Ask Me Anything! Marissa Meyer Talks Writing, Books, Life, and More for our 200th Episode Celebration!

In this 200th (!) episode of The Happy Writer Podcast, Marissa (with some help from Joanne) answers many of your burning questions. Topics discussed: dealing with burnout, crafting three-dimensional characters, writing to trends, co-writing, balancing writing with parenting, and so much more. Also included: much-anticipated updates on TLC production, upcoming tours, new books, and yes, a couple of first-time-heard future project reveals! 

Order and find out more about LET IT GLOW: https://www.marissameyer.com/let-it-glow/
Marissa's book playlists: https://www.marissameyer.com/extras/playlist/

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Transcript

[00:10] Marissa: Hello and welcome to the 200th episode of the happy writer. This is a podcast that aims to bring readers more books to enjoy and to help authors find more joy in their writing. I am your host, Marissa Meyer. Thank you so much for joining me. No big surprise here. The thing making me happy this week is like this episode. I cannot believe that we have already gotten to 200 on this podcast journey. Honestly, when I started this more than four years ago, way early 2020, right after the pandemic hit, I just was not thinking that far ahead. And I do not think that at that time I ever would have thought that we would have this many episodes under our belt, that we would still be going strong more than four years later. But it has been a wonderful journey. It has just filled me with so much joy. Getting to talk to other authors, writers, hear about their books, learn from them. I've picked up so many craft tips, read countless amazing books, many that I probably would not have picked up if it wasn't for doing this podcast and then hearing from you, from listeners, from writers, aspiring writers who have been inspired and encouraged, who have learned new tricks of the trade, who readers, who have tried new books and learned about new authors. It just is so fulfilling. And so I'm really thrilled that we're still here. Absolutely ecstatic that it has now turned into a book. If you don't know, the happy writer book is going to be out next January. It's available for pre order, FYI. Yeah. So just so many great things have come out of this, and I want to thank you listeners for being a part of this journey. I truly hope that it's going to continue for years still to come and still be a source for you, that is fun, that is useful, that fills you with just a little jolt of joy and inspiration every week. That is my goal. I hope that we're achieving it for you. Today, helping me celebrate 200 episodes, we are welcoming back my partner in crime, the podcast social media admin, and now officially, my co writer, Joanne Levy. Hello, Joanne. How are you?

[02:50] Joanne: Well, I don't know how I'm supposed to follow that huge intro and just joyous declaration of how much fun it's been over the past 200 episodes, but I will certainly try. You know what? It's been amazing. And listening to you say that this has been a project that has given back so much more than has been put into it, if that makes sense. Do you feel that way?

[03:14] Marissa: I do. I do feel. I mean, we put a lot into it. Let's just, like you and I work really hard to make. No doubt, as does Deke. Joanne's husband is our audio editor. He works really hard, too. But no, it is absolutely. It is the gift that keeps on giving and has given me much more than I thought that it would.

[03:33] Joanne: Same. Yeah. And so many tidbits and just writing gems and wonderful moments and even getting to know other authors and you. So it's really, truly been a joy, 200 episodes, that they're just so awesome. And thank you for bringing me on the journey.

[03:54] Marissa: I'm glad to have you. I honestly would not, could not be doing it without you. Because it's one thing to have to read the books and prepare for the interviews and do the recordings. If I had to also be tackling all of the backend, the admin, the organization, the. I mean, you do so much, the social media, and I would have given up, truly, a long time ago. So it is a team effort, and I'm so glad we're in it together.

[04:22] Joanne: Me, too.

[04:24] Marissa: Speaking of team efforts, if people don't know, as I mentioned, we are also now co writers, and I have a book that we wrote that's coming out this October. Do you want to pitch it? I mean, we haven't, like, practiced this or anything, like giving elevator pitch.

[04:41] Joanne: I know, it's crazy. It's, you know, I keep hearing the parent trap. The parent trap, which I think is hilarious because I've never seen the movie.

[04:49] Marissa: I haven't seen the new one. I saw the old one, of course, when I was a kid. I've not seen the Lindsay Lohan one.

[04:54] Joanne: Yeah. I feel like I need to rent it because apparently, you know, we wrote a book like it.

[05:00] Marissa: Yeah, there's some overlap. I can see it for sure.

[05:03] Joanne: Yeah. But I think the pitch that I'm using is twin girls separated at birth meet each other at the tryouts for a holiday pageant, decide to swap homes for the holidays. What could go wrong? Fun. Lots of food and holiday joy. And I think it's just a fun, cute book.

[05:24] Marissa: A fun, cute, joyous book. I agree. That was very much kind of what we set out to write was something that will bring holiday joy, hopefully for years to come. And I was so excited my first middle grade, and people know how much I love the holiday season, so, yeah, it's a really sweet, feel good story.

[05:43] Joanne: Yeah. And funny. It's really funny. I think we can't oversell that at all.

[05:48] Marissa: I hope it's funny. I mean, I know we made each other laugh plenty. So there's always, like, I hope other people have the same sense of humor.

[05:56] Joanne: Totally. Well, and that's the thing. I'm not an easy laugher when it comes to books, so I think it's a good sign that you made me laugh and that I made you laugh. Yeah. Yeah. I totally think that's a good sign. And it's just so sweet and fun. So.

[06:10] Marissa: Yeah. So that. Let it glow. Will be out. Oh, gosh, I don't even know. Is it. They changed the date on us. Is it October 1? October 1.

[06:18] Joanne: October 1, yes. Available for preorder.

[06:21] Marissa: And it's. Yeah, it's available for pre order, so I hope everyone enjoys it. All right, so for this, our 200th episode, we decided that we would do an ask me anything because it's been a little while since we did an AMA in a little while since we talked about me, Marissa Meyer, the host of this podcast. In my books and my writing, usually I'm the interviewer, and today I'm going to be more of the interviewee. So Joanne has collected questions from you listeners. I have not heard any of them. This is going to be totally off the cuff. So looking forward to hearing what you guys are curious about these days and hoping that I have some good answers. And then at the end of the Q and A, we also will be selecting our five grand prize winners because we did a little giveaway associated with these questions that we solicited. And five winners are going to win a. One of my books, they get to choose which of my books they'd like to receive. So we will choose our winners at the very end. Exciting. All right, Joanne, take it away. Are you ready? I'm ready.

