Category: q&a

Katrina N. asks: If I ever feel ready to publish a story of mine and I did all the research and such, and I got a contract and would be published I want to do it under a pen name. Legally what did you have to go through to do that? Did the publishing company know who you were in real life?

Legally, you don’t have to do anything. The copyright will be kept under your real name, unless you set up a company to hold the copyright for you, but you can slap any nom de plume on your book that you like. It’s just something you and your publishing company decide to do, and it’s highly unlikely that they’d object to your using a pen name.

The publishing company had better know who you are in real life! They’re going to make the checks out to the name they’ve got — and you’d like to cash them, right? Your agent will know your real name too. Most pseudonyms are pretty open secrets; few of them are intended to provide complete cover anymore. And these people are going to be working with you closely, hopefully for years and years.

Amy M. asks: What is the best part about traveling, and what has been the most adventurous place when you go to book signings?

The best part about traveling is the constant new sources of stimulation and inspiration. Though I like having a comfort zone in my own home and neighborhood, and being able to fall back on the familiar when I want, there’s something energizing about being in new surroundings. You have experiences you couldn’t have any other way, and you learn more about yourself as a result. I suppose the most adventurous place I’ve been so far would be Madrid, for the book fair there — oh, wow, was that only last month? Australia is a contender next month, though!

Sydney D. asks: When we will see audiobooks for some of your work?

Good question! Right now my publishing house owns the audiobook rights, but they haven’t sold them yet. That said, the rights will soon revert to me (if the publisher doesn’t sell them first), after which I intend to work hard to get some audiobooks for the EVERNIGHT series out there.

Kayli M. asks: Does being the author of the Evernight series take away from how easy it is to get lost in the books?

Well, yes. It’s not that I don’t love the books I’ve written, but I have a very different relationship to them than I do with the books I read. I remember the entire writing process, what pushed me toward certain choices, the various names I thought of for each character, so on and so forth — it’s always going to be different for me. (Though I wonder if maybe, 10 years or 20 years from now, I’ll be able to return to them with fresh eyes and have the readers’ experience in full.) But it’s no less wonderful! Just different, that’s all.

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And that’s it for this set of Q&A — but we’ll have to do this again sometime.

Check the blog again tomorrow for a brand-new contest!

Tina from South Africa asks: I was just wondering, are you starting a new series after Evernight?

Yes, I am. My next series will be the SPELLCASTER trilogy from HarperTeen. It’s about a young witch named Lia who’s just moved to a new town with her father and younger brother. Once she gets there, she realizes that the town is heavily shadowed by dark magic, and that there’s another spellcaster in town — someone dangerous. And she meets this guy named Mateo, who’s handsome, charming, and apparently cursed. It’s going to be fun.

tsoetzie asks: Can you tell us more about FATEFUL? Like what’s it about or the release date!

FATEFUL is the book about werewolves! On the Titanic! (I always write it like that.) I’m deep in the heart of writing it at the moment. Tess, a young maidservant, gets to journey to America with the wealthy family that employs her, aboard the most luxurious ship in existence. What they don’t know is that she’s secretly planning on getting away from them, and some of the darker secrets of that household. What she doesn’t know is that Alec, the guy she’s just met, has an even darker secret.

The release date isn’t set yet, but it will be in the second half of next year. I’ll probably find out something more concrete in a few months.

Heather S. asks: How would someone like me go about getting anything I’ve done published? How did you get started?

First of all, don’t start trying to get published before you’re ready. How do you know when you’re ready? When you’ve got a novel/short story/whatever that you’ve completed, edited and polished until you feel rock solid about it. Then, if you haven’t started already, you need to begin educating yourself about the business. You’ll want to visit good agent websites (Nathan Bransford and Kristin Nelson run good ones) and other good online resources, such as the Agent Query website. There you’ll learn about publication markets, when you need an agent, how to get one, and many of the pitfalls along the way.

How did I get started? It’s a long story, but I have to admit: I did almost NONE of this. I got really lucky. Like, pinch yourself lucky.

