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Elizabeth C. Bunce is rightfully celebrating the success of her fantastic debut novel, A Curse Dark as Gold.
The book hit shelves earlier than expected (smart publishers) just a few months ago. A fantasy re-telling of the
Rumpelstiltskin story, told from the point of view of the miller's daughter, Curse has already earned a
"coveted Gold Star Award for Excellence" at Teens Read Too. This means it will be featured in the TRT Hall of Fame,
reserved for books that you don't just read, but "read over and over again—because they're that great!"
Despite her busy interview schedule, Elizabeth spared a few minutes to speak with us about the book's unique perspective,
and about her new life as a published author.
The Edge of the Forest: Okay, I have to know. What sparked the idea for A Curse Dark As Gold?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: Insomnia, actually! I had been floundering with my other projects, after taking some time off
for a cross-country move, and couldn't find anything to stick to. Late one night I was having trouble sleeping, so I
started playing a game with myself: What if? What would a particular story be, if I were to write it?
"Rumpelstiltskin" popped into my head almost as a challenge: here's a story that doesn't work for me on so many levels:
what can I do with it to change that? How do I make these odd elements (spinning straw into gold, bargaining away your
baby, secret names) hold together and make some kind of narrative sense?
Almost immediately I thought the gold should be gold thread (I've been a needle artist all my life), and the natural
progression of that was to make the mill in the story a textile mill, instead of the grist (grain) mill of the fairy tale.
I was also drawn to expanding the importance of the mill (which essentially plays no role in the fairy tale). The other
thing that interested me was the role that names could play. The fairy tale is about the literal potency of names, and I
started envisioning a world where names were destiny, where they really meant something.
The more I thought about it, the less like a game it seemed. I thought I might really have something here. The next day I
started jotting down notes, and I did something I'd never done before: I told my husband what I was thinking of. When I
saw his reaction, I knew it wasn't just an exercise any longer: I had the makings of a real novel!
The Edge of the Forest: And, how long did Curse take from that initial spark until it was on bookstore
shelves?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: I started my first draft in the summer of 2002, and the book appeared in stores in February of
2008, so a little more than five years. I suppose you could say "not quite six years," but "a little more than five years"
sounds better, doesn't it?
The Edge of the Forest: Charlotte is a very strong female who shoulders a lot of responsibility in a time when
things like a teenage girl running a business are unheard of. Why was creating this type of character important to you?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: Well, these are the kinds of women I know, and in many ways, the kinds of women that girls
today are being called upon more and more to become (and maybe always were). The "superwoman" image hasn't faded in our
so-called "post-feminist" era. Smart, driven, high-achieving girls are out there, shouldering jobs and school and family
responsibilities and friends...and while I hope none of them are beset by curses, I think there are a lot of girls who can
relate to being "the one who has to do everything."
But the other thing that was really important to me was creating a heroine who didn't have to dress in armor or carry a
sword or act like a boy in order to feel strong. Don't get me wrong—I'm a huge fan of girls with swords! But there
are many ways to be heroic, and I wanted to show a quieter sort of heroism, one that girls who maybe aren't tomboys could
relate to, and one that hasn't traditionally been as visible in fantasy for young people. I guess I wanted to say,
"You don't have to act like a boy to be strong. Your strength is within you already." That wasn't an overt goal in
shaping Charlotte—but those thoughts are always sort of floating around the back of my head, influencing the girls I
put on paper.
The Edge of the Forest: The story has such great supporting characters, too. Can you tell us how you developed
characters like Randall, Rosie, Harte, Uncle Wheeler, and Jack Spinner?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: I haven't the foggiest idea. Sometimes it amazes me that this entire village of people came
out of my head! But, in an effort to give you a more constructive answer...Randall, Harte, Uncle Wheeler, and Jack Spinner
make up the dramatis personae of the fairy tale: the king, the man-at-arms, the father figure, and the Helper. Each of
them needed a counterpart in Curse. My own personal biases made me uncomfortable making Charlotte's actual father
too much of a villain (I tend to think of the miller in the fairy tale as the real villain in the story, since he's
entirely responsible for getting his daughter into trouble), so I needed a substitute father figure who could shoulder that
kind of evil responsibility. That's where the wicked, too-handsome Uncle Wheeler came from. I wanted him to not only
contrast with Charlotte's world, but also with his own persona: to show how evil can be harbored within beauty and
refinement. I like those sorts of contrasts; I don't need my villains to wear the black hats. I find them much more
interesting...well, in purple, apparently!
Randall takes the place of the king who demands that the miller's daughter spin straw into gold, and then marries her.
