Blog tour: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater!

I've been remiss on my blog tours recently and will be remedying that situation over the next two weeks!  Today I bring you New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater talking about her recent release, Shiver!

What's been one of the most exciting moments in Shiver's journey to publication?

The cover. Hands down, it was one of the things I was most nervous about. As an artist I have very annoyingly firm ideas of what is Pretty and what is Not, and I was terrified that I would get something that didn’t match the book. And then my editor said, “Okay, take a look, it’s not done yet, and you can tell us if you don’t like it . . . “ and it was drop. dead. gorgeous. Just like the book -- subtle, genre undertones, and just so artsy. I loved it. I’d never seen anything like it but it didn’t look entirely out of place, either.

Is there anything you can't write without?

Music. I have to have music on, or my brain won’t settle. It has to match the book, too, or I just sit in my chair and jive. There’s definitely writing music -- music that makes me settle down and deal with my plot -- and there’s Maggie music -- music that makes me get on my desk and rock. Obviously I am careful to only play the first while on deadline.

When stuck on a story which do you choose: write make-out scene or explode something?

Can I not do both? Honestly my default setting is angst. When in doubt, reveal some troubling and hopefully crippling element of a character’s past. That ought to get the juices flowing. And lead to either making out or things exploding.

Can you share a favorite line you've written either in this book or a WIP?

I'm sort of a fan of this description of James sleeping, from BALLAD:

James slept like he did everything else; totally intense, like it was a competition and he couldn’t let down his guard for a minute. His scribbled hands were pulled up to his face, his wrists turned to face each other in a sort of weird, beautiful knot. His knuckles were white.

Finally: pro fast zombie or anti fast zombies?

I am pro angst zombies. I don’t care if they go fast or if they go slow, just so long as they feel bad about it.