Simone Elkeles is the author of Perfect Chemisty, our book of the month. She sat down with us this week to talk about Alex and Brittany, the possibility of a sequel, and a few other quirky tidbits that we thought you might find interesting. Enjoy guys!

Simone Elkeles, can you tell us how you got into writing and why you chose the YA genre?

I started writing adult novels (although they were never published), but then had the idea for a young adult novel.  When I started writing it, I seriously felt so comfortable writing the teen characters I immediately knew writing teen novels was “the place for me.”  The characters and story just flowed out from my fingertips and onto the computer screen.  To be honest, even though Perfect Chemistry is my fourth novel to come out it was actually the first young adult novel I wrote.  Most people don’t know that my original title for Perfect Chemistry was ZERO TOLERANCE.  I thought it was a perfect title to describe the book, because Alex has no tolerance for Brittany and her rich friends and Brittany has no tolerance for Alex and his gang life.  And their chemistry teacher has a ‘zero tolerance policy’ in her class.  My publisher hated the title Zero Tolerance and said I had to change it.  One of my best friends Marilyn Brant, who has her first book coming out soon titled According to Jane, actually came up with the title Perfect Chemistry.

Do you have any habits or little quirks that you implement as part of your writing process?

I’m a mom, so sometimes I have to write at one of my kids’ hockey games or while watching my son play baseball.  I don’t write off of an outline (I’m just not that organized) so there really is no routine for me.  Sometimes I cut out magazine pictures of people who I think look like my characters, and those pictures give me inspiration.  The character Alex was inspired by this Mexican guy who works at the deli by my house.  When I was writing Perfect Chemistry, it’s no wonder every week I found myself at the deli stocking up on bagels.

This is not your first novel, what inspired Perfect Chemistry?

There’s a town by my house where there is a big Hispanic community on one side and people who live in big houses on Lake Michigan on the other side.  They all go to the same high school.  I just thought it would be interesting to explore a fictional town with that same dynamic…where a boy and girl from two sides of town have to come together in chemistry class.  I loved showing readers the stereotype of each of my main characters (gang member and rich white girl) and then break down those stereotypes throughout the book.

Are you more like Alex, or Brittany?

Oh, that is such a good question!  I guess my attitude is more like Alex’s, but I definitely have qualities of Brittany.  I think a lot of girls have insecurities like Brittany.  Sometimes it feels like we can’t be “real” because we risk showing our imperfections.  In the book I’m working on now (How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation), my character observes that people who are “normal” are actually a minority.

If there was one single message that you wanted readers to take from Perfect Chemistry, what would that be?

Don’t judge people based on their appearance.  But secondly, I’d love for readers to realize that nobody is perfect and everyone should have courage to show their true selves (even imperfections) to people.  It’s okay to be “real.”

When Alex leaves towards the end, why did you decide to have him leave then? I thought for sure he’d try to make things right with Brittany before he did…At that point in the book, Alex felt he had to leave for Brittany’s safety.  Everyone he cares about dies, and by leaving and cutting ties with her he felt he was saving her life.

Finish these sentences…

(These are their flaws at the beginning of Perfect Chemistry)

Brittany’s biggest flaw is…she’s afraid to show her true self and admit her insecurities/problems to the outside world.

Alex’s biggest flaw is…he doesn’t think his life can change, so he settles for the status quo without fighting for what he believes in.

In your opinion, what makes them such a great couple?

Alex and Brittany are so different on the outside, but yet they’re so similar when you get to know who they really are.  It’s those similarities that bring them together.  Alex and Brittany both hide their true selves to the outside world and let very few people get past their barrier.  They actually find comfort in knowing that they both put on a show to the outside world in an effort to hide their true selves.  Alex tells Brittany to be real, but sometimes she doesn’t know how.  By knowing each other, and truly accepting each other, they both become stronger and are able to overcome their problems.

I heard somewhere out in cyberspace that you were thinking of writing a sequel to this one, is this true, and if so, can you dish us a little dirt?

As of right now, there are no plans for a sequel.  I’d love to write one someday, because I’d love to continue Alex and Brittany’s story.  To be honest, I’d also love to write the stories of Carlos and Luis, Alex’s brothers.

Now for some more light-hearted questions…

What are your top five favourite books (either right now, or of all time)?

Forever by Judy Blume

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Lady be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (adult romance novel)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez

The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot

What was the last movie you saw?

Mall Cop (although as of tonight I have to change the answer because I just saw Slumdog Millionaire)

Dogs or cats?

For me, it’s definitely DOGS!  I have two of them: a Labradoodle and a Lab/Rottweiler mix that I just rescued from the shelter.

Vampires or werewolves?

Although I am a huge “dog” lover, after reading Twilight I have to say Vampires.

If you were going to be stranded on a deserted island for the rest of your life, what would be the five items you’d take with you from your current life?

