It's about a tiny village in the middle-of-nowhere, England, and a young girl who is a magical healer, because she can channel the future. Or the past. There's also a boy who draws. Someone dies, there's kissing and rain. The end.

The red notebook is insanely pretty! It looks almost magical itself.

I can't begin to guess what MagicalNovel will be about. Lament and Ballad are fabulous but nothing like I expected after reading Shiver - The Scorpio Races is my favourite and surprised me wonderfully. Each of your Merry Fates short stories bring something new. I've learnt not to expect anything specific from your writing because I don't think you're predictable and that's great; to be clueless as to where the book is going only makes its magic stronger.

And it's interesting to know that you've been playing with this idea since you were 19/20. I'm 20, and whilst I've tried my hand at writing within the fantasy genre it doesn't come as naturally as 'real life' fiction does. I'm not writing to get published, not yet, but it's a pleasant thought that one day, one of my youthful ideas could potentially make it into print when I'm older.

I can't wait to hear more about MagicalNovel. Three Maggie books in two years, what a treat!

oooo I can't wait till Thursday then! I also want to steal that journal, it's so pretty!

Hummmm let's see, I'll take a stab at the guessing game- letters from the future?

elves? i don't mean the lord of the rings kind. i want santa elves :P

otherwise i have no fricking clue.

where can i get a journal like that?

Edited at 2012-01-31 02:24 pm (UTC)

I wouldn't presume to guess, but I bet somewhere in those pages a character gazes through a window that looks just like that cover.

I could have sworn I heard something about mermaids, but maybe that was someone else...

Jackson Pearce maybe?

I think it might have been Stephenie Meyer.

Angels and demons, Maggie? ...Unicorns?

It is about a girl who has a special bond with an animal, perhaps a dog. They are on a journey and/or quest in a beautiful but rugged land. On their way they meet a soulful young man who has a special power and also his share of inner torment. It turns out their separate paths have more in common than anyone would have thought.

Can't wait to learn more about MagicalNovel! The journal you originally wrote a draft in is so gorgeous....

As for what MagicalNovel might be about...hmm. I say it's possibly about a magical novel! (I know, I sprained so many brain cells to make that guess, yeah? XD) Inside the book are stories about a parallel supernatural world that starts to leak into our normal one the more it is read....

My guess for the theme of the Magic Novel is a hybrid of Misty of Chincoteague with The Misfits, a story about raising a rescued wild mustang with mystical Maggie overtones.

Can't wait to see about magic novel! I will guess something in celtic folklore.

Let me see...

Origin story possibly similar to SCORPIO RACES...Maggie likes Britain, Celtic history....

I'm thinking it's about selkies or the women of the sidhe.

You and the cagey. Make it stop. My patience, that is one of my few virtues, is wearing thin due to eagerness. ;)

That notebook is beautiful! And thursday can't come fast enough.
I suspect there is some sort of controlling magic/power involved and beautiful scenery and wild animals. There might also be an old book with spells or intriguing myths. Oh and let's add some indisputable love and mighty humour.

Knowing your penchant for Celtic-ness and your apparent love of shapeshifters,I'm going to go with some Celtic shapeshiftery creature--selky? Puka? Loch Ness monster (ok, not a shapeshifter, but fun watery creature)?

Will the new magical novel be in the form of that notebook? That journal is so beautiful.
Is the magical novel about an artist? A painter?

...or involve a cat? XD

Edited at 2012-01-31 07:55 pm (UTC)

Is it about a magical book? Elves? Just a wild guess. But I'm excited because I love everything you write. And I discovered you at the library when I read Lament & Ballad.

I'm celebrating my year anniversary at Literary Rambles next Monday by giving away 2 copies of The Scorpio Races.

Man-eating selkies? You have very tidy handwriting.

Is it about an 11 year old boy who finds out he's really a wizard and goes to a magical school? No?

