Q&A with Sara Holland
A huge thank you to Sara Holland for answering our questions about HavenFall and the newly published Phoenix Flame! Her answers are fantastic and we are so thrilled to feature them as part of our Myths, Magic and Mayhem celebrations.
The atmosphere and imagery involved with your world building is spectacular. How do you begin building your worlds and story?
Thank you so much! When I’m building a world, I always try to begin with an element that’s familiar to me. That element, that spark, can be as simple as a feeling—like the money stress experienced by many characters in EVERLESS, or the awed feeling that I get whenever I visit the Rocky Mountains, which helped to spark HAVENFALL. Once I have that basic feeling of a world nailed down—the vibe, if you will—I tend to dive into writing and build out the world from there, using my main character as a tour guide. I’ll figure out what kind of journey I want my main character to have, and then build a world around her that will allow her to take that journey.
How has your background of “being surrounded by books” influenced your writing? Has it led you to write for a YA audience?
I’m super lucky to have a family that encouraged my love of reading and writing! When I was a kid, my dad would read a chapter of a book to my siblings and me every night for years—sitting in the hallway between our rooms and reading out loud so everyone could hear. We got through all of Harry Potter, the whole Hunger Games trilogy, and Watership Down that way. So I grew up with a habit of reading, and soon started writing stories of my own. Once I got to be a teen, I fell in love with YA, and I guess I just never fell out of love!
Maddie is a fantastic character- is she based on anyone from your life or perhaps you?
Aw, thank you—that’s very flattering! For me as an author, every character I create—especially POV characters—have something of me in them, I think. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to write their inner lives. For instance, Maddie and I do share the quality of ambition; I gave her the feeling I had as a teen of wanting to be taken seriously by those around me. But as a whole, I wouldn’t say she’s based on me—she’s a lot braver, for one thing!
How easily do you feel your books, characters and plot could come to life for the screen? Do you have a dream cast and location in your mind?
I think Havenfall and Phoenix Flame could be especially well suited for filming in these pandemic times, since they mostly take place in the isolation of the inn, tucked away from the rest of the world! As for cast, I don’t tend to face-cast my characters, really. If an adaptation were to happen, I love the idea that a newcomer could come in and make the role their own—I mean, just look at the cast of Shadow and Bone! Most of them weren’t widely known before the show, and they’re absolutely incredible.
Our theme for National Share a Story Month is Myths, Magic and Mayhem- how do you feel Havenfall and/or Phoenix Flame fits within that theme?
You can find all of those things in HAVENFALL and PHOENIX FLAME! Myths—a lot of Maddie’s arc is her learning to look past the myths about others that she’s grown up with, learning what’s true and what’s not. Magic—one thing I loved about writing this duology is that I got to develop multiple magic systems to go with the different worlds connected to Havenfall! And mayhem—that’s pretty self-explanatory. 🙂
Phoenix Flame picks up after Havenfall, can we expect more from Maddie and this series?
I’ve always loved both reading and writing duologies—for me, it feels like the perfect amount of time to spend with a character! PHOENIX FLAME left Maddie in a good place, and I feel like her story is complete. But you never know!
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