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Author Spotlight: Melina Marchetta Answers Our Questions

8/19/2012

29 Comments

 
Melina Marchetta
As you all well know, the three of us are massive fans of Melina Marchetta.  We've talked about her books and her talents extensively in the past.  We were all excited when she recently released a new short story featuring Lady Celie of the Flatlands in the Review of Australian Fiction.  And we simply can't wait for the release of Quintana of Charyn this fall.  (Well, the Australian release is this fall but I doubt any of us will be able to wait.)  

So you can imagine how happy and flattered we were when Melina agreed to answer some of our questions.  We hope you will enjoy her answers and her insight as much as we did!



We loved what you said in your recent talk at Books of Wonder, about your writing process -  that you wait for a character/voice to arrive first, then see who he/she brings along, and then listen to the dialogue for a long time before committing anything to paper. So, we have to ask: who are you listening to now?

Believe it or not, I’m still listening to Taylor Markham and the Jellicoe gang after all these years, but that’s because talk of a film in the near future has cranked up and those characters need to feel fresh in my head. Mostly I’m thinking of a bunch of new characters (and old) for a TV series I’m co-writing with Cathy Randall, which include Jessa McKenzie and Tilly Santangelo, but also Akbar, Sebastian, Florence, Hughie and Claudine. [Melina is talking about this 10-part TV project.]

And speaking of TV projects, (from Flannery) many of my friends and I are severely addicted to Dance Academy so it was extremely exciting to me to recently find out you were writing an episode for the upcoming season and that you’ve written one or more episodes in the past. Can you talk a little bit about how much freedom you have in terms of plot and dialogue when writing for the show? 

That’s so funny. I went to dinner with Jo Werner and Sam Strauss the producer and creators of the show the other night and told them about your DA love. They were thrilled. I’ve written for them in both Season 2 and 3. They’re great people to work with and Jo Werner will be producing my next two projects and after years and years of being asked by others, I’ve trusted her with the film rights to Francesca.

The hardest part about writing for someone else’s show is getting the characterisation right.  I know my own characters inside out, but that’s not the case with Dance Academy, and no matter how much preparation I’ve done, I still get things wrong in first and second draft. Sometimes the mistakes are about sense of humour or colloquialisms. Also, DA is very controlled by the children’s television classification so there’s not a swear word or sex scene or sexual reference in sight which is very difficult when you’re writing the “will-they/won’t-they-go-all-the-way” episode.  I’ve never had to write with restrictions so it’s been very good discipline.

When we heard that you were planning to concentrate on writing for TV after the publication of Quintana of Charyn, we were heartbroken. How can we go on without having another book of yours to look forward to? Do you expect this hiatus from writing fiction to be long? 

I’m just so tired, you know. It’s a different sort of tired than when I was teaching and of course, I’m no less tired than anyone else, but I need a break from the solitary nature of this work.  I’ve never fallen out of love of novel writing and I know I’m going to be yearning for it. I’ll definitely be writing shorter pieces.  I recently had to write a short story for an online magazine about Lady Celie of the Lumateran Flatlands and I enjoyed it so much. But I also have to work out where I’m going with my writing career.  I have the most amazing loyal readership, but it’s small and I have to find a way of making it bigger without selling my soul.  
looking for alibrandi
(from Tatiana) It took you years to conceive and write your first novels and now you have a new book release practically every year. How were you able to change your writing pace so drastically? Was it only a matter of having more time to write now that you are full-time writer?

No, it certainly wasn’t about having more time. I wrote Francesca and Jellicoe at the busiest time of my teaching career. I think the second wave of my writing career was about confidence and timing. I wrote Alibrandi from the heart and had no idea about process or my craft.  Which made it so hard when people would say to me, ‘Do it again.’  How can you do something again when you weren’t quite aware of what you did right in the first place?  Of course I couldn’t admit that to anyone. It took eleven years and I think writing the film script of Alibrandi helped. Screenwriting is all about craft and structure and so many rules and I learnt quite a lot about process during that time working with the director Kate Woods who is now on board to direct Jellicoe. So it’s no coincidence that I started writing Saving Francesca a year after the release of my first film.

Are you involved in a writing group?  Do you converse with other writers or seek advice and support from other people while writing?

