— Hello, Gaby! Russian readers know you by Der Prinz der Feen, but we know very little about you. Tell us a bit about yourselves, please. Where did you study? Who do you work for?
— I'm actually a communication designer (which is actually just a complicated word for graphic designer) and I studied in Nuremberg. But I'm currently working as a writer and publish my books myself. But I also like to paint if I can find the time and every now and then I design a cover.
— Do you remember your very first story? Was it published?
— Oh yes, Eldorin consists of two volumes with which I spent six years writing. They are books for young people set in the elf kingdom. At the time, I was naive enough to believe that you could just submit your manuscript to a publisher and they would actually read it. But that doesn't work with an unknown author, no one reads it. So I started a publishing company myself and did everything on my own. By now I could submit my books to a publisher, but I like being a self-publisher and want to stay that way.
— What is the most interesting part about writing for you? And what’s the most difficult one?
— I love to dive into other worlds. It gets difficult when there are problems in my personal life. Sometimes I have to force myself to write, which is not easy because it's a creative process.
— Did you study creative writing or did you improve your writing skills by learning from your own mistakes?
— With my first book, I just started writing. I had the opening scene in my head and the first sentence. Then the story developed from that. Today, I wouldn't write just like that anymore, because without a proper plot, you simply have to revise too much. But I also did a lot of things right. It wasn't until later that I bought writing guides and realized that I had intuitively implemented most of the advice correctly without knowing it.
— Could you please tell how did the idea of Der Prinz der Feen come to you? Do you like fairies and that’s why you decided to add them to the plot of your book?
— I liked fairies even as a child. When I write, they accompany me through the day and become so real that I sometimes wonder why the people around me don't have pointed ears. I love this special magic associated with fairies. My first thought was of this land all covered with ice and the girl who wants to do something about this situation.
— According to our online magazine, Der Prinz der Feen is your debut. Could you please tell was it difficult to get the publisher’s attention and get the book published? Do you remember what you felt when you found out your book will be published?
— The Prince of Fairies is my fourth novel. It's always very exciting to see how far my book moves up the bestseller list. I publish the ebook exclusively on Amazon, where The Prince of Fairies was number one in about ten categories for quite some time. Nevertheless, I was very surprised when EKSMO Verlag contacted me. I guess they watch the market quite closely. Of course I was very happy, it is a special recognition when a book has international success.
— How long did it take to write this book? Were there any problems along the way?
— About a year. There were no major problems, but I always think very carefully about whether everything fits together logically.
— Der Prinz der Feen is a book about magic and fairies, could you tell which books about fairies did you read, and which one of those did you like? Did you read Sarah Maas and Holly Black books?
— I have read some of these authors and I like them very much.
— Russian readers compare your book with The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, so I am wondering how do you feel when your book is being compared with others? Do you like it or you’re rather repulsed by it?
— I think people tend to look for something familiar and compare. The plot of The Prince of Faeries is actually quite different from The Cruel Prince. My first book, Eldorin, for example, has been compared by many readers to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, even though those books are completely different. In fact, Eldorin has nothing to do with either of them, except that my humor is perhaps sometimes similar to J.K. Rowling's, and the elves there are described in much the same way as those in Lord of the Rings. It doesn't bother me, I take it more as a compliment.
— The episode with the flowers that Kiprian to Tia to me reminded a lot of a Czeck fairy tale “Three nuts for Cindirella”. Have you by chance read/watched that fairy tale?
— I love this movie! It's also very popular in Germany (and is a Czech-German production). I own the DVD and watch it once a year! And I would have liked to take something that didn't remind me of the three hazelnuts, but I had to tie the three wishes to a material object. It just made logical sense.
— Since nowadays many writers try to promote their own books, I can’t omit the question about your experience. Do you like interacting with book bloggers and have social media presence?
— I do very little with social media because I just don't have the time. I hardly ever work with bloggers and I hardly ever promote them. When I launch a new book, I share it on FB and Instagram, then it has to run on its own.
— Currently stories about fairies are very popular in Russia. Is there the same trend with young adult books in Germany right now?
