An Awesome Author: Cluadia Gray

Claudia Gray is the author of Evernight. Her second book out of the four books in the Evernight series, Stargazer will come out is the spring of 2009. She is one awesome author. I am really glad I got the chance to purchase her book from Amazon and then after I thoroughly enjoyed it she agreed to an interview.

My review.

Claudia Gray's Website.

How did you come about picking Evernight as the title of the book and the school?

I actually came up with the title EVERNIGHT a long time ago, and for another book altogether -- the first novel I ever tried to write. It was a fairly ambitious science fiction idea, set on a world so industrialized and built-up that all the social strata depended on how far you lived from the dark, crowded and filthy ground. Daybreak was the best place to be; Evernight was the earth itself. That novel died on the vine; I still like the idea and am fond of the characters, but science fiction may not be my strong suit. But the word Evernight stuck with me. While I was trying to come up with something sufficiently spooky and romantic for the name of the school, I realized I already had a good title handy.

Which character in Evernight are you most like? Least like?

I am a little like all of them, in different ways: I love books as much as Bianca does, get as broody as Balthazar does and worry about my manicure almost as much as Patrice does -- if not quite. But honestly, the one I think has the most of my personality is probably Vic.

Just out of curiosity, if given the choice would you rather be a vampire or a member of the Black Cross?

My first impulse is to say that I'd rather be a member of Black Cross, because then at least you're alive -- in these books, being alive is much, much better than being dead. But a lot of people in Black Cross are zealots, and they've let good intentions turn them into monsters as dangerous as the evil vampires they hunt. So if I could be sure that I'd be a good vampire, maybe I'd have to choose that. Definitely the vampires have more fun, I think.

Can you give any hints as to what will happen in Stargazer, the sequel to Evernight?

Let's see:

Lucas hasn't given up on his dream of being with Bianca.

Neither has Balthazar.

Evernight Academy will turn out to be haunted, and this affects Bianca most of all.

Vic, Raquel, Courtney and Ranulf all get a lot more to do.

What is the best thing about writing about vampires for YA?

The fans, definitely. So many people are so knowledgeable and enthusiastic -- it's just terrific.

Are you going to be writing any books that don't deal with vampires?

I hope so! I am currently working on a couple of proposals that are both definitely supernatural and romantic, but no vampires -- one involved witchcraft, and the other -- hmmm -- let's call them reincarnated time-travelers. It's a lot of fun. Not that I don't love vampires, but variety is the spice of life.

What are your favorite vampire books?

My all-time favorite is THE SILVER KISS by Annette Curtis Klause.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I love hearing from readers, so feel free to get in touch via my website or livejournal anytime.


Ms. Gray,

Thank you for answering my questions. And I cannot wait untill Stargazer comes out!