I don’t belong to a writers’ group except for when I’m plotting for TV with my co writer and producers. I tend to disappear in groups of more than four, but I have a strong connection with writers, both here and in the US at a one-on-one level. We rarely speak about the actual content of our work, but we’re a great support to each other. There are very few people you can have a whinge to about the down side of writing such as the daily isolation, or the lack of publicity or bad reviews or wondering what the next royalty statement will look like or whether it’s worth pursuing the career. It’s the same sort of workplace chatter and support you’d get in a staff room or office.

saving francesca cover
(from Catie) I am a huge Anne of Green Gables fan, and I’ve read several interviews where you mention being inspired by the scene where Anne hits Gilbert over the head with her slate (after he calls her “carrots.”) I just love that. And I know that you’ve also said that you often include scenes in your books that were inspired by that moment. What are some of your favorite “slate over the head” scenes from your own books?

I use those moments to convey that one character (usually the male) thinks he has all the power. And then the other character (usually the female) shows, rather than tells, that it may not be the case.

My favourite to write was when Francesca has the Trotsky/Tolstoy exchange with Will Trombal in Saving Francesca. It’s an important moment for the reader as well, because Francesca could easily be seen as a pushover when the story begins, and I had to hint that there’s more to this girl.

There are a few of those moments in Jellicoe (the scene in the prison cell when Taylor threatens to burn down the Club house as well as the cow manure scene) but the earliest one in Jellicoe is when Taylor and Jonah are younger and she approaches him on the railway platform, and he tells her to go to hell and she tells him she’s been there and hell’s overrated.

In Finnikin, of course, it’s after Evanjalin speaks for the first time and then Finnikin realizes she’s understood every word between him and Sir Topher because she speaks as many languages as he does.

the piper's son cover
(from Tatiana) You’ve talked often about how characters in your contemporary novels have “twins” in your fantasy novels. Whenever I read Saving Francesca, I imagine Francesca’s parents as grown-up Josephine Alibrandi and Jacob Coote. For some reason I feel like they have the same dynamic. Am I crazy?

Half crazy anyway.  Whenever I’m asked whether Alibrandi will ever have a sequel (absolutely not) my response is that Mia Spinelli is a grown up version of Josie Alibrandi. Josie and Mia are fiery, passionate and driven. But I don’t think that Jacob Coote is Bobby Spinelli.

My most obvious twins are:

Will Trombal and Finnikin of Lumatere (pragmatic, a bit dry, and don’t cope well with women).

Tom Mackee/Lucian of the Monts  – My editor and I call Lucian, ‘Medieval Tom’. Everything that comes out of their mouths is so so wrong, but they mean well and I love their relationship with women of any age. Tom has a great place in the lives of Frankie and the gang, as well as with Georgie’s world and his little sister and mum and both nans. Lucian is the same. I loved every one of his scenes in Quintana of Charyn. Apart from Froi, he goes on the biggest emotional journey and it’s the women who take him there. I also think both those lads come from the same gene pool as Santangelo in Jellicoe. All of them live under the shadow of charismatic fathers, and all of them have leadership of some sort thrust upon them.

We’ve noticed (and appreciated) that you write some of the most honest sex scenes in young adult literature. Is it important to you to represent sex and intimacy in an honest way to teens?

I’m not saying it isn’t important for me to represent it honestly, but it’s not the number one intention. It’s a personal thing. I appreciate many things about religion, and people’s faith amazes me, but I resent the guilt I felt growing up when it came to sex or sexual thoughts or whatnot. I grew up thinking I was going to go to hell. But in saying that, I will not throw in a sex scene for the sake of it.  It must belong to the story being told. The sex scenes in Jellicoe, for example, were part of the story, but they have not found a place in the film script. To use an awful pun (but there’s no other way of saying this) sex between Taylor and Jonah in the film would climax their story too early.  The tension between them has to be there until the very last frame.

It’ll be interesting to see where I go with Lady Celie if I continue writing novellas or short stories featuring her and Banyon, because she’s 22 and he’s about 30, so certainly not the YA age.  That doesn’t mean it has to be 50 Shades of Lumatere. For me, nothing works better than sexual tension and less is more when it comes to writing it.  It’s where romantic comedies today are dismal and excruciatingly boring and it’s why more adults are reading YA.

What do you think of this new genre - “new adult”?  (Which is basically a genre that targets readers in their early twenties.) Did you think about writing for slightly older young adults when you wrote The Piper’s Son? Do you think you’ll ever write a purely adult novel?

