1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE CLEAVING
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Men have told King Arthur’s story for centuries. Now the women have their say.
3—Does your book take place in Camelot?
Partly, but this story starts in Winchester and soon moves to Tintagel. Later on, the reader sees other places besides Camelot. Arthur isn’t the center of the world for these women.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Definitely. Nimue would be a fascinating person to talk to, though it’s hard to imagine her kicking off her shoes and unwinding over a glass of wine. Meeting for coffee and a chat seems more her style.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Observant, quick-witted, determined.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
When I went back to the earliest versions of the stories about King Arthur, I discovered so many enchanted swords and otherworldly encounters. Recent retellings, especially in film and TV, have aimed for ‘realism’ (whatever that means), taking them far away from the mystery and magic.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I start each writing day by reading over what I’ve written the day before. I’ll do a bit of tidying up, but I’ll write a complete first draft before I really get to work seeing where pace can be tightened up or if a chapter would benefit from more time and space. Events and conversations should reveal something about a character, about the plot, or about the world of a story. Editing is where I work out ways to do at least two of these things in any scene.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Dim sum.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
It’s the smallest bedroom in our house. With five bookcases, a filing cabinet and a big desk for my computer, two monitors and the printer, there’s room for me and not much else apart from the occasional visiting cat. On the plus side, I can pretty much reach anything I need from my desk chair.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Among many others, Kate Elliott. She’s a superb writer who has found innovative ways to explore so many of the classic set-ups in epic fantasy and science fiction. She creates immersive worlds and characters I really care about. I’ll be thinking about the ways her stories explore human nature long after I’ve finished reading. She’s also a lovely person to spend time with and incredibly supportive to other writers at every stage in their career.
11--Is there a book that changed your reading life?
Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly upended my ideas about what epic fantasy fiction was supposed to be, back in the mid-1980s.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.”
These days, publishing news tends to come in an email. The Cleaving is rather different to the other novels I’ve written. Simon Spanton and I had been talking about finding a feminist approach to the Arthurian mythos and when I came up with this idea, I wrote an outline and asked what he thought. I was so pleased when he said I should start working on it; by then I was really keen to write this book.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
My reading splits between crime and mystery fiction and fantasy and SF. I can’t lose myself in a fantasy novel while I’m writing one, so that’s when I reach for a good whodunnit.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The Princess Bride. It’s got everything a movie could possibly need.
15--What is your favorite season?
Spring. I like the freshness and brighter colors as the days get longer and warmer.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Dinner at a good restaurant with my husband. We’ve been together since 1985 but that never gets old.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
TV show? Andor. Even if you know nothing about Star Wars, this is outstanding story telling.
Movie? See How They Run is tremendous fun for Golden Age crime fiction fans. Fun can be underrated these days.
Book? Our Child of Two Worlds by Stephen Cox (though you’ll want to read Our Child of the Stars first, if you haven’t already). This 1960s-set story of an orphaned alien child and the people who take him in is insightful, humane and absorbing.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Chinese food, in particular Szechuan cooking.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I read or relax with some TV. I might do some knitting or embroidery. When my husband and I have time off work together, we like to visit historic houses, castles, and museums.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
That is a very good question. Readers are enjoying my contemporary fantasy series, starting with The Green Man’s Heir, so I’m already working on the next book. But writing The Cleaving has reminded me how much I enjoy writing epic fantasy. It’s where I started as an author after all, with The Thief’s Gamble. Time for a chat with my agent Max, I think.
Four women, four destinies – the future of King Arthur's court…
A new, feminist retelling of the Arthurian legends
The Cleaving is an Arthurian retelling that follows the tangled stories of four women: Nimue, Ygraine, Morgana, and Guinevere, as they fight to control their own destinies amid the wars and rivalries that will determine the destiny of Britain.
The legendary epics of King Arthur and Camelot don’t tell the whole story. Chroniclers say Arthur’s mother Ygraine married the man that killed her husband. They say that Arthur's half-sister Morgana turned to dark magic to defy him and Merlin. They say that the enchantress Nimue challenged Merlin and used her magic to outwit him. And that Arthur’s marriage to Guinevere ended in adultery, rebellion and bloodshed. So why did these women chose such dangerous paths?
As warfare and rivalries constantly challenge the king, Arthur and Merlin believe these women are destined to serve Camelot by doing as they are told. But men forget that women talk. Ygraine, Nimue, Morgana and Guinevere become friends and allies while the decisions that shape their lives are taken out of their hands. This is their untold story. Now these women have a voice.
Juliet McKenna is an expert on medieval history and warfare and brings this expertise as well as her skills as a fantasy writer to this epic standalone novel.
Women's Fiction | Fantasy [Watkins Publishing, On Sale: April 11, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781915202222 / eISBN: 9781915202277]
Juliet E. McKenna is the author of 15 epic fantasy novels set in the world of Einarinn, as well as several novellas and countless short stories ranging from SF to steampunk and alternate history. She has been a judge for the World Fantasy Awards, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the James White Award and the Aeon Award, and has, herself, been shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award and the BSFA Award for Best Novel.
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