Interview: Caragh O'Brien

It's no secret that I've recently been doing a fair amount of gushing about YA dystopian novel Birthmarked (March 30th, 2010 Roaring Brook Press). Well, it looks like we've all lucked out, because today we have the brilliant mastermind behind this masterpiece here to discuss a plethora of stuff. And without further ado, presenting: the brilliant Caragh O'Brien!

This has become a bit of a Lucid Conspiracy interview opening question tradition - summarize BIRTHMARKED in twenty words while tossing in as many alliterations as you can.

First, let me say thanks, Deltay, for inviting me by to talk a bit about BIRTHMARKED. That’s a real doozy of a question to start with, but here goes:

Catching her quota of kiddos, Gaia gains a ghastly glimpse of a survivalist society. Cells, cyphers and science ensnare her.

Thanks for coming by :) Great summary. Let's get the ball rolling with some general questions first. Words of wisdom - what do you do when the muse has gone on vacation?

I tell my muse to get its sweet little posterior back on the couch and keep working.

Haha, that's the way! Do you have a specific writing ritual or any unique quirks you subscribe to?

I don’t suppose the toy monkey on my head counts as quirky. Actually, there’s no monkey. Now that I’m on leave from teaching, I just sit on the couch with my laptop and write all day. When my fingers get cold, I hug a bottle full of hot water. That’s a little weird, I guess. I forget to eat. Is that weird, too?

Nope, I suppose we'll have to proclaim you relatively normal! If the apocalypse were to come tomorrow and you could only choose three books to keep safe and bring into the "New World," which ones would they be?

I really don’t know. I’m distracted by the specter of the apocalypse and wondering what would be left in the new world. I’m not sure we could read any more with our eyes blasted out. As you might imagine, I had a little trouble with this sort of question when I was a schoolgirl. Still do, I’m afraid.

Ah well, it is a bit of a tough question. Leon's quite a dishy YA guy. ;) Do you have any literary crushes, fictional or author-wise?

I don’t have any at the moment because all of my literary crushes have been unrequited. I try to be mature and get over them. Still, if Fitzwilliam Darcy had a sense of humor, I could be quite miserable. I’m very glad to hear that Leon, in his own twisted way, works for you.

Ooh, Mr. Darcy! Global warming, global cooling, flooding, drought... there have been countless theories about the environment's demise. What made you pick the one you did for BIRTHMARKED?

I drove through the southern states a couple years back during a drought, and it really got me thinking about what climate change would do to our country, politically and socially. A wasteland around Unlake Superior seemed very possible to me, and extreme enough to set up a powerful story of survival and hardship.

It definitely made for a great story! I noticed that throughout BIRTHMARKED, there are countless references to hats. Why hats in particular, and not, say, sunglasses? Is it a thematic element or symbolic motif?

Hats are just so fun, frankly. I love what the British royalty do with theirs. In BIRTHMARKED, the hats and hoods serve a practical purpose in saving everybody from severe sunburn, but I also love the visual effect of all the brims tipping this way and that. The hats were versatile for showing who was classy or coy, guard or prisoner, powerful or shy. How could I not put in hats?

It's one of the great key details that contributes to awesome world-building. That, and the symbolism there too. One of the distinguishing factors of a society is its language. How did terms such as "Mabrother" and "Masister" come about?

I was playing around, trying to find a term that would suggest respect, sound possible, and also work ironically. I liked how “Masister” was a bit like “my sister,” but by making it formal, I undermined what should be a term of endearment. Similarly, “Tvaltar” combines “TV” and “altar,” suggesting the worship of TV. When I hit upon “advanced” for the babies, I was beyond thrilled. It’s just what we want for our children, normally. (Evil laugh.)

I like that! Of all the potential consequences of inbreeding there were to choose from, why hemophilia?

I didn’t have to go far to find heartbreak when I did research on human inbreeding. Hemophilia and infertility were the obvious problems for the Enclave.

Let's play around with hypotheticals for a moment. If Gaia's world was real, would you be inside the wall or outside? What would your profession be?

At risk of answering a heavy question quite seriously, I must say we already inhabit Gaia’s world. I could not live in a more privileged society, with more advantages, while others just outside the wall have nothing. I’m a writer.

Put like that, we do, don't we? BIRTHMARKED is set up perfectly for a sequel(s). Will this be a series?

Yes. I am so thankful to my publisher, Roaring Brook Press, for asking me to write two more books. I’m in very good hands with my editor, Nan Mercado, who has an uncanny way of asking the right questions.

