Fiction Freak: What
made you focus on Korean folklore out of all the legends of the world?
Christina
Farley: I was teaching at an
international school in Korea and I wanted to write a story that my students
could identify with. We were doing a comparative study of Greek myths with
other myths, but I couldn’t find a book to tie in with Korean mythology. So I
wrote one!
FF: What is
your favorite Korean myth that you've stumbled upon?
CF: Definitely Haemosu’s and Princess Yuhwa’s story.
But I also find Princess Bari’s story intriguing, too, so I couldn’t resist
bringing her into Silvern, book 2.
FF: I
have to ask, do you watch KDramas or listen to Kpop?
CF:I'm a sucker for Korean dramas set in the Joyseon
Dynasty like Mandate of Heaven and The Goddess of Fire. Oh,
and the Jumong series! As far as K-pop, I don't listen to much of it, but one
of my students is now pretty famous. His name is Eddie Shin. His brother, Alex
Shin, also one of my student’s, created GILDED’s book trailer. (Here is the
link to Eddie: http://www.soompi.com/2011/03/25/asianamerican-group-aziatix-to-enter-us-market/#.Uwar3cuPKP8)
Here is a video I made that explains what inspired
GILDED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL2Sn26fqrU&feature=share&list=PLN5-S2dSFXkzEmCD6KtacReYw4iDiYntY&index=1
As far as the whole stealing the oldest daughter part, that’s something I
made up. J It really stemmed from the ‘what happens next’ question when I read
Haemosu’s and Princess Yuhwa’s story. I love imagining the possibilities of
after the happily ever after because there is always more to the story.
FF: If
you were told that you had suddenly become Jae, you would...
CF:Be very, very worried. Things only get worse for
Jae, especially in Silvern, book 2! I’d definitely keep my bow with me at all
times and start hitting the dojong more often!
FF: If
Jae was only allowed to say one word throughout the entire book, it would be...
CF:Crap.
FF: What
would be Jae's guilty pleasure?
CF:Food! (If you read the book it’s a big part of Jae’s
story)
She loves the Korean sweet pancakes called hoddeok:
http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/01/29/korean-sweet-pancakes-hoddeok-fully-home-made-version/
FF: What
has been the best part of writing GILDED? The mythology? The characters? The
plot?
CF:I really love Jae’s world. I was itching to get back
into it and write the sequel so even before I got the edits for GILDED, I was
busy writing SILVERN. It’s so fun researching the mythology and pulling that
into our modern world and then seeing the chaos it creates. And over Christmas break,
I secretly wrote book 3 (shhh… because even my agent hasn’t seen it and it
hasn’t been bought yet by my publisher). But by that point, I knew the
characters so well and they had become real and alive to me. I could literally
hear them speaking to me (Um, that sounds weird!). I cried so many times
writing book 3 because of the things that happened to them.
FF: Imagine
you had a time machine--what part of your life would you have loved to
skip, and which would you have loved to relive?
CF:Oh! Good question. I would say elementary school. I
was a late bloomer so in elementary school I was always the smallest and
youngest. I learned to read late and struggled academically. I figured
everything out eventually, but I remember how tough it was. My favorite years
so far have been when we were living in Korea. I loved eating the food and
traveling around the county. And my coworkers and students are still like
family to me even though we are now all in the four corners of the earth.
Gilded Synopsis
A
girl with a black belt and a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows
discovers an ancient Korean god has been kidnapping the first-born daughters of
her family for generations. And she’s next.
Sixteen-year-old
Jae Hwa Lee is a Korean-American girl with a black belt, a deadly proclivity
with steel-tipped arrows, and a chip on her shoulder the size of Korea itself.
When her widowed dad uproots her to Seoul from her home in L.A., Jae thinks her
biggest challenges will be fitting in to a new school and dealing with her
dismissive Korean grandfather. Then she discovers that a Korean demi-god has
been stealing the soul of the oldest daughter of each generation in her family
for centuries. And she's next.
But
that’s not Jae’s only problem.
There's
also Marc. Irresistible and charming, Marc threatens to break the barriers
around Jae's heart. As the two grow closer, Jae must decide if she can trust
him. But Marc has a secret of his own -- one that could help Jae overturn the
curse on her family for good. It turns out that Jae's been wrong about a lot of
things: her grandfather is her greatest ally, even the tough girl can fall in
love, and Korea might just be the home she's always been looking for.
CHRISTINA FARLEY, author of Gilded was born and raised in
upstate New York. As a child, she loved to explore, which later inspired her to
jump on a plane and travel the world. She taught at international schools in
Asia for ten years, eight of which were in the mysterious and beautiful city of
Seoul, Korea that became the setting of Gilded. Currently she lives in
Clermont, FL with her husband and two sons—that is until the travel itch whisks
her off to a new unknown. Gilded is her first novel. For more details, check out her website at www.christinafarley.com.
Christina holds a master’s degree in education and has taught for eighteen
years. She is represented by Jeff Ourvan of Jennifer Lyons Literary.
Find her: Website | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Author Info
Find her: Website | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
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