Gregory Maguire

I have a last-minute interview with Gregory Maguire—author of Wicked, the upcoming Matchless: A Christmas Story (in this month's Early Reviewers if you want to request a copy), the upcoming The Next Queen of Heaven, and many others—coming up. Have a question for him? Post it here.

Touchstone his name?

What inspired him to become the "alternative historian" of fairy tales and which is his favourite reworking so far?

>2 readafew: (I did, it wasn't working. Sigh.)

Having read a good number of Gregory Maguire's books for various ages, I always wonder how difficult it is for him to switch gears between writing at the different reading levels. How do you do that successfully? Do you write successive books at a certain level and then switch for a while or can you really go from an adult fiction to a youth fiction and back again seamlessly? Is there any method for changing his focus and language?

(I really had problems wording these questions for some reason so I hope that I got my point across!)

Are there any fairy tales/stories he would really like to rework but hasn't yet? Or, that he's tried but it hasn't quite worked out (for whatever reason)? Are the stories he chooses generally ones that have fascinated him for a long time (e.g., since childhood), or is he inspired in a more serendipitous way?

A bit of an obvious one, but how does he feel about the alteration to the end of Wicked in the musical version?

(Also want to say how much I loved Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister)

When approaching the retelling of a fairy tale or other story, how does he decide who the new protagonist will be? Does he just pick the most maligned character from the original version? Does he go with the character whose story "calls" to him? Does he use some other method?

Also, Jasper Fforde is another writer who likes to take classic stories and turn them on their heads (albeit in an entirely different way). Has Mr. Maguire read any of Fforde's work?

Indeed, #7, I too would be interested in how he feels about the various adaptations of his work - not only the Wicked musical, but also the TV movie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Of course, the latter may be too obscure.

Ironically, I'm listening to Wicked, the musical, now. I've really enjoyed his reworking of the Oz stories, and was wondering if he plans to continue in that vein..

I was also wondering if he feels at all typecast as an author. And who his favorite authors are... is there a modern book that has sparked his imagination?

Does he listen to music while writing? If so, what artists, genres, or albums does he find the most inspiring?

Was just wondering- what did he think of the way Wicked the musical was done?
Also, did he intend the reader to infer a similar kind of ending to his book? I got the impression that while Elphaba was more cynical by the end of the book, things weren't all as they seemed. Or maybe that's false hope on my part? Would love to have that cleared up.

I recently bought and read Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation by Gregory Maguire, and I can certainly see how Sendak's work has inspired Maguire's adult novels (I've not read his children's books), I wondered if any other authors had as profound an impact on his style. (Baum, Grimm, Anderson, Dickens, etc. have influenced him in obvious ways, I'm looking for less obvious inspriations.) If he had a studio like Sendak's, which is described in the first chapter of Making Mischief, who would we see hiding on his walls?

Mr. Maguire said in a lecture that he played "Oz" as a child with his siblings and other kids. At what point did he decide to actually write a book about the Wicked Witch of the West? How long did it take him to write the book, from the time he first set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)? Was it the work of a lifetime's musing, or was it written organically, growing only as he wrote? As he wrote Wicked, did he already have in mind to write Son of a Witch etc. as sequels, or did he originally intend Wicked to be a stand-alone book?

...and in response to the previous question, which character did he usually play when they played "Oz"?!

What is his favorite book, so far?

What made him decide to go with Concord Free Press for The Next Queen of Heaven? What types of charities does he tend to support?

Where do you get the idea's for your stories?

How do you feel about the broadway production of Wicked? (How involved are you, if any, with it? Does it live up to your expectations?, etc.)

Your books tend to be pretty dark, and just like in real life, there's not really neat, happy endings or resolutions. So do you ever get depressed while writing? Do you ever write some lighter pieces while working on a particularly gloomy part of a story to give yourself a break?

I'm curious to know if he's planning any more of the Wicked Series books, and if so which character he's got an eye on next.

What is the source or inspiration for his creativity and imagination as expressed in his books? I marvel at the alternative interpretation of these age-old fairy tales and have thoroughly enjoyed the writing as well as the plot. I continue to be amazed by his books - and thoroughly enjoy them.

What drew him to the particular stories he's written?
What definitive moment made him realize that writing was going to be his career?
Has writing always come easily to him?
Is there something he wouldn't write into a story?
What was his craziest/funniest moment on tour?
What is his average amount of fan mail?

In Wicked, I was especially touched by the plight of the Animals who could talk. Do you, like me, have a special affinity for animals and deplore how humans treat them, or were you including talking animals because children's books so often have them as characters? In your opinion, do we have a prevalence of anthropomorphized animals in children's books, but not in adult ones?

Hooray, the interview is out!