The following is an extract from an interview with Australian author Juliet Marillier, whose first novel Daughter of the Forest was published recently:

Q.    You came to the field of writing much later in your career than other writers. Have you always known that one day you would write a novel?

A.    I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a writer. I started writing stories when I was about five, and I still have my first extended piece, which was about scientists discovering a plesiosaur in Fiordland, New Zealand. I wrote prolifically until my late teens and then a multitude of other things got in the way, some good, some bad, some painful enough to make it pretty difficult to be creative. It's essential to have space, emotional and mental space, in order to direct enough energy and concentration into the work of writing. The idea for this novel has been with me for a long time, well before I first put pen to paper. I had to wait until I was ready to write it.

Q.    Why did you decide to set Daughter of the Forest in ancient Ireland?

A.    My great grandparents were Irish and Scottish immigrants to New Zealand, and I still feel a very strong tie with both countries. An emotional bond as much as an intellectual one - it's something that's in the blood and stays there despite distances of time and space. The Celtic culture was very much alive in Dunedin, where I grew up, and my childhood was steeped in folk tales, mythology, fairy stories and Celtic music. When I first conceived of this story I didn't set it in Ireland. The setting grew with the development of the characters and their relationships. The swan is a powerful and frequent symbol in Irish folklore, and you'll see it used as a motif in Celtic decoration. Then there are the stories about people being transformed into swans. You might say the story chose its own setting. There used to be an expansive forest in the area of north-eastern Ireland where the story is set. Land clearing for farming swallowed up most of it, and the residents are now working hard on preserving the last small remnants. There used to be a rich, powerful belief system based on natural law and the story deals with a period when Christianity displaced that natural law from much of Ireland. The family at Sevenwaters is struggling to preserve both forest and faith as the two are inextricably linked. The later books in the trilogy develop this theme further.

Q.    How much research did you need to do before beginning work on the novel?

A.    I'm a pretty thorough researcher, though less well organised than I should be. The reader will find much of the detail in the book reflects my own particular interests, especially in plants and herb lore. Not that it's very easy to grow a druid garden in the heavy and harsh climate of the Swan Valley in Australia, but I do have first hand knowledge of Sorcha's plants and their uses. In fact I spent childhood in a climate very similar to that of Northern Ireland and we had many things like lilac and violets the garden, and people did make elderflower champagne, parsnip wine and so on. Historical research has also been important, especially with the later volumes in the Sevenwaters trilogy. There's almost no original written record of this period in Ireland; much of the historical and folkloric information we have was passed on orally and finally recorded centuries later by Christian clerics and of course, druid lore was never recorded in writing. It's a fascinating period of history to uncover, with many different versions of the same stories or events to look at and compare. As I've said in the book, you have to decide which truth to believe. It was a pretty harsh time to live in, with one set of tough choices for a man and an equally difficult set for a woman. On the other hand, there wore simpler solutions - if you were a man, you could always settle your problems with the sword. The second book in the trilogy looks at those issues, and how people can choose to step out of those sorts of restrictions if they have the courage.

Q. Did you consciously rework the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale which involves a family of brothers who are turned into swans?

A.    No, although it wasn't accidental! I believe fairy tales and folk tales are based on deep truths about human beings and how they relate to one another and to the natural world. They'll often go straight to the reader's most hidden thoughts and feelings. I don't think any of the old tales are pure works of imagination, each must contain some kernel of truth. With this story I wanted to explore how it would be for a real family, with their individual and collective strengths and weaknesses, if these extraordinary events really happened to them. How would they cope? How would it change them? That's what this story deals with. My stories have a strong female protagonist, and the reader sees events through her eyes. Interestingly, although this novel has the same basic story framework as the Grimms' tale, "The Six Swans", the other two books in the trilogy are separate stories which grew out of my absorption in the family at Sevenwaters and their personal and cultural dilemmas.

Q.    Do you ever use traits from real people when creating your character?

A.    I need to answer this one carefully, bearing in mind the usual "all persons are fictitious" disclaimer! The only characters in Daughter of the Forest that are firmly based on real life are the dogs, Lian and Alys. The big, loping, faithful one has passed on to the and her next life, but the short, snappy, elderly one is still going strong! Seriously, the answer to this question has to be yes - I me how you can write without drawing at least a little from observation and experience, but I very seldom do this consciously. It's more a more a matter of letting the observations I've made over time form themselves into something new. I don't really plan characters, they seem to spring to life fully fledged.

Q.    Why do you think people are interested in reading stories of this particular genre?

A.    That's a good question - what genre is it exactly? The book is hard to classify. It combines fantasy, romance and historical saga, and there's a mythological element as well. My main purpose in writing is to entertain - to allow the reader to allow the reader to escape into another reality, I guess. There's certainly been a recent resurgence of interest in all things Celtic, and also in alternative belief systems such as druidry. I think that people are searching for something simpler, that might allow them to make sense of their lives in an increasingly complex and fractured society. Druidry and Celtic paganism take you back to basics; the relationship of humankind with the natural cycles of sun and moon, the seasons, the cycle of birth, life and death. So, my answer to the question is, you can read my book and others of the genre on two levels. Daughter of the Forest works as pure escapist entertainment, but it's also about some big themes. It's a story about real people faced with very tough tests of personal strength. An heroic tale.

Q.    How important do you think heroic stories are for readers? They have certainly remained popular.

A.    Vital, I should think. Don't we all want to believe that we have that spark inside us that will allow us to triumph over evil, or beat incredible odds, or achieve the seemingly impossible? Without that there's no vision. And there are so many great heroic stories, everything from David and Goliath to Star Wars, as well as as real life adventures like the rescue of Tony Bullimore from the Southern Ocean. They light up our imagination, and let us see that the extraordinary is within our reach. I love writing stories with female protagonists who show both true heroism and true human frailty.