— Oh yes, fairy tales are also very popular in Germany. Therefore, I have also created a special jewelry edition, which is only available directly from me. The Prince of Fairies got a special cover for it, which I cover with Swarovski crystals. It is ice blue with snow-white tendrils.
— Der Prinz der Feen is a single book. Have you ever had a thought of writing a sequel?
— No, the story is finished. It's never good to write another volume just because a book is successful. But my next book will be another fairy book. I hope it will also be available in Russia.
— What were your sources of inspiration when you were writing Der Prinz der Feen?
— It is just developing in my head like that. I always see my books like movies in front of me, and then I describe what I see.
— I am always very curious about how writers name their characters. Was it difficult to come up with the names for Tia, Cyprian? Were there any other names on the table, or perhaps a different name for the book?
— I spend a lot of time thinking about the names of my characters. The names should also describe their character a bit. Sometimes I look for a certain meaning in another language, sometimes I pay attention to the sound of the pronunciation. I just made up the name Tia - and then someone told me that it actually existed. I wanted a short name for the girl because the name Cyprian is quite complicated. I think his name also sounds exactly like a fairy name.
— The covers of the book are beautiful. Can you tell more about the history of their creation? Perhaps this is the wrong information too, but our online magazine tells that you create covers for your stories yourself. Is it a difficult process? How did you come up with an idea for such a magical cover?
— I'm really lucky that I can design my own covers. For my first books, I painted the covers entirely myself, but that takes a few weeks. So now I use photos as well. I try to use pictures that I've taken myself whenever possible. The photo for the dark blue cover of The Prince of Fairies is purchased, though. I liked it so much that I took it. By the way, the girls on the two covers of Eldorin are my daughters.
— I know you have another books, Sturmprinz, Die geheime Gabe, Der geheime Pakt Silberfedern, Eldorin series. Can you tell a bit more about it?
— The Silver Feathers was an association with other authors. Under this name we wrote short stories about our books, which we then gave away. Simply for our readers.
Eldorin (The Hidden Land and The Heir to the Kingdom) is about a girl in an orphanage who gets into the elf kingdom with her friends. The story begins on a dark stormy night, when an eerie rider drops off an injured boy at the door who has lost his memory. Maya wants to help him and finds with him the entrance to the fairy kingdom. It is a journey full of danger, because the peace in this world is threatened by a dark ruler who recognizes in Larin (the boy) the last descendant of the human kings. To secure his reign, he must destroy the boy. If Maya wants to save his life, she must risk everything. Her path leads her directly into the heart of darkness.
Storm Prince is a fairy tale. I first thought of the title. I thought of a prince who turns into a monster whenever a storm comes up. This is the story that came out of it: At the early age of seventeen, Elodie has lost her last caregiver and is now completely on her own. From a letter from her mother, who died years ago, she learns that she is the last princess of the Kingdom of Roses. For generations, the kingdom has been ruled by a cursed royal family that once conquered it by force. The curse of the Storm Prince has plunged the land into poverty and hardship, and with each storm the Prince, in the form of a monster, kills all who stand in his way. Elodie is the only one who can break the curse forever, but to do so she must kill the Storm Prince. In the boy Liam she finds an ally, but they don't have much time, because Elodie must fulfill her impossible task before the storm prince has found a bride ...
The Secret Gift and The Secret Pact are a dilogy and Urban Fantasy. The two volumes are very exciting, but also very funny. I especially like the scene where Isabell meets Luan. He belongs to a species that can make itself invisible, unfortunately it doesn't work for Isabell.
Here's the book description: nineteen-year-old Isabell can see what no one else can. When Luan is sent to protect her, she reacts to him very differently than she expected. She doesn't know that he's her only chance to survive, nor how real the monsters from her nightmare night actually were. At that time, as if under duress, she painted a symbol on the wall of her childhood bedroom that she is not supposed to know, and that is of enormous importance to Luan's species.
