Welcome to Author Christine Norris!

Welcome to Montgomery Sword Author's blog!

A warm and heartfelt welcome to author Christine Norris, celebrating the release of her newest novel, Return to Zandria. This is today’s stop on Christine’s Virtual Book Tour.

Christine is a prolific author, who not only writes but also teaches some of the essentials of the craft of writing during encouraging visits to schools, where she inspires students with her “Read, Think, Write!” program.



Read on for my interview with Christine, an excerpt from the wonderful Return to Zandria, and my review of the book.

An Interview With Christine Norris

Christine, you write fantasy specifically for the young-adult age group. Can you tell us, first, why fantasy? and second, why for this age group particularly?

Because I am a lover of fairy tales. They’ve always been my favorite kind of story —faraway places that never have been, and magic and Happily Ever After are what I grew up on. This age group, 9-12, is so much fun. They’re not too young to understand how the world works, and yet they’re young enough to accept a world full of magic and make believe. It’s my favorite age to substitute teach for too.


The way you describe Ivy in the blurb of your first novel, Talisman of Zandria, is precious and I'm sure tugs at the heart-strings of all of us who've survived childhood and adolescence. Might I ask, did you draw on Ivy from life, your own or someone close to you?

I think we’ve all felt the way Ivy feels at the beginning of TALISMAN—that we don’t quite fit in, that we’re not anything special, or we feel invisible. When I was that age, yes, I was sort of the oddball, the kid who knew all the answers, who wore glasses and didn’t talk to people easily. I was teased a lot too, which didn’t make things easier. I had friends, but I was never ‘popular.’

I’m glad to say I’ve outgrown all that, and my son probably will never have that problem. He’s only four, but he makes friends wherever he goes, and he’s NOT afraid to approach people. I hope he stays that way, he’s a great kid.

Please tell us about your participation in the Stories of Strength anthology, and about the reasons behind this important undertaking.

Wow, that was unexpected. That was, what, in 2005? It was after Katrina hit, and a bunch of writers on the Absolute Write forums (www.absolutewrite.com ) got together and decided to put together an anthology of short stories, the proceeds of which go to different aid charities. The anthology is still available, and has many great stories by a long list of authors, including Orson Scott Card and Wil Wheaton.

Please tell us about your interest in Manga: how did that develop, describe your many published works in that genre, what are your plans in that regard for the near future?

Actually the books I’ve worked on are called Light Novels. They’re just like regular books, except they have more illustrations than the average novel. They’re all the rage in Japan, like manga, and I’ve done what’s called the English Adaptations for several series licensed here in the U.S. What that means is they send me the translated manuscript and I clean it all up so that it reads like an American novel and not translated Japanese. It’s mostly contract work, but I like it and it’s fun, so I’m always looking for more work of that type.



You have a release coming in 2008 from Samhain Publishing: Crown of Zeus. What can you tell us about this book?

Ooh, that’s a good one. I’m really excited about THE CROWN OF ZEUS. It’s the first of a series I’ve written, called The Library of Athena, about a girl named Megan Montgomery who’s life gets turned upside down when she has to move from NYC to this big old house out in the English countryside. In the middle of being “the new girl” and a little bit ostracized, as well as having to adapt to a whole new country, she discovers a secret hidden deep beneath her house—a secret library. It’s all ripping fun and mythological monsters and bonding with new friends. My editor is pretty excited about it too.

Can you expand some on your program for school children: "Read Think Write"?

That’s my three-step program for teaching writing. I start out by listing all the places writers work, so kids know it’s more than just writing books, and then taking them through simple steps – reading, which I think is key to writing well, thinking about what you’ve read and what kind of story you want to write, and then writing it. I also talk about how writers write in different ways – some outline, some take notes, and some just sit down with an idea and go. I think children sometimes get stuck thinking they’re not doing it the ‘right’ way, when there IS no ‘right’ way, just what works for you.

Thanks Annie, for having me on your blog, this was fun, and I wish you well with your review blog!

{Interview questionnaire by Montgomery Sword}