Witchlanders Tour Stop: Interview with Lena Coakley & Kindle Contest
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Today I'm chatting with Lena Coakley, author of the YA fantasy novel Witchlanders, which I absolutely loved!
The worldbuilding in Witchlanders is so detail-rich and extensive. You deftly weaved this very complex history of two opposing lands and their rivalries, prejudices, and misunderstandings into a riveting plot full of secrets and mysteries to unravel. How did you come up with the idea for the book? Did the history come first, or the characters?
People have been asking me how I came up with the idea for Witchlanders and I swear I’ve given about ten conflicting answers so far. Is it terrible to say that I can’t really remember? The book took many years to write and it started out as sketches of scenes on the backs of envelopes. MANY scenes and characters got thrown out. I knew early on that I wanted the book to be about a tough, older-than-his-years farm boy named Ryder, but it took me a long time to find his story. He really needed Falpian to help define him, but it took me a while to realize that. It was when I finally started to lay out the conflict between Ryder and Falpian that the story really came to life.
The mythos of the Witchlanders and the Baen are fascinating. Did you take inspiration from any existing mythology in creating the religions surrounding the goddesses Aata/Aayse and the god Kar?
I loved mythology as a child, especially Greek and Norse myths, but I can’t think of any existing mythology that is directly related to Witchlanders. I very much wanted to create two religions that reflected the values of the two cultures I was creating: the Witchlanders have a goddess worshipping culture, and the Baen to have a more patriarchal society that worships a male god.
One of the things I agonized over while writing the book was the scene where the God and Goddess actually appear. I called this my “channeling Megan Whelen Turner scene” because she has gods show up in her books every once in a while. I must have put this scene in and taken it out a hundred times. I loved the idea of having the god and goddess sort of shaking their heads and saying ‘wow, both sides have it so wrong!’ but I didn’t want to be obvious or give too much away. Readers will have to tell me if I did the right thing!
Music and singing play such a huge role in the book. How big of a role does music play in your own life? Was there a soundtrack you listened to while writing, or any music you took inspiration from?
When I was young, music was all important. I was in dozens of choirs and I wanted to be a singer for a while. It’s too bad that I’ve let that part of my life slip, because clearly this book shows how much it is still on my mind! I love how music is both emotional and mathematical, and can thrill me on different levels at the same time. A choral teacher I had in High School once had us sing a very complicated song in 6-part harmony while walking around a room listening to each other. It was a real test of how well we knew our parts! I found it a very moving experience. Something about singing a complex harmony with other people…there’s nothing like it. Of course, quite a few of my feelings about music seem to have leaked out into my book!
I listened to a lot of classical music while I was writing Witchlanders, mostly Bach, Rimsky-Korsakov and Vaughan Williams, but I like contemporary stuff too. These days I’m listening to the Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine and old David Bowie.
There is one scene in particular that turned my mild fear of spiders into full throttle arachnophobia. Was there any scene that was spine-tinglingly scary to write? Which would you rather encounter in a darkened cave tunnel - a gormy man or a pack of thief spiders?
Oh, I find the gormy men quite terrifying because they are driven by blind hate—there is just no getting around them. But I know the secret to how to avoid thief spiders, you see, so I would definitely pick them. I’m so glad you found them scary! (Is that mean?) The spiders weren’t in the first draft, but my agent, Steven Malk, wanted something dramatic to happen to Falpian in the caves. I really wrote that chapter with Steve in mind. All my beta readers are women so it’s great to have Steve for the “boy” perspective. He was always advocating for bigger monsters, more drama and grosser dead bodies!
There are so many strong characters in this book to champion and love - Ryder, Falpian, Skyla, and Dassen are my personal favorites. Which of your characters are you most similar to? Are any of them based on real people? Which character was the most fun to write?
There is a part of me that is very much like Ryder. He’s practical, skeptical, an introvert, a bit of a bear sometimes… I keep waiting for my friends to notice that making him my hero is actually my secret way of glorifying my own flaws!
