Q & A - Catherine Fisher

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Previous questions

Thanks for the Clockwork Crow

I am so incredibly excited that you have written a third book. I work at a large special needs school in Blackpool and I have used The Clockwork Crow to engage a group of reluctant readers and support them with their Entry Level English qualification. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it to them and then got The Velvet Fox for my birthday and shared it with them as a class reader which they absolutely loved and hung on my every word begging me to read the next chapter! I cannot wait for schools to return to normal and share with them [...]

Catherine Fisher - author, writer, novelist, UK - Incarceron 2007

More from the strange world of Incarceron?

I am such a fan of your writing—they don’t print some of the books you publish where I live so I ended up having to order some online from used book companies to have it shipped to me. Only mentioning this detail because I wanted to make it clear how much I love your work! I really do hope you continue and are able to publish that third book for the Incarceron series. While I was content with the ending of Sapphique, I am more than eager to resubmerge myself in that world. I adored the characters and the story, [...]

Sensory Detail.

Firstly, I’d like to say that I love your work. I’ve read a ton of your novels and I always blaze through them because they read so fluidly. The way your writing catches me up in its current and sweeps me along reminds me of being on a waterslide. My question: In my opinion, part of what makes your writing so great is the use of concrete sensory detail. For example, in the Obsidian Mirror series you frequently refer to heady scents when Summer is present, and describe the different textures of plants like mosses and lichens. When writing a [...]

AT THE WORLD’S END QUESTION

I wonder? will there be a follow up on The Crystal Stair? I loved the two books I have read in Swedish Vid världens ände och Kristalltrappan Please answer your fan Marie Sjöstedt,Umeå, Sweden Hi Marie. I’m afraid there are no plans for that at the moment, thought I would certainly enjoy writing a third book of Caz and Wil’s adventures.

Signed copies?

Dear Catherine, my name is Helga Nyírő.I’m from Hungary.Love all of your books.You are on my list of favorite authors. I still remember discovering your books at my local library and reading all the books they had of in yours in a month… Terrible emotions and emotions occur in your books and I suffer together and I’m happy with the characters. I know this is a books in the category for Young Adults, but i’m 24 and I loved it!:) I would like to request bookmarks or signed bookplates? Thanks for the opportunity! Many thanks to you and delighted they [...]

Inspiration…

Where did you get the inspiration for Incarceron and Sapphique? Because it is a very intriguing plot and story. From lots of things- prison images by Piranesi, a conversation about prisons, an idea about an arrested Society. But these are only fleeting ideas, and they don’t get real until the writing starts and the characters come along, and the plot has to be worked out. It’s very much a process of creating the book as it goes along- the initial ideas are just seeds, really. Thanks for your question.

The sidhe- beautiful and dangerous.

This may be a strange question, so here’s some context – I have recently begun re-learning the Gaeilge language after many years, having forgotten all I learned as a youngster. Oddly, remembering the language connected me to memories of the old stories, that also went forgotten with everything Irish, of the unseelie sidhe. More oddly, the sorts of stories I remember are different to those found on internet searches now, which seem to me rather cartoonish in comparison. The sidhe of the stories I remember were often beautiful and majestic and strange – as was their otherworld – but also [...]

Catherine Fisher - author, writer, novelist, Wales, UK

The Relic Master – different names.

Hello, I was going through my bookcase and found your book Relic Master : The Dark City and reread it. There was a website on the back and the cover arts for the sequels, but when I went to the website, it directed me to something that was not correct. I checked your book list on this site and it appears the American publications had their name’s changed. The book I have is a 2011 publication from Dial Books, an Imprint of Penguin Group. Is there a difference between the two versions? Thank you for the enjoyable read. Hi. Glad [...]

Will the Relic Master be a movie?

Hi, Will the Relic Master series be a movie? I have a love for writing and your Relic master series has inspired my writing a lot. I love the series so far, I recently started it, I have read two books so far and they are amazing! In my previous question I asked if u have any thoughts on it becoming a movie because it is great in books but I would love to see how great it can be in a movie, because I can imagine what the place looks like but that’s in my thoughts. I would love [...]

