We welcome Sue Lawson to BoM as part of the Pan's Whisper Book Tour and probe her about inspirations, writing process, love stories and demand the answer to why she likes to make everyone cry.
Totally inspired by Greek mythology and other legends…ahem…
I can’t claim any deliberate inspiration from Greek Mythology, though I know all our stories are influenced by myths and legends on some level.
Pan’s name was Carrie until the second edit with Maryann and Melissa. While we were tossing around possible titles (I am SO bad at titles!), Maryann mentioned that Pan’s cat, Smocker, where she keeps all her precious bits and pieces, was like Pandora’s Box. That sparked a conversation about Pandora’s Box and how the last thing left in the box was hope. The pieces clicked into place and it became clear Carrie had to be Pan – Pandora.
The story centres around foster families - do you have a personal connection and how did you go about researching?
I don’t have a personal connection to foster families on a very close level, but I have taught kids who were living with foster families and had family friends who took on foster kids.
When I started planning Pan’s Whisper, I read an article in The Good Weekend about a foster mum and her now adult foster daughter. Their story was so inspiring. The foster mum had made such a huge difference to this girl, so much so that the girl is involved in fostering now. It was wonderful to read about such a positive experience because so often in the media we only read negative ones. Having Pan live with a foster family fitted perfectly with what I had planned.
I love research – though I do tend to over do it. I keep notebooks filled with character collages, house/school plans and endless notes about the issues the book is dealing with – grief, foster families, bipolar etc.
My biggest issue is knowing when to stop. That and my note taking – my handwriting is pretty ordinary!
Can you guide us through the writing process - did the story come easy and organic or was it a difficult one for you to write?
The finished story is always quite different to what I expected it to be. I had intended Pan to be totally off the rails because of an abusive step father and for her to be angry with her mother and sister for not protecting her. When I started planning, that idea morphed into something far stronger and it became clear the issue was Pan’s mum.
Thankfully my publishers are used to me pitching one thing and writing something different – though essentially the bones of the story are the same.
Hunter is one of my and my editor’s favourites. He didn’t appear until I was writing. I love his quiet, self assured nature. He’s different and happily so.
Pan and Hunter. Pan and Morgana. Do you see the novel as a love story between a girl and a boy or one between a girl and her sister?
Hmmm – love story – not in a romantic sense, no. Pan’s Whisper is a story about love between siblings, friends, families, and explores how love can truly heal. Gawd, that sounds very airy fairy, but it’s true. Love and patience, and taking the time to see the real person buried beneath the pain.
Sue, every one of your novels make me cry - are you doing this on purpose!?
Yeah, sorry about that. It truly isn’t deliberate. If it makes you feel any better, they make me cry too, and I worry about my characters as though they are real – which they are to me. My previous editor, the amazing Karen Tayleur, stopped wearing mascara to work when she was working on my books.
The next one will do the same…sorry!
Thank you Sue!
Thank you so much for inviting me to visit your blog, Shirley! Tomorrow I'm off to visit the incredible Steph Bowe at Hey! Teenager of the Year, where I'll chat about my crazy notebooks a little more!
Does this interview make you book-curious?
Check out Reynje's Guest Review on this blog
BONUS TIME (cos there is always time for Bonus Time):
Check out the visual inspirations from Sue's personal files of her main characters Pan and Hunter!
If you like the sound of Sue, make sure you check out her Official Sue Lawson Author Website
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