That said, I would have to admit that Falpian was probably the more fun character to write. First of all, I loved writing about the singing magic he learns to do. And also, he’s just so funny! He’s one character who was constantly surprising me.
Outside of your own writing, who is your favorite hero/heroine to read about?
At the moment I’m a bit obsessed with Emily Brontë, having just spent a week taking a course on the Brontës at Oxford. It’s funny, when I read Wuthering Heights as a teenager, I read it as a romance. I saw Catherine and Heathcliff’s behavior as being perfectly normal for two people in love. I read it now and I think: These people are insane. I still love them, though.
I did an interview recently with Chime author, Franny Billingsley, where she talked about how she always wants to read about larger-than-life characters—characters who would drive her crazy if she met them on the subway. That’s how I feel. Heathcliff would definitely drive me crazy if I met him on the subway—he’d probably be a menace to public safety!—but he’ll always fascinate me.
I loved reading about Bo the dreadhound, and kind of wanted to yank him out of the book and make him a pet. Are you a dog lover, and is Bo based on a pet?
I have never had a dog so I am really indebted to my writing-group buddies Hadley Dyer and Kathy Stinson (and their dogs, Luke and Keisha) for helping me through! Hadley and Kathy were very patient with my calls for information such as: If a human peed on the rug, would a dog be tempted to pee there too, even if he was well-trained? I’m incredibly lucky I have friends who don’t hang up on my when I ask stuff like that!
I would put Witchlanders in the same company as Tamora Pierce's and Kristen Cashore’s novels. Are there any other YA books you can recommend for people who loved Witchlanders and are impatiently awaiting the sequel?
Wow! I’m delighted to be in such great company; those are two of my favorite authors. Sabriel by Garth Nix is still one of my all-time favorite books and I’m completely thrilled that Nix is going to be at World Fantasy Con in October because I’ll be there, too! One book not a lot of people know about is Deathscent by Robin Jarvis. It’s quite strange and hilarious, and, if you are a writer, it is a great lesson in how to use the omniscient narrator. I’m also looking forward to reading Kenneth Oppel’s new book, This Dark Endeavor, about the young Victor Frankenstein.
Thanks so much for stopping by Lena. I really enjoyed having you!
Thank you so much for hosting me today, Alice!
High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.
It’s all a fake.
At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?
But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned—
Are about him.
Lena Coakley was born in Milford, Connecticut and grew up on Long Island. In high school, creative writing was the only class she ever failed (nothing was ever good enough to hand in!), but, undeterred, she went on to study writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She got interested in young adult literature when she moved to Toronto, Canada, and began working for CANSCAIP, the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers, where she eventually became the Administrative Director. She is now a full-time writer living in Toronto. Witchlanders is her debut novel.
You can find Lena on her website, Twitter, and Facebook.
Now for a CONTEST! What’s up for grabs? This bad boy!
Grand Prize: Kindle3 WiFi with a beautiful Witchlanders Skin, a copy of Witchlanders, and a personal letter from Lena to the winner. (US/Canada entries only).
All you have to do to enter is leave an answer in the comments below to the video question.
Gather up to 15 entries by commenting on each Tour Stop. Open to US/Canada entries. Click on the banner below for fine print deets.
The full list of tour stops are here:
Reader Comments (60)
I'm scared of clowns! They totally freak me out. Thanks for the cool giveaway!
leahgoessurfing@gmail.com
I dont know if its just me, but I have re-started this webpage 10 times and I still cannot see the video. Its a big white box on my screen. But I really would like to answer the question and be entered in the contest. So...
If it's a clown question: I dont like clowns at all! I saw Stephen King's IT and the movie Clown House and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.
And if it's a fear question: My biggest fear is of heights. I got tramatized up inside the St Luis Arch. Long story but lets just say that I havent been the same since.
