have almost infinite power, like Julian in The Forbidden Game or Kierlan in Strange Fate, but when your pierce their hard and crusty outer layer you may be surprised to find a sweet creamy inner layer underneath (which doesn’t mean there won’t be another harder layer below the cream—so be careful not to bite down!).

My first favourite literary anti-hero has got to be Shakespeare’s Richard III, as played by Sir Lawrence Olivier.  In Act 1. Scene 1, he just makes my heart melt.  And then there’s Christopher Marlowe’s Mephistopheles, who breaks my heart when Faustus asks him what he’s doing out of hell and Mephistopheles replies:

“Why this is hell, nor am I out of it. Think’st thou that I who saw the face of God, 75 And tasted the eternal joys of Heaven, Am not tormented with ten thousand hells, In being depriv’d of everlasting bliss?”

And then I can’t help but mention my favourite modern author, Terry Pratchett, and two things. First is the fact that my beloved Sam Vimes of the Disc World series is often written very much like an anti-hero, and second is that in my absolutely fave book, Night Watch, the young Havelock Veterinari, junior member of the Assassin’s Guild, is an absolute killer sweetheart?  For that matter, Pratchett has made a wonderful anti-hero out of the seemingly-impossible-to-sympathize-with character Death.  (And don’t forget the Death of Rats, either, with his tiny robe and scythe.  SQUEEK!)

3. Your website is incredible, Lisa! It must be challenging for you to keep on top of such an interactive, regularly updated space? How do you divide your time between creating and being such an active participant of the social networking explosion? Can you give us some insight into the evolution of your author/reader interaction since the beginning of your professional writing career?

Um, you’re giving me way too much credit—it really belongs to my genius Administrator.  Mr. Usok Choe, of Usok Choe Designs is a sort of mythical guy himself.  He’s a black belt (or whatever is highest above that) in Taekwondo, he takes stunning photographs, he’s a terrific website developer/maintainer, and he somehow finds time to be the father to three precocious kids, and husband to Junhee (yeah, I stole her name for the sake of the revolution in Lullaby.)  He does all the hard work. Then there are the incredible Forum moderators, who, under Christina Crowley make sure that there are no flame wars or character assassination on the Forum.  (One reader—this is the truth—read that rule and asked, “Does that mean we can’t kill any of the characters in fanfic?”)

I’m lousy at social networking.  I’m the kind of writer who dives into a book and doesn’t come up for air for months (one reason I’m hoping Strange Fate will be done very soon, now that Lullaby is out of the way).  I was asked once just to stand to acknowledge a review at a writing club meeting and I knocked my purse off the chair and onto a fellow writer’s foot.)

I suppose that shouldn’t matter now that the Internet has changed everything, but it does. I’m still super-shy.  I do the site for my readers, and that’s the truth.  I adore them, and I want to talk to each one personally. But now that Cherie Durant has showed me what I’m missing by introducing me to you and four other totally amazing and incredibly kind authors who’re in the thick of Internet networking, I want to peck my way out of my shell and join in.  It’s fun!  And I can’t drop my purse on anyone’s foot!

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Oh, that’s hard to answer.  I mean, the first thing that springs to mind is Damon Salvatore of The Vampire Diaries—just because he is more fun than a barrel of monkeys to write.  But I have to admit that Julian of the upcoming The Forbidden Game: Rematch, burns with an even brighter blue light than in the original Game trilogy. And then there’s Ash Redfern, from multiple Night World books, who spends Strange Fate attempting to win his soulmate Mary-Lynnette’s approval by rescuing other soulmate couples from the blood and darkness covering the world.

But these are bad boyz, and although terrifically amusing there is something even closer to my heart, and that’s a sister bond.  I first did it with real sisters in my debut novel, The Night of the Solstice. Janie and Alys Hodges-Bradley, the fledgling sorceress and the burgeoning hero—complete with sword.  And, although it’s undoubtedly frustrating for readers, perhaps other writers will understand that what burns brightest is always what one has just finished writing.