Assuming my family and dogs are with me, I’d bring:

My bed (I can’t sleep comfortably on the ground)

My iphone (I know it’ll run out of battery, but in my fantasy it never runs out)

A deck of cards (I’d get bored, so making up solitaire games would help pass the time)

My computer (so I can write)

Flint (I’ve watched Survivor and would definitely need fire to cook and keep me warm – I hate being cold.  Don’t ask me why I live in one of the coldest states in the US)

What is the best and the worst thing about being Simone Elkeles?

Hmm….

Best thing: I love making people laugh and always look at the positive parts of life

Worst thing: I have a hard time juggling being a writer, mom, and wife.  Life gets pretty hectic at times, especially when I’m on deadline for a book

We’d just like to thank Simone for taking the time out of her busy schedule to do this interview with us! Stay tuned for a guest review from Simone soon!

Melissa Marr is the author of the hugely popular books, Wicked Lovely and Ink Exhange. Her third novel, set in the same world as the two aforementioned books, is scheduled for release in April of 2009. In anticipation of this, Melissa was kind enough to sit down with us this week and answer some of our questions. Grab a cuppa guys, you’re in for a real treat!

Firstly, I just wanted to say congratulations on writing such an amazing series. The Wicked Lovely books are hugely popular, and rightly so!

Thank you : ) It’s very cool (and still exceptionally surreal!) that readers are enjoying spending their time with my characters.

First things first, I want to put some debate to rest and ask just exactly how you pronounce Aislinn’s name.

Aislinn or Aisling (ASH-ling or ASH linn)

Does Ash’s name signify anything about her character, or was it just a random selection on your part?

Aislinn means “dream or vision.” The first part sounds like “Ash.” Mounain Ash/Rowan is one of the trees used a lot in folk tradition. Ash is also the leftover bits after we pass away (“ashes”) and what is left after one is burnt up (by the sun, frex).

Most of the names in my texts are chosen for their etymological significance. If you want spoilers, sometimes checking out the names of characters in texts will lead you to clues.

There seems to be a definite divide between the Team Keenan and Team Seth fans. Are you impartial, or do you lean towards one team over the other?

I can argue for the strengths of both Seth & Keenan—and have love for most of my characters. That doesn’t mean that I would take up with them in the real world. They’re neither one my type. If I were able to step into the book, I wouldn’t be pursuing either of them or trying to sway Ash in her decisions . . . but I can see why she has feelings for them. They’re good guys. Flawed, but good. . .

In your mind, who came first – Seth or Keenan?

Keenan came first in terms of the writing. In 2004, I wrote a short story (“The Sleeping Girl”) about a girl – Aislinn – who had to choose between joining the Summer King and becoming the next Winter Queen. Choosing one would end her contact with the other. The Summer King tempted her with a life of endless summer – dancing and freedom and no responsibilities.

So, Keenan & Ash were in the story from the beginning. Seth and Donia and all the rest evolved as the story became a novel.

Why faeries?

Why not? : ) With folklore, there are so many interesting beings. I grew up believing in them — the beansidhe in the woods, the ghost in the music box, the vampire who likes to walk in the old cemetery on the hill. . . Add a steady diet of folklore, fairy tales, critical studies on the same, and a decade teaching literature, a few years teaching lit/gender studies . . . It all swirls together. So it’s what leaks through when I write. Right now, the faeries leaked through first.

Who is your favorite fey character in your fey world, and why?

Depends on what day it is and what I was just writing : ) I like the Scrimshaw Sisters, Beira, Irial, Bananach … I like Sorcha. Tonight, I’m in revisions on the fourth novel (which has a working title of Skin Starved), so I’m particularly fond of Ani. To write them, I need to love them. I need to want what they want, believe in their goals, and look at the machinations necessary to make their agendas reality. If I don’t hold their needs and wants and hopes as important, they could end up as flat characters or placeholder characters . . .and where’s the fun in that?

Are any of the characters in your novels based on actual people?

Grams is based, in part, on my own grandmother – Marjorie Marr. My grandmother was the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. She was brilliant, tough, clever, and never stopped learning about the world. I wouldn’t be the person I am without having had her influence on my life.

Grams also has the surname of my grandfather’s (John Marr) mother. The rest of the characters are not consciously based on anyone, but Grams is my homage to my grandparents and their histories.

Ink Exchange predominantly follows a different set of character than Wicked Lovely does, what made you want to change the focus like that?

Picture being in the middle of a group of people. One person is talking, telling a story, and another says something fascinating. Now, you can’t really stop everything to follow up bc, well, the original story is interesting you and if you walk away you’ll miss it. Afterwards, the room is emptying out and you see the person who made the remark. You can follow the first person and hope there are more things they’ll say later, or you can walk to the park with the second person whose story you haven’t heard yet. To me, the second option is more fun. Life is filled with people with stories inside of them, and I don’t want to only listen to the stories of one person (or character).

