Maggie, hi and welcome to Fallen Angel Reviews. Thank you so much for taking the time to interview with us. Congratulations on your upcoming release and your daughter's future wedding.

Visit Maggie's website for a complete list of her books, as well as upcoming releases. Maggie's website also lists her email groups at Maggie Shayne.com

Maggie's newest release, Edge of Twilight is ON SALE NOW!!
Edge of Twilight is the latest book in Maggie's vampire series.



Please tell us about Edge of Twilight.

Edge of Twilight is one of the books my readers have been asking for over and over. The heroine is Amber Lily Bryant, the half vampire-half mortal daughter born to Jameson and Angelica way back in Born in Twilight. Now she's all grown up with a book of her own. Her hero, Edge, is one my favorite characters ever.

How is 2004 shaping up for you?

In a word, BUSY. =) I'm writing the next vampire novel now, then I'll be trying to create a new brand book over the summer, and plunging into my next romantic suspense novel in the fall.

Which books can we look forward to this year and what are you working on now?

Coming out this year:

Edge of Twilight from MIRA Books
It's official release date 2/24/04 so it's on sale now.
This is the newest in my "Wings in the Night" vampire series.

August: Reckless Angel, Silhouette Reissue
This is my very first novel ever published, returning to print.

September: Hot Blooded, Berkley Anthology
By Maggie Shayne, Christine Feehan, Emma Holly, Angela Knight I did a werewolf story for this one.

October: Night's Edge, HQN Anthology
By Maggie Shayne, Barbara Hambley, Charlaine Harris, My story in this anthology is a good old fashioned ghost story.

November: Colder Then Ice, MIRA Books
This is the sequel to my Nov. '03 romantic suspense, Thicker than Water.

November: Man of Her Dreams, Berkley
Maggie Shayne, Suzanne Forster, Virginia Kantra, Sherrilyn Kenyon
Psychic Heroine who never "gets" any "important" visions--gets a whopper.

December: Burning Bright, Harlequin American Holiday Anthology
By Maggie Shayne, Judith Arnold, Anne Stuart
This is a special collection with a Christmas story, a Hanukkah story, and a Winter Solstice story.
It's a holiday gift for our readers.

You have written so many different types of stories. What is your favorite genre to write? Do you prefer reading a particular genre?

I always like the one best that's about to be released, and detest the one I'm working on. The harder they are to write, the less I enjoy them, and the more pleased I end up being with the outcome. I find the romantic suspense the hardest thing to write, but I'm very proud of the job I do with them. I find the vampires seem almost inspired, the writing usually flows more easily, and I always love the end result. I guess I just love telling a great story, no matter what it is.

In Midnight Pleasures, you wrote about Melissa, a "white witch". How have your Wiccan beliefs influenced your writing?

I think a person's spirituality influences every part of their lives. I know mine does. It isn't something I put on and take off, it's with me all the time. It involves deep things like my thoughts on the meaning of life, on life and death, on love and honesty, on politics, on everything. So it's impossible for it not to enter my work. It doesn't matter if I'm writing about Witchcraft or not. But once in awhile I indulge myself and let it come onto the page in a more obvious way. When I do this, it's not an attempt to convert anyone. That's totally against what I believe in--I think everyone's spirituality is personal and hopefully, just right for them and their needs. I don't think there's any "one right way." So when I do write about the Craft, it's more an effort to help bring Wicca and the people who practice it into the mainstream consciousness, to educate the general public a bit, so they see as just ordinary people like them. But mainly, my job is to tell a good story. If I write a book that sounds like a lesson in religion or a sermon, then I have failed as a storyteller. The purpose of the story is the story.

Have your beliefs ever had a negative impact on your writing?

I don't see how they could. They could have a negative impact on my career from time to time, when some readers decide I'm pure evil and stop reading my work. But I think there are less and less people in the world whose minds at that closed. Thank goodness most readers respect my beliefs, even those who don't share them.

What would you like people to know about Wicca?

