The Hot Author Report

Interview with Sarah Addison Allen – Author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Sarah Addison Allen lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where she serves up heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as “Southern-fried magical realism.”  She is the New York Times Bestselling Author of Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen.  Her new book, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, is on sale March 16, 2010.  For more information, including book extras, recipes, contests and special book club features, visit her at www.sarahaddisonallen.com

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon is about a girl who comes to the small town of Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life.

But the moment she enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew, she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.

Then things really get interesting…

Q: Where you have lived and what you have experienced can influence your writing in many ways. Are there any specific locations or experiences that have popped up in your books?

I try to bring the full flavor of my Southern upbringing to my books.  Every book I’ve written has a strong food element to it.  There’s a sweet and tangy taste to North Carolina I try to capture as I write:  Barbecue, fried green tomatoes, Goo-Goo Clusters, MoonPies, Hummingbird cake.

Q: Do you have a favourite character? Why is s/he your favourite?

My favorite character from The Girl Who Chased the Moon is my elderly giant, Grandpa Vance.  I remember when I first introduced Vance in the book.  He walked into a room and had to duck under the doorframe.  That’s when I realized this was no ordinary man, and I began to research gigantism.  Vance’s mannerisms became based on information I found on the world’s tallest man, Robert Pershing Wadlow.  At the time of his death in 1940, Wadlow was almost nine feet tall.  It’s such an unbelievable number.  It doesn’t seem real.  I poured over old film and audio interviews, trying to get a feel for what his life was like, so I could present with veracity this magically tall man in my story.  Vance became a character very close to my heart.

Q: When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward — I remember reading this story over and over as a child, and it remained vivid in my mind for years.  I thought it was out of print until I walked into a bookstore one day and the book was set out with some others as part of an Easter promotion. I grabbed it and hugged it. It was like seeing an old friend.

Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?

I recently moved, and I went from writing in the corner of a room to having an entire room all to myself.  Just for writing.  It was decadent.  It was like going from crackers to cake.  I now have the three things I always dreamed of in an office: built-in shelves, framed covers of my books, and a Herman Miller chair.

Q: Have you ever had a character take over a story and move it in a different direction than you had originally intended? How did you handle it?

Absolutely.  The apple tree in my first book.  Garden Spells didn’t start out as a magical novel. It was supposed to be a simple story about two sisters reconnecting after many years. But then the apple tree started throwing apples and the story took on a life of its own…and my life hasn’t been the same since.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

Another story of love and magic and food.  This time it’s peaches… a good Southern fruit to sink your teeth into.  It will be out in 2011.

Now, use this space to tell us more about who you. Anything you want your readers to know. Include information on where to find your books, any blogs you may have, or how a reader can learn more about you and writing.

The research for The Girl Who Chased the Moon was my favorite part.  From researching the names of the monthly full moons, to visiting barbecue restaurants all across North Carolina, to pouring over biographies of  Robert Pershing Wadlow – the tallest man in history – for inspiration for my elderly giant in the book, it was all magical.

Readers can find out more about me at my website www.sarahaddisonallen.com The Girl Who Chased the Moon is available at http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Chased-Moon-Novel/dp/0553807218 and is also available in a Kindle edition. It can also be purchased at:

Barnes and Noble

Books-a-Million

Borders

Indiebound

Random House