So I’ll have to stake everything on one throw of the say Brionwy and Crispy of The Last Lullaby. They’re such opposites, and yet I find I can see their world in great detail when I look through their eyes.  Brionwy is looking at roses and jewels and gowns and eunuchs and tranquilizing wine.  Crispy is looking at rubbish yards and hunting beasts and pens full of unwashed humans soon to become dragon-fodder.  And yet they find a middle ground to meet upon in Brionwy’s lullabies.  So for now I’m going to have to say the unlikely sisters in Lullaby, because they make me stretch and allow me to get my (rotten) poetry in the guise of song lyrics.

Lian Tanner is a children’s author and playwright. She has worked as a teacher in Australia and Papua New Guinea, a tourist bus driver, a freelance journalist, a juggler, a community arts worker, an editor and a professional actor. It took her a while to realise that all of these jobs were really just preparation for being a writer. Nowadays she lives by the beach in southern Tasmania, with a small tabby cat and lots of friendly neighbourhood dogs. She has not yet mastered the art of Concealment by the Imitation of Nothingness, but she is quite good at Camouflage.

The second book in The Keepers trilogy, City of Lies, won the Aurealis Award in 2011 for Children’s Fiction. Lian Tanner’s books are published by Allen and Unwin.

1. You do a wonderful job of portraying a world that has been protected to the point of not being able to function in a crisis. Where did you get the inspiration for that? Were you holding a mirror up to our world?

A: When I was thinking about this story, there was a lot of discussion in the Australian media about ‘bubblewrap children’, which I found interesting, because like most of my generation I had a very free-ranging childhood. I know it’s a different world now, but I think there are other ways of responding to it than over-protection, and the effect of keeping children too safe really bothers me. But it wasn’t just the media debate that brought it home to me. At the same time, there was a boy living in my street (a very safe little cul de sac where children regularly play cricket and footy in the middle of the road) whose parents worried about possible disasters so much that they hardly let him out the front gate. And on the rare occasions when he managed to escape, I noticed that he wasn’t nearly as physically competent as the other kids of his age. Nor was his judgement good. In protecting him so carefully, his parents had actually made him more vulnerable.

So those things were important as inspiration, and there was certainly a bit of mirror-holding going on – I like to have both depth and ideas in my books, so that they work on several different levels. But at the same time I thought that pushing this notion of over-protection to its natural conclusion – the guardchains – could make a really interesting and exciting story that would appeal to kids.

2 The main characters of The Keepers are thieves, and Toadspit starts off as such a hostile character. Were you worried about how they would be received by your readers?

A: Yes, I didn’t want kids to come away from the book with the idea that it was fine to go off and steal whatever they liked, just because they coveted something. In the end I used Olga Ciavolga to make it clear that there were certain rules, and that stealing was only all right if you used it for a good and selfless purpose. That seems to have struck a chord with people – those particular lines are the most frequently quoted from the book.

As for Toadspit, he has turned out to be a favourite character for many readers, so I guess his initial hostility doesn’t turn them off. I didn’t really think it would, mainly because he is also intriguing, which keeps people interested in him for long enough to start to understand why he is so hostile.

3. Lian, you studied earth sciences and have said that you draw much inspiration from the time you spend at the beach. What is it about natural environments that you find so compelling and how do they stir you, creatively?

A: I think one of the things natural environments do is provide mental and emotional space. Cities are full of things that clamour for our attention, whereas the countryside or the beach is much more restful. When I’m in the city, I find that I instinctively keep a tight hold on my physical and emotional boundaries. It’s a protective thing, even in a small city like Hobart. But on the beach, I can let go of that tight hold, I can let my thoughts swim in ever-widening circles, make odd connections, daydream. That’s a very creative state of mind!

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

A: I love them all, even the villains, but probably my favourite character is Mouse, a small mute boy who first appears in the second book, City of Lies. He tells fortunes with the help of his white mice, and has a very sweet nature, despite his hard life on the streets. I had the character of Mouse in mind for about six years before I found the right place for him, and ‘burns brightest’ really does describe him. He’s one of those people who affect the lives of those around him far more than you would expect for someone his age.

