The mers were also designed to reproduce only at long intervals, in order to maintain the natural balance of the environment in which they were placed.

The futures and ultimate fates of the characters in The Snow Queen are profoundly changed by choices made in their own minds or hearts, as well as choices unexpectedly forced on them by things beyond their control.

The contradictions are what make human behavior so maddening and yet so fascinating, all at the same time.

To be alive was to be disappointed. You tried and failed and kept on trying, never knowing whether you'd ever get what you wanted. But sometimes we get what we need.

Besides, wouldn't it be wonderful if no one ever had to worry about the random cruelty of fatal illness or the woes of old age attacking them or their loved ones?

Here was a fragment of Goddess myth that, through all its permutations, had somehow escaped being turned on its head. It was the perfect springboard for the sort of novel I wanted to write.

The mers were also designed to reproduce only at long intervals, in order to maintain the natural balance of the environment in which they were placed.