I don’t’ think of audience when I write.  In my mind how can The Piper’s Son not be a novel for teenagers and how can it not be a novel for adults? Genre labels are so tricky.  My greatest commercial failure is going to be what I consider my best book, which is The Piper’s Son. And it will be a failure, not because of the writing or characters or sense of place, but because people don’t know where to place it.  My greatest commercial and critical successes overall are Alibrandi and Francesca, because they fit into a genre (and because the girls don’t have sex).  

Personally, I don’t think there should be a new adult genre. I think novels like The Piper’s Son belong in both the adult and YA section of a bookstore and library. Sadly, there seems to be a whole lot of politics involved into why they can’t be part of both.

on the jellicoe road cover
(from Flannery) The only one of your books I’ve listened to on audio is Looking for Alibrandi and I honestly sat in a parking lot and sobbed during “that section” of the book. I want to go back and listen to The Piper’s Son on audio because the Australian narrators for your books make it feel even more authentic to me. Do you have any input in the audiobook production or narrators? Have you listened to the voice performances of any of your books? (*Actually, I listened to half of On The Jellicoe Road but I got too excited and wanted to read faster so I finished it in book form:))

I listen to all of my books as a point of closure because I’m always interested in someone else’s interpretation and because I like audio books. Once or twice I will re-listen, especially when I was writing Quintana and I had to check Finnikin and Froi for continuity. Listening to my work the first time is very confronting and I’m the worst judge because I’ve lived with those voices in my head for years and then to hear another’s reality is strange. I’ve had a bit of a say with The Piper’s Son and Froi here in Australia. They’ve sent me a couple of audio voices to choose from. I also got to speak to the actors about pronunciation.

I agree with you about the authenticity of the Australian voice. At the moment I’m being asked whether I’m okay about a big international name for either Taylor or Jonah in Jellicoe. The producers both here and in the US agree that it will ensure Jellicoe becomes an international film if one of the two leads is a big name. I’m pushing for Taylor. I think she’s more a citizen of the world. Jonah has such a distinct Australianess to him.  I could be wrong, but I think he would change considerably as a character if an American or English actor played him. 

(from Catie) The world of Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles is immaculately drawn and feels very fresh but at the same time, I can see a lot of parallels between it and some of my other favorite fantasy novels: The Queen’s Thief series, Tigana. Did you draw inspiration from either of these when you were starting The Chronicles of Lumatere? Was there anything that you did draw inspiration from?

finnikin of the rock
When Finnikin came out and readers truly did not like the novel (there were many) Tigana seemed to come up time and time again, especially regarding what Guy Gavriel Kay did better. Some even flirted with hints of plagiarism. And that’s not a criticism about reviewers, just a fact. So to be honest, I’ve avoided Tigana like a Charyn plague and I’ve always considered it my treat read for when I finished the trilogy. But I’m going through
the queen of attolia cover
that coming-down-from-a-high period that happens after a novel goes to print and I know I’ll feel bereft reading it because it will be everything I love in a fantasy novel. So I think Tigana will be my Christmas read.

But Attolia, oh my goodness, a big yes. Unashamedly.  When I was planning Finnikin in my head, I wanted Evanjalin to do something pretty awful for plot and characterization reasons, but didn’t want to go there because I thought no one would like her. I didn’t want to alienate the reader.  And then I read The Queen of Attolia and everyone who’s read that book knows exactly what scene I’m talking about and it unleashed something brave in me.  Also, MWT has this ability to create intricate passionate and tension -filled relationships between the younger characters and their elders, for example Gen and Relius and even the Magus. So the relationship between Finnikin and Sir Topher or Froi and the Priestking and Gargarin and Arjuro are very much inspired by The Queen’s Thief series.
froi of the exiles cover
Compared to Finnikin of the Rock, Froi of the Exiles is much more intricate story, with many twists and turns and mysteries and characters. How did you manage to keep track of this very difficult plot while maintaining a good level of suspense? Did you use flow-charts or white boards to keep the pieces of the puzzle together? And is Quintana of Charyn going to be as twisty?

No, I use none of those things.  I want to because they look fantastic and they’d make my life easier, but logic is not a bedfellow of mine. I’m one of the untidiest people in the world. I usually start off with good intentions, lose everything and find my notes and scene cards the week after I go to print.  So I have to trust my head and it doesn’t let me down.  It’s about re-writes for me.  I think that if I planned things more I wouldn’t have to re-write so often, but I find pieces of gold in all the mess of not planning. “That Scene” Flannery was referring to in Looking For Alibrandi was one of them. Totally unplanned.  The scene in Jellicoe where Jonah reveals what he was doing on the platform is another one.  Dom’s confession at the AA meeting in The Piper’s Son was another. And Quintana’s personalities were totally unplanned. So I stick to the mayhem in my head.