In Wicked Lovely we first met Leslie as Ash’s friend. But in Ink we see a whole new side of Leslie that we don’t really see in WL. They seem kind of different to me. How did they become friends?

I suspect it was the same way we will all do – a moment where they discovered a point of connection, a commonality. (In their case, it was over a lit assignment they first started talking.) I guess I don’t see the difference as the important factor. Difference is all the more reason to talk. One of my dearest friends is a very granola, very religious (& not my faith), kinda anti-feminist mother of a few kids. Another hates children (no, really, finds the idea of small humans repugnant). Another is texting me right now abt a particularly good date he had last night-today-still. Another is a bit of a misanthrope. Another is hardcore activist, reproductive rights, liberal. Another is . . . They’re not the same. I argue with some on issues. I adore them all.

If we are only friends with those who are all the same, we miss out.

Are we going to see Leslie again in future books?

Leslie is not in Fragile Eternity or Skin Starved (Book 4). Beyond that, I have no answer. I know what’s going on in her corner of the world, but I’m not sure when or if that needs to be brought back into the novels. The resolution of Ink Exchange was the right resolution for her at this point in her life, so I don’t anticipate her returning to the rest of the events in the world of Wicked Lovely anytime soon.

If my memory serves me correct, Ash doesn’t have any tattoos, right? Is she planning on getting any? If so, of what?

Ash isn’t so much a tattoo fan. Seth is. A few other characters are. (Tavish has a sunburst tattoo I’m quite fond of), but Ash has no immediately plans for a tattoo. Some people just don’t want to wear art – which is fine.

It’s no secret that you’re a fan of tattoos. Do you have any advice for someone thinking about getting one?

One should always research both the artist and the studio as the key part of planning to get a tattoo. You want an artist with experience, not just in traditional art but in tattooing. Just because someone can run a tattoo machine doesn’t mean they are qualified to decorate your body – and just because they can sketch doesn’t mean they can tattoo. Think of it like calligraphy and working in oil: both are art, but skill in one isn’t necessarily skill in the other.

Ask questions, meet the artist, check out the shop, & trust your instincts if you get a twitchy feeling. There are some brilliant artists out there, but there are inexperienced scratchers too. A lot of shops will have laws, advice, and other helpful things on their websites. The pros – the real tattooists – want you to have beautiful art and a put that on a worthy canvas. That means client and artist need to be sober (no drinking or drugs), clean, and well rested. On their side, they should also open new needles (in front of you!), change gloves any time the gloves contact anything (phone, trash, etc). Treat a tattoo visit with the respect you would your physician’s visits. It’s a profession and an art.

The [US] covers of your books are amazing. How much input did you have on that?

They’ve been very active in asking for my opinions. I picked both cover models (in that, matching the character’s image in my head and looking healthy were my priorities. Promoting an unhealthy body image seems anti-feminist so a number of models were off the list for that reason). They asked for a list of suggestions of “iconic images” (the flower on the cover of Wicked Lovely, the tattoo on the cover of INK, & the butterfly in FE). The vines on WL & FE (ivy & jasmine, respectively) are from the texts.

I’ve had regular contact with Alison (the Art Director), and I’ve even answered questions on what length the models fingernails should be for the WL cover. At the end though, those very same details could create a totally different image, so while the details are things I can offer thoughts on, the art is totally theirs. Mark Tucker (whose art makes me crush on him quite horribly) and Alison Donnalty are the ones who do the magic on the covers.

And, yes, I do have a favourite – the US cover of Ink Exchange is easily my top pick, closely followed by the US cover of Wicked Lovely. I’ve been fortunate to get some beautiful ones overseas too: both the books have gorgeous covers in Germany, and the art on the original UK covers is stunning. I’ve been elated by all of these.

What is your fave novel circulating at the moment?

I don’t usually have just one answer, so here are my top 6.

In terms of newish books? The Graveyard Book (Gaiman). No one else alive can craft stories like he can. He’s brilliant.

Other newish picks I recommend to my readers are Graceling (Cashore), The Summoning (Armstrong), Bones of Faerie (Simner).

In term of what’s coming? The Forest of Hands and Teeth (C Ryan) and Immortal (Shields) are both texts that are literary and captivating – in totally different ways. I really enjoyed them both.

Do you think you’ll always write novels about fey, or are you planning non-fey stories in the future?

I’m afraid I don’t plan very well, but since I know what I’m under contract for – but not spilling in public any time soon – I can safely say that I will write both faery and non-faery stories

Fragile Eternity is out in April. Don’t spose you could dish any info for us?

