When Marissa Meyer wrapped up her bestselling young adult series “The Lunar Chronicles” with the publication of “Winter” last November, she decided that she needed a change of pace.
“‘The Lunar Chronicles’ was a labor of love, but it kind of took over my life for eight years,” Meyer said. “It’s a huge epic complicated story with so many characters and so many subplots. I wanted to take a step back and recharge my creativity and do something a little different.”
She decided to go back to an idea she’d had years ago for a novel based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” The result was “Heartless,” a story about how a teenage girl becomes the terrifying Queen of Hearts.
“We are given so little information about her in ‘Alice in Wonderland,'” Meyer said. “Even though we know almost nothing about her other than that she plays croquet and stampedes around say ‘Off with their head’ she’s so memorable. As a writer I thought there was a lot more to this character and the potential to look at who she was before ‘Alice came to Wonderland’ and why she’s so angry.”
The book was released on Nov. 8 and Meyer will be visiting The Corral at Lyons Township High School in Western Springs on Nov. 12 as part of a promotional tour. The event includes a copy of the book, which you can get autographed following a Mad Hatter-themed tea party with treats and tea, costume and trivia contests, and a Q&A with the author. Meyer will also sign copies of her older titles.
More Top Picks Ticwatch E2
Meyer is no stranger to telling the stories of villains, having done it for the Evil Queen from Snow White in her novel “Fairest.”
“I love villain origin stories,” Meyer said. “This is actually my favorite. I’ve been fascinated with villains since I was a teenager, if not before then. I thought the Wicked Queens and Rumpelstiltskins and Bluebeards were the most interesting characters.”
Meyer spent time researching the source material and reading adaptations both when writing “Heartless” and “The Lunar Chronicles” books, which are based on classic fairytales.
“For me, I was reading them not so much to draw inspiration as to see what had been done out there and avoid it,” she said.
Along with providing an intriguing character, “Alice in Wonderland” offered a setting where Meyer could unleash her imagination.
“There’s such a whimsical aspect to this world of Wonderland,” Meyer said. “There’s so much nonsense going on. It’s one of those stories where you feel like absolutely anything can happen, anything is possible.”
Now Meyer is focused on working on “Wires” and “Nerve,” a pair of graphic novels set in the world of “The Lunar Chronicles” and starring characters from the series. The first book is due out on Jan. 31.
“It has been amazing; it’s possibly my favorite thing that I’ve written,” Meyer said. “The artist absolutely nailed it. Seeing the artwork as it’s gone through these different stages and watching these characters come to life was like being in that world all over again.”
She’s also working on a new, still untitled trilogy about teenage superheroes and expects the first book to be released next fall.
“Along with fairy tales, superheroes have been a lifelong love of mine since way back when I was a little kid,” she said. “My brother was really into X-Men and I remember sneaking his X-Men comics. I loved them, but I felt like they weren’t geared towards me.”
When she was a teenager, Meyer discovered “Sailor Moon,” a Japanese television and comic series about a group of female superheroes that combines fighting bad guys with romantic story arcs.
“As a reader I always look for romance in a story,” she said. “I’m just never as excited about a book if it doesn’t have a romance subplot going on within it. For writing too, the romance is always one of the first things I start contemplating as I start a new story.”
Marissa Meyer book signing and Q&A
When: 2 p.m. Nov. 12
Where: The Corral at Lyons Township High School, 4900 Willow Springs Road, Western Springs
Admission: $25 tickets; includes a copy of “Heartless” and admits one child and one adult
Information: http://marissameyerandersons.brownpapertickets.com/