Ask the Author: Claire Legrand
Answered Questions (21)
Claire Legrand
Hi Pen! Interesting question. Family Christmases or gatherings of any kind would be rather awkward at first as everyone adjusts to the new normal after the revelations that come to light at the end of Some Kind of Happiness. But eventually the presence of Finley and her parents would pave the way for healing and a new era of honesty and understanding in the Hart family. Finley would also insist on including the Baileys in big gatherings and celebrations, so Hart House would definitely be noisier and more chaotic, but in a good way.
Thanks again for reading!
Thanks again for reading!
Claire Legrand
Hi Pen! So glad to hear that Some Kind of Happiness helped you understand yourself and your anxiety and depression. Thank you for reading and for sharing that.
The inspiration came from childhood, specifically experiences of anxiety and depression that were similar to Finley's, and long summer days playing with cousins in the woods. Stories have always been important in terms of pure enjoyment, escape and comfort, and also understanding the world, so Finley's experiences are largely autobiographical in that regard.
Thank you again for reading. Hope this is helpful!
The inspiration came from childhood, specifically experiences of anxiety and depression that were similar to Finley's, and long summer days playing with cousins in the woods. Stories have always been important in terms of pure enjoyment, escape and comfort, and also understanding the world, so Finley's experiences are largely autobiographical in that regard.
Thank you again for reading. Hope this is helpful!
Claire Legrand
Hi Pen&Quill Read! So glad you enjoyed Some Kind of Happiness.
1) Currently there are no plans for Some Kind of Happiness to be adapted into TV or film, but there is always that possibility if the book continues to reach readers and attracts the attention of a studio.
2) Finley processes her feelings and the world around her through writing about the Everwood, so it felt appropriate to write about the tragic story of the Travers fire through the Everwood lens as well.
Thanks for your questions. Happy reading!
1) Currently there are no plans for Some Kind of Happiness to be adapted into TV or film, but there is always that possibility if the book continues to reach readers and attracts the attention of a studio.
2) Finley processes her feelings and the world around her through writing about the Everwood, so it felt appropriate to write about the tragic story of the Travers fire through the Everwood lens as well.
Thanks for your questions. Happy reading!
Claire Legrand
Hi Alex! Currently there are no plans to expand beyond the Empirium Trilogy of Furyborn, Kingsbane, and Lightbringer. There is, however, a novella called Queen of the Blazing Throne, which takes place during the events of Kingsbane from another character's perspective. You can download this ebook from your preferred ebook retailer. This bonus material can be read after Kingsbane and before Lightbringer, or after Lightbringer, but should not be read before Furyborn and Kingsbane, as it contains spoilers for those two books.
Hope this is helpful! Happy reading.
Hope this is helpful! Happy reading.
Claire Legrand
Hi Trixx! Currently there are no plans to expand beyond the Empirium Trilogy of Furyborn, Kingsbane, and Lightbringer. There is, however, a novella called Queen of the Blazing Throne, which takes place during the events of Kingsbane from another character's perspective. You can download this ebook from your preferred ebook retailer. This bonus material can be read after Kingsbane and before Lightbringer, or after Lightbringer, but should not be read before Furyborn and Kingsbane, as it contains spoilers for those two books.
Hope this is helpful! Happy reading.
Hope this is helpful! Happy reading.
Claire Legrand
Hi Ashley! There is a prequel novella to Winterspell called Summerfall, which you can download as an ebook from your preferred ebook retailer. There is also a brief epilogue to Winterspell called "Homecoming", which you can download for free from Claire's website, claire-legrand.com. Although Winterspell can be read on its own, and you won't be left hanging at the end, these two additional stories help flesh out the history of Winterspell's story world and offer a glimpse into what happens after the final pages of Winterspell.
Currently there are no plans to expand beyond the Empirium Trilogy of Furyborn, Kingsbane, and Lightbringer. There is, however, a novella called Queen of the Blazing Throne, which takes place during the events of Kingsbane from another character's perspective. You can download this ebook from your preferred ebook retailer. This bonus material can be read after Kingsbane and before Lightbringer, or after Lightbringer, but should not be read before Furyborn and Kingsbane, as it contains spoilers for those two books.
Hope this is helpful! Happy reading.
Currently there are no plans to expand beyond the Empirium Trilogy of Furyborn, Kingsbane, and Lightbringer. There is, however, a novella called Queen of the Blazing Throne, which takes place during the events of Kingsbane from another character's perspective. You can download this ebook from your preferred ebook retailer. This bonus material can be read after Kingsbane and before Lightbringer, or after Lightbringer, but should not be read before Furyborn and Kingsbane, as it contains spoilers for those two books.
Hope this is helpful! Happy reading.
Claire Legrand
The third book in the Empirium Trilogy, Lightbringer, releases October 13, 2020. Thank you for reading!