If it wouldn’t get my knuckles smacked, I’d spoiler all over the place. I’m one of those folks who reads ending first, so I’m all for spoilers . . . That said, I get chastened if I share too much. Hmmmm. How about this: The Persephone myth (which is very like a particular faery lore detail) is a factor. I think the actions of the characters are ones that were totally inevitable, but I know a few earlier readers (including my daughter) have gasped at some of them.

We’d just like to say a very huge thank you to Melissa for taking time out of her uber busy schedule to answer our questions. I know I speak for everyone in the yaReads family when I say that we’re all profoundly excited about the release of Fragile Eternity. In my opinion, April can’t get here fast enough!

Patrick Carman is the author of the fabulous interactive novel, Skeleton Creek. He took some time out of his busy tour schedule this week to talk with us about his book.

Firstly, I want to say that I love the concept – very innovative indeed. What came first, the idea of incorporating video and novel together, or Sarah and Ryan’s story?

Skeleton Creek is a case of two ideas coalescing unexpectedly. Having different ideas come together is not an uncommon event in the development of my stories. With Atherton, it was climate change and Frankenstein, two ideas I’d been exploring separately that became the story of a mad scientist creating a new planet in a dystopian future. For Skeleton Creek, the format had been on my mind for quite a while. At the same time I had long wanted to write a mystery / ghost story but couldn’t settle on a location or a thread that would hold things together. When I visited the dredge in Oregon, everything merged together pretty much overnight. Sometimes a location or a character will do that for me. When I walked into the dredge and saw the massive gears and conveyer belts, then heard about a legendary ghost story, well, that was it for me. The idea of shooting video inside this place at night was very appealing. The story of two teens, one who wrote and one who filmed, felt right for the setting. After that things started to really move.

You’ve said previously that it took three years to make. That’s an awfully long time! Why did it take so long?

I visited the dredge multiple times to do research, shoot preliminary video, and take a lot of pictures. Then I wrote the book and the screenplay, which saw many revisions. I had to get Scholastic to buy the idea, which involved sample footage and the development of a production plan. Then I had to go out and find a team of about 20 people, which was very time consuming. I needed a director, cinematographer, crew, actors, an editor. Finding the main actress took months and included casting calls in Los Angeles and all over Washington. I switched directors in mid-stream and had to start over. Needless to say, not only did Skeleton Creek take three years to develop, it also burned through quite a bit more than my advance on the book. But I was in with both feet and there was no turning back. Thankfully, the second book was faster and less expensive….I figured some things out on the first project.

Which character came first for you, Ryan or Sarah?

They were simultaneous, really. I knew for this particular story to work I would need one character who loved to write and one who loved to film. In a sense, Ryan and Sarah are trying to prove their storytelling format is the better of the two. Sarah never writes, Ryan never films (unless Sarah makes him hold the camera). And, importantly, their storytelling methods match their personalities. Ryan would rather write a ghost story than be in one. He’s perfectly happy to stay in his room and write all day, especially if it means staying out of difficult situations in the real world. Sarah couldn’t be more different. She will take her camera anywhere, film in the middle of the night, and secretly record conversations with people. For Sarah, the camera is her escape from a boring life in a dead end town.

Do you have a preference for either character?

I like them both for different reasons. Ryan is way more paranoid than I would ever be, but he’s also the voice of reason in the relationship. And I love the way he over thinks everything like the passwords and the situations Sarah might be getting into. He’s also a good storyteller, which I admire and enjoy. I like Sarah because she’s reckless, and reckless is always fun to write. She makes the story interesting. She is the eyes and ears for the reader (and for Ryan), showing us things we don’t necessarily want to see, taking us to places we’re at once curious about and afraid of. I think Ryan is secretly happy he’s got a friend that is willing to go places he won’t go and risk things he won’t risk. Sarah stretches Ryan, and he needs that.

Did you write Ryan’s journal before any footage was filmed?

I wrote everything – the journal and the screenplay – before anything was shot.

I’m interested in how much you were involved with the production of the videos. What kind of involvement did you have in casting/directing and all that jazz?

I was involved in every part of the production. Choosing the production team and the actors, selecting the locations, being there for the long nights of shooting, changing the script on the fly, editing the final nine segments. No part of this project escaped my attention, because I had a very clear vision of what I wanted. That said, the team that worked on Skeleton Creek was world class. The director and editor, the cinematographer, the actors and everyone else on the project worked extremely hard to create a solid piece of storytelling.

Was the footage filmed at the dredge a real building, or a set? It is very realistic!

(I’d just like to interrupt here and say that I’m aware that Patrick kind of, sort of, already answered this question previously but he’s also talked about some other stuff that I thought was interesting, so i’m going to leave it in.)

We spent two weeks on the actual dredge, filming primarily from dusk until dawn. Very long nights where we filmed every scene dozens of times. We also had sets for Sarah’s room, the town of Skeleton Creek, her car, alleyways, that sort of thing. The secret room was particularly difficult to film and involved a lot of set pieces. Overall we built a lot more items than readers would imagine.