There are a few big reveals in Quintana, especially about who or what cursed Charyn (which was still a mystery to me when I finished writing Froi). Quintana is twisty emotionally. It’s very much a relationships based novel.

(from Tatiana) One of my most favorite couples in Froi of the Exiles (and there are many, believe me) is Lucian and Phaedra. I won’t lie, for a huge part of the novel I was infuriated by Lucian’s actions towards his wife, but because of that his redemption in the end was so much sweeter. What inspired you to put Lucian through this journey?

Lucian is one of my favourite characters too. If he were real, he’d be the type of young man I’d be proud of.  It’s hard as a writer to re-introduce a beloved character in such a negative way. I did that with both Lucian and Tom Mackee. I knew that Lucian’s humanity would come through his interaction with the enemy and I was really hoping the reader would stay with me because Lucian (and Froi and Quintana and the rest) aren’t the easiest people to like at the beginning.

I can’t really discuss his relationship with Phaedra because it gives too much away for those who haven’t read Froi, but I’ll give you an idea of the genesis of that relationship. When I first started writing Froi, I thought Lady Celie was Froi’s love interest because he lives with her family. That didn’t work and it taught me you couldn’t force your characters to be somewhere they don’t want to be.  So next I decided Celie would be Lucian’s love interest. Celie’s goodness would take him to the valley where the homeless Charynite’s were camping.  Obviously that didn’t work.  So it made total sense that Lucian’s love interest would be one of those refugees in the valley and not a particularly strong girl on first appearance (much like Celie). But I love those types of characters.

Of course now Celie has her own little novella and I don’t think I’ve heard the last of her. Phaedra and Celie are more than just love interests.  I had a Patrick Swayze dirty dancing moment with both of them when I realized that no one puts Celie or Phaedra in a corner.

quintana of charyn cover
In our reading circle, mostly comprised of American readers, you are a superstar. Do you feel like you are better known now in Australia or in the US?

Thank you. If the average person on the street asks me what I’ve written here, it’s all about Alibrandi. People in their 20’s and 30’s either studied it at school or watched the film. But I have a bigger fantasy audience in the US than here in Australia.  I think those who have read The Lumatere Chronicles in Australia are those who have followed my writing from the beginning, whereas in the US people discovered my work through the fantasy series or Jellicoe. Every time I’m introduced here in a literary capacity, Alibrandi is mentioned.  It was a very important novel in my life but I’d love to be referred to as the writer of On the Jellicoe Road or the Lumatere Chronicles. Regardless of everything, they are better novels. Now when someone approaches me and tells me how much they love my book. I’m very polite in my response and ask them which one, although I know exactly what they’re referring to.

You transitioned so smoothly from contemporary realistic fiction to fantasy. Are there any other genres you would be interested in trying out? Science fiction maybe? Or mystery?

Unfortunately I don’t have science fiction cleverness.  But the fun about writing the Lady Celie novella was being able to write a mystery crime story. Jellicoe was a mystery as well. I’d also love to write a historical novel because I loved the research involved in writing The Lumatere Chronicles. It makes me very sad to think that my next trip to Europe won’t revolve around castles and underground cities and cobblestone streets and medieval seaports. Which goes back to your earlier questions about the writing hiatus. Perhaps it won’t be so long after all.


Well, there is some hope for us in the end!  Thank you Melina, for taking time to talk to us.  Melina Marchetta can be found at her blog, goodreads, and on twitter.
29 Comments
Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
8/19/2012 04:13:03 am

Fantastic interview, ladies. And yay to more Lady Celie! Every interview with Melina makes me want to reread all her books -- and make everyone else read them too. Loved the Dance Academy question. :)

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
8/19/2012 04:59:03 am

I knew you'd like that one as a fellow Dance Academy addict.

I rarely reread books because I'm always worried they won't be as fulfilling to me but I've reread Piper in recent months and liked it just as much. Happy Froi reread!

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Zeynep link
8/19/2012 04:22:23 am

Lovely interview. I love the books I've read by Melina Marchetta and she seems so down to earth and approachable. I still have a few of her books to read, and this makes me want to start one immediately.