Daniela S. asks: What would you write about if you decide to leave the supernatural for a while?

I keep lists of realistic YA fiction ideas that I would like to get to eventually. There’s this one idea about a politician’s secret daughter that keeps tugging at me …

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One more day! Four more questions! Send them in to evernightclaudia at gmail dot com!

Pamela U. asks: I was wondering for a long time, has Mrs Bethany ever been in love? and with who?

Now that’s a very interesting question. I can’t go into it too much, though, because you’re going to learn a lot more about that in AFTERLIFE.

Emma M. asks: How do you respond to fans telling you about how they are like Bianca or Lucas?

It’s always wonderful when somebody responds deeply enough to the characters to glimpse something similar within them. I hear this the most about Bianca, but also Lucas, Balthazar, Raquel and even Vic. So I love reading that or listening to fans who feel that kind of connection. The only thing that worries me is when people say that they’re just like Bianca/Lucas/whoever, and therefore they should play that character in the movie. First of all, there are no movie plans, and second, if there were movie plans, I doubt I’d have that much control over casting!

Evelyn B. asks: Do you have plans for book signings?

First up is my Australian tour — dates are finally getting firmed up, and I hope to post some events very soon! (Like, within a day or two.) Then things are a bit quieter in the fall, though we’re trying to put together a couple of signings in October and November. Probably I won’t be doing regular book signings again until AFTERLIFE comes out next March.

Kristy C. asks: I would love to know what inspires you when you write!!!

Lots of different things, really. Music is a big one — I always put together a playlist for whatever project I’m working on (though that’s proved a little tough with FATEFUL, because of the big hits of 1912, remarkably few are available on iTunes). And I always try to find ways in which the characters’ actions or feelings resonate with something I’ve actually felt or done, like arguing with a friend, or trying on a beautiful dress for the big dance, or getting caught up in the war between vampires and vampire hunters.

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Two more days to go! If you have a question, send it to evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, and soon!

The euphoniously named hnybrwnmxcn asks: What was the hardest obstacle to overcome while you were first trying to get published?

Myself. Both in acquiring the discipline to write, and in gaining the confidence to try.

Kameren asks: What inspired you to write the Evernight series?

I wanted to write about an unusual kind of high school, and at the time, a boarding school for vampires seemed unusual indeed. Of course, about ten other authors all had the same idea around the same time — but happily, we do different things with the concept, and there’s room out there for all of us (thanks to you guys.) Fundamentally the idea of Evernight springs from the high school I dreamed of when I was in high school: Someplace totally different, far away, mysterious and romantic.

Caila D. asks: Can you tell us anything about what’s to come for Bianca and Lucas!?

Now, THIS is how you ask for spoilers — vaguely, to give me enough wiggle room that I can actually respond! Let’s see: (1) The time gap between HOURGLASS and AFTERLIFE is the shortest of any of the books in the series, just a few hours. (2) We haven’t seen the last of Bianca’s parents or Lucas’s mother, and if you’ve read HOURGLASS, you can imagine how good a mood they’re not in. (3) Either Bianca or Lucas is going to find themselves surprisingly well able to deal with what they’d thought would be a nightmare situation. The other one isn’t going to be able to handle it AT ALL.

Sejlha A. asks: I just need to know how far along you are to finishing Afterlife? Is there a release date in Australia (soon I hope)?

AFTERLIFE has been complete for a while now. (Currently I’m hard at work on FATEFUL.) The box that arrived this morning probably contains my ARCs! It’s being released in the US in March, but I have no idea about Australia or any other international release dates; for some reason, authors are usually the last to know these things. I suggest checking with your local bookseller, who might be able to look it up in an online catalog for you.

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I still have some unanswered questions waiting in my in-box, but that doesn’t mean I’m not taking more! If you have a question, send it to evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject line “July Q&A Session.” Hope to hear from you!

Amy B. asks: If you could chose any author to write about your life (yourself excluded), who would you choose and why?