What was your favourite part of the writing/creative process?

This was the first time I was able to collaborate on a story with a large group….I am officially addicted. Working with the key three or four people was particularly enjoyable. Meetings where you sit around for hours talking about how you’re going to make certain scenes work was very energizing. And I love movies, so the idea of blending a movie and a book was fascinating. Developing the second book was even more enjoyable, because I learned so much on the first go around.

Do you have any rituals when you sit down to write? Any quirky habits that you have when you write that we might be interested in?

I have a hard time getting started! Writing is difficult, solitary work. I have to will myself into the chair. The strange thing is, once I’m sitting down, I love the process of writing. I’m one of those writers who, once I finally get started, I can’t stop. Six hours later I look up and I’ve written 5000 words and I’m like….what just happened?

Have you always been into ghost stories? What is your favourite creepy book/movie?

I don’t even like ghost stories, generally speaking. I’m a chicken. Plus I generally don’t buy into the whole ghostly thing, which made the experience interesting. I do enjoy the classic gothic novels – Turn of the Screw, Frankenstein, Edgar Allen Poe – those are more the model I’m trying to work from. Those old stories are grounded in the narrator, the setting, the mood they create, great storytelling – the ghost or the monster is (in my opinion) beside the point with a lot of classic gothic writing. It’s the feeling they create – dread and fear – that interests me about doing a story like this. On the movie side of things I’m a fan of Alfred Hitchcock (note the stairway scene in Skeleton Creek!), and the Japanese filmmakers doing things like The Ring, where mood trumps monsters.

What scares you more than anything else in the world?

I’m not good at being home alone in the middle of the night. Dark + Alone + Home = Terrified. I can’t seem to shake the idea that someone is in the house with me, possibly even watching me, intent on doing me harm. This never happens when my family is at home, only when I’m alone (very rare). Read The Cask Of Amontillado for a general idea of how this might feel (also a wonderful Vincent Price reading of that short story widely available online). Other things I fear are being on the front line in a war, drowning, guns (I generally can’t stand any kind of gun), and a healthy fear of the almighty.

As a YA author, what is your fave YA novel (besides your own, of course).

Catcher in the Rye tops my list. Also A Separate Peace (for similar reasons). New YA is often too profane for my taste, but I do like the occasional Scott Westerfeld, John Greene, or David Levithan book. Middle grade is dicier, because I hardly ever read it. I mostly read adult fiction. Favorites there include Steinbeck, Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Robertson Davies, David James Duncan (fiction only – don’t like the non-fiction as much), Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Henry James, T.H. White, Robert Frost (I’m not into poetry, but him I like), Tolkien, a few others. Top 5 favorite books (these are ever changing): The Grapes of Wrath, The Brothers K (David James Duncan), The Brothers Karamotsov, Frankenstein, and Fifth Business.

Finally, for those who are not aware, there is a sequel to Skeleton Creek coming in the American summer of 09. Will this be the last of the Skeleton Creek books?

I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. We shot two endings, one that brings the story to a close, and one that allows for a third instalment. My feeling right now is that two will do it, even if the series becomes wildly popular. I say this primarily because we’re already in development on a totally different story in this new format, and getting back to Skeleton Creek might be tough. But I never say never with things like this. If a story is there and a lot of fans want to hear it, than a third book is certainly something I’ll think seriously about.

We here at yaReads really loved Skeleton Creek and we’d just like to thank Patrick for sitting down with us. He’s a very busy man!

We here at yaReads love us a bit of Maggie Stiefvater. She’s the author of Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception , and she has two more books on the way. Maggie sat down with us this week and let us pick her brains a little. Here’s what she had to say…

So Lament is a book about evil faeries that essentially want to snatch Dee, the main character. How much research into fey folk lore did you do before writing Lament?

A lot. But it doesn’t count, because I did most of it for my own personal entertainment value when I was a teen. I’ve been pretty much obsessed with homicidal faeries in myth and legend since I was young, so I read every book I could get my hands on. When I wrote LAMENT, it was just a matter of consolidating. I do think it’s pretty true to the lore, though. The only really big original concept is that of the Cloverhand, which is all mine, baby.

How did you come up with your character names, or perhaps I should rephrase and ask what on earth possessed you to call your protagonist Deirdre?!

Hahaha! I started writing LAMENT back when I was sixteen and very idealistic and melodramatic and obsessed with all things Irish, and back then, I named all of my characters things like Deirdre and Fiona and Colleen and just about every cliche Irish heroine name ever invented. By the time I got to the publishing process with Flux, I had outgrown it and tried to avoid it by calling her “Dee” a lot in the novel.

What I was too chicken to do at the time was ask my editor if I could change her name, but I was such a newbie author, I didn’t realize that I could. And later (far too late to change it), he confessed that he hated the name too. But it turned out all right, because it did end up being important to the plot. Still, I like to think I’ve become a little more typical with my naming habits.

