Narelle Works asked Juliet Marillier:

Dear Juliet, Sevenwaters is a favourite of my daughter and me. I am hoping my granddaughter will, in a few years, make the third generation to love the characters and places of Sevenwaters. How did the seed of Sevenwaters germinate and were you surprised where it took you?

Juliet Marillier Dear Narelle, I'm happy the books are companions to two generations of your family! It's hard to identify any one factor as the seed of the Sevenwaters series, but I guess it was a combination of my working through some powerful emotions associated with a huge change in my life, plus the big question about my favourite fairy tale, The Six Swans - what if that really happened (to actual three dimensional people rather than fairy tale archetypes?) How would those terrible events change those individuals? Who would grow strong in adversity and who would fall apart?

I was surprised that the first book led to my eventual career as a full time writer, certainly, as I started out writing it with no intention of submitting it for publication - it was more personal therapy than anything. In terms of the story and characters, I was not so surprised about where it went, as I am the kind of writer who plans everything out in advance!

All the best, Juliet

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