Get ready to learn more about the book Snow White and Her Queen 2 in this discussion with sapphic author Anna Ferrara.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz Anna Ferrara about Snow White and Her Queen 2, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the Secret Crush category in the 2024 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write Snow White and Her Queen 2?
Disney fed my generation the myth that finding true love and kissing under fireworks was all that was needed for a HEA. Get into a serious relationship or two and it very quickly becomes clear HEAs need a whole lot more work than that. As much as I’m like everybody else in liking the idea of forever HEAs, I’m too much of a realist to simply stop there. Snow White and Her Queen 2 thus takes place a year after Snow White and Her Queen, around which time the leads begin to realise Disney hadn’t been telling them the whole story about happily ever afters…
Who is your favorite character in the book?
Queen Katherine (à la the wicked Queen in the Snow White fairytale) is my favourite. I absolutely love watching powerful Ice Queens struggle to keep their cool when in the presence of women they are in love with so she ticked all of those boxes for me.
What inspired the idea for Snow White and Her Queen 2?
Disney’s princess movies and probably the Shrek movie series.
How much research did you need to do for Snow White and Her Queen 2?
Lots. Research for Snow White and Her Queen 2 felt like a semester of European History to me, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Is there a particular genre you would love to write but only under a pseudonym?
Lesfic. Yes, I’m using a pseudonym right now. I do it because I wasn’t very out when I first started publishing lesfics (back in 2017) and I wasn’t/am not at all interested in dealing with the reactions of certain straight people in my life, should they find out. I simply enjoy writing lesfics and want to be able to continue enjoying it without being limited by self-consciousness or the slimier parts of real life.
What are three words that describe your personality?
Snuggly systematic daydreamer. Because I play inside my imagination a lot, plan out most aspects of my life to the death and jump in for cuddles with my partner and darling pet at every opportunity.
Do you feel bad putting your characters through the wringer?
Never. Because all my lead characters thus far have been strong, capable, resilient women who can survive everything. I haven’t felt any urge to write about women who crumble just yet. I prefer tough women, clearly.
Have you ever fallen in love with one of your characters?
I have huge crushes on most of my lead characters. That’s the reason I spend 300 pages writing about them. Unfortunately, they will never be able to love me back. Which is why the love of my life remains human. Though if fictional characters could one day become more realistically interactive… >;)
What type of books do you enjoy reading the most?
Books with female lead characters, preferably lesbian if possible. Probably because it’s what I can relate to best? I’ve always preferred books like that, only they were impossible to find where I was/am, until ebooks happened. I’ve been in heaven ever since.
Do you only read books in one genre or do you genre hop?
I definitely genre dance because I get bored easily. I seem to read in phases where I consume a couple of books in the same genre before moving on to the next phase. So there was the angry depressed girl phase, the horror phase, the mystery phase, the cosy mystery phase, the ghost story phase, the true crime phase, the self-help phase, the business/finance guide phase, the medical disaster phase, the biography phase, the lesfic romance phase, the lesfic everything else phase, the historical drama phase, the historical accounts phase, the cultural guide phase, the travel guide phase, the adventure quest phase… right now I’m back in the mystery phase again. I like learning about life, the universe and everything through reading.
