1. What inspires you (as a writer)?
Kami: I am inspired by different things; my colorful Southern family, places I love, like Charleston and New Orleans, my favorite music, and always books.
Margie: The world around me, the world in my head, the fantasy world in books I have read. (Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book – oh the places you’ll go – in my head!)
2. How did you two meet?
Kami: I met Margie when her oldest daughter was in my third grade class, and we became friends right away.
Margie: Luckily, my daughter was incredibly naughty and we were forced to spend loads of time together.
3. Is it ever difficult writing with a partner?
Kami: For us, it’s easier. But we have been friends for a long time. You have to have a lot of respect and trust to work this closely with someone.
Margie: It’s not difficult to write together; it’s difficult to spend that much time together. Sometimes I think we see each other more than we see our husbands. We fight like sisters, but that’s also how we get things done!
4. What inspired Beautiful Creatures?
Kami: A long lunch together with lots of free Diet Coke refills, and a love of Southern Gothic and fantasy literature.
Margie: My teenagers wanted to read something different than what they were reading. They said, no vampires, no werewolves, no girl narrator, and make the girl a supernatural. They felt like all the fantasy they read was starting to feel the same, and they wanted the least generic book possible. Hence the Southern Gothic twist, where everyone is as quirky and weird as we are.
5. Can you tell us a little bit about Beautiful Darkness ?
Kami: It picks up where BEAUTIFUL CREATURES left off, and it’s a lot darker. And the stakes are higher.
Margie: We explore more of the South, and more of the Caster world. We meet new characters-some you’ll hate, and some you’ll love, I hope. We also deal with the consequences of the first book. Magic and love and death always have consequences!
6. Do you already know how the series will end or do you just focus on one book at a time?
Kami: We have always known the end of the story from the beginning. That is also true with the major plot points.
Margie: Yes. Both. We outline everything and then ignore our outline. And sometimes each other.
Margaret Stohl is the author of Icons, the first book in the Icons series, forthcoming from Little, Brown in spring 2013, as well as the coauthor of the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, IndieBound, and internationally bestselling Beautiful Creatures Novels (with Kami Garcia.)
Kami Garcia is The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly & international bestselling author of Unbreakable, the first book in THE LEGION series (Little, Brown 2013), which is being developed as a major motion picture by producer Mark Morgan (THE TWILIGHT SAGA & PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF).
She is also the co-author of THE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES NOVELS (Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness & Beautiful Chaos). Beautiful Creatures has been published in 39 countries and translated in 28 languages, and it is currently in development as a major motion picture by Warner Brothers, with Academy Award nominated writer Richard LaGravenese adapting the screenplay and directing.