Confessions of a Fangurl

It had been happening so slowly, so stealthily, that I had failed to notice it until I was fully in the throes of the obsession. I had become a fangurl, with a u, yes. The object of my obsession? The brilliant YA author Maggie Stiefvater. And while I LOVE and adore her Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, I believe I fell into obsession after numerous readings of her entertaining and educational and insightful blog. Ms. Stiefvater (I dare not call her Maggie!) is not only a very talented writer, one who obviously has the soul of a poet, but she also is a musician, composer, and award-winning artist. (What’s the matter Ms. S., no time to find a cure for cancer? Cole St. Clair would have!!) Though I’m older than she is, I want to grow up to be Maggie Stiefvater!

Yes, it came on slowly. Interestingly, I was fortunate enough to see her and hear her speak at last October’s Wordstock before I knew who she was! Had I known what I know now, I hate to think how I might have humiliated myself. A few months later I started working on a YA supernatural, and was concerned about the format I was using, going back and forth between the two main characters’ points of view. But lo and behold, I started to read SHIVER and what was Ms. S. doing, but that very thing! That was encouraging, especially by the time I’d finished SHIVER and fallen in love with it. If it worked for Ms. S., it might, possibly, maybe, work for me, the lowly fledgling writer.

But then there was the blog. Oh my, the blog. I love her blog. She is so amusing. So intelligent. So knowledgeable. So willing to share her knowledge with her readers. Coming late to this party, I’m still working my way through past posts, but each and every one is a jewel. Her posts on the craft of writing are inspiring and extremely helpful. My iPad always has tabs open to one or more of her writing posts.

And Ms. Stiefvater posts frequently. Excellent posts. And she writes excellent books. Lots of them, thankfully…I have a lot more reading ahead of me. And she plays musical instruments, plural, and composes music. And draws. And is married with a family. When do you sleep Maggie?

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of knowing Maggie Stiefvater’s work, check her out here.

P.S. I just went back to my blog post archive, and noticed that I first mentioned Maggie Stiefvater in my January 29^th post. How fun to read that! I was so obviously in that early, new blush of growing obsession. How quaint. Sigh.