Interview with Leah Cypess, Author of Mistwood

This week, I had a chance to talk to Leah Cypess, author of the young adult fantasy novel, Mistwood, and its companion (coming soon), Nightspell. (You can find my review of Mistwood here.)

Questoin: What do you hope readers will take away from their experience reading Mistwood? Did you write it simply to entertain, or were you hoping to inspire?

My primary purpose is always to entertain, but I also believe that if a character in a book comes to a realization that is true to herself and the story, that realization will ring true to at least some readers. For me, the main issue Isabel grapples with is about the nature of choice — how precious it is, and also how difficult. I tend to work through a lot of my own issues while I write, so I would love it if my characters’ experiences help at least some readers work through theirs.

But what’s really important to me is that after finishing the book, readers are happy that they read it. Not all readers, obviously, but at least some of them.

Question: If you were magically sucked into your book (Mistwood), and had to become one of the characters, which one would you want to be?

How about one of the palace courtiers who is far away from the action and never in any danger at all? 😉 In fact, preferably he or she would have no idea what’s going on. I’m tough on my characters, so I don’t know that I’d enjoy being any of them.

Question: Your shape shifter apparently preferred the form of a cat. If you could turn into an animal, which would you prefer?

A bird. It would be fun to fly! (Not the type of flying where you are encased in a metal tube and fighting off terror.)

Questoin: How do you balance writing and family? How supportive is your family?

It’s an ongoing juggling act. My family is very supportive – my husband is really proud of what I do, and my kids tend to run into bookstores and go searching for my books – but at the same time, my husband has a demanding job and my kids are, you know, kids. (They’re four and two years old.) So during most of the day, I’m struggling to do writing and family at the same time.

Two factors are crucial to my ability to make this work: (1) I write out my first drafts longhand, and (2) my kids are inclined to be independent. So on nice days, I can take them to a playground and either follow them around or watch from a distance as they play, with pen and notebook in hand; that way, I can usually get a good amount of writing done before they go to bed – which is necessary, since by the time they go to bed I’m too tired to be creative.

On days that are not nice, I tend to be a lot less successful at the balancing act. Sometimes I can take them to a playspace, but often (i.e., for most of the past winter) I have to either give up on getting anything significant accomplished in terms of writing, or
shell out lots of money to the local students who babysit.

Question: Where do you write? Can you help is visualize your usual workspace?

Well… the playground, mostly. So visualize some climbing equipment, a sandbox, and a bunch of screaming running kids. Very inspiring! Sometimes, when I can get a babysitter, I bike-ride out to a great lake near me, and sit on the grass and write. Or else I go to the local ice-cream store, which I find much more inspiring than Starbucks.

Questoin: What is the most rewarding thing about writing?

That feeling when you’ve written something and you know it’s good, and you can’t believe how brilliant you are or that this piece of timeless prose just came out of your subconscious. I try to put off re-reading my first drafts for a few days so that I can avoid crushing that feeling for as long as possible.

Questoin: Can we expect any more books set in this world and/or with these characters?

Books set in this world – definitely; the book I’m working on now is set in this world, but several hundred years in the future. As far as books with the same characters, the jury’s still out. I have an idea for a book that would tie together Mistwood and Nightspell, but I’m not entirely sure I can make it work yet.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for interviewing me!

**************************************************************************************************

The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwood. But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.

Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can’t help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.

Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew.

Author Bio:

I wrote my first story in first grade. The narrator was an ice-cream cone in the process of being eaten. In fourth grade, I wrote my first book, about a girl who gets shipwrecked on a desert island with her faithful and heroic dog (a rip-off of both The Black Stallion and all the Lassie movies, very impressive).

However, I took a few detours along the way to becoming a full-time writer. After selling my first story (Temple of Stone) while in high school, I gave in to my mother’s importuning to be practical and majored in biology at Brooklyn College. I then went to Columbia Law School and practiced law for almost two years at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a large law firm in New York City. I kept writing and submitting in my spare tim…moreI wrote my first story in first grade. The narrator was an ice-cream cone in the process of being eaten. In fourth grade, I wrote my first book, about a girl who gets shipwrecked on a desert island with her faithful and heroic dog (a rip-off of both The Black Stallion and all the Lassie movies, very impressive).

However, I took a few detours along the way to becoming a full-time writer. After selling my first story (Temple of Stone) while in high school, I gave in to my mother’s importuning to be practical and majored in biology at Brooklyn College. I then went to Columbia Law School and practiced law for almost two years at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a large law firm in New York City. I kept writing and submitting in my spare time, and finally, a mere 15 years after my first short story acceptance, I am going to be a published novelist. I am very excited about this!

I live in Brookline, Massachusetts (right outside of Boston) with my husband Aaron, a researcher and doctor at the Joslin Diabetes Center, and our two daughters.