Claire Legrand
Thank you for reading! I'm so glad you enjoyed Sawkill Girls. I would say the next book to read after that might be either The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls (creepy and dark, centering around a mysterious evil that takes over a town), or Furyborn (the first in a series, lots of magic and amazing women). Whatever you choose, happy reading!
Claire Legrand
I do have ideas for more stories in this universe, but whether or not they come to fruition depends on a lot of different factors. We'll see what the future brings! In the meantime, the best thing you can do, if you want to read more stories set in the universe of the Empirium Trilogy, is share your excitement about the books with your friends. Thanks for reading!
Claire Legrand
Hi Sloane!
I'm so glad you loved The Cabinet of Curiosities! We had such fun writing it. Currently there are no plans for a sequel, but I personally would LOVE to develop a second volume. Fingers crossed!
Meantime, you can check out enterthecabinet.com and read more of our stories there!
Thank you for reading!
xClaire
I'm so glad you loved The Cabinet of Curiosities! We had such fun writing it. Currently there are no plans for a sequel, but I personally would LOVE to develop a second volume. Fingers crossed!
Meantime, you can check out enterthecabinet.com and read more of our stories there!
Thank you for reading!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi John!
I'm so glad you loved Some Kind of Happiness. It's such a special, personal book for me, so hearing that you loved it means a lot to me. I'm not sure if Some Kind of Happiness will ever be made into a movie--that kind of thing is beyond my control--but oh, I would love it so much if it was! I think it would be really interesting to see the Everwood fairy tales in movie form. Oooo and now I'm brainstorming, just for fun. Each actor could play two parts! So, for example, the actress playing Finley could be both Finley *and* the orphan girl in the fairy tales. It would be so cool to see the different costumes and how magical the Everwood would look!
Anyway, fingers crossed that someday it's made into a movie! And I'm glad you enjoyed my presentation at your school! I love visiting schools and meeting students, so I bet I had a great time, too. :)
Have a wonderful day!
xClaire
I'm so glad you loved Some Kind of Happiness. It's such a special, personal book for me, so hearing that you loved it means a lot to me. I'm not sure if Some Kind of Happiness will ever be made into a movie--that kind of thing is beyond my control--but oh, I would love it so much if it was! I think it would be really interesting to see the Everwood fairy tales in movie form. Oooo and now I'm brainstorming, just for fun. Each actor could play two parts! So, for example, the actress playing Finley could be both Finley *and* the orphan girl in the fairy tales. It would be so cool to see the different costumes and how magical the Everwood would look!
Anyway, fingers crossed that someday it's made into a movie! And I'm glad you enjoyed my presentation at your school! I love visiting schools and meeting students, so I bet I had a great time, too. :)
Have a wonderful day!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Dawn! This is a really interesting question! I'm not sure if Victoria has OCD, and since I'm not a mental health professional--and don't know that much about OCD--I would hesitate to diagnose her. But I do think that Victoria probably suffers from *some* form of anxiety disorder, especially since I based her in part on my own twelve-year-old self, and I also have anxiety.
Thank you for reading the book, and for asking me this question! Have a great day!
xClaire
Thank you for reading the book, and for asking me this question! Have a great day!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Gilbert! I was thinking of the song "Hey Jude", which is one of my favorite Beatles songs. I've read that Paul McCartney wrote the song for John Lennon's son, Julian, to comfort him while he was going through his parents' divorce, so it seemed especially fitting for Finley, considering her parents' situation. I also think Avery would have used the song to reach out to Finley without actually having to blatantly say, "Hey, I know your parents are probably gonna get a divorce and that sucks."
Thank you for reading, and for the message!
xClaire
Thank you for reading, and for the message!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Sam!
The production company that bought the film rights to Cavendish weren't able to find studio financing to make the project happen before the film rights reverted back to me, so, sadly, there is no Cavendish movie happening right now. Maybe someone else will buy the film rights in the future, and we'll try again!
Meantime, thanks to you and all of my readers for the support of Cavendish! I'd love to see Victoria's adventure on the big screen someday. Fingers crossed!
xClaire
The production company that bought the film rights to Cavendish weren't able to find studio financing to make the project happen before the film rights reverted back to me, so, sadly, there is no Cavendish movie happening right now. Maybe someone else will buy the film rights in the future, and we'll try again!
Meantime, thanks to you and all of my readers for the support of Cavendish! I'd love to see Victoria's adventure on the big screen someday. Fingers crossed!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Winifred!
Gosh, I love Vicky and Lawrence too. Vicrence? Lawtoria?
I'm not sure if I'll ever write a continuation of THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, but I will certainly shout about it all over social media if that happens!
Thanks so much for reading!
xClaire
Gosh, I love Vicky and Lawrence too. Vicrence? Lawtoria?
I'm not sure if I'll ever write a continuation of THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, but I will certainly shout about it all over social media if that happens!
Thanks so much for reading!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Lara!
