Isobelle Carmody (b. Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia, 1958) is an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy, children’s and juvenile literature. She has a home on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Isobelle began work on the highly acclaimed Obernewtyn Chronicles when she was just fourteen years old. She continued to work on these while completing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in literature and philosophy, followed by a cadetship in journalism, and last year she completed a PhD at the University of Queensland. This year, Isobelle received an Australia Council grant to write a memoir, and she has been shortlisted for the Antarctic Fellowship, which will be announced later in the year.
Today, Isobelle Carmody is on the blog to answer a few questions about her new book, The Velvet City. Read on!
Isobelle Carmody (Photo by Cat Sparks).
Please tell us about your book, The Velvet City!
IC: The Velvet City is the last in the Kingdom of the Lost series. The two little characters are in the final stage of their long journey to find a new home, but first they have to get the injured Monster to the mysterious and dangerous Velvet City. This will bring them to the truth about the terrible Makers, whose stone storm machine destroyed their home.
This is the final book in the Kingdom of the Lost series. How does it feel to be wrapping it up?
IC: I love coming to the end of a series, because it is a way of completing the big arc of the story. Each novel in a series has its own story arc, but there is the larger arc connecting all of them, and it is very satisfying to reach it.
What did you love the most about writing the dynamic between your two protagonists, brothers Bily and Zluty?
IC: I love how much each of them loves and sees the strengths of the other. I love how strongly their love connects them. Most of all, I love how brave and kind they both are.
What does a typical writing day look like for you?
IC: I get up and make a pot of tea, then I carry the tray with tea, sugar and milk to where I am going to work for the morning. Sometimes it is in bed, and sometimes, right now, it is to a table in the garden. At least that was how it was a week ago in Queensland. This moment, writing this, I am on top of a mountain and I bring my tea tray into this room, which has a spectacular view of snowy mountains. I always try to be somewhere comfortable and if possible, where when I look up, my aesthetic senses are pleased.
‘Each novel in a series has its own story arc, but there is the larger arc connecting all of them, and it is very satisfying to reach it.’
What do you love about writing for younger readers?
IC: I don’t really think about the age of the readers at all. When I am writing, my allegiance is to the characters and the story. Bily and Zluty are young and so their voice is young, and that is what shapes the feeling of the story. I think readers identify with the characters, and I love hearing young kids talk about Bily and Zluty as if they know them and are friends with them. There is nothing in the world as sweet as a book friend. Mine were the duck in Dr Doolittle and Reepicheep in the Narnia books, and Pippi Longstocking, of course.
What is the last book you read and loved?
IC: I love the Moomintroll books. Tove Janssen’s illustrations are absolutely inspiring. I am just about to finish Station Eleven, which I am adoring. Clever and beautiful post-apocalyptic story. Before that I read Klara and the Sun, which was very special.
What do you hope readers will discover in The Velvet City?
IC: I hope readers find hope and beauty and courage and kindness. I hope they will like the way the story ends.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
IC: I am waiting to hear about the Antarctic Fellowship, for which I have been shortlisted. I want to go there to write a story about a little tiny character with long ears, who goes to the Antarctic and though humans can’t see her, they feel her, and she is on a quest. If I get it, I will be able to go there on a big boat and stay at a station for a while. I will draw while I am down there and write the rough of her story. But it is very competitive so maybe I will have to try again next year. I have also been awarded an Australia Council grant to work on a book and I will also be doing Post Doctoral Research with the University of Queensland, connected to creative writing, young people and hope, so it will be exciting to put my doctorate to use in an area that really matters to me.
Thanks Isobelle!
—The Velvet City by Isobelle Carmody (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.
The Velvet City
The Kingdom of the Lost: Book 3
The final book in the award-winning and beloved fantasy series, The Kingdom of the Lost, by the acclaimed author of Little Fur and the Obernewtyn Chronicles.
In this last part of their long journey, Bily and Zluty must each travel to the dangerous Velvet City, where they will learn the shocking truth about themselves . . . even as their beloved Monster faces the fate he fled...
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Comments
September 22, 2021 at 2:57 pm
As an oldie, in years, not on the inside, i appreciate most of Isobelle Carmody’s srories. Especially the Dark Song trillogy. Looking forward to it’s final book before i die!! She is an amzingly creative writer!