The author of the awesome ghostgirl and coming soon sequel ghostgirl: homecoming was kind enough to answer some of my questions. If you still haven't read ghostgirl (get with it, you're missing out!), there may be mild spoilers. Here's how it went:
Okay, the biggest, most important question for all of us readers who LOVE ghostgirl: Do you plan on writing more books in the ghostgirl series? How many (assuming you aren't going to deny us this wish)?
· I'll write as many as my publisher allows! I have just finished the third book and I think I'm on a roll! I do love writing them and I’m so glad that there are people out there who love reading them.
If you are writing more books (please, please, please), will Maddy make another appearance (purposefully vague, since I don't want to give anything away in ghostgirl: homecoming)?
· You never know.
Were you ecstatic when you got your first copy of ghostgirl? The covers are truly amazing!
· Ecstatic. Speechless. I cried when my editor Nancy Conescu handed it to me. It far surpassed my wildest dreams. It was a perfect realization of what I had imagined and hoped it could be as a novel. I’m very proud of both ghostgirl and ghostgirl: homecoming.
And on this same note, how do you feel about e-books when they could potentially stifle such creative covers? (I personally can't imagine reading without a book in my hands.)
· I think there will always be an audience for traditional books just as there are for newspapers, vinyl albums, CDs, and lots of other physical entertainment products that are now available digitally. E-books just expand the potential audience, so I’m happy that both of my novels will be available in those formats as well. There is something magical about literally cracking a binding and opening a book for the first time. And turning a page. I don’t think you can replicate that feeling electronically. It's more of a sensory experience.
Did anything in particular inspire you to center a novel on a dead character? I found it so unique, I couldn't help but wonder.
· I was working with some very well known ‘tween stars on a TV series that I created for them and I began to think about the whole nation of fame and popularity and how people aspire to it with varying results. I just took that whole desire for popularity thing down to a high school level, which is where its roots are, and then killed off the main character so I could explore all the typical teenage issues in a very fantastical way. It's all about determination, in the end.
I noticed (and loved) how all your characters are played against type. The goth girl finds love with the popular jock and becomes best friends with the "invisible girl", etc. Did you purposely write your characters to show cliques can be defeated in individual cases, or is this just the way the characters came to you?
· I think life is full of surprises, so I tried to inject some of that into the characters and their relationships. It's too easy to "type" people. That's really Charlotte's biggest complaint. She isn't seen for who she is. I don't think any of us really are, especially in high school no matter what we project.
Do you have any favorite books you can recommend to your fans while we wait with bated breath for Charlotte's next step in the afterlife?
· I like to suggest that people reread a book they loved when they were younger. As you age, things take on a whole different meaning and it's pretty great to take a classic that meant so much to you and read it from a more mature, wiser perspective. Also, there is an audiobook of ghostgirl coming out in a few weeks at recordedbooks.com, and then a digital version at audible.com. It is narrated by Parker Posey with music by Vince Clarke! Thank you!
A third book? Finished already? Okay, everybody with me: whoosh. That was a sigh of relief, if you were wondering. :)
Remember to grab your copy of ghostgirl: homecoming on July 1st!!!
Okay, the biggest, most important question for all of us readers who LOVE ghostgirl: Do you plan on writing more books in the ghostgirl series? How many (assuming you aren't going to deny us this wish)?
· I'll write as many as my publisher allows! I have just finished the third book and I think I'm on a roll! I do love writing them and I’m so glad that there are people out there who love reading them.
If you are writing more books (please, please, please), will Maddy make another appearance (purposefully vague, since I don't want to give anything away in ghostgirl: homecoming)?
· You never know.
Were you ecstatic when you got your first copy of ghostgirl? The covers are truly amazing!
· Ecstatic. Speechless. I cried when my editor Nancy Conescu handed it to me. It far surpassed my wildest dreams. It was a perfect realization of what I had imagined and hoped it could be as a novel. I’m very proud of both ghostgirl and ghostgirl: homecoming.
And on this same note, how do you feel about e-books when they could potentially stifle such creative covers? (I personally can't imagine reading without a book in my hands.)
· I think there will always be an audience for traditional books just as there are for newspapers, vinyl albums, CDs, and lots of other physical entertainment products that are now available digitally. E-books just expand the potential audience, so I’m happy that both of my novels will be available in those formats as well. There is something magical about literally cracking a binding and opening a book for the first time. And turning a page. I don’t think you can replicate that feeling electronically. It's more of a sensory experience.
Did anything in particular inspire you to center a novel on a dead character? I found it so unique, I couldn't help but wonder.
· I was working with some very well known ‘tween stars on a TV series that I created for them and I began to think about the whole nation of fame and popularity and how people aspire to it with varying results. I just took that whole desire for popularity thing down to a high school level, which is where its roots are, and then killed off the main character so I could explore all the typical teenage issues in a very fantastical way. It's all about determination, in the end.
I noticed (and loved) how all your characters are played against type. The goth girl finds love with the popular jock and becomes best friends with the "invisible girl", etc. Did you purposely write your characters to show cliques can be defeated in individual cases, or is this just the way the characters came to you?
· I think life is full of surprises, so I tried to inject some of that into the characters and their relationships. It's too easy to "type" people. That's really Charlotte's biggest complaint. She isn't seen for who she is. I don't think any of us really are, especially in high school no matter what we project.
Do you have any favorite books you can recommend to your fans while we wait with bated breath for Charlotte's next step in the afterlife?
· I like to suggest that people reread a book they loved when they were younger. As you age, things take on a whole different meaning and it's pretty great to take a classic that meant so much to you and read it from a more mature, wiser perspective. Also, there is an audiobook of ghostgirl coming out in a few weeks at recordedbooks.com, and then a digital version at audible.com. It is narrated by Parker Posey with music by Vince Clarke! Thank you!
A third book? Finished already? Okay, everybody with me: whoosh. That was a sigh of relief, if you were wondering. :)
Remember to grab your copy of ghostgirl: homecoming on July 1st!!!
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