[07:37] Joanne: So we got so many great questions, and some of them were repeats because people are very curious about the same things about you. But I have tons of questions here, so we'll see how many we can get through. And the very first one is, what is your most memorable moment of the past 200 episodes? Not to put you on the spot or anything.

[07:59] Marissa: Oh, my gosh. You know, this is the sort of thing where sometimes I think I should give a little bit more thought to these before I just launch right in, because this seems like a really smart question that I probably could have predicted, and I have given zero thought to it at all.

[08:13] Joanne: We can always come back to it at the end.

[08:15] Marissa: No, no, no. Let me think for a second. Okay. So my most, was it. Most memorable moment?

[08:21] Joanne: Most memorable moment of the past 200 episodes.

[08:24] Marissa: Hmm. Wow.

[08:27] Joanne: Okay.

[08:28] Marissa: That's, you know, so for me, I think a lot of the ones that stand out for me the most are, like, when another writer says something usually about craft or about their process, that shines a new light on it. That's something that I've never thought of or considered before. And honestly, I think, for me, the most memorable one, which it's probably kind of silly, but it was Marie Liu, and I think it was back when we were doing the lightning round questions at the end, and I'd, like, asked her favorite snack, and I want to say it was cheese puffs or cheetos, you know, something that, like, leaves a lot of dust on your fingers. And I was like, that's a terrible writing snack because you get. You can't eat that and not get the dust all over the keyboard. And she was like, oh, I use chopsticks, which I think is brilliant, and I have definitely learned, and now I do the same thing. And that was, like, a life changing moment for me because there were so many snack foods that were not available to me for my writing sessions that now they are. So that was a big one.

[09:36] Joanne: That's hilarious. It's like a total writing life hack.

[09:40] Marissa: Yeah. Oh, it is. Huge life hack.

[09:43] Joanne: That's awesome. Do you want to know mine?

[09:45] Marissa: Yeah, I do.

[09:46] Joanne: So still, and when you talk about sort of tips and tricks and things like that, I don't remember the number of the episode, but it was Tanaz Bhatna, and she said the villain is the hero of their own story or something to that effect. And it changed my complete perspective on point of view because it just gave it that permission to really go deep and really give the villain or even any other point of view, sort of the motivation where it comes from. So that was sort of a life changing moment for me. Not quite chopsticks on cheesies, but slightly less life changing.

[10:33] Marissa: No, no, I love that. And I think, I mean, if you really wanted to go, like, full on craft talk, like that idea of the villain being the hero of their own story, I will often try to remember or remind myself that really, every single character is the hero of their own story. Like the sidekick character, the best friend, the mom, the dad, the sibling. They're all living their own lives. And sometimes it's easy to forget that when you're so focused on your protagonist. But if you can and, like, give a little consideration to what other characters are going through and that they are in their own spotlight, it can really help to make them more authentic.

[11:16] Joanne: Yeah. And flesh them out a little.

[11:18] Marissa: Yeah.

[11:19] Joanne: Awesome. So the next question that we got, and we got a lot of them. So I put it at the top of the list. And I know you mentioned you talked about this a little, I think, in your faq on your website. But how do you come up with the names for your characters?

[11:37] Marissa: Lots of different ways, lots of methods that I use. So sometimes a name just pops in your head and you like it, and so you go with that. I do keep a list of names, which, honestly, at this point in time, is almost entirely from people who have come through my signing lines. And if I think they have a really cool name, I'll take the sticky note and set it aside, and then I'll add it to my list of names later. So if you've been through my signing line and then you see your name show up in a book, probably not coincidence. I probably stole it from you. I do use baby naming websites a lot, and I might search by the meanings of a particular name. Or sometimes, like, if it's a contemporary, I'll search for, okay, if this character is 16 in this year, then you go back 16 years and you look at the hundred most popular names from that year and pick from that. So those are some of the methods that I use. I will also like for last names, which for me, last names tend to be more difficult than first names. I like to go onto IMDb and look up any totally random movie and just scroll through the full list of credits, and I don't really know how I got onto doing that. I just think that it's a good way to get a really interesting assortment of surnames all at once to pick from.

[13:07] Joanne: Yeah, like sort of random. I do that on Facebook.

[13:10] Marissa: Yeah, no, that's another good one. Yep.

[13:13] Joanne: Yep. And then unless they're like a close contact and then I won't use it. But friends and in groups and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah.

[13:22] Marissa: No, you do. I mean, I'm kind of starting to get to the point now where I've written enough books where I know that I'm, like, repeating names and not meaning to. And I keep thinking I need to start a master document where I write down every name I've ever used because some names only get mentioned one time and then you forget that you used them.

[13:42] Joanne: Yeah, totally. So next we have. What do you recommend for burnout? Do you ever get burned out?

[13:49] Marissa: I'm sorry? Was it burnout with writing or with reading or just general burnout when writing? When writing? Yeah. Oh, that is such a great question. And this is something that I give a ton of thought to, actually. I'm very conscientious and very aware. When I feel like I'm starting to show symptoms of burnout, I take it really seriously because I think number one is always wanting to find joy and satisfaction in what I'm doing. And if you reach a point of burnout, then that just sucks all the joy out of it. And that would just make me really, really sad. Like, that would defeat the entire purpose of why I want to do this with my life. So I guess that's number one. Be aware that it's a possibility and be on the lookout for signs. Whether it's that you're no longer getting joy and satisfaction in writing or you just are always feeling fatigued, always feeling overwhelmed, not feeling like you're getting any new ideas that you're excited about are all various symptoms. A lot of health issues can arise with burnout, so be on the lookout for headaches. Hair falling out is a big one, a really common symptom. So just different things like that. And then when I notice it, it sounds obvious. But honestly, take a break. I have no problem taking a day or even a week and even a month off if that's what I really feel like I need. It's not happening. I think there's only one time in my career when I took, like, an entire month off because I think I'm really careful about it. And do try to give myself the time that I need when I feel like burnout is on the horizon. Take a day off. Do something that's very relaxing. Do something that you enjoy. Don't think about writing projects. Maybe you spend some time outdoors. Maybe you go on a little trip, a little staycation. Maybe go wander around some museums. Go to the spa. Give yourself a pedicure, like binge watch something on Netflix, whatever it is that you find. Just, like, helps you distance yourself from your work. Do that. And I also, for me, I'll do what I think of as, like, well, filling activities. What fills my creative well, watching movies, reading something that has nothing to do with the genre or the book that I'm currently working on. Just something totally random for fun that I'm curious about. Yeah, those are all things that I do. What else? What else do I do to avoid burnout? I mean, I think it's important to try to take care of yourself physically. Get a little bit of movement into your days. Drink a lot of water. Don't eat total junk food all the time. I'm a big person. I believe in balance. I'm totally fine having a cookie when I've met my word count goal, but also eat a salad once in a while. I think it all things in. In balance, in moderation, and. Yeah, yeah. So those are all things that I think about, I will say, like, the happy writer book that's coming out talks a lot about these strategies and avoiding burnout and making sure that you're taking care of yourself into being a productive, happy writer. So it's all kind of right at the forefront of my thoughts right now, actually.

