Cress: Cover Reveal, Excerpt, Interview w Marissa Myer, a Contest & a Movie Option To Boot

Big news for Marissa Meyer's sci-fi fairy tale series, The Lunar Chronicles, yesterday afternoon: The third installment of The Lunar Chronicles, Cress, got a cover reveal, we got another excerpt, USA Today had an interview with Ms. Meyer and there's now another chance to win an ARC via a Pinterest competition!

More on the book first. :)

Cress, if you weren't tipped off by the lovely cover, or the title, is based on Rapunzel, although this sci-fi Rapunzel's tower is out of reach in a different way - she's trapped in a satellite in orbit.

Here's an excerpt from the interview (in which Ms. Meyer teases a lot more about the plot and characters than I'm posting here, so be sure to go read the whole interview):

Q: Will Cress be more sci-fi than Scarlet or Cinder?

A: We are moving into more sci-fi elements. There is more time spent on the spaceship that we were introduced to in Book 2, and of course the satellite and the computer hacking. It still stays pretty focused on the characters and the different human things that they're facing as opposed to the technology.

Q: How is Cress similar to the Rapunzel we all know and love?

A: In the fairy tale, the prince finds Rapunzel because he hears her singing. I've taken that and given Cress this very overactive imagination that's a result of being stuck in this satellite solitary for so long. When she is in danger or in an uncomfortable situation, she goes into this imaginary world where she pretends she's an opera singer or an actress or a dancer. She has this fantasy life going on in her head that played off the original tale and how Rapunzel liked to sing.

Q: Does Cress borrow from the original fairy tale more or less than Cinder andScarlet did?

A: I'd say it's pretty comparable. As with all of the books, I've taken the iconic moments of the fairy tale and then gone off on my own after that. You still have the tower symbolism and this witch who's keeping her there. Rapunzel still has long, flowing locks of hair. Those iconic moments are still there, but then it does take on a life of its own in the world as she meets up with Cinder and Scarlet and the other characters.

You can read the rest of the (much longer!) interview HERE.

There is also a nicely-sized excerpt HERE as well (scroll down the page to read). One warning: if you read it, there's a very good chance it will make you even more impatient for the book!

But there is also a new chance to win an advance copy now and The Lunar Chronicles Pinterest Contest is the way to do it: "Create a Lunar Chronicles-inspired Pinterest Board for your chance to win a signed advance copy of CRESS." Full details and rules are on Marissa Meyer's post HERE. It's super easy and fun and open internationally!

The two books so far, Cinder & Scarlet, & their short story prequels, Glitches & The Queen's Army
(short stories published online at tor.com)

Cress is due for release on February 4th, 2014 so we've got a while yet to wait for the rest of the story BUT there MAY be movie news on the horizon as well! The Lunar Chronicles (yes, that means the series, not just the first book) has been optioned. (Congrats Marissa!)

Though optioning a book does not mean a movie is going into production, it means a company is seriously assessing whether or not they can do one. I have to wonder if the buzz around Jupiter Ascending (the sci-fi movie based on Snow White with Mila Kunis) will have any affect (hopefully good!) on the company's decisions...

Meyer will wrap up the series in early 2015 with Winter — her take on the Snow White legend — and already, her Lunar Chronicles novels have been optioned for a movie series. While the studio involved is still a secret, "I believe they're looking for a director at this point," says the author, who's halfway through the second draft of her final novel.

"I know what elements of the early books are foreshadowing bigger things to come, so I would assume that for them, having all the material in front of them could help them make decisions for the movies as well." (USA Today)

I really love seeing how Ms. Meyer has played with the themes, motifs and familiar tale elements for each fairy tale character so far and was so tickled just over the title, since the association with the plant has been quite lost since the "Tangle angle" ("The character is named after watercress — like rapunzel, it's a type of lettuce - quote from USA Today article).

I also love the fact that Rapunzel is traditionally up high in a tower (so the satellite in orbit is like the most remote tower possible) and that she's a spy - what a perfect vantage point a Rapunzel character - traditional or modern - would have from her 'prison' to view the world/s! It never occurred to me to have her be a secret onlooker before and I like the connection (seems obvious now, right?).