Lovers of Paranormal discussion

Seanan McGuire, author of the October Daye and Incryptid book series under her real name, and also the hard science fiction Newsflash series under her pen name Mira Grant, has answered this month's Author of the Month interview questions to enhance your reading experience of this month's MOD PICK Rosemary and Rue.

I was privileged to meet Seanan McGuire at the 100% fan-run ARISIA Science Fiction and Fantasy Conference back in 2011 (or was that 2012?). Not only was she nice to meet in person, but she also did this absolutely hilarious comedy routine that had the audience in stitches.

When I learned Seanan would be returning to New England for the BOSKONE Science Fiction Conference in February, I nominated Rosemary and Rue as this month's MOD PICK for the purely selfish reason that I possess an autographed copy of the book and wanted an excuse to re-read it prior to attending that conference. :-)

So without further ado or boring blather from me, here are Seanan's answers to our Lovers of Paranormal Author of the Month questions:


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1. What books have most influenced your life?

IT, by Stephen King; Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones; and The Collected Works of William Shakespeare.

2. How do you develop your plots and characters?

I always feel like this is a "where do you get your ideas" question. People really want deep, insightful answers, and I don't have them. My characters just happen. I'm always glad to meet them, and they generally bring the plot along to justify their admission to the party. Like bringing onion dip, only it's full of murder.

3. Tell us about your LoP book?

Rosemary and Rue is the first October Daye adventure. It's about 108,000 words long, and it contains a really ridiculous number of "e"s. I really love the letter "e".

4. What was the hardest part of writing this book?

Figuring out how to write a book, and then figuring out how to edit it until it didn't suck anymore.

5. What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

I can't answer that for reasons of spoilers.

6. Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it?

I learned how to write a book! It was a very hard lesson, but I enjoyed it, so I guess everything worked out in the end.

7. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Mostly I try not to tell people what the message is. That way, they can all come up with their own.

8. What are your future project(s)?

This year, I have a non-fiction collection, Letters to the Pumpkin King; the third InCryptid novel, Half-Off Ragnarok; the eighth Toby novel, The Winter Long; Sparrow Hill Road, which is a stand-alone in the InCryptid universe; and Symbiont, the sequel to Parasite, under the name "Mira Grant." I am a busy bee.

9. If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?

I would be a carnival barker.

10. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your LoP community members?

Thank you all so much for reading my books and feeding my cats. It genuinely means the world to me.


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Note from Mod-Anna: That bit about the cats ... she's serious... :-)

And for those of you who live in the New England area, here is information about attending BOSKONE '51 where Seanan (and herself as her alter-ego Mira Grant) are the Guest of Honor, February 14-16.

BOSKONE 2014: http://www.nesfa.org/boskone/

I will be there to get the rest of my October Daye series autographed, so perhaps we can have a LoP reunion?

Interview conducted by LoP Mod-Anna