Author Crush Friday: Claudia Gray
Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.
We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to Claudia Gray, author of Ten Thousand Skies Above You (November 3, 2015; HarperTeen). Thank you for talking to us today, Claudia! We’re honored!
GLITTER: Tell us five random facts about yourself.
CLAUDIA: 1) I love to travel and try to make it to one new country every year. This year it was Portugal!
2) I have a superstition that painting my fingernails or toenails blue means good luck.
3) Since I saw the show in October, I’ve been one of the people playing the soundtrack to “Hamilton” non-stop. I made my friends listen on Thanksgiving, even.
4) My main celebrity crush is James McAvoy, though Tom Hiddleston is coming up hard on the outside.
5) I read the web blog “Comics Curmudgeon” pretty much every day and have developed strong feelings about “Mary Worth” as a result.
GLITTER: For those who haven’t read your book yet, how would you describe Ten Thousand Skies Above You?
CLAUDIA: Ten Thousand Skies Above You continues the story of Marguerite, the daughter of two famous scientists who uses their invention, the Firebird, to travel into alternate dimensions. Triad Corporation, desperate to control the technology, has kidnapped Paul Markov and torn his soul into pieces — and in order to save the guy she loves, Marguerite has to travel into new dimensions, do Triad’s dirty work, and literally put Paul’s soul back together again. But some of these new parallel universes are dark and dangerous, threatening not only Marguerite’s life but also her belief in the destiny that ties her and Paul together. The risks she faces also reveal Triad’s nightmarish real agenda for the first time…and the part Marguerite must play.
GLITTER: Who was your favorite character to write in Ten Thousand Skies Above You?
CLAUDIA: Probably Theo Beck, who had a huge role in the first book (A Thousand Pieces Of You) but didn’t really get to show his true colors until book two. (If you read book one, you know why!) His wit and ego have always made him an enjoyable character to write, so it was great to finally let him have his day.
GLITTER: What was it like to be selected to write the young adult Star Wars novel, Lost Stars? How were you chosen?
CLAUDIA: It was such a thrill–I’ve always been a huge Star Wars fan! When my agent and I got the email, we basically got on the phone and flipped out together. As for how I was chosen, I’ve long known an editor who works with Lucasfilm publishing and she knew how much I loved the movies, and I think she threw my hat into the ring, so to speak. Once I submitted an outline, the Lucasfilm guys were on board!
GLITTER: What is the craziest job you ever held and has that helped you in your research for your series?
CLAUDIA: I worked as an extra in Jurassic World. Of course, I signed up because I wanted to run from dinosaurs; instead, they showed me as a lawyer in the background of a scene. Kind of disappointing. That experience hasn’t worked its way into a book yet, but maybe someday–you never know.
GLITTER: Did you always want to be an author? Did you ever feel like giving up? Did you receive rejection letters in the beginning? How did you get over them?
CLAUDIA: Yes, I always dreamed of being a writer, but it took me a very long time to get up the nerve to actually try to get published. When that time came, I basically fell into YA publishing just as it took off. So–no, no rejection letters! Don’t get me wrong–I’m hugely grateful for this–but in many respects I feel that I got published before I was ready. I really understood so little of what the whole process required, but I learned as I went.
GLITTER: What are your favorite words to use?
CLAUDIA: “Actively.” “Dire.” “Fannish.” “Puppy.”
GLITTER: What book are you currently reading?
CLAUDIA: I just got the art book for the Guillermo Del Toro movie “Crimson Peak” and am having so much fun reading about the costume design, art design, character histories, all of it.
GLITTER: What are you working on next?
CLAUDIA: My next book release will be Star Wars: New Republic: Bloodline, which is coming out in March–and then in fall 2016, the final book of the Firebird trilogy will arrive. I’m currently working on the first book of my next scifi series, Defy the Stars, which will be released in spring 2017!
Photo credit: Melissa Vincent
ABOUT CLAUDIA GRAY:
Whether writing a series featuring a spooky boarding school for Vampires, a quiet sea side town with an ancient curse from an evil sorceress, or a girl traveling through multiple dimensions, Claudia Gray’s characters reel in teen readers and leave them clamoring for more. Claudia’s novels take on a life of their own with vibrant settings, thrilling twists and turns and unique and quirky but relatable characters. It is not hard to see why she earned the title of New York Times bestselling author with the Evernight and Spellcaster series, and continues to enthrall new readers with the Firebird trilogy.
Claudia has worked as a lawyer journalist, disc jockey and extremely poor waitress but with writing, Claudia has found her niche.
Claudia is active in the Young Adult community, attending conferences and book festivals around the country to speak on author panels and connect with readers. She loves talking about her passion for writing and the inspiration that has allowed her to construct magical worlds on the page.
There is a lot in store for fans of Claudia Gray. She has been selected by Lucas Studios to write the young adult Star Wars novel, Lost Stars, which released in September. The highly anticipated second book in her Firebird trilogy, Ten Thousand Skies Above You, was published this November.
WHERE TO FIND HER:
Website: http://www.claudiagray.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/claudiagray
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/authorclaudiagray
Instagram: https://instagram.com/claudia_gray
Editorial Director | Writer | Tweet me @heatherriccio
