Recap of Rules
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d) Read any of the author's books
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That's it- then enter the kindle giveaway!
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Featured book
The Tukish Cover is so Awesome
Interview with Paula Weston
1) Firstly, I must take the moment to gush and tell you that I love your series. It reminds me why I fell in love with reading. So I must ask you, what role does reading play in your life? How often do you get to curl up with a good book?
Thank you so much! I love to hear that readers are connecting with the series.
Reading plays a huge role in my life. I've been a life-long reader and always have a book on the
go at any given time. I feel a bit adrift if I don't. Mostly I read hard copy novels (which I buy or
borrow from the library), but I always have a good selection of ebooks on my kindle and iPad,
just so I can never get caught short. You never when the chance might arise to sneak in some
reading!
My schedule is pretty full most days, between by day job and my own writing, but I can usually
squeeze in some reading either in my lunch break or before bed (or both, if I'm reading a
particularly addictive novel!), and always on the weekend. It's my favourite way to relax.
2) I read that you have been an avid reader since you were a child. What are your 3 favorite
young adult books of all time? Who was your favorite character? Why?
When I was a teenager, we didn't have such a clearly defined 'type' of book as YA, so I just read
whatever came my way. In my teens I read an enormous number of Stephen King horror novels
and David Eddings’ fantasy series. I also loved J.R.R Tolkein, and Louisa May Alcott’s Little
Women.
Most of my favourite YA books are actually ones I’ve read more recently, and my three all-time
faves are:
- On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
- Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield
(I’m also still a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, which defies categorisation).
As a teenager, my favourite character was Jim Craig from The Man from Snowy River by Elyne
Mitchell. I was totally obsessed with this book. It was the novelisation of my favourite film at the
time, which was loosely based on a famous Australian poem. Jim is an eighteen-year-old
horseman from the Snowy Mountains who has to prove himself a man before he can return to
his home. He’s thrown together with the spoilt daughter of a wealthy cattleman whose prize
colt has run off and joined the brumby mob. There’s romance, action, adventure and stunning
Australian settings. Jim was my first serious book crush because he was tough and impulsive, but
also sweet and gentle. And he loved his horse.
3) Is there a book you wish you wrote? What is it and why?
I'll answer this in terms of three writers I greatly admire and the books that totally blew me
away (sorry, I can't restrict my answer just one):
- Maggie Stiefvater: The Scorpio Races
This is one of the most beautifully realised, atmospheric and tense stories I’ve ever read. It’s a
master class in creating a sense of place and populating it with perfectly drawn characters facing
impossible choices. It’s a love story, and not just one between a boy and girl, but between a girl
and her horse, a girl and the wild island she lives on, and a boy and his man-eating water horse.
- Melina Marchetta: Finnikin of the Rock/Froi of the Exiles/Charyn of Quintana (Lumatere
Chronicles)
I just love Melina Marchetta’s writing, whether it’s her contemporary YA or this exceptional YA
fantasy series. In this trilogy, she delivers meticulous plotting and world building, layered
characters, plenty of tension, action and humour, and profound insights into the human capacity
for love, forgiveness and hope. I cared deeply for so many characters in this series – fretted for
them even – that I still carry them with me.
- The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
This is an incredibly moving and beautifully written story, which I read within a year of its release
and am currently re-reading (I still haven’t seen the film). Zusak’s writing is so evocative and rich,
and infused with wit, warmth and empathy. It’s a unique story, made even more unique by the
fact it’s narrated by Death. Reading it a second time around I’m remembering why it moved me
so much the first time. A must read.
4) What prompted you to write a story about angels? Why did this theme speak to you?
I honestly didn’t set out to write a story about angels and demons. I’d had an idea for a while
(while working on other writing projects) that wouldn’t go away. It involved a guy and girl who
were attracted to each other and who had a complicated history that only he remembered. I
knew they were part of a broader conflict and that they had ended up on different sides. I also
knew there were paranormal elements to how she’d lost her memory.
When I started fleshing out their story and their world, I came across the Book of Enoch, a
2,000-year-old text that recounts the fall of the angel Semyaza and his two hundred of his fellow
angel warriors. The idea of those fallen angels and their lack of self control sparked a rush of
ideas.
For me, the real fascination wasn’t in why Semyaza and the others fell in the first place, but
what the consequences would be for their offspring – particularly if something happened to the
fallen angels to take them out of the picture. I wanted to put their half-angel offspring in a very
modern setting, having already been alive for almost a century and a half, still dealing with the
consequences of their father’s actions.
On one level, the Rephaim series is about Gaby and Rafa’s complicated relationship and the
mystery of what Gaby and her brother, Jude, did a year ago. And on a broader level, it’s about
how the Rephaim see themselves in the world – and the tension created when they disagree on
what their role should be.
Writing this story also gave me the opportunity to explore themes that have always fascinated
me, about identity and responsibility.
5) What can you tell potential readers about the series? What makes it stand out from the other Young adult books on the shelf?
The Rephaim series is contemporary character-driven fantasy that’s equal parts mystery, action
and romance. It’s written first person, present tense and told totally from Gaby’s perspective,
which means readers make discoveries along with Gaby.
As a writer, I enjoy exploring the complexity of relationships between all of my characters – the
things that draw them close and the things that push them apart – as much as I enjoy writing
fight scenes, so there’s a good mix of both throughout the four books.
As for points of difference...the things readers talk about the most are the setting (much of it in
a coastal Australian town), the ages of the characters (older teens/early twenties…although the
Rephaim are actually much older than that), and the slightly different take on fallen angel
mythology.
Other Books by Paula Weston
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