Oh, there's so much. I could write volumes, and would love to have time to do that someday. But for now I'll settle for trying to correct misconceptions. Wiccans are not Satanic or "devil worshipers." There's no devil in the Craft. The God of Wicca is the same God most people believe in, though we view the Divine as being both God and Goddess and the life force that permeates all nature. We do not believe in sacrificing small animals as some people think. In fact the core tenet of Wicca is to "harm none." We seek to live in harmony with nature. We don't reject Jesus--in fact many Wiccans I know have made a study of his life and history and teachings. The main difference in Wicca is the practice of magick, which is really very much like prayer on some levels. We don't curse or hex people. Our magick is usually focused on creating change within ourselves, and on healing others and the planet itself. Wicca is a legally recognized religion, protected by the US Constitution. Wiccans are a very very diverse. Some are pacifist, some are serving in the military, or working as police officers. Some are vegetarian or vegan, others eat meat. Many believe in reincarnation, but some don't. Respecting the beliefs of others is important to us.

Readers (myself included) have all but begged for Amber Lily's story. Did you feel pressured to write it?

I always intended to write it, so there was no real pressure. The timing of it may have been rushed a little for the sake of the readers who wanted her story, but now I'll be jumping backward a bit to cover the missing years in between, as she was growing up. I love this story, and I was as eager for it as the readers were!

A few years ago, I emailed you in your Yahoo Group that I had just discovered the "Brand" family. I said that my house was a mess, my kids were around here somewhere and I just knew I was going to fail my final…but I had discovered "Brands" so all was well. lol Have we seen the last of the "Brands"? What are they up to these days?

The Brands are alive and well. I've signed a contract for two more Brand books with Silhouette Intimate Moments, so I can write stories for the two remaining Oklahoma sisters, Kara and Selene. Kara's is the one I'll be writing this summer, and I hope it hits the shelves sometime next year. Selene's should be out about a year later.

With your future son-in-law in the military, have you been compelled to develop any storylines with a military influence?

I've always been intrigued by soldiers, the things they experience, the months away from home, the friendships they make. I've played with this a bit, in Sarafina's book, Edge of Twilight, in which Willem Stone was in the military, and that played a large role in that book. It's a subject I have no doubt I will visit again in the future.

Describe a day in the life of Maggie Shayne.

Can you say "chaos"? It's insane. Honestly. With five daughters, there's always someone in crisis or in need of Mom. I've got so many irons in the fire, with writing groups, my spiritual groups, my Weight Watchers group, keeping the web site up to date, answering email. I try to get the phone calls with the girls done early, grab my email and then settle in for a day of writing. I try to get 10 pages a day on first drafts. That goes way up on second and third drafts--I usually work through an entire novel in a week or two on those stages. My days are very very busy. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm always trying to "convert" my friends to authors I love. Which book do you think is most typical of your work, or which do you think I should recommend they read? I always have a hard time choosing!

Depends on the friend. If they're into more mainstream stuff or think "romance" isn't their cup of tea, break them in with The Gingerbread Man or Thicker Than Water. Very mainstream but still romance at heart, though some readers never realize that's what they're reading. For the paranormal lovers, turn them on to the latest vampire book, or give them a copy of Eternity, which I think is probably my best work ever. If they like category stuff, send them to the "Texas Brands". =)

How did the experience of writing for "Guiding Light" and "As The World Turns" enhance your writing?

