Jodie is the author of the Wilderness Fairies series, a set of six books that combine adventure, magic, beguiling characters and a well-realised setting with a subtle environmental message. I asked Jodie five questions and here's what she had to say.
1. Were
you always intrigued with fairies, or was this a marketing decision to write a
fairy series?
Writing a fairy series was most definitely a love
decision, not a marketing one. I've always been fascinated with the mythology of
European fairies and faerie folk and wanted to believe that a little bit of
that magic could be also be a part of the land where I grew up. I figured that
if fairies did exist they must surely be found in all parts of the world and I
wanted to create something for Aussie kids to help them feel the magic that I
always feel when out in the Australian bush.
2. Six books is a great number for a series. Was Daisy’s story arc planned from the start?
Originally, I only planned one story for Daisy. It was my
agent who encouraged me to write a sequel and think about ideas for more
stories after that. While those original ideas may have led to getting a
contract for the Daisy books many of them did not end up getting used. Some really
interesting discussions with my editor at Penguin during the early days of
planning the series led to the idea of Daisy searching for her Calling in life.
Once this became the overall story arc of the series new story ideas flowed
naturally from there.
Daisy's best friend Vu was not in the original draft of
the story which had Daisy spending much of her quest alone. When my editor
suggested that Daisy have a companion I didn't want it to be another fairy. It
was much more appealing to me for her to have an animal friend. I researched
small mammals and birds but none of them were small enough for my purposes so I
started researching insects. When I discovered a very rare beetle living just
across the river from where I had set the stories, the exact size to fit in the
palm of Daisy's hand, I knew I had found the perfect companion.
For this character to work and be a well-rounded character
and helpful participant in Daisy's adventures they needed to be able to
communicate. For the sake of realism I didn't want Vu or the other animals in
the series to actually speak Daisy's language. I wanted them to make their own
animal sounds that Daisy could understand and for Daisy to speak in her own
language and have them understand her too. As Vu was a very special character I
wanted him to have his own unique sound that wouldn't be associated with any
other creature. Chitter, for me, seemed like the perfect word.
Daisy's name was also something that changed very early in
the planning as did many of the other main characters. In early drafts she had
been called Lily but the more feisty and adventurous she became the less that
name seemed to suit her. I researched flowers found in the area where the story
was set and came across these yellow paper daisies. They were bold, bright and
hardy and so much more representative of the character I was creating.
From that point on all the characters were named either for
plants or animals that are found in that type of forest or to match their
Calling or personalities. Daisy's sister Maggie is a singer so was named after
the magpie. Her mother Nen is a tribute to my own mother. Her real name is Anne
which was my mother's middle name and also conveniently can be found in
'Flannel Flower'. The character of Grevillea who was the first real antagonist
of the series was given her name because not only do grevilleas have spiky
leaves but their name also includes the word 'evil'. Choosing names was one of
the most fun parts of writing the Daisy books, especially for the ones
who were written for some of my family and friends who asked to be characters
in the series.
5. How long, in fictional terms, does Daisy’s story last?
Each of the stories in the Wilderness Fairies series take
place over a relatively short period of time, usually just a few days. They are
sequential with some books picking up the story the day after the last book
ended, some a few weeks and one a few months. Overall the series chronicles the
major events during approximately nine months of Daisy's life.
The URL is www.wildernessfairies.com.
I'm also on Facebook www.facebook.com/JodieWellsSlowgroveAuthor
and Twitter @jwellsslowgrove