Danielle Steel. Because then the book would be all about how I blossomed into unearthly beauty at an early age, was snatched from my idyllic childhood by a cruel twist of fate, grittily fought my way to the top of a glamorous profession, and had any number of hugely passionate affairs before being at last reunited with my first, and only true, love. Which is of course exactly how it’s all gone down.

Estefania A. asks: Which are your favorite classic movies, books and paintings?

Some of my absolute favorite classic movies (which I’m defining as 1960 or earlier) include “Notorious,” “Holiday,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Father of the Bride” (the original), “Roman Holiday,” “Bringing Up Baby,” “My Man Godfrey,” “Ninotchka,” “Some Like It Hot,” “The Thin Man,” “The Third Man,” “North by Northwest,” “To Catch A Thief,” “Citizen Kane,” “Gaslight,” “Imitation of Life” (both versions), “Now, Voyager” — you know, this list could go on a while, and the books and paintings as long on their own. I’m going to stop here.

(You will notice that Cary Grant appears frequently in this list.)

Petra I. asks: I can’t begin to understand how difficult it is to write a novel, but maybe you could explain your process. Do you use a pin-board where you stick up all your ideas? Do you write an extensive or brief history/biography on each character?

Neither of those — the ideas get jotted down in the “starter concepts” folder of my laptop until they’ve grown out of being Little Baby Ideas into Plot Thoughts, when they get their own folder. I usually work out an extensive outline over the course of a few weeks or months, and once I’ve got that together, I get to work.

Although I write out what I think are the most important things about each character, I don’t give them full bios at the start. I feel like I find out more fully who they are while I write. I basically get to know the most important things about them and let the rest develop more gradually.

As I said, I’m an outliner, and I’m one of those who has to start at the beginning and work my way through to the end. And I work on separate files for each chapter — which makes it seem less like One Monumental Task and several Big But Manageable Tasks.

Serenity asks: What do you like most about writing?

This is going to sound like a dorky answer, but it’s the writing itself. I am never happier than when I am working my way through a story, and it’s all going well. (Slightly different when it’s not!)

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Got a question of your own? We still have four days to go in the Q&A, so feel free to send your questions in to evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject header “July Q&A Session”!

Britney W. asks: Since you are already a successful author with many published books, where do you see yourself in 10 years? What are your goals and how much do you aim to accomplish? I think it’s important for people to realize that even those who have obtained certain goals they have set for themselves, they still raise the bar and go one step further. It’s the proverbial ladder. What do you do when you get to the top of your ladder? Do you stop and be satisfied or do you grab another one and keep on truckin’?

You’d better keep climbing. I don’t think it’s a ladder — it’s an escalator, and it’s headed down, and you have to keep climbing really fast to make any headway, not to mention avoid sinking.

In 10 years, I very much want to still be writing full-time. By then I hope to be writing for adults as well as for young adults. I want to be a “commonly searched term” on Barnes & Noble.com. 😀 It’s harder for me to define long-term goals more strongly than that: Right now, I’m focusing harder on the very next steps on the escalator, which include defining myself and promoting my YA paranormal series to the best of my ability, and improving my pacing and story structure.

Karen R. writes: I was wondering if you ever thought about making [the EVERNIGHT series] into a movie.

The question really is, has anybody in Hollywood (or any other film capital) thought about making the books into a movie? And the answer to that is, nope, not yet. Keep your fingers crossed, but for now there’s no prospect of a film or TV series.

Alexandra S. asks: Do you ever get writers block? If so how do you get past it? Have there been any points while writing the Evernight series where you’ve hit a serious writers block? If so which parts?

Knock wood as I say this: I generally don’t have big problems with writers’ block. No idea why this is, though I wonder if it isn’t because I am a diehard outliner, so I don’t run into the two issues that most often create writers’ block: not knowing what comes next or writing yourself into a plot corner. That said, I do sometimes have days or even weeks where the writing seems to be coming slowly and badly. When that happens, I don’t let myself stop writing, but I might take a little while to work on something else, or I ask myself if I’m getting bogged down for a reason. Sometimes it’s a sign the scene just needs a little shaking up.

