With Los Angeles glittering in the background and fairies, genies, magic, and ghosts shimmering in the forefront, Francesca Lia Block's stories offer a beautiful, hopeful mix of the ethereal and the utterly down-to-earth. The Weetzie Bat series--now compiled in Dangerous Angels--and the short stories in Girl Goddess #9 have earned the highest praise, not only from adoring fans of all ages, but also from such critics as Kirkus Reviews, who writes, "Block continues to illuminate serious contemporary themes with fresh, tellingly allusive imagery and a wonderfully lyrical and original style." Amazon.com's Brangien Davis spoke with Block about her vivid, unique writing style and the inspiration for her wild and wonderful characters.
Amazon.com: Many of your stories have a fairy-tale quality about them--with witches, sprites, genies, lots of magic, and even "happily ever after" endings. Did you read a lot of fairy tales as a child?
FLB: I've always loved fairy tales. The reason I'm fascinated by them, partly, is because the original stories have a dark sense to them, which I think was kind of bleached out over the years. But that dark, intense, emotional aspect is just as important to me as the more delicate parts. Sometimes I'll take something directly, a myth or a fairy tale--and use it as a structure--for example, Missing Angel Juan has some of the myth of Orpheus as the structure. But I'll do both--either consciously work on a fairy-tale theme or let it filter in from my subconscious.
Amazon.com: Were there other books from your childhood that were influential in your writing?
FLB: Children's books? Yes, The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell. I loved that book. It's about a hunter and a mermaid who start a little family. But it's really poetically written--a really beautiful, mysterious kind of book. And Charlotte Zolotow--my original editor at Harper--I liked her books when I was a little girl. And that made it exciting to have her publish me. I also liked Rumer Godden, and some fantasy stories: A Wrinkle in Time and the Narnia books, and The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