Ambelin Kwaymullina loves reading sci-fi/fantasy books, and has wanted to write a novel since she was six years old. She comes from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. When not writing or reading she teaches law, illustrates picture books, and hangs out with her dogs. She has previously written a number of children’s books, both alone and with other members of her family. The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is her first novel.

1.    Your first novel, The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (The Tribe #1) was released this year. Prior to that, you wrote and illustrated a number of acclaimed children’s books. What prompted your shift to YA fiction, and the novel format, and which do you most enjoy writing?

I suppose I don’t really think of moving to YA fiction as being a shift, because I have wanted to write a novel since I was six years old, it just took a while to get there! I’m not sure I could even say I enjoyed much of the writing process for the novel, because it involved a lot of long, long nights and thousands of cups of coffee – I did actually wonder if I should thank my coffee machine in the acknowledgements section of the book. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. In many ways writing a novel is a lonely process, but in others I was never alone. I was with Ashala – sharing her experiences as she fought to escape the detention centre and protect her Tribe from the government. It was often a shock to look up from the computer screen and see the furniture of my lounge room instead of the crisp white walls of the detention centre, or the tuart trees of the Firstwood.

2.   Ambelin, you get to showcase two creative talents, as a writer and illustrator. Which interest came first and what are your earliest memories of engaging in creative activity?

My earliest memories are of writing. Art came later, in my teens. I wrote stories from a very young age, and they tended to fall into one of two categories – either fantasy stories, or stories based on the antics of my brothers. My little brothers were pretty much always up to something, so there was never a shortage of things to write about.  The behavior of one character in The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf in particular is influenced by the kinds of tricks my brothers liked to play when they were young. I think anyone who’s ever had a totally irrepressible younger sibling will probably identify with the character of Jaz.

3.   What were some of your favourite stories growing up, and how do you think they have influenced your writing?

I loved any story where people travelled to, or lived in, another world – so picture books like Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, fantasy stories by Tamora Pierce and, later, the post-apocalyptic Obernewtyn series by Isobelle Carmody.

I always knew I wanted to write about other worlds too, about the possibilities of different realities, different futures. What has always really inspired me about speculative fiction is the way that it explores problems we have in this world and brings us face to face with the great failings and the great promise of humanity, even though it’s set in times and places so far removed from ours (or perhaps not so far removed!).  Ashala is a sixteen year old girl who has to deal with the systemic discrimination of a society that views people with abilities as a threat. Although there’s nowhere in the ‘real’ world where people get locked away for having abilities (at least not as far as I know), Ashala is far from the only teenager ever to experience injustice or discrimination. Ashala fights against her oppressors and eventually triumphs over them, and I like to think that we could all eventually triumph over injustice too, in whatever form or time or place it exists.

4.    Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

I love them all – but it is Ashala who I feel the closest to. The story is told from her perspective, and she’s the one whose voice guided the story, and whose thoughts and feelings I experienced the most as I was piecing the narrative together. It’s hard not to feel close to someone when you’ve stood by their side at some of the worst and the best moments of their life, when you’ve felt their pain and their joy. The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is very much Ashala’s story. I just got to tell it, as best as I possibly could.

Jaclyn Moriarty grew up in Sydney’s north-west with four sisters, one brother, two dogs and twelve chickens. She studied English and Law at the University of Sydney and later wrote a PhD thesis at Cambridge on Children, Law and the Media. She has worked as a media and entertainment lawyer but now writes full time, dividing her time between Montreal and Sydney.

1. Our reviewer, Renee, has just read A Corner of White and describes it as, ‘a seamless tale of dual universes, dual protagonists and contrasting lifestyles’ that mixes ‘contemporary realism’ with ‘epic fantasy and magic’. (I can’t wait to read it!). Can you tell us more about where the idea for the story originated.

Thank you so much  (to both you and your reviewer).  The story came to me when I was living in Montreal, Canada.  A friend gave me a notebook that was covered in soft red suede, and that folded out to reveal a row of coloured pencils. I took it to a café on a snowy day, meaning to do my regular work, but instead I started to draw pictures with the coloured pencils.  The pictures turned into an imaginary world called the Kingdom of Cello.  Years later I returned to the Kingdom of Cello for this book.