How did you choose your fearie names?

I went with old Irish names for most of the faeries — trying to stick with ones that were pretty to look at and hopefully not impossible to pronounce. Most of these aren’t the faeries’ true names — they’re the names that they’ve acquired over the years — so some of them have slightly more modern ones.

If you were fey, what would your faerie name be?

I would say Nuala, because I always loved the name Nuala (sounds good too: Nooooooooooola), but I just used it for the main faerie girl in BALLAD. So now I will be forced to choose something else. I’m not sure what — Maggie is a name I chose for myself when I was 16, so choosing yet another that really fits me is a bit challenging.

Dee plays the harp and I know that you also do as well. What else do you have in common with Dee?

Mmm, not much. Dee is a nervous-barfer, and I can’t remember the last time I threw up. Dee is also very self-conscious, and I got over any self-consciousness I had left somewhere around the delivery of my kids, when everyone in the world comes and takes a look under your hospital gown to see how things are coming along. Dee’s also able to sing. I don’t think you’d like to hear me sing.

I think I’m probably a lot more like James, if truth be told.

Did you model any of your characters off of people you know? If so, which ones and who?

Yes, I steal all the time. But I’m very insidious about it. If I stole someone whole-cloth, they’d notice. So instead I steal someone’s shyness, someone’s accent, someone’s bad habits. And then I reassemble them into an entirely different character. Still, I think a clever person who knew me could probably tell where I got some of my influences. Dee is rather like my sister Kate. And like I said, James is a lot like me. My husband shows up in a very hard-to-spot form in SHIVER.

Tolstoy once said that by the end of writing Anna Karenina, he’d spent so much time with Anna that he ended up hating her. Are there any characters in Lament that you dislike, or did not enjoy writing about?

Ha! There was a point where I was hoping that Dee would be hit by a literary car. I’m not sure why that happened with her, since I’m still in love with James from BALLAD and Sam and Grace from SHIVER, even after all the edits. I think it’s probably because I started the seeds of LAMENT years and years and years ago, so I’ve been around Dee for longer than my husband.

The following Q&A might contain spoilers.

Now I’d like to ask some plot specific questions. Firstly, how did you decide that Luke’s soul would resemble a pigeon?

Well, dove. I wanted the idea that a soul before anything happened to it was this pure, innocent thing, and a dove represents that idea. I also liked the idea that it appeared different to different people. The Queen obviously saw it in a much less flattering light than Dee, who was in love with Dee.

Luke’s soul was a dove? I swear I saw the word pigeon. Maybe I was reading too fast!!!

No, you were right, in a way — Dee saw it as a dove, but the Queen saw it as a pigeon and said as much at the end — because they both saw Luke in different ways. To Dee, he’s something amazing . . . to the Queen, he was just . . . ordinary and to be looked down on.

What exactly was in the pasty concoction that Granna was working on?

Mmm. Good stuff involving all the herbs and plants and flowers that faeries cannot abide. There is a lot of plant and tree-lore that relates to the faeries, and I’d like to play with that more in another novel.

Will we find out in Ballad (the sequel to Lament) who is responsible for hurting Granna?

Nope.

How did Dee’s family end up with a faerie hound?

It was a good way for the faeries to keep tabs on a family that had been of interest to them for a long time, especially after they began to suspect that Dee might be more than she seemed.

Was Luke in love with Dee before, or after he approached her at the recital?

After! Beforehand, he was definitely just thinking of her as yet another job that he really didn’t want to complete.

At the beginning of the novel, Dee is in the bathroom before her harp performance puking her guts up – is that something you’re well acquainted with as well?

Years and years of playing music in public means that I don’t really get nervous anymore (my agent tells me orange juice is great for settling nerves, by the way — I will say it makes me feel pretty even-keeled before speaking to large groups). Even back when I used to get really nervous, I generally busted out with goosebumps instead. But I do know nervous pukers and I thought it would be a pretty visual method of getting Dee’s phobia across.

End of spoilers.

What is your fave YA novel you’ve read in the last six months?

Tough choice, but I’ll have to go with SAVING FRANCESCA, which is surprising, because I never used to like contemporary YA that didn’t feature any supernatural elements terrorizing the main characters. But I was just writing the review for SAVING FRANCESCA for you guys and it made me want to read it again — so it must be love.

You’ve got two kids, right? How do you fit writing in around looking after a family?

Heh. It’s a very delicate balance. I have to say right now that my husband is amazing and supportive and no, you can’t have him. But he’s always been good about taking the kids out of the house and out of my hair when I need to get work done on his days off. They’re also in school three days a week, which helps.

But when it comes down to it, I wrote LAMENT back when my husband’s work hours were crazy, the kids weren’t in school yet, and I was working full time as a portrait artist to make my living. I wrote it in three hour chunks once a week — so don’t let time be your excuse for not finishing your novel!

