1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
SF and Fantasy short stories and poems by Nebula and World Fantasy winner.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
These are individual stories and poems, so they take place all around the world and in fantasy settings as well.
4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Depends on which of the protagonists you mean! Some are horrific, some are fantastical. You get a wide variety so my choices might not be yours!
5–What are three words that describe your protagonist?
See above.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
These are mostly stories and poems that have been published first in magazines or anthologies, and some I hadn’t reread in years. So what I learned was that it was fun and not awful to spend time with my old pieces.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Even though these were old pieces (except for a bunch of the poems which were new) I rewrote, smoothed out, updated when necessary. Time doesn’t stand still in literature and sometimes what was once charming or realistic or funny or even fresh may have wilted a bit. The bed may need fluffing. The roof might need new tiles.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Dark chocolate, but not over 70 per cent.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
Because I have three houses (my house, in Massachusetts my new husband’s house in Connecticut (we were both old friends and long widowed, we married a week before Covid shut down travel) and my house in Scotland, I have three very different places I write. All have the three things I need most, A sturdy large desk, a comfortable chair, and good light. Oh – and a door that I can close that means I am AT WORK AND a window to look out and see the weather and the world.
10–Who is an author you admire?
Peter Beagle, Ursula LeGuin, Diana Wynne Jonea, Emily Dickinson, and William Butler Yeats.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
Alice in Wonderland.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Since this collection is in a line of four books, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion, but almost! I was relieved when the publisher and I finally settled on what kind of collection it would be. Our conversations had all been by email (he is in San Francisco, and I was in one of the houses above) – and we have become old friends by now though we have never met.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
Mystery and fantasy and some historical novels, particularly British history and Holocaust novels.
14–What’s your favorite movie?
Don’t watch many these days.
15–What is your favorite season?
Summer in Scotland
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Small gathering with friends or dinner out with new husband, At 83, I don’t really “celebrate”: them anymore.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I watch a LOT of news and have a crush on MSNBC’s Ari Melber.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Chocolate desserts or salmon or both.
19–What do you do when you have free time?
Like to explore new places with husband or have tea with dear friends on the porch.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
I have about twenty more books sold (mostly children’s books) and coming out over the next five years, some picture books, some poetry collections, and a trilogy for middle graders about a group of Scottish middlegraders who are all monster hunters. It is set in the turn of the nineteenth century when monsters have invaded all of Scotland. Am finishing the third book now. The first is called SEA DRAGON OF FIFE.
THE SCARLET CIRCUS by Jane Yolen
A rakish fairy meets the real Juliet behind Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. A jewelry artist travels to the past to meet a successful silver-smith. The addled crew of a ship at sea discovers a mysterious merman. More than one ignored princess finds her match in the most unlikely men.
From ecstasy to tragedy, with love blossoming shyly, love at first sight, and even love borne of practical necessity—beloved fantasist Jane Yolen’s newest collection celebrates romance in all its glory.
Romance | Fantasy [Tachyon Publications, On Sale: February 14, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781616963866 / eISBN: 9781616963873]
Buy THE SCARLET CIRCUS: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Love’s Sweet Arrow | Walmart.com | Book Depository | Target.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Jane Yolen
Jane Yolen is the author of more than 250 books for children and young adults, including SOFT HOUSE, OWL MOON, and HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOOD NIGHT? She also collected poems for THIS LITTLE PIGGY: LAP SONGS, FINGER PLAYS, CLAPPING GAMES, and PANTOMINE RHYMES, an anthology of rhymes and games for toddlers. Jane Yolen divides her time between Massachusetts and Scotland.
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