Interview with Sara E. Tall Author of Misfit’s Rise
I had a theater teacher in high school that always talked about the power art has to change people’s lives. I modified something he said into my mantra, “To serve Art, and not be served by Art.” The arts—in all of their forms— have saved my life in a lot ways, even if it was just enjoying a fantasy world or a compelling romance. I want to give back to the arts, or use them to serve and help others the way the arts helped me. The same could be said about me as a person. Though my life has not be easy, and there have been difficult and dark moments, it has been full and rewarding as well. I want to help others experience that same fullness, even if it’s as simple as making them laugh or cry or cheer at something I wrote.
Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down?
A good 90% of my stories come from dreams I’ve had. So much so that I actually look forward to sleeping because I’m so excited to dream. As soon as I wake up I grab a notebook and write down everything I can remember. Then I spend the whole day figuring out how my weird and nonsensical dream can actually be a story. Usually there’s a scene or feeling that’s so compelling I can’t get it out of my head, and I build the rest of the story around that. The problem is now I have a like a million story ideas, and only so many years before I’m too old to write.
My current novel, Misfit’s Rise, didn’t come from a dream originally, though I have had dreams about it. I created Misfit’s Rise when I was nanny and the kids were sleeping. Those kids are some of the most creative people I’ve ever met, so I’m sure they inspired the story with more than just their sleeping habits.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
DANCE!!!! No seriously, anyone who knows me will tell you I like to dance at the most inappropriate times: at work, in the grocery store, in the street, etc…. Dancing is my go-to when I’m procrastinating writing. I also love being outdoors. Hiking, canoeing, swimming, skiing. All these experiences are as close to magic as I am going to get. One of these days I’m going to make volunteer work a big part of my life, but I’m not that organized yet.
You’ve got a time machine, a cloak of invisibility, and one hour. Where would you go, and what eavesdropping would you do?
As soon as I saw this question I knew I had to answer it, even though I had no idea what I should say. I debated overhearing supposed conversations my male friends had about me, since I’m super curious about what went down, but I decided I was better living in ignorance. Then I thought about overhearing some super infamous person in history, trying to get insights into why they did the awful things they did. But once again, I decided it was best to just live in ignorance. Eventually I decided on Ancient Greece during the Greco-Persian war, to witness the battle between the Spartans and the Persian “Immortals.” Essentially, the battle that inspired the move 300. It’s always been fascinated with that battle. I’ve actually got an idea for a re-telling of the Greco-Persian war in space, but that is way down the line. I’m not sure how much eavesdropping I would do, but the invisibility cloak would help make sure I didn’t skewered in the process.
“There’s the little fire freak.” My eyes shot open. Standing before me was Tanya with her usual wannabes. She was dressed in her predictable mixture of bad-girl-meets-prep, wearing the pigtails only she could pull off as chic and not goody two-shoes.
“What’s the matter? Nothing to say to me?” She stepped forward. “Not even an apology for blowing up my house?”
“Not really.” People always said if you didn’t let bullies get to you, they’d get bored and move on. It was time to put that to the test.
“When did you become an arsonist, anyway?” she took another step. “Was it to deal with your dad leaving you in that ghetto with all the other freaks?”
“My father didn’t leave,” I snapped before I could stop myself. “He’s dead.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s what your mom told you.” She was right in front of my face now. “But we all know if your daddy was dead, you would have gotten a nice life insurance check and you wouldn’t be so dirt poor.”
At different time I might have laughed at that. I guess it didn’t occur to Tanya not everyone could afford a life insurance policy.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said as I leapt off the bench and shoved my way past her.
“I’m trying to help you, Billie,” she said from behind me. “You and your friends. I know it can be hard coming from nothing.”
Even though I knew I should just keep walking, I whirled around. “You don’t know a thing about us.”
“You know what the number one profession is for girls from low-income neighborhoods?”
The people around us gasped, though the ones trying to look cool laughed. I was almost impressed with Tanya for being that subtle.
I glanced at her Prada bag, my hand twitching. It would be so easy to just rip that thing open. And it would be a lot better than she deserved. But the Officials had told me not to use magic, and I had a feeling my ability to follow their order would affect whether they sent me to the Academy, or to a containment facility.
Slowly, I turned around again. “I’m not listening to you.”
“You and tall-chick might be able to make it, but the chubby one? What guy would pay for a night with that?”
There was more laughter, but I barely heard it as I whirled around and screamed, “Shut up!”
Everything happened too fast. All I knew was that one moment I was glaring at Tanya, breathing hard while she folded her arms and smirked; and the next second the tall, marble centerpiece from the fountain was hurtling toward Tanya’s head.
She screamed and ducked, and the marble spiral crashed down just behind her shoulder. Even though it missed her, it still drenched her and her bag with a splash of murky, icy water.
For a second nobody moved, as everyone’s eyes moved from Tanya, to the wrecked fountain, to me.
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Misfit’s Rise!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Alpha book 1, Fae, magic, Misfits Rise, Sara E. Tall, YA Fantasy by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.