You’ve got two more books planned for release. Please tell us a little about Ballad and Shiver…

I’m really, really excited about both of these, because I feel I grew so much as a writer during and after the LAMENT writing and editing process.

Ballad, the sequel to LAMENT, comes out October 1st. It’s narrated by James and takes place at Thornking-Ash the fall after LAMENT ends. The official descriptions for both BALLAD and SHIVER are here at my site: www.maggiestiefvater.com/forthcoming.html, but I can add that BALLAD is about coming to grips with the elements in LAMENT that were pushed to the side by the overarching threat of the Faerie Queen. It’s about what it really means for James to be psychic and for Dee to draw faeries to her all the time. It’s about James coming to grips with his feelings for Dee and vice versa.

And SHIVER. Oh, SHIVER. It’s not set in the same world as LAMENT/ BALLAD, and it’s the first unabashedly romantic novel that I’ve written, where the whole point of it is the love story. It’s about a girl who has always watched the wolves behind her house and a boy who must turn into a wolf each winter, and it’s happy, and sad, and bittersweet . . . and I’m really proud of it. I love the plot in BALLAD, but I feel like with SHIVER I really matured even more and played with words in a way I couldn’t when I wrote LAMENT.

We’d like to extend our thanks to Maggie for taking the time out to answer our questions!

We’re reading Glass Houses by Rachel Caine here at yaReads for our bookclub over on our forum. Much to our surprise (and great pleasure) Rachel stopped by the forum recently and answered some of our readers questions about her novel. We thought we would tantalize you just a little and post some of her responses. Happy reading!

You seem to make the line between good guy/bad guy very thing in your books. Why is that?

Partly because it’s more interesting to have things turn out different than you assume they will be … and partly because it’s personally more interesting to me to write characters who are more like real people. People are very rarely totally good or totally bad — it’s more of an 80/20 most of the time.

Why does Oliver put on a facade that he’s human?

The “mainstreamed” vampires – the ones who operate around the university, and interact with students – generally do put on a facade.

How did you get the inspiration for Monica? I mean she’s unlike any other bad girl i’ve seen. She’s like completely evil. She scares me more than Oliver (and he frightens me).

Ha, she’s a composite of a bunch of people I knew over the years. I admit, I turned her up to 11, pretty much. However, as the series progresses, you get to know Monica a little bit better. Even bad guys have their moments of not-so-badness.

I find that the more i get to know Amelie the more i like her. Is that suppose to happen? I mean she’s the head vamp. I shouldn’t like her should I?

Yep, that’s supposed to happen. Over the next five books, you’ll get to know a whole lot more about the vampires than you know from GLASS HOUSES. They have all kinds of secrets.

If you would like to read the rest of her replies (of which there are many), sign up to our forum here

Lauren McLaughlin is no stranger to the world of writing. Before she started writing books, McLaughlin spent her time writing screenplays for a living. Her debut novel, Cycler, hit shelves a little earlier this year and caught our attention here at yaReads. To read the book review, click here

Lauren was kind enough to sit down with us for a quick Q & A session about her work, and life as a writer.

Cycler is your debut novel. In your own words can you give us a quick description?

Cycler is the story of a teenage girl who turns into a boy four days every month. In her attempt to hide this fact from the outside world, she inadvertently splinters off a separate personality with a mind of his own.

Is Jack supposed to be a metaphor for PMS?

The story drew heavily from my own mind-bendingly awful experiences of PMS, but Jack is much more than a metaphor. I never establish the precise reason for the cycling or for Jack’s splintering because I wanted readers to draw their own conclusions. But I definitely didn’t intend for Jack to be merely a symbol of something else. I wanted him to breathe, to have life. I guess in some ways, he’s an amalgam of those parts of ourselves that we can’t accept. Beautiful parts, angry parts, ugly parts, uncomfortable parts.

Which character did you enjoy writing more, Jack or Jill?

Jack, of course. Jack basically sprang from my head fully formed, did a little dance, and said “look at me!” I could relate to Jack on a very profound level, whereas Jill took some getting to know.

You nailed the male voice well – did you find writing Jack a challenge, because you’re a female writer? Did you do any specific teen-boy research for him?

I’ve never found it particularly difficult to write male characters. All characters are unique and different from me, and gender is only one aspect of a character’s personality. I’ve always had very close male friends and I grew up with a brother. That plus plain old empathy make it possible to envision life from another’s point of view. Also, my husband, who is very much like Jack, provided daily inspiration.

Although it does it in a comical way, Cycler raises some interesting questions about gender roles. Is hermaphroditism and transgender something you have an interest in?

