Author Interview: Joanne Anderton
13 October 2011
Our featured Hope author today is Joanne Anderton, author of Flowers in the Shadow of the Garden.
Please tell us a bit about yourself, Joanne.
I’m a writer of fantasy, horror and (according to some people at least…) science fiction too. I’ve always been in love with stories, whether in book form, movies, television series, or video games. I’ve published short stories in various places, and my first novel ‘Debris’ (Book One of the Veiled Worlds Series) has just been released by Angry Robot Books.
Congratulations on your recent publication! Please tell us about your Hope story and what inspired it.
My story is about Asfar, a young woman who harvests magic from the giant Gardens that have always flown in the skies above her world. Recently the Gardens have started to die, and fall, and competition for magic is getting fierce as it becomes scarse. She harvests the old fashioned way — with her glass vials and trusty camel — but large city states are starting to bring machines and armies in, claiming the remaining Gardens for themselves. Tragedy strikes when Asfar is drawn into conflict against Edward, the man who leads such an army, and despite their differences the two must learn to work together to survive.
The story was inspired by saffron. Asfar harvests magic the way saffron is harvested, by carefully removing the delicate threads from the heart of the flower. It is painstaking, slow work her family has done for generations, but it creates something wonderful. It is also a story about the degradation of the natural world, the impact it has on us, and the way we really need to work together to cope with such change.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
Right at the moment I’m doing some work on ‘Suited’, the second book in the Veiled Worlds series. I’m also writing a new book. It’s a “post-apocalyptic romantic comedy, set in Sydney in the not too distant future, with ghosts… and aliens”. It’s great fun to write.
Find out more about Joanne and her writing at her website – Joanne Anderton