2. You’ve done a lot of study, predominantly in the field of Law; and your first degree combined English and Law. How has your study and legal career influenced your work as a writer? Do you do a lot of research for your fiction?

I think that studying and working in the law might have helped to make my chaotic mind more ordered.  Not much though.  It also sharpened my awareness of the facts that: there are usually multiple layers to the truth, truth can be distorted and twisted in unimaginable ways, people live through the strangest kinds of heartbreak, and a world of story can lie behind a single line.

3. You say that you’re happiest when you’re ‘in (your) study and the writing’s going well and (you) can hear (your son), Charlie, giggling downstairs’. What gets you into the flow and into that zone? What do you do to get yourself back on track, when and if the words aren’t coming to you?

That’s funny—now Charlie has started school and we’ve moved to a single-level apartment.  So I guess I don’t hear him giggling downstairs while I work any more.  These days, I think that running around the block or dancing in the living room before writing, and then eating chocolate and drinking peppermint tea while writing, are essential for getting me ‘in the zone’. I also think that this is nothing more than superstition and a chocolate addiction.  But I’m not giving it up.

I still haven’t figured out what to do when the words aren’t coming—sometimes I make myself write anyway, even though the sentence are clunking along, and then delete all of that when it starts working again; sometimes I try writing something completely different, like a journal entry or poem or short story; and sometimes I listen to music/dance/bake cakes/cry/go insane/send a lot of text messages/eat a lot more chocolate.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

At the moment it’s probably Elliot Baranski, who is the hero of the Colours of Madeleine trilogy.  The characters who usually stay in my mind are the ones who are the most troubled and confused, like Lydia Jaakson-Oberman from Finding Cassie Crazy (or The Year of Secret Assignments) and Bindy Mackenzie from The Betrayal of Bindy Mackenzie.

Juliet Marillier’s novels combine historical fiction, folkloric fantasy, romance and family drama. The strong elements of history and folklore in her work reflect her lifelong interest in both fields. However, her stories focus strongly on human relationships and the personal journeys of the characters. Juliet is a member of the druid order OBOD (The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids) and her spiritual values are often reflected in her storytelling – the human characters’ relationship with the natural world plays a significant part.

As well as her books for adult readers, Juliet has written three novels for young adults and has contributed short fiction to several anthologies. She is a regular contributor to genre writing blog Writer Unboxed, where she posts on the first Thursday of the month.

1. Shadowfell, the first book of your new trilogy, has just been released and is already getting great reviews. Congratulations. You’ve described it as a ‘dark, gritty story’. Can you tell us about the central character, Neryn?

Neryn is fifteen when the story begins. She’s alone and destitute, living rough in the forested hills of Alban (think a magical version of ancient Scotland) and running from the king’s Enforcers. And she’s hiding a perilous secret; she has the ability to see and hear the Good Folk, the fey inhabitants of Alban, but any interaction with uncanny people is forbidden by the king’s harsh laws. We meet Neryn at her weakest; she has lost her entire family and has nowhere to turn. Or so it seems, until she remembers the name Shadowfell – a mysterious place where there may just possibly be people prepared to band together and fight for freedom.

Neryn has some strengths she hardly knows about, but as the story progresses she learns how important they could be. Along the way she’s both helped and hindered by the Good Folk and by a mysterious stranger, Flint, who may be friend or enemy. The hardest thing for Neryn, who has grown up in a place where everyone lives in fear, is learning how to trust.

2. Folklore, fairy tales, and mythology influence your writing. Can you tell us some of your favourites and why you love them so much?

Traditional stories have so much to teach us – back in the days of storytelling around the fire, they were used to help people make sense of their world and live their lives well, so they deal with all the major life challenges, from falling in love to getting in trouble of various kinds, learning who you can trust, dealing with monsters, either the ogre/dragon/ troll kind or the kind we meet these days. How to cope with being the youngest sibling; how to break free of people who want to control your life. Everything. And they’re still just as relevant, even though we live in a high-tech, fast-moving world, because the qualities they deal with – love, courage, faith, loyalty, friendship, patience – are still things we need to learn.

