Rosamund Hodge, the debut author of Cruel Beauty, talks to Hypable about her journey to becoming a writer and what inspired her to write a Beauty and the Beast, Greek Mythology mash-up.

Tell us about your journey to becoming a writer.

When my older brother was thirteen, he started a writing club with his friends and wouldn’t let me join because I was only eight. I promptly swore that I would become a writer and make him sorry.  I didn’t actually start writing until I was twelve, but after that I never stopped.

In 2007, I went to the (amazing) Viable Paradise workshop, which helped me get more serious about writing. In 2009, NaNoWriMo got me to finish a novel for the first time in seven years. And in 2010, I thought to myself, “I really want to write a crazy melodramatic gothic romance.” CRUEL BEAUTY was the result.

(After selling CRUEL BEAUTY, I checked with my brother. He still isn’t sorry.)

Why do you feel you had to tell this story?

When I was a teenager, I struggled a lot with my temper. Most people would have called me a “nice girl,” but I sure didn’t feel nice. So I always loved heroines who got to be angry, who felt and said and did ugly things. They didn’t even have to be heroines. I sympathized with all the Mean Girl characters I ever read about, even the really awful ones you were supposed to hate — because I could be kind of awful too, sometimes. And I was desperate for stories about girls like me.

I had to write CRUEL BEAUTY because I wanted a story about a girl who was genuinely ugly inside. A girl who was prepared to die saving her world, but who was also jealous and resentful and sometimes cruel; a girl who hated both her uncaring father and her innocent sister. And who still got to fall in love, and tell her own story, and become a hero.

How did you decide on the mash up of story lines from Beauty and the Beast and Greek Mythology?

Fun fact: when I was a child, I was not actually a big fan of Beauty and the Beast. I liked it just fine, but it didn’t excite me much. But I was a huge, huge fan of Greek mythology, and my very favorite story was the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Briefly: An oracle tells the king he has to sacrifice his daughter to a “monster.” But the daughter, Psyche, isn’t devoured by a beast as she expects; instead, the wind carries her to a strange palace with invisible servants who tell her that she is a bride. And every night her husband comes to visit her — but he forbids her to see his face. When her jealous sisters persuade her to light a candle anyway, she discovers that he’s Cupid, the god of love. But because she broke his command, he becomes a prisoner of his mother Venus, and Psyche must complete a series of impossible tasks — ultimately going to the Underworld in order to free him.

I’ve loved this story since I was little, but I never planned to write a retelling of it. In a way, it felt too perfect: what could I add? Then a few years ago, I read the fairy tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” which is basically a half-and-half mix of Beauty and the Beast with Cupid and Psyche. Instantly, all three stories were inseparable in my head, and all three were ten times as exciting. And it was in the places that those stories diverged and intertwined that I found my inspiration.

Where’s your favorite place to write?

I can never make up my mind between coffeeshops and my bedroom. Coffeeshops are great because, well, coffee. And going out somewhere to write often makes it easier to concentrate. On the other hand, my bedroom is great because I can crank up the volume on my computer and play the same song 642 times in a row if the muse demands. And sometimes the muse really demands.

What is easier to write: The first line or the last line?

The first line. Usually. Sometimes. Maybe. Both are pretty difficult, honestly. But if you don’t hook readers in the very first line, you can always try again in the second. Whereas the last line is your only chance to leave a really brilliant last impression.

What one YA novel do you wish you had when you were a teen?

Do graphic novels count? Because then I would absolutely pick Boxers & Saints, a two-volume graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. It tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion through the eyes of two teens caught up on opposite sides, with a dash of magical realism; it’s beautiful and horrifying, tragic and hopeful, and just completely brilliant.

What are you working on now?

I’m doing the final revisions on my second novel for Balzer + Bray. Like CRUEL BEAUTY, it’s inspired by several fairy tales: in this case, “Little Red Riding Hood” mixed up with “The Girl Without Hands,” a more obscure story from the Brothers Grimm.

About Rosamund Hodge

Rosamund Hodge grew up as a homeschooler in Los Angeles, where she spent her time reading everything she could lay hands on, but especially fantasy and mythology. She got a BA in English from the University of Dallas and an MSt in Medieval English from Oxford, and she now lives in Seattle with seven toy cats and a plush Cthulhu. Visit her on the website or follow her on Twitter.

Cruel Beauty releases on January 28 and is available for pre-order at Indie Bound, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.