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Maggie_Stiefvater_klein


Hello, Mrs. Stiefvater. Thank you for taking time for an interview.
I would like to start with a highly asked question: What gives you the idea of writing books? What is fascinating you on this?

I’ve actually been a writer since I was small enough to still fit in a suitcase. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling stories. It should surprise no one that I was a fantastic liar as a child as well.

 


As you are a very creative person, not only author, but also musician and artist, did you always plan to do this professionally?

I’d always hoped to do something creative as a profession, and my parents supported that, but they also warned me that it was a competitive business, so I was always aware that I might need something to fall back on. In the end, I got my college degree in history (one might argue that that would also encourage a life of debt) and worked a respectable desk job for one year before running away to become an artist.


Your first novel „Shiver” was published in August 2009, this year in September it will appear in Germany finally. I heard that you like people crying. Is it true that this was your motivation as you wrote this novel?

Haha! Well, it sounds terrible when you say it that way. But yes, it’s true. I wanted to write a bittersweet novel that made other people cry as much as I -- a certified cynic -- cried while reading THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE.


In „Shiver” wolves play an essential role. Do you have a marked preference for these animals?

I love all sort of animals and nature in general. I think wolves are a great metaphor for how the developed world regards nature; that mixture of fear, awe, respect, and ultimately, idea that they need to be kept in their own place where it is convenient to humans.


Your characters seem to be very lively and authentic. How do you get to know
them? Do you outline a scheme of the characters? Do you take interviews with them? Or did you have any living models?

I steal. From real people that I know. All of my characters begin with a little kernel of a real person for their heart and then they get expanded and exaggerated as the story demands. I used to do a lot of character exercises when I was younger; my character building improved exponentially when I stopped.


What is the very special about „Shiver” in your opinion? Why should someone necessarily read the book?

Because I want them to cry. *grin* I think I would tell people to read it for the love stories -- because there are several kinds of love in SHIVER -- rather than for the wolves.


Have you already seen the German Cover of „Shiver“? How does it please you?

I absolutely love it. It’s one of my favorites of the foreign covers; I have it right next to my desk. I sort of read at it every so often. I read German -- slowly -- and speak it a little -- badly -- and it makes me feel clever and like I’m studying.


The second volume “Linger” will be published in July 2010. Could you already disclose a little bit about it for us?

Linger is about “after” -- after you meet your true love, after you think you’ve lost everything, after you become someone you can’t live with. It asks harder questions than Shiver, I think. The responses from my U.S. readers have been extraordinarily passionate.


You are writing for young adults. Was this a conscious decision or rather coincidence? Did you already know the intended audience during writing the novel?

I always say, write what you read, and I have always loved young adult fiction. Teens are at a very volatile point in their lives -- everything’s new, everything is black and white, everything is passionate. I still feel like that, and I like to write about it. I like teens to see themselves in it and adults to remember what it felt like.


Do you have particular rituals which you follow while writing, for example a particular time of writing or a certain number of pages per day?

I like to write a scene every writing session, which sort of kind of tends to end up 2,000-3,000 words, but that is very vague. I write every other day, when given my choice. One day to write. One day to think. One day to write. One day to think.


Do you plan your novels in the smallest detail in advance or do you write rather simply straight on?

I have to know the mood, the beginning, and the end. Everything else ... negotiable.


The third and last volume, “Forever“, is supposed to be published in July 2011. What are your plans for the time after you will have finished the trilogy? May your fans look forward to further fantastic novels?

I’ve just turned in the draft of FOREVER (with a little tear myself this time, ah! it’s over!) I’m happy to say that I’m already at work at the next YA novel, which will come out not too long after FOREVER here in the States. I’m very, very excited about it, although I can’t say anything about it at the moment.


At this point: How do you like the idea of the Script5-publisher that all titles of your trilogy in German build a coherent sentence: „After the summer (volume 1) the light rests (volume 2) in your eyes (volume3)”?

I found out about this when I was over in Europe in March and I absolutely love it -- it not only fits the mood of the book, but it perfectly fits with the idea of Sam’s poetry, which is a theme in the book.


Do you still have time for hobbies beside family, music, art and writing novels? Do you like reading books as well? If you like to do so, what genres do you prefer?

Oh my goodness. I can’t write if I’m not reading. I am very wary of writers who aren’t readers as well. Practice what you preach! I read dozens of novels every year and I’m an omnivore. I am currently re-reading So brave, young, and handsome by Leif Enger, but I just loved Keturah and Lord Death and Brenna Yovanoff’s The Replacement.


Thank you very much for the interview.

Thank you for having me!

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