Interview: Justine Larbalestier

You've got to admire the hubris of a post titled how to write a novel. Except that Justine Larbalestier has a few such novels under her belt and, what's more, her instructions are concrete, useful and witty, and give the reader a voyeuristic peek at her process.

[Larbalestier is pronounced lar-bal-est-ee-air according to her faq, and that mellifluous name rolled around in my head for weeks after I read the first two novels of her YA trilogy, Magic or Madness and Magic Lessons. I wait impatiently for the library to come through with the third installment, Magic's Child.]

Justine Larbalestier (see, isn't that an earworm?) lives in Australia with her husband and fellow writer Scott Westerfeld, although she also sojourns in New York City and San Miguel de Allende (yes, I'm jealous).

Jennifer Laughran of Books Inc recently did an interview with Justine, and I'm not sure which one of them had more fun. The story of how Justine became a full-time writer is more cautionary than exemplar:

But back when I was trying to figure out what to do for a living, I didn't fancy my chances, so I studied and became an academic. That way I could pay the rent and, you know, eat while I wrote on the side. It's always a good idea to have more than one way to earn money so that if one doesn't work out you can try something else. I also trained to be a massage therapist. (Didn't like it at all.)

I quit to become a freelance writer before I sold anything. It was terrifying and completely unwise. I don't recommend it to anyone. But within six months of going freelance I sold the MAGIC OR MADNESS trilogy. Phew, eh?

That was in 2003. Sounds magical and instantaneous, doesn't it? But I'd been writing for years and years and years before that. I have gazillions of short stories that never sold. And the novel I started in 1988 and finished in 1999 still hasn't sold either.

If there isn't enough of Justine's juicy voice in that interview, you can also check out Little Willow for the story of how she and Scott met and Bookslut for a discussion of her non-fiction books on science fiction and fantasy.