I have lots of favourites. What they have in common is a strong female character in the centre, someone who makes her own choices and fights her own battles. In The Six Swans, which I used as the basis of my first novel, Daughter of the Forest, the central character wins her brothers back their human form by knitting shirts from a prickly plant and remaining silent under terrible duress. I love Beauty and the Beast, even though in the old versions Beauty is a character at the mercy of other people’s poor decisions. But I do like a great love story, and this is one of the most romantic.

In my take on the story, a novel called Heart’s Blood, I gave the Beauty character far more freedom of choice and as a result she is both more and less heroic – she makes a heap of mistakes and in her way is as flawed as the Beast character. That’s a great thing about traditional stories: they are always being reworked, changing and evolving. Other favourites: Vasilissa the Wise, which has an almost all-female cast including the wonderful witch Baba Yaga; East of the Sun and West of the Moon, in which the heroine undertakes a gruelling quest to get her man back.

3. Juliet, you’ve written several books since your first work, Daughter of the Forest, in 1999. How have you changed and evolved, as an author, and has  your writing practice changed significantly.

Daughter of the Forest was written as personal therapy as much as anything – I only decided to submit it for publication when it was all finished. These days I write full time and make a living at it, and there are always deadlines to meet. I’ve worked pretty hard on developing my writer’s craft over the fourteen books I’ve written since then, and I’m far more conscious of what I’m doing technically these days. So it does annoy me a bit when some readers tell me that first book was my best!

The influence of traditional stories is certainly present in every one of my books, though only three of my novels are actually based on fairy tales. My writing style owes something to oral storytelling, as well as to my background in music – I’m very aware of rhythm, balance and flow, and how things sound when read aloud. Characters – their development and interaction – are more important to me both as a reader and as a writer than elements such as world-building and magic. Anything I write is going to be built around the emotional journey of the main character(s). In more recent times my stories have become a bit darker; that may relate to my serious illness in 2009, or it may be more a reflection of my changing reading tastes!

Writing practice – that is relatively unchanged. I’ve always been a control freak, so I fit in a lot of work, always meet my deadlines and do similar hours every day, even though I work from home and am my own boss. Though probably one of my dogs is the real boss. I have four of them, all rescues, and my working day is structured around their schedule which includes a lot of walks. Dogs are good for a writer – they make sure you rest your eyes and take exercise instead of sitting at the keyboard all day.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

It’s usually the character I am currently focussed on in my writing. So right now it’s a character named Tali, who shares the lead role in Raven Flight, the sequel to Shadowfell. I thought I’d never write a warrior woman character, because there have been a lot of them in fantasy recently. Think Buffy and Xena first, followed by a long line of ballsy female protagonists in fantasy novels.

Writers were reacting to the cliché passive princess or wicked witch/stepmother characters of earlier fantasies. I love powerful female characters, but I’ve never thought they need to perform traditionally male roles in order to be strong individuals, so many of my women are both feminine and strong. But this story required a female fighter. Tali is one of the rebels at Shadowfell. She’s the master-at-arms who trains everyone in combat skills, and is a character with great outward strength and some secrets that emerge as the story develops. One of my favourite characters ever, and a fine example of burning bright with selfless courage, not to speak of an enviable level of physical fitness! And she has cool tatts.

Alyson Noël is the #1 New York Times best selling, award-winning, author of FAKING 19, ART GEEKS AND PROM QUEENS, LAGUNA COVE, FLY ME TO THE MOON, KISS & BLOG, SAVING ZOË, CRUEL SUMMER, FOREVER SUMMER (a LAGUNA COVE/CRUEL SUMMER 2-in-1), KEEPING SECRETS (a SAVING ZOË/FAKING 19 2-in-1), the IMMORTALS series including: EVERMORE, BLUE MOON, SHADOWLAND, DARK FLAME, NIGHT STAR, and EVERLASTING, the IMMORTALS spin-off and the RILEY BLOOM series.

