Author Interview with Maggie Stiefvater; Author of The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys 
by Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: September 18th, 2012

Publishers: Scholastic Press

Pages:  409
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Author Interview with Maggie Stiefvater

1) What was your inspiration for writing The Raven Boys? 

It was a big combination of things, but the very first thing to inspire me was Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. I read it and re-read it as a teen. It was full of Welsh mythology and was set in contemporary Wales and England. It also aches with magic. I knew back then that I wanted to write a series like that. 

 2) How long did it take to write? 

The first one took eight months and the second has taken fourteen. I'm not sure why they take so much longer to write than my other novels — I used to write my rough drafts in four months. Possibly I need more caffeine.

 3) Are any of your characters most like you? 

Oh, probably James from Ballad. It's told in first person and I let him make all the jokes I would make. Also he plays the bagpipes, so we have that in common. 

 4) Do you have a favourite quote from The Raven Boys? 

Another blogger asked me that and I said Ronan's rotten joke from the Latin class scene, but I'm also a fan of most every line that describes a car. 

 5) Can you tell us what your working on right now? 

I'm knocking around the big pieces of the third book in the Raven Cycle, editing the third faerie book, copy-editing the second Raven Cycle book, and drafting a collaborative middle grade project for Scholastic. I can't draft two novels at the same time, but I can work on projects in different stages quite happily. Oh, I also have a secret project that I'm kicking to see if it will kick back. 

 6) Out of all the books you've written, which did you enjoyed writing the most? 

Oh, writing The Scorpio Races was bliss. It had been fermenting in my brain for so long that it feels as if it just fell out. I also adored writing the last third of The Dream Thieves. 

 7) Will you ever consider revisiting the Shiver characters? 

I cannot imagine myself ever returning to Sam and Grace's story, more on that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApB_kgtJGI0. 
Everyone else? Well, it's not pressing . . . X

Author Bio;

All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.