Cinders and Sapphires Blog Tour: Editor Interview

So, Downton Abbey. I'm a fan. (Well at least of the first two seasons, I haven't actually seen any of the third season yet and from what I hear, I'm not missing much?). Therefore, seeing the synopsis of Cinders & Sapphires filled me with delight, because it's Downton Abbey for teens! I've got a review of the book coming up in a couple of days, but wanted to bring you an interview with the series editor, Emily Meehan!

What was your first impression of Cinders & Sapphires when it came across your desk? What made you have to have it? This book came about a bit differently. I asked the question, what if we did a teenaged version of Downton Abbey? And then I asked Sarah Davies if she knew anyone who could write it, and she did! When I got the first draft from Leila I was so happy, because she did such a wonderful job with it.

Have you ever edited historical YA fiction before? What research did you have to do to make sure that the book was accurate to the time period? Since both agent and author are British, I relied a lot on them to tell me. I got all of the titles wrong at first. Leila is quite knowledgeable on that time period and she's done a lot of research.

How much input did you have into the cover? Are you happy with the way it turned out? I love the cover. We did a photo shoot for it. I wanted it to look like we had just interrupted a moment. We hired a stylist and went with her to a costume warehouse were we used clothes from the time period. We had a blast.

Leila Rasheed, Author

Was there any scene that was particularly enjoyable to edit? Or one that was difficult? It was hard to lose scenes that we liked. Leila felt at times (rightfully) that there was too much going on in the storyline, so we had to make some cuts. I love Ada and Ravi's romance. And any scene Sebastian is in is going to be wickedly fun and dramatic.

Cinders and Sapphires has been marketed as having appeal to fans of Downton Abbey. Are you a fan of the show? What types of things in the novel do you think will appeal to fans of the show? I love Downton! I think what's appealing is the whole servant/gentry concept. That people actually lived like that, and not too long ago. We liked examining a lot of the social and political taboos of the time as well. I think Leila did a great job of getting deeper into issues like suffrage and racism and that makes for a much more rewarding read.