Author interview Mats Strandberg and Sara B. Elfgren
Author bio's:
Mats Strandberg is
an award-winning novelist and journalist. He is a regular columnist for
Sweden's biggest evening newspaper, has been named Columnist of the Year by
Sweden's Newspapers and Magazines organization, and had published three
previous novels, with rights sold in numerous countries.
Sara Bergmark Elfgren started her career
in the film industry as a screenwriter. As a script doctor, she has been
involved in several Swedish film and television productions. She has a degree
in Film Studies. THE CIRCLE is her debut novel.
Hi Mats and Sara, welcome over at The
Book Plank and for taking your time to answer these few questions for us.
BP: First off, could you give us a short introduction
as to who Mats Strandberg and Sara Elfgren are? What are your likes, dislikes
and hobbies next to writing?
MS: I had written
three novels prior to the engelsfors trilogy, none translated into English
however. I love reality tv, horror films, and books of course – any genre,
really, as long as there’s interesting characters. I am addicted to social
media. I want to live in Vermont for a couple of years in the future. I am
about to get married to an amazing guy. I eat way too much ice-cream.
SE: I started off
in the film and TV industry, working as a screenwriter and a script editor. I
have a degree in Film Studies. I like books, graphic novels and movies and I
also enjoy playing video games. The Last
of Us was probably one of my greatest cultural experiences of 2013. I like
music, everything from black metal to opera. I like broccoli and peanut butter,
but not combined. Or wait … Maybe I should try this?
BP: What gave you the idea behind the Engelsfors
series?
MS: It was a long
and organic process. We knew we wanted to write about teenagers in a small
town. We wanted them to come from from very different social groups, and be
forced to really get to know each other – and themselves – while working
together for a higher purpose.
SE: One day Mats
said: “What if they’re witches?” And then I said: “Yes, but then we have to
write a whole trilogy, three really thick books.” We didn’t realize what a huge
project we were undertaking. I guess one could say that we were protected by
our enthusiasm and naivety.
BP: You are both the authors of the Engelsfors series.
How did you come up with the idea to coauthor writing Engelsfors series?
SE: Mats and I
had gotten to know each other through our jobs and we had this amazing work-chemistry.
Both of us felt that we wanted to work together. But it was Mats who suggested
that we should write a novel. Which was quite brave of him considering that he
was an established author, and I had, apart from working as a screenwriter,
only received encouraging rejection letters from publishers.
MS: It wasn’t
brave at all! It was a no-brainer. Our minds really clicked. Ideas snowballed.
We just had to do it. And we were both at a point in our lives when it made
sense to try something new. I had just finished my third book and I wrote
columns for a newspaper and it was just me alone with my brain, all the time –
I desperately missed working with someone. And then Sara appeared as an angel
of light and beauty.
BP: When you write a book for yourself you can have
everything to your own idea’s, how did the planning in cowriting the Engelsfors
series work?
MS: It was so
much fun! We were like two kids, creating our own world, playing with our
characters. Of course we didn’t always agree, but that just led to discussions
that made our ideas even better. I mean, we have discussed everything, from
philosophy to physics to really personal, deep experiences from our own life
regarding love and friendships and parents.
SE: We had a
basic idea of what the main conflict would be in each book. When we worked on
each individual book, we started off with a rough outline. Then we wrote and
edited about four chapters at a time (two each). After about 100 pages we
reread the whole draft from the beginning, discussed and made changes, and then
we went back to the four chapter-method for another 100 pages.
BP: The Cirle, the first book in the Engelsfors series
was originally published in Swedish, when you heard that a big publishing house
in England wanted to publish your book in English, what were your first
thoughts?
MS: Everything
happened so fast with Engelsfors, that it just became part of this huge
emotional rollercoaster for me. After a while, it was sort of like thinking
about space. Your mind can’t really grasp it.
SE: It was huge,
of course. Like Mats said, we were rather overwhelmed by everything at that
time. I was very, very pleased. It felt so unreal. The book hadn’t even been
published in Swedish yet.
BP: Often books written in the original language are
best, when it comes to translation some parts can be missed or not as well
interpreted when it comes to puns and jokes. How does this relates to the
English version of Engelsfors?
MS: Well, of course it’s hard for us to tell how some
things “work” in a non-swedish context. It is strange to read ones own words in
English, but it also feels weirdly natural – me and Sara both read a lot,
especially in this genre, in English.
SE: Of course the
translator had to change some things. For exampel, the rundown park Kärrgruvan
where they meet, is called a “theme park” in English. In fact it is a
“folkpark” (“people’s park”), a very Swedish phenomenon. Almost every Swedish
town has one. It was a place where people went to dance, drink (lots of that going on) and listen to
bands. They were often owned by a labour organisation. Nowadays the glory days
of the “folkpark” are definitely over. But it has a very strong meaning for
many Swedish people.
BP: The Key is the third and final book in the
Engelsfors series and is published this month. If you would have to sell the
book with a single sentence how would it go?
MS: Engelsfors
with extra everything.
SE: More of the
stuff you liked.
BP: If you would be given the chance to retract The
Key from publishing and make one final adjustment would you do so and if yes
which parts and why?
