Hi everyone! Today I’m honoured to feature Irena Brignull and THE HAWKWEED LEGACY, the sequel to THE HAWKWEED PROPHECY.
About the Book
THE HAWKWEED LEGACY By Irena Brignull
Hardcover, $18.00, August 15, 2017
Poppy Hooper doesn’t want to be the queen of the witches.
But some problems can’t be left behind.
Some love stories can’t be forgotten.
Some friendships won’t be broken.
And some enemies won’t stay dead …
The battle for the throne isn’t over yet.
Poppy has only just discovered her position and her power as queen of the covens. Tormented by the loss of her would-be lover Leo to her best friend, Ember, and a past that’s shadowed by secrets, she’s left her dangerous world of witches and flown to Africa. But Poppy never stops longing for Leo and, when she feels his magic begin to spark, she will do anything to be reunited with him.
Now as the girls come of age and Poppy’s powers grow stronger, her mother, desperate for her daughter’s return and forgiveness, sets into motion a plan that puts Poppy and Ember, the boy they love, and the world as they know it at risk.
About the Author
Irena Brignull is a successful screenwriter. Since working on the screenplay of The Boxtrolls, Irena has been writing an adaptation of The Little Prince directed by Mark Osborne and starring Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard. Previously, Irena was a Script Executive at the BBC and then Head of Development at Dogstar Films where she was the script editor on Shakespeare in Love, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Bravo Two Zero to name a few. Irena holds a BA in English Literature from Oxford University.
Guest Post
On inspiration for The Hawkweed Series.
I had the idea for the Hawkweed Series after a dramatic, difficult time in my life. Dark and light, lows and highs, pressure and relief. I felt all that and, looking back on it, I think those emotions and that atmosphere found their way into the writing. Both stories are voyages of discovery, full of danger, magic and love – romantic love, love between friends, and between mother and child.
Early in 2013, my youngest child came out of hospital after being very sick. We were thrilled, exhausted, in shock. By springtime, we realized we needed a holiday to rest and recuperate. A friend invited us to stay with her in Italy and it was there, in the sunshine, looking out on the gorgeous view whilst the kids were playing, that a story came to me. At least the beginning of a story. Two babies switched at birth who grow up to be two teenagers who don’t fit in. One lives in an ordinary home in an ordinary town but extraordinary things keep happening around her. The other lives deep in a forest in a hidden coven of witches, all of whom have an affinity to nature and magic while this girl feels utterly powerless.
I am a screenwriter, so at any other point, I’d have probably tried to pitch this idea as a movie. On this occasion, however, I hesitated. I decided to try what I’d always hoped to do since childhood. I decided to try and write a novel.
I’d love to be able to tell you more exactly what inspired the Hawkweed stories. Something I’d read about, or overheard, or dreamed of. But it’s so much vaguer and messier than that. I can certainly tell you about my influences. Firstly, my memories of my teenage years are incredibly vivid. The confusion, the conflict of wanting to fit in yet wanting to be different, the yearning for connection and understanding, the urge to rebel, the search for identity. That feisty, anxious, mixed up girl is still such a big part of me. With hindsight, it’s not surprising that I ended up writing about the teenage experience. In more recent years, I’ve been working on some really imaginative family movies – Skellig, then The Boxtrolls and most recently The Little Prince. So my head was very much in the fantastical. And throughout all this, I’d felt very motivated by stories of female empowerment and sisterhood. The women in my own family, the women long ago who were punished for being different – so-called witches burned at the stake, the artists unable to conform who were deemed mad – and the suffragettes who fought for the freedoms and choices I now enjoy.
Four years ago, all these thoughts, somehow, without me really intending it, seemed to ignite and form a bolt of inspiration. Why? Because I let them. I wandered outside in a thunderstorm, sheltered under a tree, or waded into the water, where lightning was most likely to strike. That’s an overblown, writerly way of saying, I took a break. I slept in. I relaxed.
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Thanks to Irena for participating in our #ARCAugust interview/guest post series!
