Our good friend Leanne Howard had the chance to ask Robin LaFevers some questions about her book Grave Mercy. Brian and Shaunta had the chance to meet Ms. LaFevers at the RWA conference this summer, and it’s a great thrill to have her on our blog!
Leanne Howard: I noticed your love of 19th century poetry and Bulfinch’s mythology (fabulous taste!). Do you have a favorite mythological character or story? Or a favorite poem/poet?
Robin LaFevers: The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes and Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lloyd Tennyson. (You have to imagine them recited to us on long, boring car rides [waaaay before audio books] in my father’s deep, rumbly voice to get the full, compelling effect.)
LH: Care to share any other hobbies, interests, or facts about yourself?
RL: This is the embarrassing part of interviews, the part where I admit that while my full time job is writing, it is also my primary hobby and interest. I’m afraid I’m a bit of a one note wonder, unless we can call napping a hobby.
LH: From your website I’ve gathered that the process of writing Grave Mercy was a long one. What did you do to motivate yourself in the slowest or hardest moments?
RL: You know, motivation is rarely a problem for me. In fact, I feel a bit of a cheat because I haven’t had to dig up bucketloads of discipline to pursue writing. There really are very few other things I prefer doing. (See answer to previous question.)
However, one of the great benefits to working on an uncontracted project over a long period of time (seven years in the case of GRAVE MERCY) is that when I got stuck, I could simply put the project away and wait for my subconscious to untangle the knot. When I got discouraged, I did the same, knowing that it would eventually call to me again. So I am really a poor person to answer this question.
LH: I’ve also read your author’s note on your website about the historical truths in the world of Grave Mercy. I love the creative way you combine history with fantasy, but the research that goes into a story based on the real world can be daunting to aspiring writers. How did you handle research for Grave Mercy? Do you have any advice for writers who want to write historical fiction/fantasy?
RL: One, I would say be in love with the historical time period that you are writing about, for you will spend far too much time immersed in it during your research to not be obsessed with it. Plus, that passion is what will allow you to f consult just one more book or do one last web search in the quest of the perfect detail. I think you also have to consider the issue of historical accuracy and what your position on it is. While I try very hard to get all the details right, I am not a purist and for me, the history serves the story rather than having the historical aspects trump all else. Each writer will have to decide on their own where they come down on this issue.
Another thing I would add to that is that if you are writing in an historical time period, the story you are telling needs to be tied to that unique time and place. If you can take all the components of your story and place them in another time period and still tell the same story, then you probably have not anchored your story enough in its historical setting.
LH: There was a hint of tragedy for me in reading about Ismae’s passion for Brittany knowing that the duchy eventually, in history, became a part of France. This may be more than you can share in regards to future books in the His Fair Assassin trilogy, but I have to ask: will any of that come up in the next two stories? Or are you prepared to diverge from history entirely?
(Answer below video. It is a very slight spoiler for future books. ****SPOILER ALERT****)
RL: I do plan on sticking to history on that, although I may have to fudge a few of the dates. In fact, that is one of my biggest challenges for Book Three, how to stay true to history, yet make it a triumphant victory for my characters.
LH: I loved the message of gender equality and female empowerment in Grave Mercy. Did you find it hard to combine the tradition of old Catholicism with such a strong, free-thinking female heroine? Did you worry at all about some readers’ reaction to such a combination?
RL: Once I set my compass to that goal–creating a path of empowerment through the formal traditions of old Catholicism–it wasn’t hard. Possibly because that avenue of power what a somewhat historically accurate one. In my initial research I read that some noblewomen embraced joining a convent because being a nun gave them more freedom, independence, and autonomy than any of their other societal roles!
I did worry about readers’ reactions to that combination, and a few readers have been put off. But I think since I used historically accurate seeds for my mythology, it minimized the potential for negative reactions. Plus, it was genuinely never intended to paint the church as bad, simply as evolving over time, much like the feudal system of the earlier middle ages was giving way to the larger state.
LH: I noticed your discussion guide for Grave Mercy includes a question about predetermination vs. self-determination. It seemed to me that Ismae’s world included a bit of both. Do you agree, or do you come down in favor of either one?
RL: Hmm. I guess that bit of both thing does accurately reflect my own views. I absolutely believe in free will, but there are times when we do everything in our power to avoid certain outcomes, yet all roads end up leading to that, no matter how much we fight it. So from where we stand, it is absolutely free will. From another, larger perspective, I just don’t know. It’s one of those questions I find endlessly fascinating.
LH: I know you’ve been hard at work to turn in the sequel to Grave Mercy, coming in 2013. Do you get a chance to read between drafts? What are your favorite authors or genres?
Historical fantasy is definitely one of my favorite genres, and there is not nearly enough of it to suit me. I also like alternate world fantasy that feels historical. Some of my favorite authors are Megan Whalen Turner, Mary Stewart (her Merlin trilogy in particular), Libba Bray, Juliet Marillier, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Bunce, Tamora Pierce, Jacqueline Carey, George R. R. Martin.
LH: And finally—if you’d been asked to become an assassin of Mortain when you were Ismae’s age, would you have accepted?
RL: Oh interesting question! Part of why Ismae accepts is because, theologically and ethically, the parameters of the convent’s actions made sense to her, especially given how steeped people of that time were in the will of God and the active intercession of the saints. Being a 20th century teen, I didn’t have that same mindset, so it would have been harder for me to achieve that initial blind obedience. I definitely would have craved the knowledge and power that Ismae acquired through her training, but to actually be able to use the power and kill someone? Unless they were actively threatening those I loved, probably not.
There is a small part of me that sometimes gets weary of nuance and gray shadings, and I understand the comfort and appeal of absolutes, of seeing things in black and white. If the offer had been made while I was in that frame of mind, I could easily have said yes. Luckily however, that frame of mind only ever lasts about thirty minutes, so I imagine my stay would have been a short one.Thanks for all your time, Robin! And for writing such an awesome book. We can’t wait for the sequel next year.
