Interview: Author Danielle Jensen of Stolen Songbird

Describe yourself in three words?

Quiet, stubborn, ambitious.

Tell us about Stolen Songbird and it's main character Cécile?

Here is what is on the back cover of the book sitting next to me!

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the mountain. When Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she realizes that the trolls are relying on her to break the curse.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind: escape. But the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time…

But the more time she spends with the trolls, the more she understands their plight. There is a rebellion brewing. And she just might be the one the trolls were looking for…

Cécile’s an ordinary girl who finds herself in an extraordinary situation. She’s feisty and determined, and she goes after what she wants.

What do you feel is the most important aspect of story development; setting, characters, plot...? What makes a good story?

Character development. If you don’t care about the characters, it won’t matter how great everything else is.

What do you believe are the key elements to writing realistic love interests/romance in young adult fiction?

Hmmm, I’m not sure Tristan is a realistic love interest – he is quite fantastical!

I’m going to limit my answer to romance in YA fantasy, because I think contemporary novels are quite different. In my humble opinion, the relationships of YA fantasy are quite idealized – everything is better and worse than real life. The idea is not to make them realistic by our standards, but to make them compelling and believable in the world the author has created.

If you could be any animal, what would you be? Why?

A tiger, because I would strike fear into the hearts of all who crossed my path. Alternatively, a house cat.

If you could be a character in a book, which book and what character?

I would be Isabelle in The Mortal Instruments.

Any new projects in the works?

The sequel to Stolen Songbird. It is a time-sucking vortex.

What is the question that you wish interviewers would ask, and the answer to that question? 

Are you really excited to see the Divergent movie? Hell ya! I will probably have seen it by the time this interview is posted. So excited for Four.