[17:08] Joanne: Yeah, yeah. And it's so important, and it's for myself. I'm a bit of a workaholic, and I'm learning that giving myself the permission to step back, I struggle with that a lot, but that's how I get burned out, is that I don't allow myself, oh, I got to get this done. I got to get this done. I got to get this done. But I think writing is one of those things where when you're approaching burnout, and I have it in my head, what's that saying? The only way out is through. And I think that's not true of writing. If you're heading towards a burnout, I don't think that powering through is going to get you anywhere other than more burnout. So, yeah, giving yourself that permission to step away from it and, you know, and your brain prefers that anyway, I think from time to time and just let the gears turn in the background and.

[18:01] Marissa: Yeah, no, and I think when you're enjoying what you do, then you want to come back to it, and you tend to be more prolific, you tend to be more efficient, and then it's just a more enjoyable situation all around. So I think, you know, if you can give yourself that space that you need until you kind of feel like. For me, I think when my fingers start to itch to, like, get back to the keyboard, you know that feeling? I know, like, I'm in a good place again, as opposed to those days when you're, like, dreading something or feel like you keep putting it off or you're just, like, the very idea of writing today just is so emotionally draining. Okay, it's probably time to step back for a little while, knowing that when you come back to it, you're much more likely to be more motivated. And it just is better. It's just better when you take care of yourself first.

[18:57] Joanne: Yeah. And, you know, I wonder if the old trope of the tortured writer is just a burned out writer that didn't give themselves time to refresh.

[19:08] Marissa: That's an interesting theory. Yeah.

[19:10] Joanne: I could see that, I've been thinking about that a lot is with your book that's coming. And, and even the blurb says, you know, you don't, I'm paraphrasing, but you don't have to be a tortured writer and yada, yada, yada. So it's like, yeah, maybe giving yourself that permission to just take it easy and.

[19:30] Marissa: Recognizing and not like, holding yourself to standards set by other people. You know, we all do have different output levels, different processes. Like, it all, its all well and good if you admire somebody who writes, you know, 10,000 words a day. But if thats not for you, dont kill yourself trying to accomplish that. Like, youre going to be much more successful in the long run, following your own process and your own patterns and being consistent and just doing what works for you. Trying to push yourself too hard all the time is just going to lead to burnout. And that's not the goal. That's not what we're trying to accomplish.

[20:12] Joanne: And comparison is the thief of joy.

[20:15] Marissa: Comparison is the worst.

[20:18] Joanne: All right. We'll never get through all these questions.

[20:20] Marissa: I know we chat too much. I'm sorry.

[20:22] Joanne: Too much. I will not say sorry. I enjoy our chats, and I think other people do, too. But next, how do I make convincing characters that are nothing like myself?

[20:32] Marissa: That's funny. I never worry about making characters like myself or too much like myself. I know that every character is going to be a little bit like me because I just think that there has to be something in a character that I'm able to relate to and to understand. So they're all going to have a tiny bit of me. But beyond that, I think of writing characters that I am curious about that I think will be interesting, that I want to hang out with for a while. I like writing characters that know things or are talented in ways that I am not, which I, of course, means. I'll have to research and learn about these things, but I enjoy that. Yeah. So I don't worry about not making them like me. I'm just more focused on trying to write characters that I want to spend hundreds of pages with. And for me, a lot of times that starts with a very generalized archetype, which we've talked about on this show. I think. Was it Sarah Raleigh? I think in her episode talked about archetypes in a way that I was just like, yes, this is so brilliant. That was another one of those episodes that really stuck with me. And so starting with a general idea of what a character's personality type is. And then digging into that, okay, if they're the boisterous optimist, what made them that way? Are they hiding something that they don't want people to know about? Are they trying really hard to be accepted and liked by people because they were abandoned by someone in their past? I mean, what was it that made them this way? And why is it important for them to be this way? And then from there, you kind of start to learn about their backstory, their history, and that might lead into learning about their family situation. It might lead into learning about how do they spend their time, their interests, their hobbies. So you just kind of build on them and develop them from there. But that's usually where I'm starting from, is figuring out, like, what is their general personality like? And then asking, okay, but why? Why are they that way?

[22:50] Joanne: Yeah, fully makes sense. Next is how long does it typically take you to draft?

[22:56] Marissa: It does vary by book, but on average, so to draft. So a first draft, three to four months, I'd say on average, yeah. There's certainly some that are faster and there's some that take longer, but that's probably about an average for me.

[23:14] Joanne: What songs have inspired your writing process?

[23:21] Marissa: It's been a long time since I listened to it, but early, early on, I used to listen to the song Razzle dazzle from the Chicago musical soundtrack, and I really did think of it as my writing theme song for a long time. Because the whole premise of the song is that is, like, if you're having to perform and you have absolutely no idea what you're doing and you're convinced that everyone is going to see you as a total fake, then just razzle dazzle them. Like, bring out the confetti and the glitter and the acrobatics and the fireworks, and people will be so amazed that they will have no idea that you have. You don't know what you're doing. And I thought of that a lot in my kind of fake it till you make it thing. Like, I don't know that I can be a real writer. I don't know if I'm any good at this. I don't know if anybody's going to buy these books or, like, what I'm doing, but I'm just going to keep doing my best to make it exciting, to make it as romantic as I can, to make the characters as larger than life than I can, and hope that readers will be so bewildered by, like, wow, there's so much happening in this book, and I just love everything so much that they won't realize that I don't know what I'm doing.