She is currently working on a new series for teens, SOUL SEEKERS, which debuted with FATED, and will be followed by ECHO, MYSTIC, & HORIZON in 2012/13.

1. Alyson, you’ve now completed two YA series, and are working on your third (The Soul Seekers). When you’re planning a series, do you have a clear idea of the start and finish points, or do you begin with a concept and just see how it evolves? Also, how difficult is it to leave a set of cherished characters when it’s time to wrap up a series?

With my first series, The Immortals, I didn’t actually envision it as a series until I reached the end of the first book, Evermore, and realized it was less of an ending and more of a jumping-off point for a much bigger journey. For both The Riley Bloom and The Soul Seekers series I’ve plotted them through to the end, so that each successive book leads to the ultimate climax.

Initially, I was surprised by how I attached I became to certain characters, and how much I missed them when a series ended. When I finished Everlasting, the final book in The Immortals, I was struck by an unexpected sense of loss, fueled by the realization that it was time for my characters and I to part ways. I’d spent so much time with Ever and Damen over the years I probably talked to them more than I did my own husband! Though luckily, it wasn’t long before I was able to turn my attention to Daire and Dace from THE SOUL SEEKERS, and I’ve grown so fond of them I suspect I’ll go through the same sort of loss when that series ends too!

2.   Dramatic rights for both your Immortals and Riley Bloom series (a 10-book deal, no less!) have been optioned to Summit Entertainment. Your adult novel, Fly Me to the Moon, was snaffled up by Ridley Scott’s production company, with Sharon Maguire (Bridget Jones’ Diary) lined up as director. Congratulations! It’s obviously unbelievably mind-blowing news, but how nerve-racking is it to imagine your brainchild being interpreted by another person, in another medium? Do you get to have much input into the adaptations?

Along with the above mentioned deals I’m thrilled to announce that all four books in The Soul Seekers series- Fated, Echo, Mystic, & Horizon – were recently optioned by Cheyenne Enterprises! And as excited as I am by all the film deals, I’ve learned to divorce myself from any expectation for the outcome. Film is such a different medium that it’s never going to perfectly mirror the books. And while I’ve been in contact with Sharon Maguire a few times, it was mostly to answer a few industry questions as I was a flight attendant for over a decade, much like the protagonist in Fly Me to the Moon. Other than that I remain outside of the process. Though I am really eager to see the worlds I’ve created come to life on the big or small screen!

3.   You wrote a number of ‘stand-alone’ novels before you began writing series. What was the catalyst for that change of format, and can you see yourself continuing to create series in the future?

Most of my books are inspired by events in my own life. My motto is: If an experience didn’t kill me, I will find a way to write about it! A few years ago I went through a time of deep grief when I lost three loved ones in five months. Then just six months later my husband was diagnosed with leukemia and I nearly lost him as well. Going through that time of loss got me thinking a lot about mortality, our life’s purpose, the soul’s journey, the enduring nature of love, and so I began writing Evermore as a way to grapple with my questions and deal with my grief.

Since then, I’ve found that I really enjoy writing series as it allows me to spend much more time with the characters and to send them on a much bigger journey than I can in the span of a single title. Though that’s not to say I won’t write more stand-alones in the future, I’ve got a few ideas I’m itching to explore.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

I’m really enjoying Daire Santos. She’s a complex character with an amazing journey ahead of her. When I first began writing her, I admit to being a bit jealous of her life. Raised on movie sets with her make-up artist mother, she’s spent her entire life traveling the globe and hanging with celebrities—the kind of life I would’ve loved as a teen!

But as I continued to write her, I realized how lonely that nomadic lifestyle has made her. She’s never been to a real school, never had a real home, and never made any friendships that lasted past the final take on the movie set. And while that life has made her fiercely independent, worldly, and sophisticated, it’s also left her quite lonely as well. She’s so used to saying good-bye and changing her address that she’s built up a pretty tough emotional guard to spare her from heartbreak. But all of that’s about to change when she moves to the tiny town of Enchantment, New Mexico to live with the grandmother she’s never met, begins her initiation as a Seeker, and meets the dreamy Dace Whitefeather . . .

