AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Marissa Burt

Marissa Burt has written may amazing books and the 4 girls absolutely love her stories and way of writing! 

Arianna previously reviewed Ms. Burt's newest book A Sliver of Stardust and even got to find out some inside scoop about the book! 

Interview Conducted By

Arianna

Who is your favorite character? 

What a tough question! I think my favorite character probably has to be whomever I am writing at the time. :) I think out of all my books, I might have enjoyed writing Sam, the cat in STORYBOUND and STORY'S END, the most. In A SLIVER OF STARDUST, I really had fun exploring Jack's story and writing his personality.

What is your favorite rhyme? 

You probably noticed that I tweaked most of the rhymes to match the story. One of the only ones I didn't tweak opens Chapter 28: "Ring around the rosies, Pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down." This is my favorite, because the idea of the Ashes was one of the core reasons I wrote the book. We see more of them (and The Crooked Man) in A LEGEND OF STARFIRE, but the concept of these smoky, winged creatures was a big part of my motivation for writing the book. But I can't say more about that until A LEGEND OF STARFIRE comes out autumn 2016!

What was your inspiration? 

I began writing A SLIVER OF STARDUST when my children were quite young, and I was reading a lot of nursery rhymes out loud to them. This made me wonder about the origins of the rhymes, which, as you may know, are sometimes tied to historical events or are traditionally passed down from generation to generation. So I began to wonder what it might mean if these ancient rhymes were more significant than we could imagine. And the idea of stardust and rhymes being used to create magic really appealed to me. After that, it was a matter of answering more "Why?" and "What Happens Next?" questions. 

How long have you been writing? 

I've regularly kept a journal my whole life, and I wrote my first short story in the back of chemistry class in high school (I'm sorry, Ms. Greene!) After that, though, I didn't write much until my first son was born, and I realized that if I wanted to explore writing, I'd need to make time for it. STORYBOUND was my first novel, and I wrote it in 2007. Now, it's hard to imagine NOT writing. :)

Which Falcon is your favorite? 

Wren's falcon! I think this might be a little preview to the sequel, A LEGEND OF STARFIRE, but Wren names her falcon "Coeur," which is a word meaning "heart," and is a root in the word "courage." I like Coeur's fiery personality and that she is a combination of love and courage that comes to Wren's aid in her darkest moments. 

Why is Stardust the thing that gives the Fiddlers their power? 

Before I started writing this book, I knew very little about astronomy, but the poetic and beautiful idea that we are all made of stardust captivated my imagination. So I carried that on to make stardust have a magical quality that could engage in the creative process that the Fiddlers use when they work their magic. And I also loved the picture that blossomed in my mind when I thought of stardust spinning in a cloud around magicians.

Thank you so much Ms. Burt for your time!