How a Girl becomes a Goddess ! Young Adult writing phenom Josephine Angelini turns ancient myth into modern magic with her triumphant trilogy Starcrossed. Our Q&A with her comes just weeks after the publishing of her anxiously awaited final installment, Goddess. What first triggered your interest in mythology? I started reading mythology when I was very young. I think it was a combination of being a fantasy geek and the fact that they happened to be on the bookshelf at home. I was really into magic and monsters and Greek mythology had it all—hydras, sirens, Cyclopes, you name it. Have you had an Orion or Lucas (the books’ leading men) in your own life? Haha! This is the part where I say that all of my male characters are modeled after my husband and earn major brownie points! Actually, I think that my characters have more of me in them than anyone else, even the guys. Except Hector. Hector is the guy I wish I could be just for a day. He’s cocky and he always speaks his mind even if other people don’t like what he has to say. He’s a jerk, but in a fun way.
Josephine, your trilogy Starcrossed crosses worlds, races and generations of fans. What sort of influences have inspired you to reach out and express yourself in such an inclusive way? I actually felt like I couldn’t use as many ethnicities in my book as I would have liked. I made the choice (for plot reasons) to have my characters look like gods from Greek mythology, and the literature describes the gods as white. I am happy, though, that such a diverse fan base has embraced my books. As for my influences, I think I’m just trying to be true to life by including as many different people as I can. Life is multicultural, I think—or at least mine certainly is.
The titles of your trilogy have 'matured' right along with your protagonist Helen Hamilton. First she was Starcrossed - a feeling so many young women can relate to. By Dreamless Helen seemed wiser with much more responsibility. At last she evolved into a Goddess in her own right, so to speak. How have you personally grown in your journey with Helen? Starcrossed was the first book I ever wrote, and I’ve been learning on the job ever since. I think my writing has grown, and I know that on a personal level I have as well. By the time I got to Goddess, I was a lot more confident about my storytelling and less worried about what other people thought. After investing so much love and care into your trilogy has it been hard to say goodbye to it? I haven’t really said goodbye just yet. I’m thinking about writing prequels to the series, and maybe in a few years I’ll continue with Helen and Lucas’ story as well. At the -34-