MS: I honestly
can’t think of anything. We rewrote stuff days before it went to print, and
this is the book that it is supposed to be.
SE: I agree with
Mats. We did our best, and when you’ve done your best, you have to be
satisfied. We’ve left the story with the readers now.
BP: Did you encounter any specific difficulties when
you were writing The Key?
MS: Tying
together this huge story. Being constantly afraid of discovering a huge plot
hole that we had somehow missed all these years. And really, being so exhausted
after three years of an immense amount of work. It has been an amazing
adventure, and it has changed our lives for the better in so many ways, but it
has also been relentless. We haven’t hardly had a life outside of Engelsfors.
SE: Yes, like
Mats said, keeping the story together, and keeping ourselves together were the
greatest challenges. Luckily, we have a wonderful work dynamic. When one of us
is tired the other one always manages to find extra energy. We take care of
each other. And also, we laugh a lot,
which probably helps.
BP: What has been the hardest part in writing the
Engelsfors series?
MS: Anything to
do with mythology and magical rules. Luckily my partner has a superbrain.
SE: I enjoy
solving problems. It’s a blessing and a curse. Mostly a blessing. There is a
section of the book where the characters visit a non-ficitonal town for the
first time, and writing and especially editing that was intense to say the least.
BP: Besides the hardest part, which chapter, scene or
character did you enjoy writing about the most?
MS: It’s so hard
to say, because the faves change every time. Anything to do with the
relationships between the Chosen Ones, really. And I can’t really say what it’s
about, because it would be a huge spoiler alert, but chapter 95 in The Key always makes me laugh.
SE: Yes, chapter
95 is a bright spot in a very dark section of the book, even though it has
darkness too. I also enjoyed doing the research for The Key. It was never one of my favourite parts of writing before,
but working on The Key completely
changed that.
BP: Now that the last book in the Engelsfors series
has been published do you have any new projects that you wish to pursue in the
near future?
MS: I have just
finished the first draft of a horror novel. It’s set on a cruise ship, and the
whole plot takes place in 12 nightmarish hours. It has been so much fun
channeling my inner Stephen King. I have also finished the first in a trilogy
of children’s books. Plus, I have some other ideas … also, me and Sara will
work together again in the future. We’ll see when, but we have already started
talking about the kind of story we would like to explore.
SE: I’ve been
very busy working on the film adaptation of The
Circle, which opens in Swedish theatres the 18th of February. I
co-wrote the screenplay together with the director Levan Akin, and I’ve been
very involved in the project. Fun fact: the owners of the production company
are Benny Andersson of ABBA and his son Ludvig - and Benny has written the
score! Sorry for going off on a tangent, but the film has dominated my life for
a long while now, and now I’m working on the screenplays for the sequels which
we will hopefully make. But I’m also working on a high fantasy graphic novel
about Nordic gods, giants and vikings together with artist Karl Johnsson, a
picture books for children together with artist Maria Fröhlich and I look
forward to writing my next novel, which is kind of in the same genre as the
Engelsfors books. But answering these questions about The Key really makes me want to write a book with Mats again –
right now!
BP: Everyone enjoys fantasy in their own way, what do
you like most about this genre?
MS: I love seeing
the world from new perspectives, and when fantasy sheds a new light on very
real problems and situations. Me and Sara both love when the magical elements
are used to challenge characters.
SE: Yes, I really
enjoy fantasy that is grounded in some kind of “reality”, because that’s when
the magical things feel the most magical to me. For example, the science
fantasy comics Saga by Brian K.
Vaughan and Fiona Staples is so
imaginative: trees turn into rockets, there are talking (and super-cute)
seal-people, but the characters are completely psychologically believable and
that’s what makes everything feel so real.
BP: if you would have to give your top 5 favorite
books which would they be?
MS: Gaaah, I hate
this question because it’s so hard to answer! I’ll cheat a little bit and say
the five best books I’ve read this year (the books themselves aren’t
necessarily new, though): The Fever,
by Megan Abbott. Feed, by M T
Anderson. Bird Box, by Josh Malerman.
The Age of Miracles, by Karen
Thompson Walker. The Hellbound Heart,
by Clive Barker.
SE: I completely
agree with Mats about the question being stress-inducing and The Fever, Feed and The Hellbound Heart
being excellent books (I haven’t read the other ones he mentions– yet). I’ll give you five more spec fic titles that
I read and really liked last year: Annihilation
by Jeff VanderMeer, The Privilege of the
Sword by Ellen Kushner, Ms. Marvel:
No Normal by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona, Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples. Last but not least: Maresi (part one in the Red Abby Chronicles)
by Maria Turtschaninoff, a beautiful Finnish-Swedish YA
high fantasy novel that will be published in the UK by Pushkin Press. Keep your
eyes peeled for this one!
BP: And just lastly, can you give us a short sneak
peek of what will be in store for the readers of The Key?
MS: Well, the
most fun part of writing the key was that we finally could reveal all the
secrets that we had been keeping for the first two books. And sort of burn off
all the fireworks.
SE: Also there
will be kissing.
You can find Mats on Twitter and Instagram with matsstrandberg_ and on Tumblr:
matsstrandberauthor.tumblr.com
You can find Sara on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram with sarabelfgren
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