Author Chat and Happy Debut Day to…Maggie Stiefvater!

Hi Maggie! You have so many exciting things going on! Thanks for coming to see us. Your debut novel LAMENT comes out soon. Where can we find it and when?

I had a sort of schizophrenic* launch, because LAMENT started shipping from Amazon almost a month before its release date, and then it started appearing at some local independents a few weeks before hand, and then finally, here we are on its actual release date, October 1st. So while it seems to have had three little release dates, really, it only had just the one all along.

*if we’re being proper, ‘schizophrenic’ not technically correct, the term is now ‘dissociative identity disorder rather than schizophrenia, but let’s see you make that into an adjective.

What is LAMENT about?

Homicidal faeries. Actually, I should stop saying that, because really it’s about Dee, a musically-talented teen, who is being stalked by said fairies. She meets Luke, a good-looking guy, who turns out to be sweet, smart, and a faerie assassin. And she’s his next target. Love is blind.

How did you get your idea?

Whew. Lament is unlike any of my other novels in that it cooked for a long time – I started writing it back in college. Back then, I had a hundred ideas for novels that involved faeries of the not-very-nice sort. LAMENT (back then called THE QUEEN’S BIDDING, which to my more adult ear sounds very bondage-porno) sprang from my fascination with the idea that if you found a four-leaved clover, you’d see faeries.

Does LAMENT have a sequel?

Yep, BALLAD: The Gathering of Faerie, is due to come out October 2009, which is appropriate as it’s set right before Halloween. I’m really excited about it; James, the humorous side-kicky best friend from LAMENT is the narrator and his voice was disgustingly fun to write. He gets to say and think all the things that I wish I could say and think in polite company. And all while being threatened by more homicidal faeries, faerie muses, and a king of the dead for good measure. Because it just ain’t Halloween until a guy with antlers shows up.

Congratulations on even MORE awesome news, your novel SHIVER was just sold at auction! You must be thrilled, share with us how that all went down?

It all started in May, when pro-Maggie aliens took over the minds of several top NYC editors, brain-washing said editors, convincing them that they had to have SHIVER (then called STILL WOLF WATCHING).

Maggie’s fanboooyzz

Okay, let me start again. In May, my agent, the amazing Laura Rennert, put SHIVER out on submission to our A list. I hunkered down to wait for responses. I’m not a very patient person, so for me, this meant making a silent pledge not to check my e-mails every five minutes.

Luckily, the universe knew that I wasn’t patient, so in six days, we had our first offer . . . and it was six-figures for a two-book deal. Laura called me to let me know and then said, “I told them that wasn’t really enough to take it off the table.” I sort of panted breathlessly, “It’s not?” But we had a lot of editor interest (thanks, aliens!) so an auction was scheduled for the next week.

Longest week of my life.

Three publishers ended up bidding back and forth over several days and I ended up with two very similar (dollar wise) offers at the end. Laura arranged for me to talk to the top two bidding editors on the phone so that I could decide. Thank goodness I’d been in the same situation (multiple offers) when I was agent hunting back at the beginning of the year, because it was very similar, and I could sound almost coherent. So I had two very friendly and wonderful and complimentary editors both offering me love and affection . . . in the end, I really clicked with Abby Ranger at Scholastic and felt like her and David Levithan’s enthusiasm just pushed me over the edge. They had a very distinct plan of attack, which was what pulled me towards Laura back in my agent hunt. Plus it didn’t hurt that between memories of school book visits and J. K. Rowling, I had a Pavlovian response whenever I heard the word “Scholastic.”

Anyway, so the deal was made – it ended up being a “significant deal” in publishing lingo, which means “Maggie spent a long time after the deal was made staring at the wall just sort of blinking.” So I guess SHIVER is going to be appearing in hardcover next year, and I’ll have to make a pay-off to the aliens soon.

I knew I should’ve gone with faerie muscle instead. They’ve got better interest rates.

Aside from writing, you’re also an artist and a mom. How do you balance everything in your life?

Well, I’m a big believer in goals and priorities and putting things in little boxes. Two of my most popular blog posts ever (which are too long for this interview!) are about how I juggle things: http://greywarenart.blogspot.com/2008/07/virtual-sketching-and-butt-kicking.html and http://greywarenart.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-to-juggle-other-parlor-tricks.html.

It really does help that I have great kids, a great husband, and supportive family that lives close by. When I was in a deadline crunch, my sister Kate appeared magically to watch the kids the day after I stayed up all night finishing a manuscript.

If you could be stranding on a desert island with any one of your characters who would it be and why?

I’m going to have to go with James, from LAMENT & BALLAD. While Luke probably has mad skillz with survival skills, James is funny enough to keep me entertained until we find the natives.

What’s your favorite writing advice?

Read. I always say this, but it never stops being true. Whenever I’m stuck, it’s because I haven’t been reading. If you aren’t a big reader, I don’t care what you say, you have no business being a writer. It’s like being a car salesman and preferring bicycles. And plus, it’s the only training we get as authors.

Which Muppet is most like Maggie?

Oh, definitely Oscar the Grouch. I always sympathized with him hugely. Here he was, just trying to do his own thing and be different, and everyone was always coming down on him for his nonconformist ways. So he likes trash! So he won’t clean his garbage bin! So he likes worms and gross things! That’s his prerogative, people! Give a muppet a break.

Thanks so much for coming to see us today. We can’t wait to read LAMENT! And you might be a Grouch, but you are certainly no slouch. Sorry, you sort of set yourself up for that rhyme with all your awesomeness and all!