Society Novel Spotlight
Castle Of The Wolf - Sandra Schwab

Castle Of The Wolf, from Sandra Schwab is this month's Society Novel Spotlight.

Read the interview, answer the trivia question below and you could win a copy of Sandra's novel Castle Of The Wolf and a prize pack consisting of bookmarks and coverflats from our Society Author's.

Sandra Schwab1. The Black Forest is a wonderfully unique location for a romance novel, what made you choose it as the setting for Castle Of The Wolf?

I blame it all on Gaelen Foley! When I first got to know her, we talked a little about settings, and this e-mail conversation gave me the idea to choose Germany as the setting for some future novel. But that was not all: after she had read The Lily Brand, Gaelen told me, “You do know, Sandy, don’t you, that now you have to continue writing dark and kinky?” Ha! I thought. I can do kinky, so dark shouldn’t be a problem either. (Ha, indeed, for this was before erotic romance exploded all over the place and put a whole new definition on “kinky”.) Now, if you mix “dark” and “Germany” and “early nineteenth century,” you end up with “gothic novel.” And the Black Forest, with its deep, dark woods and castles seemed the perfect place for it. Besides, I spent the early years of my childhood there, thus writing Castle allowed me to revisit my childhood memories and dig through old family pictures. It was wonderful! (That the novel didn’t turn out too dark or too gothic was entirely the fault of the lady with the sturdy boots. Never give your characters sturdy boots, I tell you! They’ll only stomp all the gothicness to dust. Literally.)

2. I loved the fairytale theme throughout the novel, do you have a love of fairytales, like Cissy the heroine of Castle Of The Wolf, and what are your favorites?

I’ve always loved German Romantic fairy tales, and during my studies I also became fascinated with the emerging studies in mythology, folk literature and folklore in the late 18th / early 19th century, that produced all these famous collections like the Grimms’ fairy tales. Of these I like “The Seven Ravens”, “The Two Brothers”, and “The Young Man Who Went Out in Search of Fear” best. My all time favourite Romantic fairy tale is Ludwig Tieck’s “Eckbert the Fair”, which Cissy reads when she gets her finger stuck in the door (the inspiration for this particular scene struck when I got my own finger stuck in one of the really heavy metal-framed windows at my office – obviously, my Muse has a somewhat strange sense of humour!). I also love E.T.A. Hoffmann’s stories – Cissy is bemused by his novel The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, surely one of the strangest books of the early 19th century!

3. How did you choose the name of Fenris for the hero? It seems you have a penchant for heroes with unusual names, which I find refreshing.

I fell in love with the name Fenris a long time ago. Actually, I’ve already used it once, namely for the hero of one of my old (and so far unpublished) YA fantasy novels. When I started with Castle of the Wolf, I thought the name even more perfect for this hero: not only did the “demon wolf” angle (Fenris is the demon wolf of Nordic mythology, who will one day swallow the sun) add to the wolf references I had already planned to include, but it also serves to show how very enthusiastic the fathers of my main characters are about studies in mythology and medieval literature.

4. The Grandfather clock in the book and the story behind it were intriguing. Where did you get the inspiration for it? Was it based on a real clock?

I’m a big fan of Studio Ghibli films like Howl’s Moving Castle or Tonari no Totoro and was determined to include a reference to one of these films in my novel, which, after all, is full of intertextual references anyway. In addition, ever since I first saw the film The Last Unicorn, a mysterious castle needs an equally mysterious grandfather clock in my opinion. And thus I decided to give my castle the clock from Whisper of the Heart, a Studio Ghibli film about a young girl who discovers her love for writing -- and sees this beautiful grandfather clock in an antique shop.

5. Do you have any rituals that you do when writing? Like listening to a certain CD. Or a nice cup of tea to get you in the mood to write?

I usually make myself a big pot of tea before I sit down to write. In addition, the last two books I’ve written acquired a soundtrack of their own: due to the fact that the theme song of Whisper of the Heart is “Country Roads”, Castle of the Wolf was written to the sounds of a John Denver CD. With the next novel, Bewitched, I also found that listening to music (in this instance a collection of romantic movie music by Rachel Portman) helps me to delve into the story and get into the mood for writing.

6. Who are some of the authors that have inspired you and your writing?

I’ve always yearned to one day write as vivid stories as Rosemary Sutcliff, who is famous for her historical fiction for children and young adults, and who had a wonderful eye for detail. The Sword & Sorceress anthologies edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley taught me all about strong heroines, and Terry Pratchett’s novels about the art of parody, satire and humour.

7. Was it difficult being a German romance author and getting published? Do you ever want to write and publish a romance novel in your native language.

It was actually much easier for me to get published in English than in German. Before I switched languages, I had been collecting rejection letters from German publishers for four or five years. Eventually it dawned on me that I wasn’t writing the sort of stories German publishers would buy from German authors, and thus, I decided to give it a try in English (after all, the worst that could have happened was to get more rejection letters). One of the big advantages for people writing in English is the existence of well-functioning author networks for pubbed and unpubbed writers alike, for example in the form of critique groups or, ultimately, in the form of RWA. Thanks to the latter, it was extremely easy to teach myself about the business of writing (something I found extremely difficult when still searching for a German publisher) and to develop a professional attitude about writing. Still, The Call from New York came rather unexpected and much sooner than I would have ever thought: The Lily Brand was only the second novel I had written in English! I finally sold as the result of winning in a contest, which I had entered without any thoughts of ever winning, but in the vague hope that I might perhaps be able to compete with native speakers and that nobody would comment on my English.

Sandra SchwabBefore I switched languages, I had completed seven children’s and YA novels in German, and I plan to revise and translate some of them at some point in the future. However, I don’t think I will go back to writing in German. After all, I’m writing so much better now than I ever did in my native language. Besides, I wouldn’t want to desert my English-speaking readers.

8. What are you working on now and can you tell us a little about it?

I handed in my next novel, tentatively titled Bewitched, at the end of March and am now waiting for my editor’s verdict (actually, I’m still at the stage where I’m hoping he’ll simply survive reading the dratted book). The novel is set in Regency England once more and moves from Warkwickshire to London and on into the Fens. It’s the story of Amy, a young woman with magical abilities, who is sent to London after, due to a magical accident, her uncle’s house not only turned blue, but also grew chicken legs (and it was all ehr fault!). Stripped of her magic, Amy is to learn proper behaviour as befits a young, upper-class miss and is introduced into polite society. However, without her knowledge, she soon gets embroiled in a dark intrigue against the Earl of Rawdon. When she finally realizes there’s evil magic at work, it is almost too late to keep her new friends safe. But if she uses magic herself, it will probably cost her the man she loves.

9. What is your favorite thing about being an author?

That’s a difficult question because there are so many things I like about being an author. I’ve always loved the thrill of inventing stories and breathing life into characters. Actually, I can’t live without it. It drives me crazy when, for whatever reason, I can’t write over a long period of time. (And I mean “crazy” quite literally: I get the weirdest and most unpleasant dreams!) But that moment I first hold a new book of my own in my hands? Oh my gosh, that’s absolutely wonderful, too! – And getting e-mails (or even presents!!!) from readers, who so enjoyed a book of mine that they stayed up the whole night? Awesome! – Perhaps it’s this, then, I like best: being a storyteller and having the ability to make people lose themselves in stories.