Q&A With Claudia Gray! Dark Days 2013

I have the awesome Claudia Gray here today! As you all know just look at my sidebar lol I am her official blogger for Dark Days 2013! I adore Claudia and it’s not just because of our shared love for James McAvoy hehehe but I really love her books! So when I was asked to interview Claudia I said heck yeah! Check out our interview below!

Hey Claudia! Welcome to Two Chicks on Books! I am a huge fan of yours; I’ve read all of your books and I loved Spellcaster! I have some questions for you about Spellcaster, writing and life in general I hope you enjoy the interview!

Jaime: You’ve written about vampires, wraiths, and werewolves on the Titanic. What made you want to write about witches?

Claudia: Whenever I’m asked what kind of supernatural creature I’d want to be, I always answer, “a witch.” They’re the ones with the power; they’re the ones in control of their fate. So it was inevitable I’d write about witchcraft soon!

Jaime: Who has been your favorite character to write in Spellcaster and also your other books?

Claudia: In SPELLCASTER, I enjoy writing all the characters to some extent – but I really like Verlaine, Nadia’s friend, who emerges as sort of a co-lead as the trilogy goes on. Partly that’s her weird sense of humor, but it’s also related to her own dark supernatural secret …

I have a huge girl crush on Verlaine!!!!!!

Jaime: Who do you picture when you’re thinking of Nadia and Mateo? Is there an actor or model or someone people could identify with?

Claudia: There’s nobody precisely like Nadia out there, though if you follow me on Pinterest, you can see my mash-up image of what I think she looks like! (I have a SPELLCASTER board with lots of imagery from the books, and a few teasers too.) Mateo is a lot easier; to me he looks a lot like Tyler Posey from “Teen Wolf.” Tyler shows up on that Pinterest board too.

Jaime: Spellcaster is a series right? How many books do you have planned?

Claudia: SPELLCASTER is a trilogy! I am just now editing the second and middle book, STEADFAST.

Eeep I can’t wait for STEADFAST!!!!!!!!!!!

Jaime: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers out there?

Claudia: Read everything you can get your hands on. You’ll so much about writing through reading. That’s how you discover what kinds of characters and stories most strongly attract you, and see how other writers brought them to life. I’m always surprised by how many people say they want to write books – but spend more time watching movies than reading. You can learn a few things about storytelling from movies, but you won’t learn much about how to write a novel.

Jaime: What is the latest novel that you read?

Claudia: I just finished ELEGY FOR EDDIE, which is a mystery novel in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear, and ROOM by Emma Donoghue. Next up is Kiersten White’s MIND GAMES!

And now a few lightning round questions

Favorite Superhero?

Professor X from the X-Men.

 Favorite TV show?

Right now it’s a toss-up between “Once Upon A Time” and “Bunheads.”

Favorite Band or singer?

Of the moment: Florence + the Machine. All time: The Beatles.

What are you afraid of?

Death and spiders.

Sweet or salty?

Sweet. Though sweet plus salty is also awesome. Ever had those dark chocolates with sea salt? MMMmmmmmm.

YES and they’re delicious!!!!

Mornings or evenings?

Evenings, definitely! I am so incredibly not a morning person.

Peeta, Gale, or Finnick?

Peeta all the way. Always go for the man who makes baked goods. Seriously, every time.

Books or eBooks?

Both, and plenty of them!

Twitter or Facebook?

I tend to prefer Twitter; certainly that’s where I interact with readers more. So if you want to talk with me, follow me there!

Thanks so much for answering my questions and I look forward to having you on the blog again someday J

About Claudia:

Claudia Gray is a pseudonym. I would like to say that I chose another name so that no one would ever learn the links between my shadowy, dramatic past and the explosive secrets revealed through my characters. This would be a lie. In truth, I took a pseudonym simply because I thought it would be fun to choose my own name. (And it is.)

I write novels full-time, absolutely love it, and hope to be able to do this forever. My home is in New Orleans, is more than 100 years old, and is painted purple. In my free time I read, travel, hike, cook and listen to music. You can keep up with my latest releases, thoughts on writing and various pop-culture musings viaTwitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, GoodReads or (of course) my own home page.

If you want to contact me, you can email me here, but your best bet is probably to Tweet me. I don’t do follows on Twitter, but I follow everyone back on Tumblr, Pinterest and GoodReads.

Website/Blog

Make sure to check out all of the other Dark Days stops! They include reviews and interviews!

Leg 1

Jan 8      Unravel Me @ Making the Grade

Jan 10    Boundless @ Bookalicious 

Jan 15    Through the Ever Night @ My Overstuffed Bookshelf

Jan 17    Everbound @ Me, My Shelf, and I

Jan 22    Boundless @ Bookalicious 

Jan 24    Unravel Me @ Making the Grade

Jan 29    Everbound @ Me, My Shelf, and I

Jan 31    Through the Ever Night @ My Overstuffed Bookshelf

Leg 2

Feb 8      Fragments @ Emily's Reading Room

Feb 12    Requiem @ YA Sisterhood

Feb 14    Spellcaster @ Two Chicks on Books

Feb 19    Mind Games @ IB Book Blogging

Feb 21    Mila 2.0 @ Addicted 2 Novels

Feb 26    Fragments @ Emily's Reading Room

Feb 28    Requiem @ YA Sisterhood

Mar 5     Spellcaster @ Two Chicks on Books

Mar 6     Mila 2.0 @ Addicted 2 Novels

Mar 7     Mind Games @ IB Book Blogging

And if you’re in Utah or the PNW you’re in luck! There are still tour stops! So go get your books signed by Debra Driza, Claudia Gray, Lauren Oliver, Dan Wells, and Kiersten White!

Mar 6     Provo Library, Provo,  UT at 7PM

Mar 7     University Books, Seattle, WA at 6:30PM

Mar 8     Barnes & Noble, Clackamas, OR at 6:30PM

Mar 9     Tualatin Library, Tualatin, OR at 10AM

Mar 9     Eugene Library, Eugene, OR at 4PM

http://www.pitchdark.com/blog/the-dark-days-are-back/

Thanks so much to Harper Teen and Claudia for having me participate in Dark Days! It was so much fun and I look forward to doing another one soon! J