[INTERVIEW] Carrie Ryan

Carrie Ryan
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Random House Delacorte (US & CA: 10th March 2009); Hachette Gollancz (AU: June 2009; UK: 1st July 2009)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)
In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future – between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

The Dead-Tossed Waves Buy (UK)

(Photo from here.)

Tez Miller: The Forest of Hands and Teeth has one of the most unique and memorable settings in fiction. Did it come to you fully formed or arrive piece by piece?
Carrie Ryan: Thanks! It actually came fully formed! I was sitting at lunch with my fiancé, JP, one day and he was talking about a short story idea he had set in a post-apocalyptic world. As soon as he mentioned it the world just became totally clear in my mind (and very different from his own vision). There were definitely details I wasn’t sure about but as I began writing they came to me.

With the winery and ocean references, I assume the village could’ve been in California. How far off the mark am I? 😉
Haha – that’s a good guess but I’m not telling how close you are 🙂 Actually what’s interesting is that as I was writing it I was thinking about the woods around my house growing up on the US east coast. But then I was talking to my editor and she saw the forests she’d grown up around on the US west coast. So I actually like that it can be set anywhere in the world!

The Carolinas that you call home aren’t land-locked, but do you nevertheless wist for the ocean?
I love the ocean! I really love to lie on the beach with a good book and listen to the waves and feel the warmth of the sun. The coast is only about four hours away from where I live now but even so I only end up visiting once or twice a year.

Fences, gates, ropes, traps, weapons…did you have to do much research, or were you pretty familiar with them?
If by research you count reading lots of fiction and watching movies then yes, I did tons of research 🙂

Handy with an axe or scythe, perchance? 😉
Me swinging an axe or scythe would be laughable! But I hope that should the necessity arise I could rise to the occasion!

The fences seemed very symbolic of segregation, and the fences in our minds (see the film Chicken Run). Did you mean for this social commentary, or was it a subconscious thing?
I definitely meant for social commentary but also realise that every reader is going to walk away with their own interpretation (which I think is really cool!). There are things that I didn’t realise would be significant at the time so I do think that some of it can be subconscious.

You dealt with the religious issues quite well, with the cons of strict discipline and the pros of caring for the sick and injured. Are you religious or spiritual?
Thanks! I think I’m still trying to figure out what I believe 🙂

I still feel left in the dark about the history of the Sisterhood, the Guardians, the Return and how the virus came to the village. Will you go into more detail about these in The Dead-Tossed Waves? And if not, what will that novel feature?
That was very much part of the story – that Mary was never able to learn the history of the Sisterhood or the cause of the Return so the reader didn’t get to know it either. I didn’t want the story to be about how they got to where they are, but how they deal with the world as it is. That doesn’t mean I don’t know all the secrets (I do!) and I will be touching on some of them in the The Dead-Tossed Waves (the sequel/companion to The Forest of Hands and Teeth).

What kind of work did you do in the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, and did you need any training for the job?
I worked as an intern for one summer at the Coroner’s office basically going to crime scenes, attending autopsies, and in some cases sifting through evidence. Because I was just an intern I didn’t need any special training but it was a totally incredible experience! I learned a ton!

Working on a Mayan archaeological dig in Guatemala also sounds like an intriguing setting. Any chance of it featuring in your future works?
I would love to write a book set on an archaeological dig – it was a really cool place. I really loved wondering about the people who lived there in its prime days, what they thought about, what stories we’ve lost. It was very surreal to dig down and uncover a floor of a palace and wonder whose feet last touched that spot.

In which foreign countries/languages would you like to be published? (Hooray – you’ve sold to the UK and my own Australia! 🙂 )
All of them – it would definitely put me closer to my goal of world domination 🙂 But seriously, I’m just so excited that The Forest of Hands and Teeth is being published in other countries – I keep pinching myself but it still seems to be real!

Many, many thanks for allowing me to have this extraordinary read, and I hope you keep me in mind when you get hold of The Dead-Tossed Waves.
Thanks for all your support Tez!

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