Bemused, a new Disney Publishing title that hit bookstands this past Tuesday, takes readers into the world of The Muses. Primarily singing narrators in the classic animated film Hercules, New York Times best-selling author Farrah Rochon takes these fan favorite characters and brings them to life with a journey filled with mythology and music.
No stranger to Disney, Farrah has written two previous titles under the “Twisted Tales” brand, tackling inventive new retellings of Tiana and Merida’s stories. However, this marks a milestone with her Disney work: the opportunity to help build characters almost from scratch.
During a recent book launch event in Orlando, I had the chance to talk with Farrah about her Disney work, Bemused, and her fondness for Greek mythology.
[The below interview has been edited for conciseness.]
Marshal Knight: For Bemused, were you the one who brought up the idea of writing about the Muses or did Disney contact you?
Farrah Rochon: They came to me, actually. They came to me and I turned them down if you can believe it because I was so busy with other books. There’s no way I could do it, then I thought, there’s no way you can not do it. So, like 24 hours later, I told them “Please don’t give it to anyone else. I will make the time to do it.”
Now, my editor at Disney, she had the idea for it, then she brought it to me and we went from there.
MK: Did that relationship come out of the “Twisted Tales”? Did they also reach out for you to dive into that world?
FR: Twisted Tales are a little different, because they have them lined up how they want them. I just found out recently other authors had their twists already made for them, but I kind of got to play around with it and develop them with my editor.
MK: That’s nice that you got a little more “play room” with those. It’s so interesting, compared to those Twisted Tales, that the muses are more narrator roles in Hercules, so did that give you a lot of freedom to play around with their backstories?
FR: Oh yeah, because in the movie they are only singing.
MK: For sure. It’s LaChanze wailing her face off and we’re good to go–
FR: Which, I learned today, she knows about the book. Someone DMed me saying “LaChanze knows about your book. She may post about it.” and I started shaking, but I’m a big Broadway person. She’s one of my favorites. I’ve seen her in many things, so I’ve been giddy all day.
But yes, the muses are these classic characters that everyone loves and I got to bring them to life.
MK: There have been a lot of Greek mythology retellings recently, so did this scratch an itch you didn’t know you had or have you also wanted to write about mythology?
FR: I actually dedicated the book to my high school English teacher. I come from a small town outside of New Orleans and everyone in our school loved Greek mythology because of that teacher. It has always been something that I’ve loved because of Mrs. Mitchell. That’s why it was so fun to play around, because I know how much fun the gods are.
MK: Since you have written a lot of romance and realistic fiction books, do you enjoy diving into these fantasy and young adult worlds? Does it give you a break, per say?
FR: It helps that I am a huge Disney nerd, it’s practically my personality, everyone knows that. It’s like a palette cleanser. I’m at the point where I write one romance and one YA a year, so it’s just when I’m getting tired of one genre, I get to switch to the other. The switching, I think, has really helped me creatively. I’m loving it.
MK: Was there a certain detail you fought to put in?
FR: To be true to Greek mythology, Zeus is the Muses’ father, but Disney would not like that. However, the rest was pretty easy, so the source material…I mean, they’re just singers, so I got to come up with so much. I did have to learn their personalities. That was probably the hardest thing: to make sure each had a distinct personality. So, there’s nothing I really had to fight for because my editor and I are great and back-and-forth collaborating.
MK: One last question: One more Disney property or character you’d like to dive into next?
FR: Okay, this is for my dear friend Jim, who has been asking for Bert’s story from Mary Poppins. He’s always telling me “Bert has a story!” I also think Frozone would have a good origin story for him.
MK: The marital strife!
FR: Again, the romance! But ever since Jim has put that in my head about Bert, I’ve been like “Bert does have a story to tell and I bet I could tell it!”
Bemused is now on sale wherever you get your books. Thanks again to Farrah Rochon, who you can follow on Instagram. Want to grab a signed copy of Bemused or some of Rochon’s other titles? Contact the Barnes & Noble at Plaza Venezia, who can ship copies nationwide!
This post was originally published on here