Poetry news

Hi Catherine, I very much enjoyed hearing you read poems from your collection “Altered States” at Chapter art centre some years ago, and wonder if you have any more poetry readings planned? Regards, Andy HI Andy and thanks for your question. And it’s a good time to ask, because I have a new poetry collection out soon. It’s caller THE BRAMBLE KING, it’s due from Seren in April, and there will certainly be a launch event in Cardiff! So watch this space for more details. So glad you enjoyed that reading in Chapter!.

In an old bookstore

Hi, Miss. Fisher. I stumbled upon your novel Snow-walker in an old bookstore while I was in high school and instantly fell in love with everything about it. It has the Snow Queen and Beowulf and Norse Mythology- I couldn’t ask for anything more! But, it was really the characters that captivated me. In so many other stories that I had read, the female characters ended up being quiet and polite figures, but Jessa is unapologetically human. She is clever and proud and angry and scared and refuses to be left behind, which really stood out and inspired me. I [...]

Amazing Relic Master!

Hi there, I just finished reading your Relic master series all four books and they are amazing! If you can, can you make a sequel? I really want to know what happens to Raffi and Galen in the future! You are a great author and I’ve read lots of your books! Please consider my email and see if you can maybe write a sequel to the Relic Master series! Hi there. Well as I said in a previous answer I have no plans to revisit Anara just at present. But it’s great to know those books are still being read [...]

Relic Master

Hello! I recently finished your Relic Master series (US titles) and I was wondering if you are continuing the series or if you’re leaving it as is? I finished all four books in the span of a week and a half! I was so enthralled! Thanks! Many thanks for your message, and I’m delighted you enjoyed Relic Master! I’m afraid I have no plans at the moment for another in that series.. though there is an unpublished short story about Anjar Kar, set just after the fall of Taskeron, which might get published somewhere, one day. I hope you’ll read [...]

Advice for a writer.

Hello Miss Fisher, My name is Karina Robinson. I am a huge fan of your novels; I have completed the Chronoptika series, the Incarceron series, and the Relic Master series. I know you are very busy, so I will try not to waste your time. I am 16, and I start college this fall, and I will be an English major. I have written one unpublished novel, I have a couple short stories, and I am currently working on another novel as well. Would you have any advise for me, from a bestselling author to a young writer? Also – [...]

Replicants in Speed of Darkness

Hello Ms. Fisher! My friend and I were wondering, in The Speed of Darkness when Venn goes back in time to save his wife, does it create a Replicant of him? I know Replicants are only created if you meet your past self but didn’t Venn see his past self when they went to watch the accident that killed Leah? So is it possible that Venn has a Replicant? Thanks for your question. Yes, he did briefly see himself in the car. But I don’t think that means he has a Replicant in that time, because he came back in [...]

Incarceron

Dearest Catherine, I must say I absolutely adore your Incarceron duology. It’s so amazing! The two worlds of the Prison and the Realm are both so astonishingly well developed, and the characters- I love them all! I even occasionally shed a tear for Incarceron himself, believe it or not. But I must say my favorite character is undeniably Keiro, which leads me to ask you two questions about him. I would be so immensely grateful if you answered. First, how do you pronounce his name? I’ve been wondering this for a long time lately. I personally pronounce it as K-eye-roh, [...]

Fan art

Hello Ms. Fisher, I absolutely adore your books. I just wanted to ask: I know you said you’re fine with fan art, but what are your feelings about fan fiction? (Kind of a different beast…) Thank you! I am fine with people writing it as a private thing.. if they put it on line, that’s up to them, as long as it’s clear it’s not by me. I don’t read fan fiction, because I feel people should be inventing their own stories, as soon as they can..

The Speed of Darkness

I just finished The Speed of Darkness and it was AMAZING! Thank you so much for taking me through this unforgettable journey, Venn will always be one of my favorite literary characters. I have two questions after finishing this book. First, is Maskelyne Mortimer Dee? Second, do you think Venn will join the Shee eventually or has he changed enough to be able to move on with his life and let other people in? Thanks again for the incredible story, I loved every second of it! Many thanks for your great comments. The Speed of Darkness was a fascinating book [...]