So it'll be a trilogy! I do love me some trilogies ;) That's very fortunate for us readers as well, then. Are there any juicy tidbits you're at liberty to share with us about upcoming books/WIPs, by any chance?

Funny. My mom just asked me this same question. I can tell you I was worried that Gaia had grown so much in BIRTHMARKED that there wouldn’t be anywhere more for her to go, but she’s surprised me. Book 2 involves more research about biology and infertility. That much is certain, and I’m completely obsessed with this draft.

That's great to hear! I really enjoyed the scientific aspects of Birthmarked. If there is one main message in BIRTHMARKED that you'd want to make sure every reader understood, what would it be?

Oh, dear! Not a message! Isn’t it enough just to have fun reading?

Thank you so much, Deltay, for having me by, and for these mind-boggling questions. I really appreciate your kind review of my novel and all your support. Lucid Conspiracy is great.

Thank you so much for dropping by, Caragh, and taking the time to answer my behemoth mass of questions! :)

Birthmarked Review

Birthmarked - Caragh O'Brien
*March 30th, 2010 Roaring Brook Press

After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested.

Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.

Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, BIRTHMARKED explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code.

Caragh O'Brien's Birthmarked is the best book of 2010 thus far. I've been letting my thoughts sit and simmer for a few days, in the hopes of being able to churn out a more coherent review. Even so, it looks as though this will be a pseudo-review in the style of my review of The Hunger Games from awhile back. Which is oddly fitting, actually. See, I have all my favourite books, in hardcover, placed in a cluster on my bookshelf. Birthmarked is the latest addition amongst the likes of Willow (Julia Hoban), The Hunger Games & Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins).

One of the integral aspects of dystopian lit is world-building. The writer, and in turn the persona, has to be a segway for the readers into a new realm, an introduction to a world so like our own, yet so grotesquely unlike at the same time. Something that's a satirical hyperbole of our society, but at the same time, credible. The world building in Birthmarked is pretty phenomenal. O'Brien's attention to minute detail is what really brings Gaia's world to life. The specific lingo (mabrother, masister, Tvalter, etc.) is unique really shows the development of linguistics since our time. "Unlake Superior" is a clever play-on (and doubly cool because the city I live in is located on Lake Superior's shores). The hats were a great quirk specific to this new, imagined future. And of course - there's the code.

Another aspect that I respect in YA literature is having a strong leading lady. Gaia Stone fulfills that role admirably. There's no damsel-in-distress in Birthmarked, waiting around passively to be rescued. Gaia goes out there, and she gets it done. She brings the action, she forwards the plot, and she makes it happen. Sergeant Grey... hehehe, what can I say? He's pretty dreamy, yeah. :) Probably one of the best boys of YA, and all that jazz, no big deal or anything. (Subliminal message = read Birthmarked!)

I'll admit - I was getting a little worried at the very beginning in regards to Gaia's initial reactions, and it was a little hard to suspend disbelief at that point. But once you get past the beginning exposition (which is kind of inevitable, considering the world-building needed for sci fi - and besides, relatively speaking, that section is quite miniscule), WOW. Just wow. And yeah, there were some plot elements that were a little predicatable, but the plot just worked here. It just meshed with the story, the characters...

One of the other great things about Birthmarked is simply how smart it is. The technology in it, the science behind it... it really adds an extra layer of depth, which is great to see. In case you can't tell from my review thus far - basically, I loved Birthmarked.

These meager words here hardly do Caragh O'Brien's Birthmarked justice. This is one to move to the top of the TBR list, a must-read. A dystopian masterpiece.

Caragh O'Brien | Goodreads | IndieBound

*Luckily, it looks like Birthmarked will have a sequel! Which is awesome, because the ending sets itself up perfectly for more to follow - the story's not over yet :) If you've reviewed/read this, drop me a comment?

**Also - stayed tuned, because we've got an interview with the formidable Caragh O'Brien coming up in the near future! :)

In My Mailbox [32]

This week was quite brilliant, if I do say so myself. The very epitome of quality over quantity. First I got Caragh O'Brien's Birthmarked, which I have been super-super-excited about. (Pretty much devoured it - expect a review soon :) Thanks!

And then I also got an ARC of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (which I featured for WoW awhile back) from a contest hosted by the awesome Tina over at Fantastic Book Review. She also tossed in bookmarks of The Iron King (signed!) by Julie Kagawa, who's also very sweet, and Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus. Thanks for the awesome stuff, Tina!

So there you have it - my week, as told by my mailbox. Your turn - what was in your mailbox this week?

*In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.