Forgot my email addy... LadyVampire2u AT gmail DOT com
Teeth shattering. Flips me out.
mysecretagentloverman at gmail dot com
i am scared to death of slugs- eeeekkkkk
audie@wickerness.com
Lots of things scare me but snakes top the list!
lostnthestacks(at)yahoo(dot)com
Ashly F.
I am beyond terrified of heights and everything that comes along with them....like roller coasters.
meganribinsky at yahoo dot com
Losing my family.
rebecca(dot)upjohn(at)gmail(dot)com
Zombies. And silverfish. *shudder*
aldiss87@gmail.com
Great interview!
I'm scared of snakes and spiders. But I hardly ever run into snakes out in the world, only spiders, so I guess I'll say they're hte worst.
Cool giveaway! I hope I win!!!!
katievamplover96 [at] gmail [dot] com
I`m scared of snakes! I can`t even see one on TV without freaking out!
sweetaskandy916 at yahoo dot com
I am totally scared of heights. I have this fear that whenever I am up really high that something will happen and I will plummet to my death or something. I know it sounds weird but thats why heights freak me out.
mire67 at aol dot com
Flying. I want to throw myself on the floor, thinking if I dug my nails into the floor I could keep the plane up. I take xanax, but not enough to fall a sleep, cause I need to be able to react if something does happen...like run over people to get to the emergency exit...which I always have a seat in a nearby row.
I have some concern, but not real fear, about losing my job next summer if business doesn't improve.
acm05atjuno.com
Oh gosh, I'm a big scaredy cat! Spiders (yes, that scene was scary!), dark water where I can't see what might be swimming with me, and losing a loved one are high on my list.
imagesandwords at optonline dot net
I'm scared of a lot...mostly bees...but also clowns....the most terrifying thing ever would be a killer clown bee. shudders* lol
andralynn7@gmail.com
Submersion. I can't watch movies that have people buried or under water. I hold my breath until I almost pass out!
blissworks@hotmail dot com
Balloons. I am scared of them popping and ironically they pop up (pun intended) everywhere there's a party. Sheesh, I'm always cowering away from them not wanting them to pop in my face.
Of course all this pales in comparison to losing my family. I cannot imagine a world without them.
The thing that scares me the most is dying alone. I don't just mean dying with no one else around, but dying and not having people in my life that love me. I want to live a life full of love and happiness, friends and family, and dying alone would mean i didn't get to have that. I never want to be alone, it just seems so depressing. I'm currently surrounded by a great group of friends and wonderful family, and hope to one day marry and have kids, so hopefully this fear will never ever become a reality but it is something I fear nonetheless.
jamiekrakover at hotmail dot com
I'm scared of balloons too Na! I get saw a movie when I was a kid about a guy floating off into the air when he had too many balloons, and then he fell, and now every time I see one in the sky, I think, I wonder who just dropped off that! The popping is pretty bad too.
larissa.petrovskaia@gmail.com
Sharp objects near my throat -- or anybody else's throat -- scare me! Bizarrely, sharp objects near any other part of the body is not nearly as scary.
Wow, I didn't think I was afraid of much until I started reading your answers. Sharp objects near my throat? Losing my family? Killer clown bees? *Shudders* But I think I'm with blissworks: submersion in water really freaks me out. Thanks so much for commenting everybody. I wish I could give you ALL Kindles. It's been a great tour. And thanks so much to Alice for hosting me today on my last tour stop!
I'm most scared of spiders and lightning. I tend to get frightened when having to talk to people as well. Being shy isn't very fun sometimes.
wolfluvr420 at yahoo dot com
I'm scared of spiders...always yelling when I see one and trying to get someone to kill it for me...we have some BIG ones sometimes!! I'm also scared of running out of books to read!!
and of course, my I'm scared of losing my memory....sorry for the double post...I forgot my email address!!
jmluker at winco dot net
I just watched this Bed Bug Apocalypse....terrifying. I have a hard time sleeping now lol
Vivien
deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com