Laura Powell
About Author
Laura Powell writes: 'I was born in London, but grew up in the Brecon Beacons. Our house looks across the valley to Carreg Cennen Castle, quite possibly the most romantic ruin in Wales.
It was a very old-fashioned country childhood, and I spent most of it with my nose in a book. I also devoted quite a lot of time plotting ways to escape school. I went to a girls' boarding school from the age of eleven and absolutely hated it.
University was much better. I studied Classics at Bristol and Oxford, then spent five years working in the editorial departments of both adult and children's publishers.
I now live in West London. My desk is by the attic window so I can daydream over the rooftops - it's perfect for procrastination.'
Author link
laurapowellauthor.com/?q=node/2
Interview
BURN MARK
June 2012
Bloomsbury Children's Books
Glory, from a family of witches, is desperate to become a witch herself while Lucas's family is steeped in the Inquisition - they are the witches' mortal enemy. Then on the same day both Lucas and Glory develop the Fae - the mark of the witch. Suddenly, their lives become inextricably bound together, whether they like it or not....
Author Laura Powell talks about her new book, Burn Mark.
Q: Why did you decide to turn to witches and witchcraft for this story?
A: I've previously written some romantic chick lit and then paranormal titles like The Game of Chance, so this is following up from that but it's more streetwise and less fantasy. I wanted to write about witches because they are scary, sexy, you can make them good guys or villains. I also wanted to write about crime because I love US crime writers like Michael Connelly and Raymond Chandler. I wanted to write a crime noire and this is my take on the genre.
Q: How did you 'modernise' the enmity between witches and the Inquisition?
A: I studied the historical witch trials while I was at school and researched books like The Hammer of the Witches, the Inquisitor's handbook, which is ruthless, clear cut and logical - it's actually very modern.
The big threat we seem to feel these days is from terrorism so I also drew on that, looking at a different kind of terrorist threat and how a society struggles to contain it.
Q: How did you develop that idea of witches being a minority force and a possible terrorist threat?
A: The witches are a minority, an underclass and they are persecuted - it's a fantasy novel but I did bring in echoes of the 'war on terror' when I was writing the witch-hunting scenes. They use things like water ducking, which is like the water-boarding of terrorist suspects, and secret renditioning, although the witches' experiences also reflect any minority class that the population is unsettled by.
Q: In your story the witches run the East End gangs, how did that idea develop?
A: Witches have many abilities such as being able to 'see' through walls, changing their appearance, taking over people's minds, and if you had quite a pragmatic, criminal approach, all these things could be quite useful.
I did a lot of research into gangs like the Kray Twins, who are the inspiration for the Starling Twins in the book - what if the Kray Twins had been beautiful, brilliant sisters with witchcraft abilities?
But what makes witches great criminals could also make them great spies - so witches can either be 'servants of the State', or persecuted by the State.
Q: Your witches have many skills, such as 'sky leaping' (flying) - what skill would you take on, given the choice?
A: Probably the most useful ones would be a 'glamour', where you can take on the appearance of someone else. It's shape-shifting, really, and I think I could get up to all sorts of frivolous things with that ability!
Q: Your witches can also get it wrong though, can't they?
A: The biggest challenge in writing a fantasy is that it's fantastical but it has to have a logical base. These witches don't have super-powers, their work is time-consuming and they can get it wrong, they are not an invincible force by any means but they do have certain powers and the population is right to be scared by them.
Q: How do you see the relationship between Glory and Lucas developing?
A: They are complementary characters because they are challenged by each other but also learn from each other and they are vulnerable in different ways. I didn't want their relationship to be too easy. The story takes place over just two weeks and there are a lot of obstacles for them to overcome in order to be friends, never mind romantically involved!
While this story is resolved, we are still left with lots of unresolved tensions between the two of them and there is mistrust and betrayal ahead in the second book. Their respective pasts and the pasts of their families are in conflict and that will catch up with them.
Q: So there will be a sequel then?
A: Yes, the first book is complete in itself but there are some open endings, such as what has happened to Glory's mum? For me, that's been a process of discovery because I didn't know what had happened to her at the end of book one. There is also Glory's prophetic dream and in book two, someone does hit the bonfire.
The next book is much more international and we travel from London to Switzerland and South America. It has a longer timescale, too, and we will hear about the witch terrorist organisation, Endor.
Q: How carefully do you plot out your novels before you start to write them?
A: I had the beginning of the book and I knew what the ending would be, but the middle was a bit more challenging. Lucas was my first character and I found him easy to get to grips with, Glory was a lot harder. Once I understood his character, I could develop the girl character, and that was much easier once I had established the ground rules for how the world of witchcraft would work.
Q: How does your writing day go?
A: I tend to do my best work in the mornings so I get up not to early and write then, and again last thing at night when I get back from the pub! I am quite disciplined and write one book a year.
Q: Any tips for budding writers?
A: A good way into writing is by keeping a diary, especially if you're still young. It's a good discipline and helps you learn how to put things into words. Also read everything, highbrow and lowbrow, and be ruthlessly honest with yourself about your work.
Q: Have you got any secret talents?
A: I'm very good at using Tarot to tell fortunes - it was part of my research for an earlier book and I found I had a talent for it!
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