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
8/19/2012 05:00:09 am

I get really jealous when someone says, "I still have a few of her books to read." You lucky, lucky dog, you:)

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Keertana link
8/19/2012 04:33:31 am

Wonderful interview!(: I love interviews with Melina Marchetta simply because she is so honest and frank about her novels and writing. I truly admire her and I feel as if she's such a great source of inspiration, not only for aspiring authors, but for everyone! If I could write like her, the fame would totally get to me, but it never does with her which I love. I also loved the questions you three asked and was so excited by the depth and length of the answers Marchetta provided. Surprisingly, I never made the parallel connections between Tom Mackee and Lucian, but now that she mentions it, it really strikes me as being true. I love how subtly she's able to incorporate all that into her novels. I am sad though that she'll be taking a hiatus, so it looks like more Marchetta re-reads are in my future, but there does seem to be some hope for us in the end after all! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post, so thanks for making my day! :D

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Maja
8/19/2012 04:34:51 am

I actually teared up at the 'no one puts Celie or Phaedra in a corner' bit! I'm saving Ferragost for a time of great need, and in the meantime, I'm using it to keep myself motivated to do things I don't want to do. It will be such an amazing reward eventually.

I often forget a lot of details from books simply because I read too much. I will need to reread both Finnikin and Froi before Quintana, just in case. But I'll never forget the despair I felt when Froi and Quintana were in that cave, or the sudden need to stand up and clap my hands at the end of Alibrandi. (That ending totally deserves a standing ovation and you know it. :)) And what's the point of my rambling here? There is none, I'm just trying to hide how insanely jealous I am of you guys. :)

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Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
8/19/2012 04:44:21 am

It is my understanding that Celie and the events of Ferragost will play a role in Quintana, so don't put it off for too long.

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Sarah Moon link
8/19/2012 04:48:14 am

"My greatest commercial failure is going to be what I consider my best book, which is The Piper’s Son. And it will be a failure, not because of the writing or characters or sense of place, but because people don’t know where to place it. My greatest commercial and critical successes overall are Alibrandi and Francesca, because they fit into a genre (and because the girls don’t have sex)."

This makes me sad on a number of levels. :(

Wonderful interview, ladies!

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
8/19/2012 04:54:42 am

That line of the interview made me so sad as well, Sarah. TPS is my absolute favorite of her books and the thought of people missing out on it because it is hard to pigeonhole into a genre, well, that bites.

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Stephanie
8/19/2012 06:10:21 am

I felt the same too.

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Stephanie (sinmotion) link
8/19/2012 06:09:35 am

This was a great interview ladies. I'm always happy reading anything that has to do with Melina Marchetta and her works, thoughts, and etc. I wish she could have more international success like some other books that are overrated in the commercial industry, especially here in the US. I feel, however, that perhaps a big part of that lack of exposure is because maybe it would require her to "sell her soul" to some degree in order to see that mass surplus in interest. I don't know, not every successful writer has had to sell out. I just wish there was a way for lovers of her work--like us--to do more to spread the word on her works. It breaks my heart going on to Goodreads and Amazon and seeing that there are so few reviews (20s-6Ks) for her stories in comparison to a lot of sub-par works that have 10-50K review counts and such. Blah! I hope she doesn't stop writing for to long. I'll be truly sad in my reader soul, honest to god.

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Stephanie
8/19/2012 06:12:02 am

too*

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VeganYANerds link
8/19/2012 07:10:04 am

Great interview, ladies! You know how to ask interesting questions :)

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Belle link
8/19/2012 12:17:30 pm

Awesome interview ladies! I hope her hiatus won't be long, though I'll totally stalk any TV show she writes for! I'm obsessed with Dance Academy too.

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Rachy
8/19/2012 06:19:43 pm

Lovely interview, and some interesting new facts too! Thanks :D

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Jellyfishes
8/19/2012 11:57:09 pm

Amazing interview! I am <i>so</i> glad Lucian's going to be playing a big part in <i>Quintana of Charyn</i>. His and Phaedra's love story is one of the main reasons I am so psyched for QofC to come out.

That thing about TPS is really, really sad. It's the book that got me into Marchetta in the first place, and I hate to think that it's going to be the one that reaches the least people just because it doesn't fit into YA or Adult lit. Yet complete shit that just happens to fit better in either category gets acclaim and commercial success. Sometimes the world just isn't fair :(

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Tom
8/20/2012 04:36:02 am

This was so fun to read and just bumped a couple books up my TBR to find out what you are talking about. Melina seems like such a down to earth person and I try to push her books as much as possible and hope that she gets the recognition she deserves.

