I LOVED BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.
I also adore the ladies that wrote it. Enjoy the interview! I'll be posting my review tomorrow.
What inspired you to write Beautiful Creatures? You wrote the story in three months. Did you brainstorm the story first?
Kami: We did. But the pieces came together REALLY quickly.
Margie: If by brainstorm you mean hash it out over a thousand Diet Cokes at lunch at El Cholo one day.
Writing with a partner takes an amazing amount of teamwork. Did you take turns writing, chapter by chapter? Did you work from a storyboard or an outline?
Kami: It does, but more than that it requires trust. You have to believe in the other person completely.
Margie: And you have to like to talk a lot. We ask each other a ton of questions. Everything we write comes out of a conversation.
Kami: As far as the writing process, we don’t write separate chapters. We actually write each chapter multiple times, and we write over each other’s work.
Margie: It’s like a running stitch. By the time we finish, it’s impossible to tell who wrote what.
You chose to write Beautiful Creatures from the perspective of a teenage boy, Ethan. What challenges did this pose?
Kami: We knew it would either work, or it wouldn’t. I think it was easier to write in some ways, because Ethan obviously isn’t either one of us. So we could think about the way he would do something or feel about something, rather than how one of us would.
Margie: But it was harder in other ways, because sometime’s Ethan’s voice has to be transparent, so that you can fall into the world of the book. Other times he has to really sound like a teenage boy. And then on top of that, it’s tricky to have the narrator of a story be the boy you want to love.
You have several interesting subplots going. One of my favorites is the relationship between Link and Ridley. Will we see more of them in the sequel?
Kami: You’ll have to wait and see.
Margie: We can tell you those are two of our most popular characters.
Ridley jumped off the page for me, fully formed, brimming over with life. Did you see her coming as you were writing?
Kami: Ridley really evolved during the writing process and elbowed her way into more and more scenes, which is so Ridley.
Margie: Our teen readers were always asking us for more about Ridley and Link, so those two characters have had fans from the very first draft.
Music plays a big part in Beautiful Creatures. You’ve posted Ethan’s playlist on your site. Can we expect to see other characters’ playlists soon?
Kami: Link’s Playlist is up now & Lena and Ridley’s are coming soon.
Do you listen to music when you write?
Kami: I listen to music that inspires me before I write. But I need complete silence to write. I actually hear the characters talking as I write, so I have to be able to listen (Ridley is very pushy, in particular).
Margie: I write with music blasting in earphones. I literally can’t write if I’m not wearing earphones. It’s like I have to drown out all the other brains in the world. And for me, certain kinds of music make writing certain kinds of scenes easier.
Poetry plays a big part in Beautiful Creatures as well. Lena is a poet. Are there writers that inspire you?
Kami: I’ve been writing poetry since high school. My favorite poets are: Pablo Neruda, ee cummings, Sylvia Plath, and Robert Frost.
Margie: I love Stevie Smith, a crazily funny British poet. Also Emily Dickinson (I lived on her street corner when I went to Amherst College) & Lowell & Frost, two more Amherst poets. I studied poetry for a year at a Creative Writing program in the UK.
Who wrote Lena’s poetry for the book?
Kami: As with everything else in the book, we both did. It isn’t hard for us to get in touch with our inner teens. They’re pretty close to the surface.
Margie: Lena has a particular way she writes that isn’t the way either Kami or I write. (She doesn’t listen to us!) It’s been interesting to watch her writing as it evolves.
Lena wears a special necklace in the story. Can you tell us about it?
Kami: Lena wears a necklace with a collection of charms that look more like junk. But the charms are like her memories. Margie and I each have one. We made them ourselves.
Margie: We’re actually giving one away in a contest, in December, so be sure to check out site often.
Without giving anything away, there are certain characters whose fates seem to have been decided. Is there any chance those characters will have the opportunity to change their fate?
Kami: Great question. You’ll have to read the next book to find out.
Margie: Free will vs. predestination is certainly a big theme in our book.
Will you be posting any outtakes?
Margie: We haven’t talked about that, but you never know.
Will book two be from Ethan’s perspective?
Kami: We’ve just finished the second book, and it is from Ethan’s perspective.
You’ve started a ning for Beautiful Creatures. What is that exactly, and how can your fans use it to connect?
Margie: Little, Brown did that for us, and we love it! A ning is a fantastic forum where readers can connect with us and other BC fans. Fans can post discussion threads, photos, etc. There will also be special contests for ning members in the future. Readers can join the ning at: http://gatlincounty.ning.com/
Will you be going on a book tour? Where can we look to find details about it?
Kami: We will be going on tour in the Southern U.S. the last two weeks of January. The details will be up on our site, www.BeautifulCreaturestheBook.com, under Appearances, here: http://beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/writing/appearances/
How can we keep up with you two and the world of Beautiful Creatures?
Margie: All the latest news, contests, schedule, etc., can always be found on www.BeautifulCreaturestheBook.com.
What were your favorite books/authors growing up? Now?
Kami: I have always loved Harper Lee, Flannery O’ Connor, and Ray Bradbury. Today, I love so many authors: Melissa Marr, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund, Sarah Rees Brennan, Saundra Mitchell… there are really too many.
Margie: In third grade I had a Susan Cooper fan club with my friends, & I can still recite the poem from the front of THE DARK IS RISING. Diana Wynne Jones, C.S. Lewis, Ursula LeGuin – that was me. I’m a huge fan of Robin McKinley, Cassie Clare, and Kristin Cashore. And my new discovery is EVERYTHING IS FINE by Ann Dee Ellis. Her voice is so original, sort of Ramona the Pest meets Ellen Hopkins.
Finally, what do you like best about being authors for Young Adults? Do you have any favorite fan stories?
Kami: My favorite part of being a YA author is writing in the genre that I read, and connecting with the authors and readers who share my love for YA novels and fantasy. My favorite fan story is about a boy named Caleb who sent us our first fan letter. Caleb is on the ning & he’s really a guy’s guy. He said BEAUTIFUL CREATURES was the best book he ever read. That killed me.
Margie: My favorite thing is meeting authors I worship, and my favorite fan stories are all about me, because I’m the biggest fangirl in the world. When I first met Holly Black, we were having lunch and she finally said “Why aren’t you eating?” and I said “I’m too excited!” Because I was. I still am!
THANK YOU SO MUCH LADIES!
VERY rarely am I completely surprised by a book. When I am, and the surprise is not only good but excellent, I get behind it and tell everyone I know to buy it. 