hmm okay here's what a I think it may contain.
- Female teenage protagonist
- Magic (herp derp)
- Celtic lore and myth
- A magical porridge pot that is always full
- Roman Soldiers
- A familiar, my first choice is Dragon followed by Hippogriff, ideally I'd like to see a Dragogriff
- Orphanism. Or maybe just one parental unit around.
- An evil queen
- The TARDIS
- Dwarfs
- A forest, most likely populated by wood nymphs and quicksand
- A magical harp, I'd also accept a pan flute
- The plot will go something like this...
17 year old Enya Rosmerta Caoimhe must find work to support her ailing wood chopper father whose back is of late giving him much trouble. If she can't supplement their meager income soon the evil queen will turn them out of their tiny cottage and/or enslave them both to a life of toil.
Fortunately she finds work at the local Leg of Mutton Inn as a short order cook and discovers, to her employers delight, that she can cook her feelings magically into the food. The surly and aloof young son of the Inn owners agrees to tutor Enya and help her craft the perfect menu of feelings. Feelings they start to develop for one another dun dun dun.
The Evil Queen, who has spies all over the forest, discovers Enya's gift and covets it for her own selfish self. She then abducts the thing Enya loves most in this world, her beloved Dragongriff that she has raised from its larval state, as leverage in order to get Enya to work for her... at minimal wage!
The Evil Queen secures Enya a magical porridge pot from the local Drawf clan and forces her to cook sadness into the never ending cauldron of steal cut oats. The queen plans to feed this glutenous podge of despair to her enemies so she may easily overpower them.
A rescue mission is put into action by the surly inn owners son and the forest animals, code name 'Rumpelstiltskin'. The operation is a success, the evil queen is pushed into the porridge pot where she drowns in the very despair she created and they all fly away safely on the back of the dragongriff.





Edited at 2012-01-31 10:26 pm (UTC)

even if this is not maggie's magic novel i want to read this book. :P

Using my keen sense of observation, I think MagicalNovel is about mountains and ley lines and dowsing. Probably characters in a small mountain town dealing with the fact that their town was built on a site of mystical significance.

That's all I got!

Ha! could you expound on your keen sense of observation?

Mostly just your Shelfari bookshelf (you read lots of books on ley lines and dowsing) and your need to visit mountains (in Virginia and Australia) a while ago. Obviously I was way off track!

No, you totally weren't, which was why I was stunned and thought you were in my head! Shoot me an email!

I can't wait!!! My guess is that it's about something Howl's-Moving-Castle-ish and kissing. (Well that narrows it down.) XD

Hmm... something of a pied-piper nature?

It will make us cry.

Are we finally getting a book about...Kraken love?

...I want that red notebook. Where ever did you find it?

Selkies? I'm thinking selkies. A Maggie-Stiefvater-written-book-about-selkies would be FANTASTIC. And of course. Hmm. Written form the child's perspective? of the child of the selkie who left? :) I NEED TO KNOW! Fantastic journal, by the way.

I'm thinking something in the high fantasy genre - with a female protagonist that is bound by her station but wishes for honor and glory in the battle field. Involving old but wise magicians and horses and having strong bonds with animals and a romantic plot somewhere in there to make things even more complicated than need be. Also, there should be pretty music in there and maybe some elves of the Lord of the Rings variety. Possibly goblins and scary statues and a curse that has lasted a thousand years.

I think I covered most of my bases.

Does MagicalNovel take place in the future? Where a girl is left alone (or lonely -- possibly with problems in her life) in a futuristic place. Does she perhaps meet a boy with a gift? Or helps her discover her gift? To see the future, or the past? Or the ability to speak with animals? Or hear voices in the wind??? Whoaaaa, that would be soooo amazing. Wow, that would be a quality book. If it's not about that, you must, absolutely MUST write about that. Maybe my next book will be about that. Kay, sorry, I'm rambling. So that's what I think it will be about. Do they, further in MagicalNovel try to escape their futuristic world?????? (Somewhat like the Giver by Lois Lowry? Man, thats a good book. (Not better than yours though. Never))
Anywhosers...........
YAY FOR MAGICALNOVEL!

Totally unrelated: just saw your name on the list for the Virginia State Reading Association conference and got SO, so excited - it wasn't on the original list our department chair showed us. I'll be the teacher freaking out.

Kraken?

I was going to be all smart and say MagicalNovel was about krakens, but a couple others have already "krak-ed" that joke (although I'm the first person to make a play on the word kraken, so I think that should count for something).

Anyways, here is my guess: there's a boy and a girl who meet in a time of stress and fall in love, and along the way help each other find their true selves. There's lovey eyes and kissing; there's talking and hand holding; there's drama, but around the pair, not between them. And this is more of a hope than a guess: the Wild Hunt makes an appearance, and hopefully plays a major part in the plot. Our star-crossed lovers must best the Morrigan and her hunters. Perhaps she wants of of them to join the hunt? Each one is willing to sacrifice themselves to save the other, but through some twist of fate (and some quick thinking on our heroes' parts, things work out in the end.

If this isn't the plot, you should consider writing something with the Wild Hunt anyways. =) Can't wait for the big announcement!