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MARISSA MEYER Interview: Questions asked by Simone Corletto. Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Heartless and The Lunar Chronicles. Her latest series, Renegades, has recently been completed with the release of Supernova, an epic conclusion and high-stakes adventure with passion, danger and betrayal. Here is the interview! Q: Your first series, The Lunar Chronicles, is a YA Sci Fi Fairy-tale reimagining. What made you decide to switch to superheroes and write the Renegades trilogy? A: I’ve loved superheroes since I was a little girl and would steal my older brother’s X-Men comics and dream about being Storm or Rogue. Then as a teenager, I got really into the anime Sailor Moon—another superhero story—and wrote fanfiction about those characters for years and years. So for me, it didn’t seem like a departure going from sci-fi into fairy tales, but almost a return to my roots! I really enjoyed being able to give my own spin to some of the classic superhero tropes: archenemies, supervillains, secret identities, etc. Q: Most people would probably be most familiar with superheros from comic books, and/or their TV and movie adaptations. Did you grow up reading about or watching superhero series? And if so, what were some of your favourites? A: Yes! I already mentioned X-Men and Sailor Moon, which were probably the biggest superhero influences from my youth, but more recently, I’ve absolutely loved what Marvel has been doing with their expanding universe and the Avengers storylines. My personal favorite superhero is Spider-Man, so I’m always excited to see it rebooted as well. There’s something about watching nerdy Peter Parker try to balance normal teenage life with his yearning to be a hero that I really relate to. Not that I have superpowers, obviously (OR DO I? BWA HA HA), but I think we all know what it feels like to be torn between what we want to do and what we think we should do. “With great power comes great responsibility” is a famous quote for a reason – there’s a lot of truth to that phrase! Q: A number of significant characters die throughout the series, but especially in Supernova. Did you plan all these deaths from the beginning, or did some surprise you? A: Some were planned, but a lot of them surprised me. Particularly during the big battle at the arena (and I won’t name names here to spoil it for people), but there were a couple of deaths that I hadn’t expected to happen at all, and it was really painful to write. But I feel like if something is heart-wrenching for me, then it will probably be emotionally impactful for the readers, too, so I try not to hide from those tough moments. Especially when writing a world in which horrible things do happen, people do die, there are consequences – I think it’s important to show that. Q: If you were in Gatlon city, would you be a Renegade, Anarchist, or something in between? And what would your powers be? A: I’d be a Renegade, but I don’t think I’d be on patrols. I’m not that brave! Maybe I’d be an administrator, or the person who talks to the press, or I’d help plan big events like the gala. So I’d be on the Renegades’ side, but not necessarily a “hero.” Q: Now that the trilogy has ended, are you sad to say goodbye to these characters? Do you have any plans to one day revisit this world again? A: It’s always bittersweet to put a series to bed. Right now I’m having a lot of fun working on a few projects that have been calling my name for months (and even years in some cases), so it’s been refreshing to move away from Gatlon City and do something new. But at the same time, I do get so attached to these characters and will occasionally find myself thinking about them, almost like old friends you haven’t spoken to in a while. (“Hmmm, I wonder what so-and-so has been up to lately…”) At this time, I don’t have any plans to continue the series, but I did intentionally leave a few plotlines open and a few unanswered questions, so there will be space for it to grow if I ever do decide to go back to it. Maybe someday! Thank you so much to both Marissa and Simone for this interview! :)
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