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Trinity link
8/20/2012 11:07:01 am

Best MM interview ever! Great job ladies!

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Amanda @ Late Nights with Good Books link
8/20/2012 11:11:49 am

Ah thank you for posting this amazing Q & A with someone who is quickly becoming one of my favorite YA authors. I loved being able to get some more insight in Melina Marchetta as an author. It makes me beyond happy to know that authors I love respect and admire other authors that I love (Melina Marchetta's inspiration from Megan Whalen Turner's series). So far I've only read Jellicoe Road and Finnikin of the Rock, but I look forward to reading more of her work in the future!

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tom
8/20/2012 11:41:42 am

You must read Froi of the Exiles. I really thought it was a whole level better than Finnikin and I loved that.

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Ashley @ Book Labyrinth link
8/20/2012 12:48:08 pm

I love this so much! Such amazing questions, and I loved reading all the responses.

Jellicoe is my favourite book of all time, so I'm really excited to keep following the film process.

Also I'm sad that The Piper's Son isn't more widely read because it's absolutely BRILLIANT.

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Jasprit link
8/20/2012 09:17:21 pm

This is such a fantastic interview ladies! Not only have you managed to answer so many of my questions that I'd wanted to know, you've also given us so much info on several other things that I would never have even considered! :)

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Anna link
8/22/2012 08:16:05 am

I love you guys. Search great questions and such brilliant answers.
Thank you for sharing the Marchetta love xx

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Caitlin link
8/22/2012 05:26:43 pm

This interview was fabulous, thank you!

The idea of not getting a Melina Marchetta novel next year hurts my soul but I suppose we've been rather spoiled the past 3 years.

I have too many feelings about all the things that were written here...and it was just an interview. So, I'm going to end this comment here before I embarrass myself.

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Rachel link
8/24/2012 12:14:18 pm

I can't tell you how much I LOVED this interview! I'm just riveted by anything that MM says. Your questions were amazing too, things I wouldn't have thought to ask but I'm so glad you did. I can't wait for Quintana. I'm off to buy Celie's novella. Thanks ladies and Melina for a wonderful post! :)

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Chachic link
8/24/2012 09:16:36 pm

Wow, LOVE this interview! So many details about Melina's books and her characters are mentioned. I love how she's willing to share all of these with her readers. This is the first time I've heard that she'll be taking a hiatus from writing after Quintana (I've been out of the loop recently) and while that makes me a bit sad, I will willingly wait however long it takes for her to publish a new novel. I'm an MWT fan after all so I've gotten used to waiting YEARS for a book. Which brings me to another reason I love this interview - the Queen's Thief series is mentioned! I still can't get over the fact that Melina is a fan of MWT's work and vice versa. :D

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Audrey link
8/25/2012 06:12:14 pm

Ah I just LOVE this interview, fabulous questions and lovely answers.
1) thank god for rewrites because those scenes she mentioned were my favourite (the AA meeting made me cry)
2) I wish there was so much more love for The PIper's Son, I love that book to death.
3) I love that you asked about the contrast w/ US and Australian readers seeing that Alibrandi never really competed for my favourite MM novel, yet it's so huge in Australia
4) the Anne of Green Gables question was superb <3
5) If she takes a long hiatus from writing fiction I think I'll actually become depressed.
6) I am more excited than ever for Quintana of Charyn

seriously wonderful interview, ladies!

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Heidi link
9/1/2012 01:34:28 am

How am I just now seeing this?! (Okay, I'll admit it--August was the worst month ever.) I love love love this interview and it seriously makes me want to drop everything and either pick up Finnikin or reread Jellicoe right this second. I love how thorough and detailed this was while still being totally non-spoilery!!

Such amazing questions/answers. Love the Anne and Gilbert inspiration, love the fantasy/contemp twins, love the audiobook input--pretty much all of it! I'm so excited to see how Jellicoe comes out as a movie because I think it has the opportunity to be fantastic.

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Kerstin Namuth
4/14/2014 10:12:02 pm

Hi, I just found the interview and loved it! Thank you.
I am working on a Wikipedia entry on Melina Marchetta in Swedish and am looking for a photograph. Your site has a CC-license, does that include the pictures? Could I use her photo?
Here is the entry - which now links to your interview, too. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melina_Marchetta

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