Queens of the Castle: 10 YA Authors in Ireland
By John A. Sellers -- Publishers Weekly, 3/18/2009
 |
|
From (l.) authors Sarah Rees Brennan, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Sarah Cross, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Ally Carter, Maureen Johnson, Diana Peterfreund and Carrie Ryan. (Not pictured: Robin Wasserman.) |
Brennan says that although the idea for a castle trip first surfaced last summer at a convention in Oklahoma, where she met writers Ally Carter (the Gallagher Girls series) and Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Fate), the flights, attendees and the destination itself—Springfield Castle in County Limerick—weren’t finalized until around Christmas. The final group of 10 consisted of Brennan, Carter and Barnes, as well as Cassandra Clare (the Mortal Instruments trilogy), Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Sarah Cross (Dull Boy), Maureen Johnson (Suite Scarlett), Diana Peterfreund (the Secret Society Girl series), Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth) and Robin Wasserman (Skinned).
 |
|
Springfield Castle in County Limerick, where the authors stayed, is more than 700 years old. |
But it wasn’t all fun and games. “Maureen Johnson was on deadline, Cassie and I were working on a project we’re co-writing,” Brennan says. “There was a lot of telling stories of the books we were writing and discussing them, discussing YA trends, what kinds of romances we like best, staying up until five a.m.” Suffice it to say that by the end of the week, the authors all knew each other a whole lot better, and the suggestion of renting a castle in Spain next year has been raised. “We all had enough fun that we want to do it again,” Brennan says.
