Lenore Appelhans, author of the weird and wonderful Level 2 will be known to lots of you through her excellent book blog Presenting Lenore. Articulate, thoughtful and quick to help those new to the book blogging scene (as she did with Splendibird three years ago when these here mountains were more...molehill-esque), Lenore is a bit of a fixture but we're not here today to talk about her blogging (nope, not even her purse-killing Dystopian months). Last year, Lenore emerged as an author, making publishing history on her way. Her debut novel tells the story of Felicia. Felicia is dead, has been for some time she thinks, and spends her days in a strange afterlife - the Level 2 of the title. To say more would be to ruin the experience of Lenore's story for future readers suffice to say that Level 2 is a dystopian tale like no other out there and will have you pondering the nature of memory and sacrifice long after you turn the last page.
Lenore will be appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival tomorrow, along with Sara Grant (author of the also awesome Half Lives) and to encourage those able to pop along, Lenore has answered some of our questions about Level 2.
A year (or
thereabouts!) on from the publication of Level 2, how do you reflect
on your transition from blogger to author to blogger and
author?
It’s
been a straddling of both worlds, really. It’s most evident to me
in my interactions with my debut author groups when I have the chance
to explain what it is that book bloggers do and why. On the whole,
book bloggers have been incredibly supportive of Level 2, and I
really appreciate that. I know how much time it takes to read a book,
write a review and then promote it on various social media sites –
and that’s not even the half of what book bloggers do, as you know!
Of course, with the writing and book deadlines, I’ve not had as
much time to devote to the blog as I’d like. It’s been kind of a
ghost town lately.
Level 2
draws on a variety of mythologies and beliefs from Judeo-Christian
faith to Greek mythology (with a particularly beautiful take on a
variety of underground rivers) as well as what one might call the
“cult of technology”. Did you know from the start that you were
going to mix and match these ideologies and how did you go about
combining them into a cohesive whole?
The
original seed of the idea had to do with the value of memories and
imagining that memories were a kind of currency in the afterlife. In
the summer of 2010, I was in Pompeii, and thinking about social media
and dystopian lit in relation to that original idea, and the story
sort of tumbled out of me. Of course I spent the next six months
researching angels and the afterlife visions of various cultures and
religions and letting it all percolate. The Morati and their hives
and memory chambers were there from the beginning and certain
aspects, such as the rivers, came in during the drafting process.
The world
that Felicia finds herself inhabiting is fairly complex. For those
who haven’t read the book, could you surmise the situation and
conflict that Felicia finds herself in the middle of?
Felicia
finds herself in a sterile, closed-off hive where she relives her own
memories and rents those of others to pass the time. She’s
questioning if this is all the afterlife has to offer when a boy from
her past shows up, and promises to lead her to her boyfriend if she
joins his rebellion against the architects of Level Two. There are
sort of two main conflicts – one is obviously the external conflict
of going up against corrupted angels and the other is the internal
conflict of not wanting to face one’s painful memories, but that
you have to do it if want the strength to move on.
Level 2
itself is very distinct and your writing extraordinarily visual.
When did you first “see” the design and how did you expand on it
to create such a unique environment for your story? Were there
sketches and drawings or did it all just appear on paper the way you
saw it in your mind?
One of the
inspirations for the Level Two design was Tori Amos talking about
bees and their link to the eternal (the fact that, for example, bees
fly in a figure eight pattern, the symbol for infinity). I also
pictured the beehive huts I visited once on the Dingle peninsula in
Ireland, but in a more massive, futuristic environment. My husband’s
brother is an architect and we sat down together and talked out the
measurements and placement of memory chambers within the hive. He
created a cross section of a hive for me, and it was incredibly
helpful when I was writing about the characters’ movements within
the hives.
Talking of
visuals, I believe you made publishing history by selling the book,
the foreign rights and the film rights in one mega-deal. Well done!
While we can see for ourselves how well the book is doing, can you
tell us anything about the possibility of Level 2, the movie?
I’ve
heard it said that only about 1% of properties that are optioned ever
actually get filmed. I don’t know too much about the industry, but
I imagine it has a lot to do with the right people getting passionate
enough about something to move it through. That’s a roundabout way
of saying I know nothing about what’s going on with the Level 2
movie!
In terms
of publishing, I believe that title shenanigans have abounded since
Level 2 appeared on shelves. Can you tell us what the new title of
the book is and what led to the decision to change it?
The title
may never change in the UK because Usborne published it in a
paperback original, but in the US, where Simon and Schuster has the
rights and published it in hardcover in January, it is coming out
September 3rd in
paperback with the title The Memory of After. S&S
had been getting feedback from sales that people browsing in
bookstores were overlooking Level 2 because they thought it was a
sequel. The publishing team want to give it the best chance to find
an audience, and decided to try a rebranding. It’s actually
something that S&S has done quite a bit, and quite successfully,
so fingers crossed!
Level 2
circles to a rather intriguing end, twist ridden yet entirely
satisfying. However, I’m pretty sure that a certain old face is
likely to appear along with one that hasn’t even appeared in
Felicia’s afterlife yet… can you give us any clues as to the next
instalment?
Yes! The
sequel (called Chasing Before in the US, currently untitled in the
UK) takes place in Level Three. I don’t want to give too much away,
but whereas the character arc in Level 2 is about Felicia finding
redemption, it’s sort of the opposite in the sequel in that she’d
led back down a path of temptation. There are a couple of big twists
in the beginning that make Felicia question everything she thought
she knew to be true. And fan favourites definitely reappear – no
worries!
Finally, I
know you’re a prolific reader. What three books would you, so far,
recommend from the 2013 releases and which three are you most highly
anticipating?
Only
three? You are killing me! Here’s my list of 2013 awesome reads so far. As far as standalones -- I’ve been recommending In the Shadow of
Blackbirds by Cat Winters to everyone for the atmosphere and the
tragic love story. Oh and This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila
Sales is so raw and honest and about the power of music to heal. As
far as sequels, I was gutted by the endings of both Prodigy by Marie
Lu and Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood, so I’m impatiently
awaiting the final books in those trilogies.I also
can’t wait to read These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan
Spooner. And as soon as I get the time, I am going to dig into
Marisha Pessl’s Night Film.
Many thanks to Lenore for answering our questions. And yay Tori Amos! Just saying. Lenore and Sara will appearing tomorrow, 26th August, at 6pm in the Baillie Gifford tent on Charlotte square - be sure to pop in if you're in the area. And pop back here later in the week for Polka-Dot Steph's take on Matt Haig and the Science of Superheroes from a brand new contributor.
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