Off the Cuff: Chris Colfer Reveals the Secrets Behind ‘Land of Stories’
Glee‘s Chris Colfer stopped by Rolling Stone‘s headquarters to talk with Peter Travers about staying busy with his new fantasy book, The Land Of Stories: The Wishing Spell, which is set to land atop the New York Times bestseller list this week. “There’s lots of writing in hotel rooms and planes,” says Colfer of his book. “Sometimes I’d have an idea on stage [on the Glee tour] and I’d be singing ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ and I’d run offstage and go to my computer where the dressing room was and type the idea and then I’d go off to do ‘Single Ladies.'” But with his story, Colfer looks to find fresh inspiration from the original, darker Grimm versions of fairy tales. “We’ve really kind of bastardized it a little bit, we’ve made them into something they’re not,” he says.
“I was born certainly with the desire just to be a storyteller, just to entertain someone,” admits Colfer, who cites Stardust, the Harry Potter series and The Princess Bride among his early childhood influences. Colfer also embraces his theatricality on Land of Stories‘ audio book, on which he does all of the characters’ voices over eight-and-a-half hours.
The Land Of Stories: The Wishing Spell is available now and Glee’s fourth season is set to premiere in September. Colfer also wrote, produced and starred in the upcoming film Struck By Lightning, which is set for a December release.