MY INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CHRISTINA FARLEY

MY INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CHRISTINA FARLEY

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What’s your name and what genre would you consider your books to be?

My name is Christina Farley and I write contemporary fantasy. My Gilded series is popular with teens while THE PRINCESS AND THE PAGE is a middle grade story.

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Tell me about your book. How did you come up with that (story, angle, idea)?

A 16-year-old Korean-American 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. You can check out the book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7nfOeQdp4s

Where did you get the inspiration/idea for your series?

I was teaching the Greek myths to my students and wanted to do a comparison unit with Korean mythology with them. I started researching Korean myths and came across the myth of Haemosu and Princess Yuhwa. I was hooked! I started writing fun clips for my students to get them interested and suddenly I found myself writing a book. The characters and setting are all inspired by my former students. Here’s a video clip where I talk about the inspiration of GILDED.

What kind of research did you do for this book?

One of the reasons why I wrote this book was it was in part about my life living in Korea and teaching at the international school in the book. So when I was writing at the coffee shop, I’d just write about the place (usually Sinchon) I was at. When I needed to write the scenes set in the Spirit World, I’d sit down and write on the steps of Gyeongbokgung Palace or if it was a shopping scene, I’d stroll Namdaemun Market for inspiration. I was also lucky to have a wealth of information around me as well besides Yonsei University or the museums. The international school I taught at had a Korean teacher, a Korean history teacher, and plenty of students who were eager to help me out and answer my questions. Here are some scenes from GILDED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyyx1coNOZc

Was it always meant to become a series?

I originally hadn’t expected it to be a series, just a standalone but as I started revising GILDED, I realized there was SO MUCH MORE to this series. So I kept writing! GILDED was definitely harder to write than SILVERN or BRAZEN because I had to figure out the rules for my world building and ‘meet’ the characters in the story. By the time I wrote BRAZEN, I knew my world and the characters so well it was as if they were my best friends.

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How important are character names to you in your books? Is there a special meaning to any of the names?

My characters become like real people to me as I write them. But also many of the characters are based on real people like the students I taught, the teachers who were at the school, and the people I encountered around Korea. You can check out the character gallery of the Gilded series characters here: https://www.gildedseries.com/portfolio. They were designed by Nicole Kim, a former student of the international school in the book.

Where did your love of books come from?

My parents used to read to me as a kid. Plus they owned an indie bookstore! So I spent most of my teenage years working at their shop and then attending book conventions. I never in a million years would have thought of myself as published writer then, which I find funny. But it does show that you never know where life will take you or which path is yours to journey on.

If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?

All my books are based on my life. Most of the places or things my characters do, were inspired from my adventures. I just throw a little magic in there for fun.

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