Excellent question. While writing for the soaps, I discovered the phenomenon of writing by committee. They kept asking me if I was enjoying seeing the stuff I had written being played out on the screen, and I was baffled. Nothing on the shows bore more than a slight resemblance to what I had written. It turns out they have a lot of people, executives, not writers, who pick apart the stories, taking stuff out and putting their own stuff in. By the time each of them has tweaked the story there's not much left of the original vision. I was offered a lot of money to stay on as co-head writer of GL, but I knew that kind of working would erode my confidence, water down my voice, and probably drive me a little crazy. I turned it down and came back to my work with a new appreciation for it. Maybe it was a lesson I needed--to realize how very lucky I am to be able to tell my stories my way, and not have others interfering in them. Oh, I have editors, but they respect my voice and don't try to change it. If they spot a problem or a spot where something doesn't make sense, they point it out to me, and I get to decide if it needs changing and if so, how to make it work better. It's a real blessing to be able to do what I love, and that experience with the soaps made me appreciate it all the more. And it also drove home to me that I do not write for money. Not at all. If I did, I'd have taken the job. But that would have been a betrayal of the gift (for me personally. And me only. I'm sure there are soap writers out there who have managed to push their vision through and I applaud them. It's a HARD job!)

Do you write one story from beginning to end before starting the next one, or do you write a little in this story, and then add some in another story?

I write one at a time.

Do you believe in soul mates, that there is one special person out there for everyone?

I definitely think there are people we meet in life with whom we have a powerful connection, right from that first meeting. When I met author and publisher Lorna Tedder I experienced that. It was as if I were meeting my long lost sister. She felt it too. It was like that when I met my husband as well. The first day I met him, I was 14, and I went home and burst into tears. When my mother asked what was wrong I blurted, "I just met the man I'm going to marry." I don't know what made me say that. Somehow, I just knew. So I do believe we have connections that somehow live on from one lifetime to the next.

The majority of your books are in a series. Do you prefer a series to singles, or did the books just turn out that way?

I don't plan them that way, but what happens is that I end up falling in love with my secondary characters. I remember when I first wrote Twilight Phantasies. It was rejected, and while I was revising it, I sold Reckless Angel. So it was almost my first book and was definitely written first. But the editor said I spent way too much time and focus in the story on a secondary character, Roland. I said, "but I love Roland!" and she said, "So give him a book of his own." It simply hadn't occurred to me. So now it's become my habit. If I fall too crazy in love with a secondary character, I placate myself by promising them a book, and a series is born.

In Blue Twilight, you stated that you went backwards in the storyline. Was that difficult?

First, just to clarfiy: Blue Twilight isn't out yet. It will be my March 2005 vampire novel. I'm writing it now, and yes it is difficult. I didn't go back far in time, just a few years, to cover the space I had hopped ahead. It's Maxine & Lou's story (you met them in Twilight Hunger.) They had the beginnings of a great relationship, but then I skipped ahead and never knew what happened between them. So now I'm going back to give them their story. The tough part is remembering what's already happened in their timeline, and what hadn't happened yet, so I don't accidentally refer to something that happened in a previous book that is actually forward in time from theirs. Confused yet?

I have all the vamp books in front of me while working and I'm constantly looking things up. Fortunately, the readers on my fan club email list Official Maggie Shayne Fan Club can always be counted on to know even the most minute details. So if I can't be sure on something, I can post the question to the email list and someone will be sure to have an answer.

So my next question is which is easier to write a prequel or a sequel? Why?

I can't say yet. I've just gotten nicely started on my first ever prequel. I'll have to let you know. =)

You have written several anthologies. I "discovered" you, reading the Out of The World anthology. What is it about anthologies that you enjoy? What do you like about writing short stories?

I love playing in a shorter format. It's cleaner, quicker, straight to the point writing, and it's almost like cleansing the palate before diving into another full length novel. It's very much like category writing, in that you don't have a lot of extra time to play around, and that's where I got my training as a writer. Writing this way is difficult and challenging and it keeps me sharp. Plus I just love working with friends and colleagues on these things.

Of all your books or characters, do you have a favorite?

I have to confess that Rhiannon is my all time favorite character. I adore her.

Is there anything you'd like to add to this interview?

You've asked WONDERFUL questions. Thank you for being so thorough. I also want to thank the readers who keep coming back to my books again and again. They are everything to me.

Maggie thanks again for taking the time to do this interview.

Be sure to check out Maggie's Website

Interviewed by:
Jaymi