Lucas W. asks:As an aspiring author myself, I often wonder if my characters are believable, so, my question is, What made you happy with Bianca, what little idiosyncrasy or flaw made her believable to you?

Partly it was her love of astronomy, because it just summed her up so well to me: Smart, somewhat romantic, solitary, and good at focusing on the big picture but sometimes terrible at seeing what’s right in front of her face. I also really liked her relationship with her parents; I knew it would be different for her than it is for most teens, which was a fun dynamic to play with.

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If you already asked, and I didn’t answer, don’t despair: I am picking four questions a day every day this week, so yours might be up next. And if you haven’t asked a question yet, what are you waiting for? Send them in to evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject line “July Q&A Session.” Hope to hear from you!

OK, for the first four questions!

KellyRose M. asks: As an aspiring author who has given this A LOT of thought, how did you choose your pen name? And why did you choose to use a pen name? Did you make lists of possible first and surnames, look at name meanings, choose something symbolic? How did you know when you had “the one?!”

First: Don’t give this a lot of thought yet. This is the kind of thing you should worry about only after you’ve got a publishing contract in hand, not only because, before that, it’s kind of a case of cart-before-the-horse, but also because you might want input from your agent and publisher.

For me, I chose to use a pen name for one reason alone: I thought it would be fun. It’s turned out to be a good move for other reasons, too, though — it lets me keep my private life and writing life separate on Facebook, etc. I didn’t go through any big lists or anything, but I knew that I needed to hew to the basic pseudonym rules. These rules are: (1) Make it something people can spell, because you want them to be able to find you online. (2) It should be unusual enough to be memorable and distinctive, but no more unusual than that. (3) Make it something you like and feel some emotional connection to.

In my case, I picked Claudia because my all-time favorite miniseries, “I, Claudius,” was in my DVD player at the time. Originally the last name was going to be Lake, as in Veronica Lake, for old-movie glamour. But it turned out that “Claudia Lake” was the name of the Vampire Lestat fan club. (ALWAYS Google your chosen pseudonym early on!) And, well, Gray is a similar length and sound to Lake. There you have it.

Amy M. asks: Before you even started the EVERNIGHT series, when you were in high school, did you expect you’d be where you are today?

Although I always dreamed of being a full-time novelist, I have to say I never, ever expected it — not in high school and really not even until a couple of years after I’d sold the EVERNIGHT series. This has been the most unexpected and wonderful surprise.

Marnee K. asks: With everything you have experienced as being an author, what has been the most challenging, and the most thrilling, and why?

What’s most challenging is balancing my desire and need to reach out to readers with the need to keep writing and leading a normal life. It’s tough to know when you’re not putting yourself out there enough, or when you’re overdoing it and the writing is suffering, and sometimes it feels like you’re somehow managing to do both at once, even though that should be impossible.

The most thrilling thing was finding the first fanvids and fanfiction for the EVERNIGHT series. That’s when I knew that the books weren’t just being read; they were being enjoyed.

Terrii-Lee F. asks: What type of writing do you specifically look for? Is vampires the only type you you really enjoy writing about?

As a reader, I’ll try nearly any kind of book. I went on a book-buying binge today and bought YA lit (paranormal and realistic), historical fiction for both WWI and the Roman Empire, nonfiction books about science and criminology, plus a romance novel. It’s fun to check out as many kinds of books as possible!

As a writer, I love writing about vampires, but they’re not the only supernatural creatures I enjoy: I’m writing my werewolf novel now (FATEFUL), and I have a witchcraft trilogy coming soon. And I keep a little list of realistic fiction ideas — you never know.

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Want to get your question answered? Send me an email at evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject line “July Q&A session.” And be careful — a couple people asked really good questions, but I couldn’t answer because they were too spoilery for HOURGLASS. Try again, maybe?