Alyson’s photo is courtesy of Nancy Villere

Marianne loved Sarah Snook in TV series Spirited, and so, thanks to Spotlight Report, we got to ask the Aussie actress some questions!

Jorge:  Speaking of this transition – you were working on Spirited, which was a big hit in Australia, to film.  So, how did you feel when you were going to take the big step from working in TV to films?

Sarah: Uh huh. I think when I was working on Spirited, I was very fortunate to be just a semi-regular character. So I was able to learn a lot from the people around me, without much pressure on myself as an actor. So, I didn’t have the responsibility of a lead. So, therefore, I could watch Matt King and Claudia Karvan and Rodger Corser, and the people who I’d been working with for a while, and see how they approach things and how they go about a character. So – making the leap to films…that challenge of holding together a feature film was still great and big, but I felt like I had a lot more experience, you know, had had some training, I suppose, in a way, to approach that.

Jorge: A friend from another site, who’s a science fiction writer (ahem that would be Marianne!) who also runs a young adult blog, also asked me to ask you what kind of advice you’d give to young, aspiring actresses.

Sarah: I’m not sure that I feel like I’m … One thing that I’m learning, I guess, is that everyone has a different journey and a different path. So, where people might compare you to someone – which has been happening a lot lately – and that’s fine. But, you know, I’m a different person and I’ll have my own journey, whatever that is. However that happens, it’ll happen in my way. And, I guess, for people who are starting out, that it’ll happen for you in your way.

Jorge: My friend from the Burn Bright blog also wants to know if you have a favourite book, or what the last book you read was.

Sarah: Right now I’m reading the Game of Thrones. ‘Cause I used to really like all that kind of fantasy stuff when I was a kid. And I haven’t read it for a while, so I’m getting back into it. But I think my favourite author is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My favourite book is ‘100 Years of Solitude’. I just really loved that book.

**Many thanks to Bec Stafford for transcribing this interview.

“Generations of readers have grown up reading Isobelle Carmody’s stories. This book is for those who did not grow out of their love of enchantment.”

“Metro Winds” is a collection of six short stories that will entice you to look at the world around you differently. Teeming with killer plot twists, secrets and shadows and an amazing array of characters that scream for your attention and of course that all important sprinkling of magic; Carmody has definitely hit the mark and then some.

I’m not usually a fan of short stories but Metro Winds grabbed me from the very beginning. The world is vivid, vibrant and a pleasing balance between the familiar and the unfamiliar. The characterisation is excellent. The twists and turns will keep you guessing and each story is fresh and fast-paced and uniquely fantastic. I seriously could not pick a favourite out of the six. All delighted and entertained in their own special way and certainly pack that Carmody punch that fans have come to enjoy.

Metro Winds: introduces us to a young girl sent far from home who discovers who true purpose in the deep, dark, mysterious tunnels of the metro. A beautiful tale of destiny and finding one’s true self.

Dove Game: a young man embarks on a trip to the other side of the world to fulfil strangers dying wish. A sightseeing trip to one of the most romantic cities on earth, teeming with the fantastical that will transport you.

The Girl Who Could See The Wind: takes us back to colonial Australia and the magic that hides in plain sight.  A bittersweet tale with a magnificent ending. This one certainly gives all your emotions a solid work out.

The Stranger: Case is on a mission to find an end to his story and soon finds that all endings mean new beginnings. A tale full of twists and turns and a conclusion you will never see coming.

The Wolf Prince: Step into the realm of faeries as a mother weaves magic to summon a princess bride for her son.  One for those of us addicted to the supernatural and who dream of a little magic in our everyday lives.

The Stranger: a search for the one thing no-one should ever lose – your shadow. A perfect way to end the collection.

“Metro Winds” will not fail to satisfy fans but is also a way to discover Carmody’s genius for the first time.  Even if short stories are something you would never usually consider reading, definitely give this a go. It’s one magical ride that I will not forget in a hurry.

Listen to Dark Matter Magazine interview Isobelle.

Metro Winds- Isobelle Carmody

Allen and Unwin

ISBN:978-86508-444-2

386 Pages

Published April 30 2012