HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL CREATUES!

Today is the official book birthday of Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. In celebration of this day, we have an interview with the authors about their fabulous book!

1. What was it like to be co-writers? How does that process work?
Kami: It involves a whole lot of Diet Coke, lots of talking, two whiteboards, three colors of marker, two comfy chairs, one office, a library, pizza, and two very patient husbands.

Margie: We are definitely not the same person, but we write in a very similar voice. It just worked out that way. We fight like sisters sometimes, but we also get to share the whole crazy experience of writing a debut novel. Some of our writer friends say they can’t imagine writing with another person, but for us it seems much scarier to go through all of this alone!

2. Do you have the whole story arc for Lena and Ethan planned out? How many novels do you see it taking and what tidbits can you give us about BC2?
Kami: We originally came to Little, Brown with a story that spanned six novels, or actually six moons.

Margie: We have always known we were spinning a sprawling, Southern gothic saga. So we’ve got plenty of story to tell, as long as there is someone to listen!

3. We wanted to know the ins and outs about titling chapters. Why did y’all choose to name the chapters, instead of numbering? Do the chapter names come before or after the chapters are written.
Kami: We usually title them after they’re written. The chapters have a shape of their own, within the context of the book, so they deserve their own titles.

Margie: We love our chapter names, they’re like song titles to us. Originally the chapters had both names and numbers, but since they also have dates as well, it all got to be too much.

4. What kind of Caster would each of you be and why?
Kami: I think I’d like to be a Cataclyst. Aside from the evil part, it offers a lot of options…

Margie: I think I’d like to be a Palimpsest. I’ve spent so much time studying history and literature, I would love to be able to walk into an old house in Savannah or Philadelphia or Boston or Rome or Venice and see everything that had ever happened there.

5. Can you give us 3 random facts about Lena, Ethan, Link and Marian?
K & M: Lena has lived all over, wears her beat-up Converse all the time & writes numbers on her hands. Ethan’s bedroom walls are lined with shoeboxes, he hides novels under his bed & he has recurring dreams about a girl he’s never met. Link worships Black Sabbath, dreams of being a drummer & never has any money.
Marian has more secrets than any of them, but will be the last to tell.

6. What do the two of you read in your free time, what books can you recommend?
Kami: I read YA, fantasy and science fiction mostly. My favorite books I’ve read in the last few months are: SHADOWED SUMMER by Saundra Mitchell, THE DEMON’S LEXICON by Sarah Rees Brennan, WHITE CAT by Holly Black & SHADOW HILLS by Anastasia Hopcus.

Margie: I read YA Fantasy and Realistic fiction. This year I’ve loved FIRE and GRACELING by Kristin Cashore, BALLAD and LAMENT by Maggic Steifvater, SUNSHINE by Robin McKinley, and EVERYTHING IS FINE by Ann Dee Ellis, who will win the National Book Award one day. And now that I know Kami has read WHITE CAT I’m feeling SO jealous…

7. Y’all have created playlists for both Link and Ethan and music plays an important role in Lena and Ethan’s journey with the Sixteen Moons song, does music play a role in while you guys are writing?
Kami: I can’t listen to music while I write, but while writing BC, I listened to a lot of Southern rock, Soundgarden & the Killers.

Margie: I can’t write without earphones and blast music while I’m writing. I’ve and had Spring Awakening on repeat for a year now. Glee has taken over. And my sister in law makes me writing playlists for each book I am working on, just cool music to work to.

8. Loved the literary references in the book, and the Jessica Rabbit homage, how big of an influence was classical literature on the themes and story arc of Beautiful Creatures?
Kami: Obviously, To Kill a Mockingbird was incredibly influential, on us as well as the novel. There are parallels between the small town in TKAM and Gatlin, a town trapped in time. But poetry also plays an important role in BC, like Frost and Pound and Bukowski.

Margie: Lena’s a writer, Ethan’s a reader, and Macon & Marian are the resident town literati. It was so much fun to have so many smart, book-loving characters to work with! We couldn’t write characters that we couldn’t love or relate to in some way, and I think books are what we all have in common.

9. What is your favorite movie quote?
Kami: “Screws just fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.” – The Breakfast Club

Margie: “Fear is the mind killer.” – Paul Atreides, Dune.


You can keep up with Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl at www.BeautifulCreaturestheBook.com.

Visit Little, Brown’s Beautiful Creatures website at www.SomeLovesAreCursed.com.

The book cover was made by Alex Hoerner