Author Interview and Giveaway: Maggie Stiefvater discusses Shiver and Linger

As part of the launch promotion for Linger (which a I gave a rave review), I was asked to conduct an interview with Maggie Stiefvater. Intimidating! Maggie posts all the time on her blog and there are about 3 zillion interviews with her on the web - how was I going to come up with orginal questions?

But after doing hours of research, I felt up for the challenge. And I asked Maggie to give me an interview score at the end...



So here goes!

Let’s say you were asked to write a novella featuring a minor character from your Mercy Falls series (a la SM and Bree Tanner). Who’s the star and what’s the story?

Oh, I have fantasized about released the THE BRIEF LIFE OF THE UNNAMED GIRL IN ZIP-TIES for a very long time now, and to know it could be a possibility . . .

Okay, I’m kidding. Beck. Hands down. It would be fun to look at Beck, Ulrik, and Paul and see how this strange arrangement in Mercy Falls came together. I get to play with tiny bits of Beck’s back story in the series as it stands, but because he’s not there for much of it, and because so much of it is through Sam’s memories, it’s only a tiny window.

Perhaps someday, when I’m 80, I will do THE WEIRD AND FANTASTIC WOLF PACK OF GEOFFREY BECK.

ESQUIRE.
Possibly.

Ha! I was totally thinking of Beck when I asked that question. Awesome! LINGER is now available in ton of foreign editions. If a fairy godmother were to grant you the ability to speak any of those languages fluently, which would you choose and why?

Yeah, can you believe it? I sure as snot cannot. Every time a new cover comes in, I clap my hands like a seal; it never gets old.

If a fairy godmother were to grant me the ability to speak one of them fluently . . . mmmm . . . I am always working on my German, but I think I’d have to go for one of the languages that’s supposedly very difficult to learn, like Greek or Japanese. Because they I could skip all the annoying bits of grammar and learning to change the pitch of my voice or writing with weird characters and just go on to shocking and awing party guests.


Take it from me, Japanese is hard! Good choice. So, if Oprah came to you and asked you for three book picks to kick off her new YA book club, what would be your response?

“How did you get this address?”

Well, no, that aside, assuming I knew Oprah was going to show up, hmmm . . . well, book club books should be ones you can discuss endlessly, so . . .

1. FEED, by M. T. Anderson, because it’s good for you, and it’s raw, and unflinching, and will make you afraid of billboards.

2. MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD, by Francisco X. Stork, because if you’re going to read a coming of age novel, it might as well be a beautiful one.

3. STOLEN, by Lucy Christopher, because I just read it and I want a book club to discuss it with now. NOW.

I completely agree with your choice of FEED (read my review). Sounds like the fantasy Oprah Teen book club will get off to a great start! Changing gears...will your October visit to Germany this year coincide with the Frankfurt Book Fair by any chance? Emmy and Finn would love to meet you!

It will indeed coinciding with the Frankfurt Book Fair -- or at least that’s the plan at the moment. I don’t have my official schedule which is why there’ve been no blog announcements. *pets hairy creatures, virtually* The plan now, actually, is to tour overseas in October and December in over six countries, which is insane.

Insane but exciting!! What is a question you get asked all the time that makes you roll your eyes and think “not again”?

Oh, that’s easy. “What inspired you to write this book?”

Book gestation is such a slow and random process that even when there is an A-HA! moment, it’s usually still such a small moment that it makes for an extremely tedious answer. :)

Thanks Maggie! How'd I do?

You get 11 out of a 10 for your question score. They were EXTREMELY fun. Thank YOU!

Aww! Yay! Now how about a 2 book giveaway to celebrate?

I have one paperback copy of SHIVER and one hardcover copy of LINGER to give away to one lucky blog reader. To enter, leave a comment telling me one interview question that you think is way overused or just say something relevant to the interview. Be sure to leave your e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you win. This contest is sponsored by a publicity company and is open to those with mailing addresses in the US only. It will remain open until July 30th at 11:59 CST.

LINGER is out now...what are you waiting for? Go, go, go!

One last thing... Maggie's having a twitter party on Thursday, July 22, between 8:00 and 9:30 p.m. EST. Check out this post at The Story Siren for more information.