The young adult section in bookstores has been growing for many years, the influence of great series like Harry Potter, Inheritance, Spiderwick, Artemis Fowl, Twilight, His Dark Materials, Bartimaeus and others driving book sales and allowing publishers to take chances on new writers.
Esther Friesner is not one of them.
Why?
Because the acclaimed author has been writing for a long time, has won two Nebula Awards and keeps writing because she loves it so much!
Suvudu caught up with Esther now that her new book, Sphinx’s Princess, has been published.
Here is the interview:
Suvudu: Hi Esther! Thank you for joining us on Suvudu. How are you?
Esther Friesner: Thanks for asking. I’m fine, and how are you?
S: I’m great! Your newest novel, Sphinx’s Princess, has been published for several weeks. What is it about?
EF: It’s about the adventures of young Nefertiti, who became queen of Egypt. I could mention the dates and the dynasty, but to keep it simple, she and her husband reigned almost immediately before Tutankhamen. (Tut married one of her daughters.) Nefertiti’s beauty brings her too much of the wrong sort of attention and her desire to live her own life peacefully comes up hard against the schemes of those who see her as just a pretty pawn they can use to further their own intrigues and plots. But what happens when the pawn decides she’s going to change the game to one played by her rules? (And now I hear my elementary-school-age self giving a book report and ending with “You’ll have to read it yourself to find out.”
S: What was it about Nefertiti that convinced you to write about her?
EF: She was definitely more than just a pretty face. She shared the government of Egypt with her husband, and there’s even evidence that she might have ruled the land independently for a time. If I recall correctly, there’s a carving showing her conquering a foreign soldier. Not exactly “woman’s work” in those days. Such a powerful, influential, independent woman did not just drop out of the sky. I wanted to create a believable, interesting picture of the girl she once might have been—think of it as filling in the blanks, if you like—to account for the woman and queen she grew up to be.
S: Was it difficult taking such a renowned historical figure and writing a young adult fiction book? Is there any pressure in doing that?
EF: It was a lot of work, but it was the sort of work I love doing. I suppose you could say there was some pressure, but “pressure” has a lot of negative meaning attached to it. A challenge, perhaps? I do love an interesting challenge. Pressure or challenge, it was all self-generated and self-inflicted: I wanted to get Nefertiti’s world as right as possible, providing enough details of life in those times without letting the story get bogged down in too many details. It’s a novel, not a textbook! I like to think I succeeded.
S: Nefertiti is rather impulsive in your book, defying conventions of her age. How much of you is in her character?
EF: Alas, my family pretty much ruined me for being defiant, simply because we have a history of encouraging and supporting the younger generations to dream big and aim high. My mother was sent to college at a time when her parents’ neighbors tut-tutted over the “waste” of educating a girl at that level. Mom’s father said that she was at least as smart as her brothers, so why shouldn’t she get the same education? One of Mom’s brothers was a lawyer and her father went on to say that Mom could have become a lawyer too, if she’d tried. (She became a teacher in the New York City junior high schools, and an excellent one at that!) My parents carried on the tradition, cheering me on and doing everything they could to help me reach my goal of becoming a professional author. (Though they also made sure to stress the importance of my having a less chancy way of making a living while trying to make it as an author. Castles in the air are much less stressful to build when you know you’re going to have food on the table, too.)
S: How did you go about researching Nefertiti’s Egypt? Have you been to Egypt and, if so, what do you think of the country?
EF: Alas, I have had to limit my research to books, the internet, and similar armchair-traveler sources. I have never been to Egypt. The sad thing is, I was planning to go, but suffered a serious accident on a previous trip elsewhere and had to cancel. However, I have seen a number of travel shows about Egypt—lots of archaeological shows and Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” episode—and I do hope to get there some day. You might not be able to get me out of the Cairo Museum for a long, long time, though.
S: The last time I saw Nefertiti on film happened to be in the movie The Mummy Returns. Do you have a favorite portrayal of the character outside of your own work–whether it be movie or book?
EF: Nefertiti was in The Mummy Returns? I didn’t know that. And I fear I haven’t got an answer for this one. When I’m writing books about historical figures, I steer clear of other writers’ versions of the same character. I want -my- vision of Nefertiti to be unaffected by the way someone else chose to see her.
S: Why do you think people will enjoy reading Sphinx’s Princess?
EF: That’s going to depend on the people themselves, isn’t it? I’ve found that the same book draws and holds different readers for different reasons. For example, I’m not an across-the-board mystery fan but I do love the Brother Cadfael mysteries more for the historical setting and details than for the mystery itself. However, I do believe that one thing just about everyone enjoys when reading a novel is the characters. I think I’ve created some interesting ones, characters the reader can care about, and I’m putting them through some Interesting Times. (You do know the ancient curse, “May you live in Interesting Times,” yes? Oh, it is so very, very -true.-)
S: What is next for you, writing wise? Do you have a sequel in mind?
EF: There will be a sequel to Sphinx’s Princess in 2010, namely Sphinx’s Queen. The good news is that it’s all done (and there is no bad news). In this one, the times get even more interesting for Nefertiti. I hope it’s not illegal for a writer to have a good time writing a particular book, but if so, lock me up because I had a great time writing this one, too!
S: Thank you for joining us on Suvudu!
EF: My pleasure. Thanks for inviting me!
Esther Friesner is an award-winning writer who has won two Nebula Awards and who has written dozens of books and short stories. You can learn more about her at www.sff.net/people/e.friesner!
