Author Interview with Maria V. Snyder (Includes Contest!)

Author Maria V. Snyder is one of my favourite authors and I am extremely happy to have her here, for the third time, as a guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog!

When Sea Glass came out Maria visited! And when Fire Study came out Maria stopped by again! Now Maria has a new series out called Inside Out and I was very lucky and got to read it a few months ago.

Get to know Inside Out in the interview and if you are lucky you may even win a copy in the contest!

Just make sure you try at least one of Maria's Books because they are unforgettable and magical. I have got many a friend and family member addicted to them ;)

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Amber - Welcome back to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is always great to have you here as a guest! You have a new book coming out called Inside Out. Can you start things off by telling my readers about it?

Maria - Thanks so much for having me back! Inside Out is about Trella. She lives in Inside, and she has a very jaded and hard view of her insular metal world. Along with thousands of other “scrubs” who live in the lower levels, she cleans the pipes and ducts that crisscross her world and keep them all alive.

In order to escape the noise and presence of so many scrubs, Trella prefers to be by herself in the ductwork. She has explored almost every region of Inside and has the ability to go to any level without being detected by the Pop Cops (Population Control Police). Because of her expertise, she is recruited by a prophet to seek a gateway to Outside. As she searches for the gateway, she’s pursued by Pop Cops, and upper level workers (those who control the government and mechanical systems), but she’s also aided by a few unlikely sources which make her realize she’s been a little too critical of her world.

Amber - How did you come up with the idea for Inside Out? Was it a long process or did it just come to you?

Maria - A dream! I dreamt the whole story, the world, the characters, the Pop Cops, and even the twists! When I woke up, I wrote it all down before I could forget it. I haven't ever done that before and haven't since - I wish I could remember what I ate for dinner that night ;)

Amber - You have yet again managed to create an interesting new world for us readers to visit. Is there a reason why you write about fictional worlds instead of something based in the real world?

Maria - Yes, I like to set the rules and create new things. If I set a book in the real world, I would be limited. I did write a couple short stories set in the real world, but they both had paranormal elements so that was fun. I live in the real world, but I would rather play in another world :)

Amber - There are alot of cool new ideas and concepts in Inside Out. The one that stood out for me was the days and years working in 10's. How does it work and how did you come up with it?

Maria - I remembered learning about base 10 in math - it was the easiest one to work with :) I also vividly remember my physics teacher lamenting over the fact the US hadn't adopted the metric system and she rattled off, "10 millimeters in a centimeter, 100 centimeters in a meter, 10 meters in a decimeter, 1000 meters in a kilometer. 12 inches in a foot, 5280 feet in a mile. Which one is easier to remember?" The metric system obviously. Later I thought why stick to using days and weeks and years based on Earth's rotation around the sun when there is no sun to mark the passing of time? So I decided to simplify and use base 10. The only problem with that was my readers would be confused when I said Trella was 1,514 weeks old (with one week = 100 hours) - if you use the 52 weeks/year with 168 hours in a week - she would be 29 years old -so I had to add an old measurement comment so my readers knew she was around 17 of our years old.


And I've always been confused as to why we have 7 days in a week and 12 months that are different lengths. Once around the sun is 365 days - so why can't we have a even number of days and months that match, with the last week being shorter or longer than the rest?

I also like to add that because Inside is more complicated than the real world, I posted maps of all four levels of Inside on my website. I was hoping my publisher would print them in the book, but they didn't. But they are excited about the book and have created a website just for it. On the website is a personality quiz to see what type of scrub job you're suited for, and a video book trailer for the book.

Amber - What kind of research did you have to do to write Inside Out? Anything interesting or is research boring?

Maria - I enjoy doing research. I try and do as much hands on as possible, but with Inside Out, I had to do it all by book or the Internet so that wasn't as much fun. But I'm a stickler for accuracy and hate when I make mistakes so I tried to make the world of Inside as realistic as possible. My research looked into hydroponics and waste water treatment systems and air filters so my people could survive Inside.

Amber - How many more books will there be in the series? Are you working on any other projects you would like to tell us about? Will there be more Study/Glass world books?

Maria - Right now there will be two. I'm working on Outside In right now. It's coming out next January. When I finished Outside In, I'll have a better idea if I could write another one. After writing three books, I'm usually tapped out for new ideas and am tired of the story and characters. But I would like to continue both the Study and Glass series in the future. I just need a spark for an idea to get me excited about the characters and world again. I'm really enjoying writing the Study short stories and can see a collection of them in the future :)

Amber - How do you pick the names you use in your books? Do they have any special meanings?

Maria - I do look for special meanings. I also pick the names I like. One of the best things of being a writer is I get to name my characters and I don't have a husband arguing with me over them ;> I wrote an article all about naming characters and it's posted on my website.

Amber - What is the easiest and hardest part about being an author?

Maria - Hardest part is getting my butt in the chair and writing that first draft! Easiest is signing books and talking to my readers :)

Amber - How do you relax? Do you have any hobbies?

Maria - Reading is relaxing and watching movies with my kids. I also play volleyball and have become addicted to Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii - it's a fun way to workout! My hobbies are photography and scrapbooking - unfortunately I have little time for scrapbooking and am so far behind it's ridiculous!

Amber - Alot of authors have 'soundtracks' for their books. Is there any music influenced Inside Out?

Maria - No. Before my dog passed away this summer, I never listened to music when I wrote - it was too distracting. But after she died, the house was so quiet (she snored!). Inside Out was already written before I started listening to music, and I began with classical otherwise I would listen to the song and not get any writing done.

Amber - What books have you read lately? Any must reads?

Maria - The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, Wicket Lovely, by Melissa Marr, and Glass Houses, by Rachel Caine (The first book in a series and I love this series!).

Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?

Maria - A vampire. I'm already a night owl - I write from 10 pm to 4 am. I like the idea of being relatively immortal, super strong and fast.

Amber - Thank you for visiting Amberkatze's Book Blog again! I hope you will come back for another visit in the future!

Maria - You're welcome! I'd love to come back again. It's always a pleasure hanging out with you and your followers :)




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Contest Time

One lucky winner will get to win their choice of Maria V. Snyder book. So you can choose the new book Inside Out or complete your collection of the Study series.

How to Enter

Except reading...what other hobbies do you have?

No Hobbies - No Entry!

Earn more entries for each place you link this contest on the net. You can post on Facebook, Twitter & MySpace but make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries!

You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

Make sure you post your links here so I can confirm your entries.

Keep the contests going by using the Amazon links below and around the site!





The contest will stay open until Sunday 25th of April 2010 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

Good Luck!