I was lucky to get an interview with M. L. Farb, the author of Heartless Hette, and one of this year’s #SPFBO8 semifinalists.
Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
Ever since I climbed up to the rafters of our barn at age four, I’ve lived high adventure: scuba diving, hiking, climbing, and even riding a retired racehorse at full gallop—bareback. I love the thrill and joy.
I earned a bachelor's degree in English and Music Composition a couple months before my oldest child was born. Now eighteen years and six children later I am the published author of five novels, four novelettes, one non-fiction book and zero music. However music heavily influences my writing, helping me create poetry and lyrical stories.
When not in the middle of an adventure with my husband and children, I love to write fantasy and fairy tale retellings, read stories with complex characters, and research obscure topics.
“Story ideas come all the time—between laundry and cooking dinner, in the middle of helping a child with school, or at 2am. 2am seems to be when my story brain turns on.”
What was the first thought that popped into your mind when you found out you had made it to the semifinals?
It wasn’t a thought, but rather an emotion of surprise and delight. I’d been busy bottling applesauce with family when a friend texted me: DID YOU SEE? Everyone in the house knew when I read the post on Facebook (imagine me cheering and jumping around like a little kid).
Why did you decide to take part in the SPFBO?
I learned about SPFBO from my friend Suzannah Rowntree, when her book A Wind from the Wilderness became a semi-finalist. She encouraged me to submit one of my books. This is my second year participating.
Why should we buy your SPFBO8 book?
Joanna Ruth Meyer, author of Into the Heartless Wood, said, “HEARTLESS HETTE reads like an old favorite, a fairytale both familiar and unknown. M. L. Farb spins out stories within stories and cleverly ties them all together by the end. Her vivid imagery and well-drawn characters are sure to capture even a clockwork heart.”
Plus you get to meet one of my favorite characters, Konrad the Court Fool, who hides wisdom beneath humor.
What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
I didn’t like writing until I was a teen. I was the math geek, taking college calculus at age fifteen. And then I started making up stories to help my little sisters go to sleep. It backfired. We stayed up for hours continuing the tale and writing changed from a chore to a portal. My first novel, The King’s Trial, was born in those late, whispered nights.
It took about twenty years from first idea to published, with lots of life and motherhood around it. In those years I increased in experience, understanding and writing ability.
Why did you choose to write fantasy? And why pick this particular fantasy subgenre?
Fantasy is full of character growth, challenges, and sacrifice within a fantastical world. I chose the fairy-tale retelling sub-genre for Heartless Hette, because my oldest son told me of a dream he had of a sorcerer who stole half of a princess’s heart, and it felt like it fit well with elements of the fairy-tale, “The Princess Who Never Laughed.” I used his idea with his permission, set the story in Germany, and incorporated pieces of many other Brothers Grimm tales into it.
What’s the best thing about being a writer?
I write to create a solid world for the ghost like stories that flit across my imagination. I write to see where the story will go and what the hero or heroine will do. I write to explore difficult subjects within the safety of a story. And I love to see the reactions of the readers as they experience those worlds and ideas.
What’s the hardest thing about being a writer?
Aligning writing time with my writing brain. Story ideas come all the time—between laundry and cooking dinner, in the middle of helping a child with school, or at 2am. 2am seems to be when my story brain turns on. To capture these ideas, I keep a notebook with me at all times, from a tiny one that I tuck into my purse to the 8″x11″ one in the kitchen. I write small, I write sloppy, but I catch the ideas—and later I type them into a more readable form.
Do you have any tip or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
Write every day. Even if it’s a hundred words. Try flash fiction. Try poetry. Explore the different types of writing. Find what you love.
If you feel too busy to write every day, then journal. I’ve journaled almost every day since I turned seventeen. I’ve captured conversations, descriptions, happenings, and quotes. I explore ideas. Through the years I’ve journaled several million words. It prepared me to become an author.
Get an ergonomic keyboard. It’s a lifesaver on the wrists.
What new projects are you working on?
I’m about 10,000 words into a third book of The King Trials series. I hadn't planned on writing a third book, but I've had enough readers who said they wanted to see the characters again and one of those readers sent me several pages of ideas.
It’s fascinating that you create fairy tales, I think! Best of luck with HEARTLESS HETTE, your next book, and in the competition. And a big thank you for doing the interview, Maria.
