Interview with Julie Kagawa, Author of the Iron Fey Trilogy

 Today I'm so excited to have Julie Kagawa, author of the amazing, bestselling, altogether awesome fantasy series, the Iron Fey trilogy, for an interview at a Myriad of Books.  I recently hosted a giveaway for the Iron Fey books (which is closed as of a few days ago) and had a ton of fun featuring them.  

 About Julie: 

  Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.     When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.
    To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.
Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon puppy.

The Interview:

Bold= Kat 

Normal= Julie  

-- What I love most about the Iron Fey series  is how you combine the Winter and Summer Court faeries of lore with Meghan, a modern-day gal and the modern, high-tech world.  What inspired the iron fey and your modern takes on mythical characters?

        Faeries, the old, ancient fey, not the glittery winged sprites, have always fascinated me.  But I wanted to write a book that was different than other faery books.  So I began thinking: what are the fey afraid of?  The answer, in most ancient mythos, is iron.  Faeries can’t stand the touch of iron and steel.  So, what if there was a new type of fey that had evolved with progress over the years?  What if they weren’t only immune to iron, their existence was slowly poisoning and corrupting the lands of the traditional fey?  And I realized we already have “monsters” in machines: gremlins, bugs, viruses, etc.  And from that thought, the Iron fey were born.

-- My favorite characters in the series are definitely Puck and Grimalkin.  Which of your characters is the most fun to write, and which is the most challenging?  Do you have a personal favorite?

        Grimalkin was the most fun to write, and surprisingly, Meghan was the most difficult, because I had to balance bravery and determination with the fears and insecurities of a teenage girl.  Meghan is only sixteen, and at first she did what most would do when faced with terrifying creatures that wanted to eat her: she screamed and ran. 

        I have to say Ash is my favorite, though.  I just have a thing for a dark brooding HBWS (Hot Boy with Sword).  Its a weakness.       

-- When you first began writing The Iron King, did you have any idea that the Team Puck vs Team Ash love triangle phenomena would commence?  Or was it all part of your diabolical plan from the get-go? :)

        No, not a clue, lol!  I must say, the first time I heard the term "Team Ash/Puck" it was a shock.  I am thrilled, however, that both boys have their loyal fans.  I don't even mind when people say things like: "I can't stand Puck/Ash because of such-and-such," or "Puck is so much better then Ash because of this," because it means the characters have become real.

Grim

    
-- Which faerie creatures of the Never-Never are your favorite to write?  (I love the phookas, and of course, the resident cat sith.)

        I like Grimalkin, of course, but I will admit I have a soft spot for the packrats and the gremlins.  Particularly for a certain gremlin who makes his appearance in The Iron Queen.

-- Do you read a lot?  Who are some of your favorite authors who've inspired you? 

        I don't read as often as I want anymore, but some favorite authors are Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, and Maria V. Snyder (Valek!).  

-- You're obviously a pretty dedicated gamer.  Have you ever imagined your books adapted into a video game?  (Or a movie, graphic novel... the possibilities are endless!)  Any word on whether an adaptation like that could possibly be in the works?

        Um, only all of them, lol.  The ending of Final Fantasy 10, Final Fantasy 8, and Fushigi Yugi, were all big inspirations for the ending of The Iron Queen.  Sadly, there are no adaptations in the works as of now.  Fingers crossed, though.  ;) 

book 3

-- What can you tell us about The Iron Knight, the fourth book in the Iron Fey series starring Prince Ash?

    Only this: If you think you know Ash, you haven't seen anything yet. 

Thanks so much for letting me interview you, Julie!

    Thanks so much for the interview! 

Extras:

Visit Julie's website and be sure to check out the contests going on around the bookish blogosphere for a chance to win awesome Iron Fey-related prizes (here)! 

-- Read my review of the Iron Queen