We were lucky enough to have the wonderful Mara Rutherford, the author of Crown of Coral and Pearl and Kingdom of Sea and Stone, chat to us about her books, the writing process, and hobbies, as well as what’s next for her!
Hi, Mara! Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Hi and thanks for having me back! Let’s see… I’m a triplet born on Leap Day, a mother of two wild boys, a diplomat’s wife, and I currently live in Belgrade, Serbia. I love true crime and comedy podcasts, Jane Austen adaptations, and I have a small red poodle named Mishka.
Kingdom of Sea and Stone is the sequel to Crown of Coral and Pearl and it releases on October 6th! What can readers expect?
Readers can expect more complicated sibling dynamics, new worlds, and a few new characters. Also witchcraft, blood magic, and some very charismatic animals.
If you had to choose between the sisters, would it be Nor or Zadie? And why?
That’s like asking me to choose between my children! But I’ve spent a lot more time in Nor’s head than Zadie’s, so I guess I’ll have to go with Nor.
What inspired you to write a fantasy based on sea kingdoms?
To be honest, I have no idea! I’m not a big ocean lover (it scares me) although I am fascinated by it, and I love to look at the sea from a safe distance. I think it was just how the story came to me, and I hadn’t read a lot of other ocean-based fantasies, though it feels like a ton were published in the years since I wrote CoCaP!
If you could have someone curate a soundtrack to go along with the Kingdom of Sea and Stone, what would it include?
I wish I were better at book soundtracks. I know what I listened to while writing it, but I’m not good at picking songs that match my books. But I always listen to a lot of Florence and the Machine, Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Sia, so any combination of their music would probably work.
A favourite question of mine: did you know how both books were going to end when you started writing them, or did it come to you later on?
I generally know the ending when I start writing, although things always change somewhat during the editing process. With CoCaP, I didn’t know if there would be a sequel when it went to print, so I had to leave an open – yet hopefully satisfying – conclusion. I did know how KoSaS would end and that it would be the final book of the series.
If you could meet any one person that influenced your writing, who would it be?
I was fortunate to meet one of my writing heroes, Barbara Kingsolver, at the Iceland Writers Retreat in 2015, and it was definitely one of the highlights of my writing career. However, if I could meet one of my YA heroes, it would probably be Laini Taylor. If you follow her on Instagram, you know that she lives in a world as colourful and magical as her books. I would love to spend a little time with her imagination.
During this crazy year, have you picked up any interesting hobbies?
I started gardening, which is something I never thought I’d be able to do. I’ve killed a variety of ill-fated houseplants over the years and had given up on ever having them, but I was blessed with a downstairs neighbor with a remarkably green thumb. I now have about a dozen plants, all doing quite well, and they make me so happy. And yes, I sing to them. So far, they don’t seem to mind.
If you were forced to choose, would you go for the land or sea?
Haha, as mentioned above, definitely land! But maybe land with a view of the ocean. I really like walking on the shore and searching for glass and shells, so I wouldn’t mind being close by. Just not, you know, in it.
What’s next for you?
Next is a standalone YA fantasy, LUMINOUS, which will be out fall of 2021. After that, I have two more fantasies slated to publish, staring with THE POISON SEASON in 2022. It’s going to be a busy couple of years!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I’ve been reading outside my genre a bit more this year, I think because my concentration hasn’t been great and I’ve needed to mix things up. I recently read BEACH READ by Emily Henry and adored it. If you’re looking for something light and fluffy but also full of witty banter and romance, I highly recommend it. My book club read DAISY JONES AND THE SIX a few months back and I thought it was such a unique format. I couldn’t believe the author wrote her own songs for the book, too. That’s some next level stuff for sure. For YA fantasy, I’m finishing up Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crown series, which I have loved from the start. It’s such a brilliant world and I do love those complicated sister relationships.