He must gain her trust and at the same time is obligated to keep the truth from her. When they are attacked, Luan must decide where his loyalties lie. But is Isabell ready to trust him?
I tried to translate this scene into English:
When he noticed that the girl continued to march straight home, he let himself fall back, relieved. He disappeared into a dark alcove, only to step out in his visible form onto the nocturnal street immediately afterwards. With his fingertips he rubbed his aching temples. Million years of adaptation didn't help, without host energy today already after a few hours he had a skull feeling like the day after a drunken night. Simply great. A few minutes later, he had no choice but to become invisible again, and he caught up. His movements were elegant, sure, almost silent, and he knew that they would have been even in the most daring climb - this was simply the result of years of training and lots of talent. Isabell stopped next to the pizzeria in front of the carved double doors of the old apartment building and rummaged for the key in the glow of the streetlights. Like a cat, he crept closer. The patrons of the pizzeria were talking noisily enough that it was no problem at all to position himself behind Isabell. He could have touched the little girl with his outstretched arm.
Isabell wheeled around to face him, eyes narrowed to narrow slits. "Dare, and you'll speak an octave higher!"
Taken aback, he backed away and raised his hands in defeat. "You ... can see me?"
Even in the dim lighting, he could tell she was looking at him like he was deranged. "No, I'm just pretending," she hissed.
"How do I look?" asked Luan.
"Like a desperate stalker - or do you mean on a scale of one to ten?"
Luan noticed that his lower jaw dropped in a most unprofessional manner. It was completely impossible for a human to perceive him. That he didn't answer seemed to infuriate her even more.
"Watch this! Earlier, I was still hoping you had a home! When you sneaked up on me, I thought you were looking for your guardian ..." She jabbed a finger in his direction. "So what do you want from me!"
"You were -" He interrupted himself in mid-sentence. If he inquired now whether she had already seen him at the pub, she would have him committed.
She folded her arms in front of her chest, waiting. Abort, shot through his head. Complete disaster. He knew he would have to turn this case in. And he also knew that he didn't want that under any circumstances, the challenge appealed to him far too much.
— I know you got Fantastikpreis for your book Eldorin - Das verborgene Land. Could you tell us about the award? Is this a contest for the manuscripts, or the selection is conducted only among books that are published already? What did you fell when you got that prize?
— Readers suggest books and there are then two rounds of voting. I was very surprised that I won, because there were also books from known publishers. Apparently, a lot of readers voted for Eldorin. I was there with my family and didn't expect it to be quite a big event. I had asked beforehand if there was anything I should do if I won, and the answer had been: No, just sit in the audience. That was fine with me, because I had spent the whole day at the book fair in Frankfurt and had just made it to the awards ceremony that evening. All of a sudden the lights went out in the hall and on a table were these sparkling prizes for different categories. My name came up first, I had to get up on stage, and someone held a microphone under my nose. I have no idea what I said, but fortunately I'm quite spontaneous and managed coherent sentences. Then came minutes of flashing lights from the press photographers, which was really great!
— Your books were among best-sellers on Amazon. What did you feel when you learned that your books became that popular? Do these ratings motivate you for writing new stories – or rather distract?
— That's a great motivation, but I also feel the pressure to write the next book at least as well.
— 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 biggest difficulty for an unknown author is finding a publisher in the first place. Or an agent who presents the book to the publishers. Most publishers here in Germany have a day once a year when they also look at manuscripts that they haven't solicited themselves. They also don't promote every book, but only certain titles that the publisher sees as particularly promising. Publishers then invest a lot of money to make readers aware of these particular titles, for example, with promotional brochures, a spot near the cash register, or on a pretty book table. I didn't know any of this when I started my writing career. So it's still not easy for me as a self-publisher to sell my book not only as an ebook but also in print.
— In Russia, published writers collaborate with publishers and usually are quite involved in advertising their own books. Could you tell how are these things like in Germany? For example, when creating covers, does your opinion matter?
— It's very similar in Germany. Publishers often select authors based on whether they are willing to invest time in advertising on social media. Most of the time you also have a say in the cover, but I know authors who were very unhappy with their publisher's cover. Fortunately, that couldn't happen to me, as I design my own covers.
