Author Q & A with Lauren deStefano

Today is the day a lot of people have been eagerly awaiting - the release of the second book in 'The Chemical Garden' trilogy 'Fever' in the UK.
To celebrate, Lauren was kind enough to do a quick interview with us about the book, her writing, and what we can anticipate from her next.

“Today is the release for the second book in the 'Chemical Garden' trilogy 'Fever' - can you tell us a little bit about it?”

If I had to re-write the jacket blurb for Fever, it would say, "Rhine and Gabriel have escaped. But they shouldn't be too smug about it." And then there would be a photo of me grinning maniacally, and when you turned the first page, an evil cackling would fill the room, and you'd have no idea where it came from. It would be me, though.

“How did you find going back to the characters for a second book, was it harder or easier than the first book?”

It was infinitely harder. When I wrote Wither, there was no promise that it would sell, and I had fun with it, not expecting any sort of reaction. By the time I got to writing Fever, I was well aware of my audience. It took some adapting. I also had the difficult task of answering the question readers had at the end of Wither: So now what?

“Which has been your favourite character or relationship to write? (if you can pick one!)”

Cecily or Vaughn. They've both been very challenging and not at all what I would have expected. At the start, I thought Cecily would be more of a villain and that Vaughn would be relatively benign. But
they had other ideas.

“What has been your favourite part of the writing and publishing process?”

The reader responses!

“Has writing always been something you wanted to do? And how did you make the jump from wanting to write and writing for yourself to becoming a full time writer?”

I've always loved to tell stories, and I began writing them down when I was very young. It would be several years before I realized the people around me didn't all do the same thing. I still can't imagine what it's like for people who don't have characters running amok in their skulls. Mine are rather fond of breaking my fancy valuables and the like. By the time I was in middle school, it became abundantly clear that I'm not really good at anything, so the plan became to get published or die trying. I never expected the overwhelming good fortune that's been brought to me by my agent and my publisher here in the US, and all of my publishers overseas. I still feel like maybe I'm actually in a coma somewhere dreaming it all up.

“Do you have a specific routine or writing process? Times of day or music that help you to write?” 

I am victim to the whims and fancies of my brain. I never set a schedule because then writing begins to feel like a chore. It must be done arbitrarily. I'll be watching TV or trying to sleep or clicking about on the computer, and I'll be stricken with the need to DO something. That's when I start writing furiously, and it's glorious and angels are singing and the trees are alive with the sunlight and birds, and the whole universe makes sense. That, or I'll write when I get an email from my agent in all caps demanding to know where my next project is. Actually, it's usually that last thing I said.

“Do you have some favourite books or authors that have inspired you?”

It's hard to pinpoint a favorite book, but I'd say my biggest inspirations are T.S. Eliot, Nabokov and Eugenidies.

“Do you secretly have a favourite book in the trilogy?”

Oh, it's no secret. My favorite is the third. I say the third book because it really ties the entire series together, and by the time I got to writing it, I knew my characters inside and out. I hope the readers will love it as much as I do.

“What are you working on at the moment?”

Secrets and scandals.

“Will you be doing any tours or signings in the US and UK in the future?”

Things are still being worked out! My tours for Fever so far are in the US.

You can purchase 'Fever' and the first in the series 'Wither' from Amazon and book stores today!