I have an interest in gender as a broad topic, but mostly because I think far too much is invested in it. We actually know very little about the subject and yet as a society we spend a lot of time talking about it, fighting about it, and constantly adapting our thoughts and feelings on the subject. I’m a firm believer in equality and freedom and I don’t think individuals, or society for that matter, benefit from strict gender rules. But I also think that a lot of people enjoy playing with the rules. Take, for example, male transvestites who often embrace the most stereotypical feminine traits. They’re playing. I’m interested in the ways in which we construct gender in an ever-changing way using biology and culture as jumping off points.

How long did it take you to write Cycler?

The project began as a screenplay in the mid nineties. I never finished it but it never fully went away. When I started writing fiction, I remembered how much I loved the idea and got right to work on the novel. It turned out very different from the original screenplay and it took me about a year and a half to write.

Do you have any specific routine or rituals you do when you sit down to write?

I can write anywhere at any time, but if I’m having trouble focusing I put on headphones and listen to Bach. Eventually, I’ll branch out into other music and each project will wind up with its own playlist that helps me get into the right frame of mind. I also do extensive outlining but my outlines don’t survive very well. I’m a big planner and a big destroyer of plans.

Can you tell us about the playlist for Cycler?

Okay this is going to be embarrassing as there are some very old songs from my childhood there and I don’t even know why. But here goes, my Cycler playlist in order:

Horse With No Name by America
Nights In White Satin by The Moody Blues
As You Are by Travis
Big Ideas (bootleg version) by Radiohead
Dollars and Sense by Radiohead
Skip Divided by Thom Yorke (are you seeing a pattern here?)
Black Swan by Thom Yorke
Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead
The National Anthem by Radiohead
My Body Is A Cage by Arcade Fire
The Golden Age by Beck
Off You by the Breeders
Amsterdam by Coldplay
Cheers Darlin’ by Damien Rice
Landslide by The Dixie Chicks
Sara Smile by Hall and Oats (I’m cringing now)
Us and Them by Pink Floyd
Hey by The Pixies
Gigantic by The Pixies
A Wolf at the Door by Radiohead
Creep (live) by Radiohead
You and Whose Army by Radiohead

Basically my project playlists evolve according to a logic I can not divine.

Listen to Lauren Mclaughlin’s playlist!

Did you find the process of finding a publisher hard or easy?

I got lucky with this one. Though I’d been publishing short stories for a while, I had trouble selling my first novel. With Cycler, I got an agent through a recommendation from one of her writers. She sold it in within weeks. She’s good.

You had trouble selling your first novel? Can I assume that it is yet to gain publication? Are you planning on trying to get it published now?

I have not sold it and have no plans at this moment to attempt to sell it. It’s a space opera and something I was very proud of at the time I finished it, but it feels very foreign to me right now and I’m not sure I’m in the right frame of mind to polish it. I have not, however, ruled out turning it into a surrealist road fantasy. We’ll see.

You’re working on a sequel, when is that due out?

It’s due out in the fall of 2009. I don’t think they have an exact date yet.

Can you dish any info regarding the plot?

I can tell you it does not take place in Winterhead.

Is it true you’re working on a screenplay for Cycler?

I’ve already written the screenplay for Cycler and I’m in negotiations with a producer right now.

You have a screenwriting background, right?

Yes. I wrote screenplays for about ten years before turning my attention to fiction. I’ll still write the odd screenplay now and then, but my real love is the novel.

What are your fave books/authors?

I’m a big fan of Meg Rosoff and Cintra Wilson. Colors Insulting To Nature is a great book about a teenage girl that’s not quite a YA novel. I love Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway in particular. I love Kurt Vonnegut and William Gibson. I’m still discovering the wonderful world of contemporary YA but I think it’s a rich genre. Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier come to mind.

Movies?

I’m a big Star Wars geek. I also love The Philadelphia Story and anything with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in it. I love musicals.

What are the best and worst things about being an author?

The best thing is the final draft. A story doesn’t even really exist until it all comes together at the end. It’s like an emergent phenomenon. The whole writing process, up until that point, is a battle for clarity over what exactly is the soul of the story. And it’s only after I’ve stumbled upon it that I even recognize it. Which brings me to the worst part of writing: everything that comes before that moment.

On that note, do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

My advice is to read a lot, live a lot and write a lot. Those with sufficient hunger to pursue a story to the bitter end, don’t need any outside inspiration and probably already know who they are. The ones I feel for are the ones who *think* they want to write but lack the obsessive commitment to see it through. I think especially when you’re young it’s important to push yourself further than you think you can just to see what’s inside you. Maybe that obsessive commitment is there but hiding underneath other things – like laziness, self-doubt and procrastination. If, after pushing yourself, you find that the obsession is not there, that’s okay too. In fact, count yourself lucky. As far as the business side of things, I’m still figuring that out.

A big thanks to Lauren for taking the time out of her busy schedule to chat with us! If you want more information about Lauren, you can check her out at www.laurenmclaughlin.net