Cat Hellisen Talks Writing, Revision, and Beastkeeper

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Credit: Nerine and Thomas Dorman

In today’s post, I’m talking with Cat Hellisen, author of When the Sea is Rising Red, to talk about writing, reading, and her brand new book, Beastkeeper.

When we pick up a book or watch a movie, we want to be lost in the new world and story that the writers have constructed for us. It’s often easy to forget that this work of art is exactly that – “work”.

And, for teachers like me, how many times have we had a student rattle off a first draft, simply to hand the piece of notebook paper to us and declare it “done”? Like us, students only see finished products all around them and we have to talk to them about the process of revision, or literally, a “reseeing” of an idea.

Cat Hellisen of Cape Town, South Africa, has published three novels and numerous short stories. She weaves together curses and cobblestones for an enchanting feel with dark undertones. I read her most recent novel, Beastkeeper, within a couple days of its release, and was absolutely blown away by the “reimagination” of the classic tale.

Hi, Cat! Thanks so much for joining us today.

So, let’s start off by talking about Beastkeeper. It’s not a “retelling” of Beauty and the Beast in the strictest sense, but there are definite elements there. How did you decide which elements of the classic tale to incorporate and which to leave behind?

When I started, I knew I was going to be writing about a girl who becomes a beast. (If you are one of those unfortunates who has beta-read my millions of unpublished novels, you will know this is a recurring theme in my work). I had only the image of a girl waking to a fight between her parents, after which her mother leaves, and a pervasive feeling of coldness (We can pretend that the weather is a metaphor for how lonely Sarah is, if we like). I latched onto the story of Beauty and the Beast, and though I knew this story wasn’t going to be a strict retelling, the tension between the beautiful facade and the hideous beast, and the true natures they’re hiding, was going to be a massive element. I cherry-picked the ideas I wanted to include, and made up the rest.

I’ve seen some people state their uncertainty about whether this book is “Middle Grade” or “Young Adult”, and I want to be able to clarify it for other teachers. What age group do you think would most benefit from reading Beastkeeper and why?

I wrote Beastkeeper for myself. I adore classic children’s literature and fairy tales, and often find them more interesting and layered than some adult fiction. There’s a lot you can get away with under the seemingly simple veneer of “There was a girl with hair as dark as coal, and lips like new-spilled blood.” Especially if her mother is dead and her step-mother is a witch. Come on, how can you not want to dive into that and dig out all the things underneath? I can’t resist. However, when Beastkeeper was done, I was pretty sure that children around 12 – 14 would get a lot out of it, and some adults (the ones who feel no shame at reading children’s books).

I think younger than that, perhaps some of the darkness might be a bit much, or the pace a little too slow. Of course, all depends on the reader. Librarians and teachers are pretty clued up about which kids they know read what. Personally, I think MG and YA are constructs that serve little purpose other than to help publishers sell to more markets by dividing their audiences.

Read more of Cat’s thoughts on the hard work of writing…

You say that reading is part of your writing job. What

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen – Feb 2015

 kind of books do you like to read, and which authors have influenced you the most?

I love fantasy the most, in all its many varieties, and I love books that play with language and voice, or do interesting things. I would say authors who have had the biggest influence (whether it can be seen or not) are Clive Barker, Margaret Atwood, Diana Wynne Jones, Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, and David Almond.

What are some books you recommend for readers who loved Beastkeeper?

This is a bit awkward, because comparing my book to theirs sounds horrendous, but I think if you like dark fantastical children’s books, then Diana Wynne Jones – Dogsbody (my favourite of all time), Lauren Oliver – Liesl and Po, any of Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising sequence, though I adore The Grey King, Alan Garner’s Elidor books, Ruth Parks – My Sister Sif, David Almond – Skellig…I should probably stop now.

What’s next on the horizon?

I have about five books on the go at the moment (all at various points of first-draftness, except for the one which I have just begun revising), and two books on sub to editors. One is a fantasy world retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Tinderbox (but only if you squint, and like clockwork and dragons and massive games of chess), the other is a YA novel about a necromancer’s daughter who gets murdered, and has to try and oust an evil spirit from her body, and find the real King of Death.

Whatever happens, I have no control over what sells. All I can do is keep writing. The words are mine, the rest is fickle fate.

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Once again, my thanks to Cat Hellisen for her thoughtful answers to my questions and congratulations on her most recent novel. If you want to get your hands on Beastkeeper, click the link and get going.

Best,
Danielle @ Nouvelle

Photo Credits:
1. Cat Hellisen by Nerine and Thomas Dorman (used with permission)
2. Cover – Castle Dunguaire (c) Nicholas Raymond via Flickr (CC Att. license)
3. Beastkeeper cover – (c) Henry Holt & Co.