[24:41] Joanne: My goodness. Well, it seems to have worked out for you.

[24:44] Marissa: So it's funny because now I kind of feel like I do sort of know what I'm doing. But there are definitely still days when I think about that where I'm just like, you know, writing is hard, and every book is hard, and there are days when you're just like, this book is terrible. And I'm why am I wasting my time on it? And I will come back to that and think, okay, but how can I make this scene brighter and sparkly? And if I can just make enough scenes sparkle, then maybe it'll be okay. 

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[27:35] Joanne: Okay, next. Should I worry about trends?

[27:40] Marissa: I'm giving it honest consideration because my instinct is to say no, but I thought I should actually give it some thought before I just say no. So this is a hard one. I mean, I'm going to say no because I think a really well written book is going to find its audience regardless of whether or not it hits on a trend. I don't think we should ever try to write to trends because publishing and writing tend to be slow processes. And generally, by the time you notice there's a trend happening, you have already missed out on that boat. So I don't ever recommend trying to capture a trend. But if you are writing something that's not trendy, who knows? By the time you're finished, by the time it's getting published, it might be hot again. You might start that new trend. If you're writing something that feels, you're worried it's coming in on the tail end of a trend, maybe, maybe publishers will pass on it because, oh, this market has been saturated. Or maybe you have some new twists that they haven't seen yet that they'll get really excited about, or maybe that book won't go anywhere now, but it's going to be in your back pocket waiting for ten years from now when the trend comes back around again. Like, you just don't know. So I think it's much more important to write what you are most excited about and what you are inspired to write because you just can't control, you can't control the market, you can't control what the trends are going to be.

[29:13] Joanne: Yeah, for sure. Next is how do you go about co writing, Joanne? I didn't plant this, I promise.

[29:25] Marissa: How did we go about co writing so well? We had a Google Doc that we shared and for us in let it glow, it's two point of view characters. And so Joanne took one and I took one and we just kind of bounced back and forth. Joanne would write a chapter and then the next day I'd get on and I'd read her chapter, then I'd write mine. And it actually turned out to be a really smooth, I hate to say easy when you talk about writing, but in the case of let it glow, it actually felt like a pretty easy process.

[30:00] Joanne: I will agree with that. And I will say that I honestly thought it was going to be a little rougher than it was, but it was because we have such different ways of writing and looking at things. And you're an outliner, I'm a pantser. And so I thought it might be a little rougher. But it worked. Yeah, it did feel a little easier than it should have.

[30:26] Marissa: Yeah. No, it did. This is a really a book that just kind of came together really organically. I will say you kind of turned yourself into an outliner, and I don't know if that's because it was a co writing project or if you were doing it for me. But we did have an outline that we worked from, and we managed to stay very on track to the outline.

[30:49] Joanne: Yeah. And that was a conscious thing because we were going to be working on it together that, you know, it felt like it was necessary. You know, if you saw the manuscript that I'm working on right now, that is just a hot mess of. Yeah, I mean, it's just not working. But for two people to write together, it was definitely necessary. So I can't say that I'm going to be an outliner forever, but I mean, yeah, I think for us to go back and forth and back and forth, it was necessary.

[31:24] Marissa: Yeah, no, it worked out really well. Trying to think of, is there any, anything else that, that we did like that was specific to the co writing process? I mean, we definitely would occasionally have a Zoom call if there was something we were kind of stuck on. Let's chat it over and brainstorm and figure it out.

[31:41] Joanne: Yeah. And then, I mean, we did some pre work. We did work on the outline together before we actually started the writing. It was a few weeks, I think. I can't even remember. But I will say that the one thing that, that we did before we even started, well, it wasn't something we actively did, but I think we had such trust in each other as writers and respect for each other that I think that made the difference, that it sort of took away that fear of disappointing each other or not being. Do you know what I mean?

[32:14] Marissa: No, I think that's huge. I think trusting your co writing partner is, I mean, if you don't, if you don't respect them as a writer, then you're not going to respect the choices that they make and you're gonna question the things that they want you to change and, yeah, I mean, that just seems like a recipe for disaster.

[32:30] Joanne: Yeah. And there weren't a lot of places where we did not agree on anything. And the few times that we did, it was sort of like, well, this is why I don't agree. And, you know, we sort of made a case for whatever it was, and that respect was so important. But again, I don't think there was anything big that really came about.

[32:54] Marissa: Yeah, no, everything felt like it was resolved really easily.

[32:57] Joanne: One thing that you sort of pushed me to do, I'm not going to give any spoilers. Turned out to be, like, the best part of the book.

[33:05] Marissa: That's like my favorite scene. Me, too.

[33:08] Joanne: Me, too. We'll talk about it after it comes out and maybe people will guess what it is. But that was the best thing. And I remember being a little resistant to it. And I'm like, I don't think so. I don't think so. You were right.

[33:22] Marissa: Thank you. I have my moments. No, and I will throw out that Joanne and I, of course, are going to do a full episode talking about let it glow and the co writing process later this year when it gets closer to book release. So if you're super curious about co writing, stay tuned for that later.

[33:41] Joanne: Awesome. Next is, how do you manage spending time with your kids while still writing when the inspiration strikes?

[33:51] Marissa: Constant battle. Constant. Constant. Yeah. This is like the thing that I struggle with the most in my entire life.

[33:59] Joanne: Mom guilt.

[34:00] Marissa: Yes. No, there is absolutely mom guilt. Even though I think that it is good and healthy for kids to see their parents working just in general, but also, in my case, really loving what I do, I think that that's good for them to see and for them to know that this is not only my livelihood, but it's also something that brings me a lot of joy. But yes, I love to go, like, on writing dates and writing retreats with my local writing buddies. And it's hard. It's hard to do that and not feel like you're not doing the right mom thing, which is very cultural. But yeah. So for me, I mean, trying not to feel guilty, to recognize, like, my kids are fine, they get lots of mom time. And when it's time for me to do what I need to do and what I want to do, there's nothing wrong with that. And I do truly believe that. But a lot of it is having structure to my days. And I know, like, I get up in the morning and I get a little bit of writing work time around 10:00 it's time to do our homeschool. That usually lasts two to 3 hours where they're getting very focused, full on mom time for that. Then there's a few hours in the afternoon where I work some more, and then evenings again are family time. And if there's a period where I need to do more writing, like if I'm on deadline or something, then I will often try to kind of offset it by like, okay, but when I'm done with and I get this book turned in, then we're going to have a mommy daughter day, or we're going to go on a little mini trip together, or we're going to plan a field trip and go to the zoo and spend all day going to the zoo and getting ice cream or playing games or whatever it is. If I'm really having to hunker down and focus on the writing for a longer period of time, then I do try to plan in more family time to kind of balance that out.

