— Hello, Ulrike, Carmen. Russian readers know you by Lügenwahrheit trilogy, but we know very little about you. Tell us a bit about yourselves, please. Where did you study? How long have you known each other?
We were both born in Vienna and have been friends since 25 years. When we got to know each other, we immediately noticed that we had the same humor and a lot of fun together. After graduating from business school, Ulli ended up in Hamburg for work, while Carmen started a job in a bank. But despite the physical distance, we always remained friends. Shortly before Ulli moved to Hamburg, we also talked about how cool it would be to write a book together.
In 2009 we were both on parental leave and wrote our first fantasy novel. After that we took part in a few writing competitions and improved our writing skills. Our first self-publishing publication followed in 2014 – until we got in touch with some publishing companies. By now we are full-time authors and write both in self-publishing and for Ravensburger romantic fantasy books. It’s an absolute dream job and we are thankful for it every day.
—You’ve told in other interviews how you began to write, but could you please share one more time how did you come to the realization that you want to write? Do you remember your very first story? Was it published?
Writing has been always an important part of our lives. Even at school, we kept slipping each other little notes on which we invented the wildest stories together. Years later, on a warm summer night, we first talked about writing a book together. This wish became true and resulted in our fantasy novel “Acht Sinne” (which means “eight senses” in English).
A revised version of it was published some years later by ourselves. And after we wrote our first book, we just couldn't stop anymore!
— Did you study creative writing or did you improve your writing skills by learning from your own mistakes?
We took part in a few writing courses and also read a number of writing guides – but the best exercise was the writing itself as well as the feedback from our gorgeous testing readers.
— Is it difficult to write in collaboration? Do you ever have disagreements between the two of you?
When we disagree, there is always a reason. As soon as we understand each other's reasons, we always find a way to meet both needs – and are each time more satisfied with the result than before.
— Could you please tell how did the idea of Lügenwahrheit trilogy come to you? You can really feel that special English atmosphere there, and as a huge fan of England I truly enjoyed it. Do you love England too? Did you travel there?
Yes, we did! We have been actually on a research trip to Cornwall to see the breathtaking landscape with our own eyes. The trip was absolutely magical and gave us many wonderful impressions, which were then incorporated into our book. We noticed what a big difference it makes whether you only get to know a country via the Internet or experience it yourself with all your senses.
Ulli came up with the idea for the trilogy while visiting a book fair. Sitting in our hotel room, she suddenly said: “What if someone could see in other people's eyes whether they were lying or telling the truth?” That was the spark that brought the whole story to life.
— What do we not know about the characters of Lügenwahrheit trilogy? Could you share a couple of secret facts?
Well, the characters themselves have no hidden secrets, but there is something that very few readers know: In fact, we have almost completely rewritten the third volume after the first draft because of the feedback of our testing readers. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it!
— Another series of yours, Die Bücher der Erinnerung, is coming out in Russia soon. Could you tell how did you create this story? Where did the idea come from?
"17 - The Books of Memory" is a fantasy romance series about a 17-year-old girl named Jo, who can look into the memories of strangers and finds out that there is more to her mother's early death than she has been suspected.
The subject of memories has always fascinated us, especially the fact, that people can have different memories of the same event – and everyone believes that their memory is true.
— I noticed that many of your books are connected with numbers, one way or the other. Any particular reason for that?
Like so much in life, it just happened by chance. Our very first book was entitled “8 Senses”, and shortly afterwards we published “17”. Then there was a book with the number 1000 in the title - and at some point we noticed, that numbers had crept into our titles again and again. That's when we decided to make it our trademark. Since then we had the 11, the 3, the 13, the 19, the 7 and the 12 on our covers - and even in our Lügenwahrheit trilogy “One Moment Forever” the 1 is hidden.
— Usually, we only see one side of an author’s story: it’s a success, published book, beautiful covers, translation and film adaptations. But this success does not always come right away. Could you tell what difficulties and challenges you had to face before your books started to get published?
The road to the first published book was a long, winding path that took six years of our lives. But we used every rejection as an incentive to get even better, until we finally published our first book, which was followed by so many more.
— On your website you told the story of your penname, but could you share with out Russian readers one more time why you are writing under the name of Rose Snow? For example, when I first picked up your book, I though that you are an English or an American writer :)
The name Rose Snow actually came about by accident. A few years ago we both took part in an author's workshop and were twice compared with Snow White and Rose Red from the fairy tale. That was probably because Ulli is blonde and wore a white top, while Carmen has dark hair and wore a red top that day. In any case, we found the incident so adorable that our pseudonym Rose Snow arose from it.
—What are your hobbies besides writing?
Ulli: Reading, cooking, yoga, playing games with the family.
Carmen: Reading, knitting, watching series, petting cats
—You were both born in Austria, and as a foreigner, I am very curious to know about your favorites places in your city and in the country. What are tourist must-sees in Austria?
When visiting Vienna, you should definitely visit the “Prater” with the Ferris wheel. Another tip are the imperial gardens of “Schönbrunn Palace” with the adjoining zoo. And a stop-by in one of the Vienna famous coffee houses with a delicious “Sachertorte” (which is a chocolate cake with apricot jam in the middle) must not be missing.
—Your favorite Ausrian food?
Oh, that's hard, because Austrian cuisine tastes very good. One of our favorite Austrian dishes is “Kaiserschmarrn” with plum compote and “Käsespätzle” with fried onions.
— How do you feel about bloggers who are telling about your books and tag you in their reviews?
We are incredibly grateful to them! Without our readers and all the bloggers who take pictures of our books and recommend us to others, we couldn't do this job. So thank you for every picture, for every like, every tagging and every posting!
— How do your friends and family feel about your writing? Do they read your books? May be even give you some advice when you need it?
Our families are very proud of us, but that does not mean, that every family member is reading our books. Our men are more interested in trade magazines, but we tried to arouse the love to books in our children – and luckily with success!
— Finally, can you give an advice to aspiring writers?
When it comes to writing, it is like a lot of other things: practice makes perfect. Don't expect that everything will work out right from the start and that your first draft will become a bestseller right away. Write whenever you have the time and feel like it! Get feedback from people who are honest with you and question your story, your protagonists and their motives until you are really happy with everything.
And last but not least: don't let it get you down. Because writing is also a development process, with all its ups and downs! And when you finally hold your own book in your hands, it's one thing above all: magical.
Thank you Uli and Carmen for this fascinating interview! I look forward to new books.
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