— When I was preparing for this interview, I found out that you learned communication design. Could you tell a bit more about this profession? Did you like studying? Did you work in that area?
— If you want to become a graphic designer, you have to decide in Germany whether you'd rather go to the Fachhochschule (which is what I did) or the Akademie. Actually, the academy is more fun because it's more in the artistic direction and not so much in the direction of advertising, but unfortunately most artists only become famous after they die ... I really enjoyed studying it (except for some really boring advertising subjects) and also worked as a graphic designer for a few years. At some point, after my children were older, I had the idea to write a book.
— As a reading, I’m always fascinated by the Fairyloot book boxes, and in Russia authors frequently do their own boxes for their own books. Is there such practice in Germany? Did you want to have a box like that made for your book?
— Book boxes are also very popular in Germany, mostly offered by publishers. I don't have one yet, but you just gave me an idea ...
— Do you have any writing fears? If so, how do you handle them? Do you ever have a thought of quitting writing?
— I really had problems with writing once. Within two months, my husband and my two daughters had really bad accidents independently of each other. They were all hospitalized and it's almost a miracle that they survived and are all healthy again. My husband had a bicycle accident, one daughter crashed her quad bike into a tree while riding as a passenger, and the other daughter fell 30 meters down from a mountain. During this time I was not able to write. I had wanted to write the sequel to The Secret Gift, but I put the book aside and after a break started The Prince of Fairies.
— What are your hobbies besides writing?
— At the moment I photograph a lot. The winter before last, two pretty colorful goldfinches came to the feeder outside my kitchen window, and I've been photographing birds ever since. Unfortunaltly my camera is not very good, so I'm all the better to sneak up unnoticed. Only the green woodpecker always notices me and then sounds like it's laughing at me as it flies away. My best subject so far is a kingfisher. Actually, I'd like to paint more, too, but I know that once I start, I won't stop. I then work until dawn and hardly do anything else. And actually I want to write the next book quickly.
— You live in Germany, 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 Germany?
— I live in Bavaria, and there are of course the royal castles in the middle of the Alps, for example Neuschwanstein Castle. It looks a bit like Walt Disney. When someone visits me in my hometown of Fürth, I take them through the old town with its many cozy pubs and show them the street with old Art Nouveau houses, where historic films have already been shot.
— Your favorite German food?
— Haha, pizza (ok, that's Italian). I'm not a big fan of German food, I'm more into Greek and Turkish. I'm lucky that my neighbor and good friend is Turkish, she often gives me something to try.
— Your favorite movies?
— Hm. What I can watch over and over again is Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. And actually also Three Nuts for Cinderella. Otherwise, I also like thrillers, but I don't have a favorite movie.
— Can you advise your favorite books that are worth reading?
— Right now, my favorite book is: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare.
— How do you feel about bloggers who are telling about your books and tag you in their reviews?
— Of course I think that's great! I also always try to answer.
— What do you think about a competitiveness in the writing world? Do you have friends among other writers?
— I have made some really good friends among other authors. They are spread all over Germany, but sometimes we manage to meet. Mostly at my place, I have the most space and I also just like to invite people.
— Would you like to visit Russia?
— Oh yes, I would love that very, very much! I once tried to learn Russian as a teenager. It wasn't offered at school, I took an evening course. But I didn't last long, actually I can only decipher a few Cyrillic letters. I love the sound of the language and there are such great sights there!
— 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?
— My family is quite proud of me now. I think the night they saw me on stage, they realized that it's more than just a hobby. Most family members and friends read my books (voluntarily).
— Can you share some of your writing plans? What are you working on right now?
— I really wanted to get back to the fairy realm and am struggling with the plot right now.
— Finally, can you give an advice to aspiring writers?
— Never give up! And criticism, if it is constructive, do not perceive it as negative, but be happy that you can improve.
Dear Maya, thank you so much for your really good questions! I enjoyed answering them!
Gaby on instagram: @gabywohlrab