[36:09] Joanne: Will you be my mom? That's my question.

[36:15] Marissa: Yeah, I feel like I'm doing okay. I mean, I love writing, and I love my job, but I also really, truly enjoy homeschooling, and I love being with my kids, and so it really is a constant. Like, I want to be doing both things so badly all the time. And it can be hard to feel like you're striking the right balance.

[36:37] Joanne: Yeah, for sure. What is your favorite subject to research when writing?

[36:42] Marissa: Hmm, gosh, probably folklore. Different folklores, folklore from around the world, fairy tales from around the world, mythology, monsters. I'm fascinated by all of that, and I'm fascinated by how so much folklore is so similar across different countries, different cultures, and yet there's also these pockets of cultures and religions where they have things that I never would have thought of. This is so bizarre and strange and unusual and cool, and I love discovering things like that that I'd never heard of before.

[37:25] Joanne: It's so fun doing research like that, isn't it?

[37:28] Marissa: No. So fun. And that's why I write so many fairy tales and so much based on old folklore.

[37:35] Joanne: What has been the most difficult part of your writing journey?

[37:39] Marissa: The most difficult part of my writing journey, honestly? Probably writing renegades, which was, like, the one time in my career where I did feel burnout because it was just the first book in that trilogy, just took a lot out of me and went through more complete rewrites than anything I'd ever written before or after. And, yeah, there were so many points where I doubted that book, where I felt like this book was never gonna be right, where I wanted to give up on it. It was a big struggle for a solid year, if not longer. Yeah. Yeah. That's probably. That's probably the biggest struggle that I've had, was getting that book right. But, of course, in the end, I'm so proud of it. And that's one of those things that, like, sometimes the harder something is, then the more satisfying it is once you finally get it right. So there's. There's pros and cons, for sure.

[38:38] Joanne: And somebody asked, which of your books was the hardest to write. So is it fair to say that Renegades was the hardest to write?

[38:44] Marissa: Absolutely. 100%. Yeah.

[38:47] Joanne: So next. Oh, here's a question that I thought would be interesting to cover. How do you choose covers for your books?

[38:58] Marissa: Well, I don't, for starters. So when you're being traditionally published, publisher does have a designer, usually on staff, and they typically will come up with the concept. Sometimes they design the book 100%, the COVID 100%. Sometimes they will come up with a concept and then hire an illustrator or a designer or photographer to kind of bring that concept to life. The author generally does not have a ton of say in what the COVID looks like. I will say that I am now at a point in my career in which my publisher does care what I think, which is nice. So I do get to give an opinion, and they do generally listen to that opinion. But we haven't seen eye to eye on everything. I've never. If I really strongly dislike something, they have always changed it, which I'm very grateful for. But there have been times when I liked one cover and the publisher went with something different. And that does happen sometimes, but, yeah. So I don't really have a ton of control or input into the COVID process.

[40:12] Joanne: Yeah. And that's pretty typical. Very typical.

[40:15] Marissa: Yeah.

[40:15] Joanne: I like to joke that my first book in my contract was that I have cover consultation, and what that turned out to be was they emailed me the COVID and said, hope you love it.

[40:26] Marissa: Yeah, right. No, I joke, and it's like, yeah, they send you the COVID and they tell you you love it.

[40:33] Joanne: We know you're going to love it. So I think if we don't move to the next category of questions, we're going to run out of time.

[40:42] Marissa: Okay.

[40:43] Joanne: People want to know these other questions, too. So we'll have to just save the other writing related questions for a writing craft episode, maybe.

[40:52] Marissa: Okay. Yeah, set them aside. We can do that.

[40:55] Joanne: So now we go on to the more personal things that people want to know you, starting with your favorite legend of Zelda game, Ocarina. Sorry, I think I laughed through that. Ocarina.

[41:06] Marissa: Ocarina of time was my favorite. Although I will. Little interesting tidbit about Marissa. When I was in high school, I was dating this guy, and he had the very, very first. I don't even know, was it just the legend of Zelda? I guess would have been the title of it, the very first one. And I would play it whenever I was over at his house, and I was like, up to the last level. And we broke up, and there was a party, I was like, okay, but can I still come over and play? I did not. I never, never was able to finish that game. Oh, no.

[41:50] Joanne: What is your favorite non writing or book related hobby? Please tell me it's your goats.

[41:57] Marissa: You know what? I do not. I am very hands off with the goats. My mother in law mostly take. We do. For people who are like, goats. We have three goats. We got the girls goats for Christmas. I mean, Santa. Santa got the girls goats for Christmas, and I. Yeah, I don't. I don't do anything. My mother in law pretty much takes care of the goats. What is my. I mean, probably travel, which, whether it's just, like, traveling and doing touristy things in my own area or, like, actual travel, flying to new destinations. I love. I love seeing the world. There's so much that I want to see and explore and back to writing. Like, whenever. Whenever I'm traveling, I always get inspired for new stories, story ideas, new twists, new characters. I think it's. For me, it's the number one way that I really stay inspired.

[42:57] Joanne: Well, there's so much to see. The world is a pretty big place.

[43:00] Marissa: So much. Yeah.

[43:02] Joanne: What's your favorite writing snack, either with or without chopsticks?

[43:06] Marissa: I do. Gosh, do I have a favorite, like, all number one, probably tortilla chips and hummus.

[43:17] Joanne: Hmm.

[43:18] Marissa: Yeah.

[43:19] Joanne: Yum. I don't eat when I'm writing.

[43:21] Marissa: I don't every day, but certainly there's times when you're like, I could really use a snack right now.

[43:29] Joanne: I mean, I'm always drinking tea while I'm writing, but I don't consider that a snack.