Personally, I find the idea of marrying somebody who keeps threatening to kill you if you don't do what he says really
rather distasteful. I wanted a husband for Charlotte who she could legitimately fall in love with—but somebody who
still had her livelihood at stake. I was never a girl who fell for the "bad boy" image, and I didn't see Charlotte as
being that way, either. Nice matters, and Randall is very nice, indeed.
Spinner...Spinner developed very slowly during the course of writing the novel. At first, only his physical parameters
were clear to me. I've always had this weird mental image of Rumpelstiltskin being kind of a Yosemite Sam-like fellow,
with red whiskers and a fiery temperament. I don't have any idea where it comes from. But I tried very hard to stay away
from portraying him as a dwarf/Little Person, or according to the anti-Semitic stereotypes we sometimes see in older
versions of the tale. I wanted...just a man, not a caricature. It took a long time, though, before I realized how deeply
intertwined Spinner's story was with Charlotte's and Stirwaters's. When I began, I had pictured him as a fey entity of
some kind, but the more I learned about the history of Stirwaters, the more meat developed on Spinner's bones. And now
it's hard for me to imagine that he wasn't always the hub of this story. My favorite part about developing his character,
though, is his name. When I was first working on the story, I toured a local 19th Century woolen mill. As the tour guide
took us through the work rooms, she stopped by this enormous spinning machine that just dominated the space. "This
machine is called a spinning jack," she said. "They were operated by men called jackspinners." I swear: it was like a
beam of light came down from on high, with an angelic choir singing: "Aaaaaaaaah!" I just clasped my hands together,
looked up at the ceiling, and said, "Thank you!"
The Edge of the Forest: The people of Shearing have a unique perspective, with all of their superstitions.
Why are some still so faithful to Charlotte and the cursed mill?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: Oh, wow—an essay question! Will this be graded? My thought here is there are a variety
of reasons. First, inertia: these people have been in this town forever. Leaving is simply incomprehensible. And I don't
think that's out of reason, really: think of modern factory towns, or mining towns, where families have been there for
generation upon generation, weathering whatever economic hardships come along. Second, many of them stay for the same
reason Charlotte does: genuine love for the town, the mill, and the Millers. They consider Stirwaters and the Miller girls
family, and (to echo a theme of the book) you just don't walk out on your family when they need you. Lastly, the curse
hasn't necessarily affected them. It's one thing to joke about it, one thing to half believe it… but when it's not
killing your sons, it's a little easier to just tolerate. It's just a fact of life—like bad weather or politics—you
live through whatever the world throws at you.
The Edge of the Forest: Okay, let's talk about you. Your website
says you're working on "a collection of stories based on Greek mythology, as well as a high fantasy novel about a thief
mixed up in a religious civil war." These seem like quite a departure from A Curse as Dark as Gold. Can you
tell us about the projects? Do you plan to write more fairytale retellings?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: Really? They all share Curse's historical underpinnings, strong heroines facing
forces beyond their control, and settings that almost become characters in their own rights. I do think the story about
the thief might take some readers by surprise (it takes place in a wholly imagined universe), but the Greek collection is
informed by the same sensibilities as Curse and is, after all, another retelling! And though I won't make my
entire career from retellings, there's no question that mythology and folklore will continue to inform everything I write.
And here's where I admit that, yep, I have the obligatory "Cinderella" retelling (in a couple of different formats!) in
the "pre-writing" stage.
The Edge of the Forest: Your website also has a great page that breaks down various books by category such as,
"Unlikely Heroines" and "Old Tales, New Voices." It also says you write YA because that was the age at which you
discovered great books. Which books would you say affected you the most as a young reader? What about as an author?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: My favorite book growing up was Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown. I still have
the same ragged and dog-eared copy that I got from a Scholastic book order in fourth grade, and I lost track of how many
times I've read it about fifteen years ago! There's so much that's wonderful about that book: the voice, the strong girl
who has to fight for her place in the world (girls with swords!), the richly layered setting. It just sweeps a reader away
into a totally new universe—at once exciting, exotic, and dangerous. I was also a huge fan of Frances
Burnett's The Secret Garden, and I think that book sparked my enduring love for bucolic settings like the village
of Shearing. It's also a great example of the sort of "quiet heroine" I talked about before: Mary heals a wounded
household just through curiosity, determination, and faith...and yet there's not a single moment of that novel that's not
absolute magic.
