I read a lot of different kinds of fiction, ranging from the great classics: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Brontes, Dickens (I wasn't very fond of Jane Austen at the time, that came later; I wanted passion, action, lots of emotion) to lots of Agatha Christie novels, Herge comics, Leon Garfield novels, Anya Seton, Mary Stewart, KM Peyton,Rosemary Sutcliff, Lord of the Rings--you name it, I read it! I loved all kinds of genres, was not restricted in my reading at all. Because I'm bilingual (French and English) I read in both languages. Not keen on spare modernist type of prose. Emotion, sensuality, richness of language were all things I sought. I wanted to be gripped by characters and stories and language, to fully inhabit the books.
I read a lot of poetry too (and wrote it.) Poets I loved (and still do) include WB Yeats, Les Murray, Judith wright, Kenneth Slessor, Gerald Manley Hopkins, William Blake, John Donne..And I loved plays--Shakespeare, Rostand, Chekhov, Ray Lawrence to name but a few playwrights.
Would you say your reading as a teenager has had a distinct influence on how you write fiction now, and why?
Absolutely. Because I read so much and across such a wide range, it really furnished my mind very richly, gave me access to a big range of ideas, concepts, themes--also, because I used to try and write things reminiscent of authors I admired (including poetry), it gave me invaluable practice.
What did you do before you became a published teen/young adult novelist, and how did you come to write your first teen/young adult novel and get it published?
Well my first published novel was actually for adults--The House in the Rainforest--but its main character, Kate Murphy, is first introduced as a girl of 16. After the book was published (by UQP in 1990) the then YA fiction editor at UQP, Barbara Ker Wilson, wrote to me and asked me if I'd thought of writing for that age group. I had--and had an outline ready, which I sent to her. And that's how I started writing for teenagers! (I had though already written a book for children too.) My first YA novel was called Sooner or Later and appeared in 1991. Before I had my first book published, I worked as a freelance journalist, but kept sending out short stories and novels to publishers; got several short stories published in magazines, and then a short story called The Tiger was published in the multicultural anthology, Beyond the Echo, in 1988, followed by a story for children published in an Omnibus anthology called After Dark, also in 1988.
How would you describe your style of teen/young adult fiction or your approach to writing teen/young adult fiction?
I write the kinds of books I'd have liked to read at that age--with a strong emotional heart, a love of mixing genres such as mystery, fantasy and history; and plenty of characters and rich settings. And I love surprise and unpredictability, so those are important elements too, as is a strong attraction to the fantastical and supernatural, and a love of historical settings.
Who is another author whose teen/young adult fiction you admire and why?
Too many to enumerate, really! But just as small sample, and off the top off my head, I love the work of Ursula Dubosarsky, Philip Pullman, Margo Lanagan, Kate Forsyth, Isobelle Carmody, Garth Nix..and lots more! Emotion, richness of language and story and character all predominate in these otherwise very different writers.
How would you summarise one of your teen/young adult novels in one paragraph? Revenge is a dish best eaten cold: or is it?
In London 1860: Millie Osborne is intrigued by Oliver Parry, the new cast member of the King's Company Theatre Company, where her father works as manager. Oliver doesn't seem like any of the other actors; his story doesn't add up; and he is clearly hiding something. But what? With the help of her friend Seth, she determines to find out, and gets much more than she bargained for. A mix of mystery, romance, adventure and literary allusions, based on Hamlet but also the works of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, who make cameo appearances in the novel, The Understudy's Revenge is a gripping story for teenage readers.
How would you describe the appeal of this novel to teen/young adult readers?
Good strong characters, an intriguing mystery, action leavened with humour and romance, a touch of the Gothic, and a strong pinch of the supernatural seem to go down well with readers.
How would you summarise a chapter from this novel in one paragraph?
Chapter 2, King of the Stage: introduces us to not only straight into the beginnings of rehearsals for Hamlet, but the spookily similar tragedy that lies behind the King's Theatre Company; Oliver's trying to find out from Millie exactly what happened to Robert King, the principal, who's died suddenly; the marriage of his widow Lily to his brother James, and the tragic death in Australia of Lily and Robert's estranged son Anthony. though Millie doesn't realise it at the time this is a very important episode.
How would you describe the contribution this chapter makes to the novel?
It is very important as it sketches in the background of the Kings, and it sets up some of the Hamlet allusions(which however aren't quite what they seem.)
To what extent would you say fiction written primarily for young readers is different from fiction written primarily for adult readers?
It does not differ a lot, only generally speaking, young adult readers, like younger readers, want things to happen in their books. There is also a warmth in YA literature which addresses the reader directly. I think in fact most adult readers prefer this too.
Author website: www.sophiemasson.org
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