[43:33] Marissa: Yeah. I mostly drink sparkling water when I'm writing, coffee in the morning, and then sparkling water, and then if I'm still going after, like, 05:00 then a glass of wine.

[43:43] Joanne: Oh. What book inspired you as a child?

[43:49] Marissa: Lots of books inspired me as a child, so it's hard to narrow down to just one. But I'll say Anne of Green Gables was one of the big ones.

[43:58] Joanne: I was just thinking that, too. But I'm canadian, and I'm a redhead, and I'm adopted, so if I don't say Anne of.

[44:07] Marissa: It was written about you.

[44:08] Joanne: Yeah, they take away my canadian card. But you know what? I read it a few years ago. It still holds up.

[44:14] Marissa: Yeah. No, I am going to read it to the girls. I haven't yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

[44:19] Joanne: It's so funny, but for different reasons. When you're an adult, it hits differently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it again.

[44:26] Marissa: I hope the girls love it.

[44:27] Joanne: Yeah. Your favorite color? And why orange?

[44:33] Marissa: And honestly, it's. It started out as my favorite color many years ago because it was the one color that nobody else ever said was their favorite. And so I felt like it was underappreciated and unloved. And generally when things feel underappreciated and unloved, that makes me want to love them.

[44:51] Joanne: That's very kind of you to choose a color based on it being frozen and unloved. It's very sweet.

[44:59] Marissa: It's a very cheerful color. It's bright. It's on brand.

[45:04] Joanne: Have your daughters read any of your books yet?

[45:08] Marissa: No. They did start reading Cinder recently, but then they, I think they got, like, one or two chapters in and then discovered the magic Treehouse series and were like, whatever, mom, that's so funny.

[45:21] Joanne: But they will read let it glow soon.

[45:24] Marissa: Yeah, I hope so. I mean, I don't, if they never read any of my books, I'm okay with that. Certainly not going to force it. But whenever they're curious and ready, they are available for them.

[45:37] Joanne: Somebody asked a follow up. Are either of them interested in writing sometimes?

[45:43] Marissa: Sloane? No, not so much. Delaney likes to write occasional short story. She's also done a couple of songs that she's written very recently. Just the last couple of weeks, she had the idea of wanting to try writing a comic or a graphic novel. But it's generally where the interest will last for a couple of hours and then disappear. And I don't really see it anymore for weeks or months. As opposed to when I was a kid and discovered writing. You couldn't get me to stop. That's all I wanted to do all the time. So I don't foresee either of them being a writer, but they are so creative in lots of other ways, so I'll be curious to see where it goes.

[46:26] Joanne: Mm hmm. Any, speaking of creativity, any other creative jobs you'd like to try?

[46:33] Marissa: Not as a job. Yeah. I mean, as a hobby. Like, I would love to try watercolor painting. Like, take a class on watercolor painting. I have taken classes on flower arranging, which I think is really interesting. Yeah. I mean, there's certainly, what else would I be really interested? I mean, there's so many crafts and things that I admire in other people. Anyone who can draw or paint, I think is so cool. Sculpture is so cool. Anyone who can sew and make clothes or costuming, I just think it's amazing. But these are all things that I really love and admire that other people do, but I don't really feel called to do them myself.

[47:19] Joanne: Have you ever taken a painting class or done, like, a paint night or anything?

[47:24] Marissa: I've done paint nights and think it's really super fun, but not, like, as a passion. I don't think I'd ever have a passion for it. But they give you a glass of wine, so it's like, what's not to love about this? I did in college. I took a photography class that I loved, and I took a sculpture class that I really, really loved.

[47:42] Joanne: Yeah, it's fun. I think that creatives are creative, and many ways, it's just sort of finding what works for you.

[47:50] Marissa: Yeah.

[47:51] Joanne: Yeah.

[47:51] Marissa: Honestly, I feel like so much of my creativity, beyond writing these days, is spent, like, surrounding the homeschooling thing. Like, coming up with unit plans and putting together different art projects that relate to the things we're studying. It takes a ton of creativity and problem solving, but I love it. I find it so satisfying.

[48:12] Joanne: That's really nice to hear.

[48:14] Marissa: Yeah.

[48:14] Joanne: Cool. So now we move on to the questions that are about your books. So, of course, we need an update on the lunar Chronicles production.

[48:27] Marissa: That I can't, like, say anything about. So I did receive the script. If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw that I had the Lunar Chronicles first movie script in hand a few weeks ago, which is so exciting to finally be there and to see this thing that they have been working on for years. But I can't talk about it. I can't say anything about anything. So, I mean, that's where we are. That's where we are in the process. A script exists, and for people who haven't been following along at all, it's with locksmith animation, and they're pairing up or partnering up with Warner Brothers animation. And I'm hoping that we get good news, like, any day that it's been greenlit and can go into production, but things never happen quickly. So, yeah, that's where we are right now.

[49:31] Joanne: Well, it's progress. It's progress.

[49:33] Marissa: It's huge. It's a huge step forward. And even though this is now the fourth company that has had the rights to the Lunar Chronicles, this is the first time we've gotten to this stage where they had a script for me to see, so I feel super optimistic about it.

[49:48] Joanne: Yeah. And speaking of the Lunar Chronicles, of course, you got asked if you're going to do more in that world.

[49:56] Marissa: I don't think so. Never say never. Like, of course, if I woke up tomorrow and had a brilliant idea for a continuation or a sequel or I would absolutely consider it, but it's been. I mean, when did. I mean, the last one came out in 2015, so almost ten years ago. And I have not gotten any more ideas and nothing that I'm excited about. So I feel like it's done. I feel like it's run its course, and hopefully we just have some awesome movies to look forward to.

[50:27] Joanne: Do you have any more retellings on the horizon and perhaps a beauty and the beast? That one gets asked a lot.

[50:34] Marissa: Yes, I do have more retellings on the horizon. The next one have I. I'm just going to say. So the next one, I don't know if I'm allowed really to talk about it, but is going to be Bluebeard, which is one of my favorite fairy tales, and I think that's going to be out next fall. So fall 2025, if I can hit my deadline and get it done. As for Beauty and the beast, so yes and no, sort of. I want to do a retelling of the norwegian fairy tale east of the sun, west of the Moon, which is very similar, has a lot of the same tropes as Beauty and the beast, but very different kind of storyline. So read that fairy tale because it's hard to kind of explain what's similar and what's different. And I don't want to take up the rest of the episode, but that is one of the fairy tales that I'm looking forward to doing in the somewhat near future.