As an author...wow. I've been reading critically with a writer's eye for a very long time now, trying to learn from
writers I admire. The only book I've ever "dissected" to study how the pacing works is Patricia McKillip's Winter Rose,
which is a retelling of the Scottish ballad Tam-Lin, with a riff on Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market." These days I
crave great reads that make me want to run to the computer and write my heart out, and I get that feeling from writers like
Alice Hoffman (Blackbird House), Sarah Waters (Affinity), and Peter S. Beagle (Tasmin). I also
have to make a special mention of Sharon Shinn here, who writes delicious, fun stories (like Archangel) that remind
me that reading should be first and foremost a joy. When you've been pursing a career as an author as long as I have, it's
important to have that reminder: books should be fun. Shinn's work recaptures the delight I felt as a young reader.
The Edge of the Forest: Can you tell us a little about how and when you became a writer?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: There's an apocryphal story that my family tells: when I was young, my father, who is a
journalism professor, took me to a faculty picnic and introduced me to his colleagues: "This is my daughter, who wants to
be a writer when she grows up." Another professor asked, "Oh, a journalist, like your dad?" "No," I apparently said.
"A real writer."
I've been making up stories as long as I can remember. I started writing them down in junior high or so, and when I was in
high school I realized that I was good enough to try and make a living from it. I wrote lots of poetry and strange short
pieces, and made my first efforts at novels. I was lucky enough to have teachers, parents, and a brother who really
encouraged me, even when my work was little more than a pale imitation of my favorite fantasy authors of the time! Nobody
ever looked at me funny when I said I wanted to be an author when I grew up.
The Edge of the Forest: Along those same lines, what is the most difficult thing about being a writer? The best
thing?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: I like to say my favorite thing about being a writer is that, when the work is going well, it's
just like reading a brand-new book by your favorite writer—with all the thrill of watching the story unfold before
you. For me, the most difficult thing is turning out to be time management! Working from home is always hard in that
respect, and learning when to turn off the job and walk away from it is something I'm still struggling with. But as
writers, we don't always have that option—ideas come when they come, and if you have to stop in the middle of making
dinner to jot down a note or two, well...sometimes you burn the rice.
The Edge of the Forest: What is your writing routine? When and where do you write?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: I'm a laptop writer, which means I have the freedom to move around my house depending on where
the muse wants to work. Most of the revisions for Curse were done in my bedroom, curled up on my bed with a dog
or two. These days I'm working out of my dining room, by a giant window, perched on a 200-year-old antique sofa. I work a
few hours every morning, after working out, and then spend afternoons running my dogs and catching up with the world
online. Sometimes I write really late at night, when my internal editor is asleep. I tend to write very slowly, with a
daily quota of 500 words. On a good day, I can punch out about 1500-2000. On a bad day, I have to really squeeze the
computer to get those last droplets out.
The Edge of the Forest: Do you have any tips for new writers?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: Read! Write! Repeat! No great wisdom there, I'm afraid, but it's so true. You can't become a
great writer without, well, writing; but you also learn the craft by reading thoughtfully, deeply, and widely. Read until
you overflow with words and can't do anything but pour them onto paper. Then surround yourself with other readers and
writers, who can both encourage you and help you learn. This may mean a critique group, or it may mean a smart older
brother with a good ear, or even a teacher who believes in you. Writing is very solitary: the work exists solely inside
your head, and that can do weird things to your perspective. So it's very important to get out into the world and connect
with other people.
The Edge of the Forest: What is the most surprising thing about your novel-writing career thus far?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: The incredible attention that Curse is getting. I've been getting letters and
interview requests or blog reviews almost every day for the last few months, and the book is barely out yet. I knew that
I'd written a good novel, but I'm surprised and very gratified by the passionate responses people have had to it.
The Edge of the Forest: Have you found your association with the Class of 2k8
to be helpful in terms of marketing?
Elizabeth C. Bunce: Absolutely! First of all, there's nothing like the fellowship and support from others going
through this "first novel stuff" together. Also, while it's so true that there's strength in numbers, I'll say there's
courage in numbers, too. There's so much you need to know and do to publicize a book these days—websites, blogs,
MySpace, video trailers...it can all get overwhelming. Knowing you're not in it alone, knowing there's backup when you
hit a busy week, knowing there's a well of ideas to draw on...I think we all feel a lot more confident about hitting the
market than we did before we banded together. It's not so intimidating when you're not the only one doing it!
The Edge of the Forest: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions, Elizabeth. I'm a huge fan of
your fabulous new book, and I wish you much success as a novelist, mainly because I want more books from you for my own
shelf!
Elizabeth C. Bunce: And thank you, as well! This was a great pleasure.
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