[51:36] Joanne: And I think your fans will be very excited to hear that.

[51:39] Marissa: I hope so. And I hope that people who have never heard of the story go and read it, and I hope that they love it because it's one that I think is really cool. And I've actually wanted to retell that fairy tale since I was, like, in college, so it's been one that's been in my head for a long time.

[51:54] Joanne: And you did. You have teased them. Is it Bluebeard?

[51:58] Marissa: Bluebeard? Yes.

[51:59] Joanne: I'm not familiar with that. But you have teased it before, so.

[52:03] Marissa: Okay.

[52:03] Joanne: I know it may not be a big surprise.

[52:05] Marissa: Yeah. I've been talking about wanting to do Bluebeard for ages. I wasn't sure if it's been officially announced, so I guess we can call this officially. I am definitely doing Bluebeard, and I am actively working on it. Yay.

[52:19] Joanne: People will be excited, and then people want to know if there's going to be more renegades.

[52:27] Marissa: The question this always comes up and in the past. So when did Renee. So the last Renegades must have been out in 2019. I think so for five years, I've been saying, like, maybe someday I'd like to possibly. Today, for the first time ever, I can say, yes. It's not under contract, but I spent this last week while we were traveling, brainstorming, and starting to do an early outline for a sequel series to the Renegades trilogy. So that is in progress. Officially. It's still a long ways out. Um, but I have some ideas that I am super, super excited for, so. Yay.

[53:19] Joanne: And you heard it here first.

[53:22] Marissa: You heard it here first. I know this. That's. That's the thing. We're going to have to tease the most, telling people to go listen to the episode.

[53:31] Joanne: And speaking of travel, people are asking if you're going on tour anytime soon and specifically Wisconsin or Mexico.

[53:42] Marissa: Oh, interesting. I do not currently have plans to visit Wisconsin or Mexico, unfortunately. It's been a long time since I've been to Wisconsin, which actually was one of my favorite destinations I have ever been to on any book tour, which was surprising to me because I didn't know really anything about Wisconsin, and I found it to be just absolutely beautiful there. So I'll have to mention that to my publicist on book tour. So I am going. When is this going up? Yeah, so it'll be before. So I'm going to Europe and I'm going to be in England. London, England. And I'm going to be. I'm going to be in France. But we're not actually doing any public events in France, so that doesn't help you all. And then I'm going to do an event in the Netherlands. Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

[54:30] Joanne: In.

[54:31] Marissa: Is that June 30? I think so those are coming up. And then you. That is this month. That's like, in weeks. In weeks, I shall be in Europe. And then you and I are going to be on tour for let it glow come October. Yay. And I think that's it for now. I want to say that's all that I currently have on the schedule for touring. Yeah, and we haven't announced the places we're going in the fall for let it glow have not been announced yet, but they will in the next couple of months.

[55:05] Joanne: So stay tuned for that and follow up to that. Do you choose your own tour stops?

[55:12] Marissa: I don't. I don't. I. Similar to the covers discussion. Like, I can make suggestions and make requests, but that is all set up by the publicist and they have all sorts of algorithms and things that they're looking at. You know, which stores report to the New York Times and which stores haven't we featured in a long time? And, you know, which accounts do we need to for political reasons? Where do we need to send Marissa this time? And it's, like, way beyond me. And. Yeah. So I just pretty much go where they tell me to go.

[55:47] Joanne: You pack your bag and off you go.

[55:49] Marissa: Exactly.

[55:50] Joanne: Who is your favorite character from all of your books? It's like asking who your favorite child is.

[55:56] Marissa: You know, it is a little bit, and it should be hard, but I actually do have a favorite, and it is jest from Hartley.

[56:05] Joanne: I think a lot of your fans would agree with that, too. Yeah, no, he's quite beloved, especially considering. But I'm not going to go into that.

[56:12] Marissa: I know.

[56:15] Joanne: Which of your characters do you think is the most underrated?

[56:19] Marissa: Oh. Huh? Who is the most underrated? I mean, there's certainly, like, minor characters that I really love, but I think other. I think readers really love them, too. I'm thinking of, like, Callum and Max from Renegades. Like, they were some of my favorite characters, but I think readers love them. I don't think they're underappreciated necessarily. So. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think I have an answer for that one.

[56:42] Joanne: Okay. That's fair. Have you or are you considering writing an adult book in the future?

[56:49] Marissa: I am not, for no other reason than I just have lots of ideas for young adult and a couple ideas for more middle grades and graphic novels, and I simply just don't currently have any ideas for adult. I'd consider it if a good idea came, but, yeah, no, not right now.

[57:08] Joanne: Fair. Here's a fun one. If you could publish a totally non Marissa Meyer novel under a pseudonym, guaranteed to be a bestseller, what would it be about?

[57:19] Marissa: Hmm.

[57:22] Joanne: You said you didn't want the questions in advance.

[57:25] Marissa: I know, I know. Yeah. I mean, usually when I have an idea that I'm excited for, then it's. Then I just write it. Like, I don't. I'm not afraid to, like, try new genres and to try things. So I pretty much feel like I don't have to get a pseudonym and, like, publish it under, like, I just. If I'm. If I'm excited to write something, then that's probably what I'm going to write next. So I don't have anything that's like, oh, I really wish I could write this book, but my fans would never go for it. I just don't really have anything like that. So I don't. I don't know. That's kind of a boring answer. Sorry.

[58:00] Joanne: That's all right. If you had to do a crossover between two of your worlds, what would it be and why?

[58:07] Marissa: Hmm. Well, probably, if I had to. If I had. It's funny because I actually kind of did a crossover with the Cinders adventure. Choose your own adventure story in which I, like, smashed together all of my worlds into, like, this really wacky story. So I've kind of done it, and it was a ton of fun. Probably renegades and lunar chronicles for no other reason than I think that that's just, like, a whole lot of really fun characters that would be interesting to see how they react together.

[58:43] Joanne: Yeah, that would be fun. Will there be any other special editions of different books?

[58:52] Marissa: Well, actually, I was going to say I have no idea. That's not true. We just got requests. But I'm terrible at remembering these things. So I think there's a company that's working on a new Lunar Chronicles special edition, but that hasn't been announced yet. And then there was another one, too. Was it? Huh? I can't remember. It wasn't another heartless. Hmm. I don't know. I'd have to go back and look.

[59:19] Joanne: I can't wait to see those heartless ones.

[59:21] Marissa: Oh, my gosh. The litjoy books. I cannot wait to see them. Yeah. And actually, I'm thinking the second one, it wasn't a special edition. I think it was for a book box, so I might be getting confused. Yeah. So. But, yeah, the lit joy. Oh, my gosh. They're so pretty. They did such a great job, and I can't wait to see them in person.

[59:41] Joanne: Yeah. This month, I think they come out.

[59:44] Marissa: Yeah. I'm bad at remembering things like that, but maybe.

[59:47] Joanne: Yeah, no, I think it was June. I think it said shipping in June.

[59:50] Marissa: Okay.

[59:51] Joanne: And do you have a favorite of your books?

[59:54] Marissa: So. No. By the time a book is done, I'm usually really happy and really satisfied and really proud of what I've done, but also never want to see it again. But I will say, like, for me, the most fun that I can remember having in my career was writing. Instant karma. And so that one holds a special place in my heart just because writing, it was just so joyous, and I put a lot of myself and a lot of my teen self into it, and, yeah, that's. So I'm not gonna say it's my favorite book, but it was one that I enjoyed. Writing more than a lot of the.

[01:00:38] Joanne: Others, and it shows. I mean, it just has that vibe about it.

[01:00:44] Marissa: I'm glad. I'm glad.

[01:00:45] Joanne: Yeah. I think we're running low on time. Maybe one more. One or two more.

[01:00:49] Marissa: Okay. Yep.

[01:00:51] Joanne: Do you make playlists?

[01:00:54] Marissa: I do. Sometimes I'll make a playlist at the start of the project or while I'm drafting. Sometimes I don't. It's not until after the book is written that then I'll, like, go back and think what songs give me the vibe of the book. So it depends what time I make the playlist. Depends on the book. But, yeah, I do have playlists for all of my books or all of my series, and you can see them all on my website, marissamayer.com, in the extras section. Yes.

[01:01:25] Joanne: Yeah. And last one. What would you like to get more fan art of?

[01:01:33] Marissa: I mean, just to say, I love fan art. So, like, anything anybody's inspired to draw just or paint or create just makes me so happy. And it's absolutely one of my favorite things about being a writer is seeing the. The interpretations that readers have of the characters. So. So there's that. Um, but I would say, I mean, I. I've seen a ton of lunar chronicles fan art, a fair amount of renegades fan art. There has not been a lot from the Fortuna beach world, instant karma and with a little luck, and there has not been a lot that I've seen of gilded and cursed. So, I mean, I've seen a lot of heartless. There's been a lot of heartless. So those two, the Fortuna beach world and the gilded and cursed world, I'd love to see more just because I haven't seen as much as I have of the others.

[01:02:24] Joanne: So, fans, you know what to do.

[01:02:28] Marissa: But truly, truly, just knowing that people like the characters, like the stories enough that they are inspired to create anything, I love that. It really does make me really happy.

[01:02:41] Joanne: Amazing. Yeah. I mean, it's so validating, for sure.

[01:02:44] Marissa: Yes.

[01:02:45] Joanne: And there's a lot of talented artists out there.

[01:02:48] Marissa: So many talented people, it blows me away. I. I am frequently amazed at what people create.

[01:03:00] Joanne: Some. So, next, shall we do the draw?

[01:03:06] Marissa: Let's do it. Okay, so I'm going to. So, again, so we have five grand prize winners who will each get to choose a Marissa Meyer book of their choice. And we're going to do it randomly. So I'm going to go ahead and pull up my random search generator thing here.

[01:03:28] Joanne: I have the trusty spreadsheet of the names.

[01:03:31] Marissa: All right. So let's see. All right, we're generating. Here we go. Number 62.

[01:03:39] Joanne: Number 62. And we will email the winners as well. That's Gretchen v. From South Dakota.

[01:03:49] Marissa: Congratulations, Gretchen. All right, next. 74.

[01:03:56] Joanne: 74 is. Oh, I hope I'm pronouncing it correctly. It's Sumaya from Moorpark, California.

[01:04:05] Marissa: Yay. Congratulations, Sumaya. Next, 56.

[01:04:11] Joanne: 56. Six is Elizabeth from Rockland, California.

[01:04:17] Marissa: Awesome. Congrats, Elizabeth. 32.

[01:04:22] Joanne: 32, let's see, 32 is Rowan from Kinston, North Carolina.

[01:04:30] Marissa: Awesome, Rowan, congratulations. Last one. Last winner. Oh, it's Gretchen again. 62. That's funny. Number three, way up at the top.

[01:04:41] Joanne: Three is Aubrey from Meadow. Sorry. Coleman, Alabama.

[01:04:48] Marissa: Awesome. Congratulations, Aubrey, Gretchen, Sumayya, Elizabeth, and Rowan. We will be in touch, and you can all pick what book you would like for me to send to you. Congratulations and thank you for submitting questions and being part of our 200th episode ask me anything celebration. And Joanne, thank you for joining me and for helping collect the questions and being my interviewer today.

[01:05:18] Joanne: Always a pleasure.

[01:05:19] Marissa: All right, and cheers. Here's to another 200 episodes, 200 more readers. We hope that you enjoyed this conversation and that some of your questions got answered. And of course, we hope that you will consider pre ordering let it glow coming out this October and the happy writer, which comes out next January. Of course, we encourage you to support your local indie bookstore. Or you can check out our affiliate store@bookshop.org, shop. Marissa Meyer. Next week, I will be talking with the husband and wife co author duo Emily Wibberley and Austin Sigmund Broca for their new contemporary YA heist novel, Eris takes all. Please don't forget to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. And check out our merchandise on Etsy, Instagram and teepublic. And be sure to follow us on Instagram. Happy writerpodcast. Until next time, stay inspired, keep writing, and whatever life throws you today, I hope that now you're feeling a little bit happier.