Thank you for your message. This is a great question, and the answer is that, yes, Mrs. Cavendish is an, in your words, "inescapable and vicious" creature who can never truly be destroyed. She can be temporarily defeated, but she will always return. Luckily, brave and resourceful kids like Victoria will, likewise, always be around to fight her. :)
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the book!
xClaire
Thank you for your message. This is a great question, and the answer is that, yes, Mrs. Cavendish is an, in your words, "inescapable and vicious" creature who can never truly be destroyed. She can be temporarily defeated, but she will always return. Luckily, brave and resourceful kids like Victoria will, likewise, always be around to fight her. :)
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the book!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Eliza! (That's one of my favorite names, btw.)
Hoo boy, these are some hefty questions!
The hardest part of step in writing my stories: DRAFTING. I love brainstorming, outlining, and revising, but getting through the first draft is super tough for me. It's the stage during which I feel the greatest doubt and get hung up on the "what ifs"--What if I can't ever finish this? What if, if I DO finish, it's not good? What if I'm never able to become as good a writer as I want to be? Questions like that. Once the book is actually finished, then I can rest easy knowing that, no matter what else happens, I've actually finished another book! And the voices of doubt fade away while I revise the book to a shine.
The most challenging part of getting my books edited to the final copy and published: I think you're asking about what the most challenging part of revising a book is once it's written? So: The most challenging moment of revisions is right after I finish reading through the first round of edits from my editor and realize how much work I'm going to have to do. I usually feel completely overwhelmed and have to go process/grieve via Netflix and some sort of baked goods. But after I've taken some time away, and after I've let the notes simmer and stew in my head for a few days, and then actually sit down and get started? Then I settle into a groove pretty quickly. Editing is really fun for me. :)
Do you get excited or scared when your books are about to be published? Both! I'm always excited to see my books on the shelves, and to share my stories and characters with readers. But of course I'm a little nervous too! Once a book is finished, it's out of my hands, and it belongs to the readers. I worked really hard to make it the best book I could, and beyond that I can't control how people react to or interpret it. It's nerve-wracking to realize that, to let the book go out into the world and hope that readers will love it as much as I do! Luckily, though, I don't have a lot of time to worry about such things because I'm always pretty busy working on new projects!
Thanks again for asking these questions, Eliza! Happy reading!
xClaire
Hoo boy, these are some hefty questions!
The hardest part of step in writing my stories: DRAFTING. I love brainstorming, outlining, and revising, but getting through the first draft is super tough for me. It's the stage during which I feel the greatest doubt and get hung up on the "what ifs"--What if I can't ever finish this? What if, if I DO finish, it's not good? What if I'm never able to become as good a writer as I want to be? Questions like that. Once the book is actually finished, then I can rest easy knowing that, no matter what else happens, I've actually finished another book! And the voices of doubt fade away while I revise the book to a shine.
The most challenging part of getting my books edited to the final copy and published: I think you're asking about what the most challenging part of revising a book is once it's written? So: The most challenging moment of revisions is right after I finish reading through the first round of edits from my editor and realize how much work I'm going to have to do. I usually feel completely overwhelmed and have to go process/grieve via Netflix and some sort of baked goods. But after I've taken some time away, and after I've let the notes simmer and stew in my head for a few days, and then actually sit down and get started? Then I settle into a groove pretty quickly. Editing is really fun for me. :)
Do you get excited or scared when your books are about to be published? Both! I'm always excited to see my books on the shelves, and to share my stories and characters with readers. But of course I'm a little nervous too! Once a book is finished, it's out of my hands, and it belongs to the readers. I worked really hard to make it the best book I could, and beyond that I can't control how people react to or interpret it. It's nerve-wracking to realize that, to let the book go out into the world and hope that readers will love it as much as I do! Luckily, though, I don't have a lot of time to worry about such things because I'm always pretty busy working on new projects!
Thanks again for asking these questions, Eliza! Happy reading!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Candice!
Thank you so much for reaching out. I'm thrilled that your book club is reading Cavendish!
I actually have a free, Common Core-aligned Cavendish reading guide available for download on my website. You can find it on my Events page here: http://www.claire-legrand.com/home/ev...
You can also find information on that page about the free Skype visits I offer! Please feel free to reach out to me via the contact form on my website if you'd like to set up a visit. :)
Happy reading!
xClaire
Thank you so much for reaching out. I'm thrilled that your book club is reading Cavendish!
I actually have a free, Common Core-aligned Cavendish reading guide available for download on my website. You can find it on my Events page here: http://www.claire-legrand.com/home/ev...
You can also find information on that page about the free Skype visits I offer! Please feel free to reach out to me via the contact form on my website if you'd like to set up a visit. :)
Happy reading!
xClaire
Claire Legrand
Hi Patty! You're right that the ending left that possibility open, and I definitely have ideas! But right now I don't have plans for a sequel. Never say never--we'll see what the future brings!
Claire Legrand
Hi Natasha! Man, sorry it took so long to answer this! I'm so glad you love Winterspell! Wahoo!
Both MG and YA have their challenges, but I think MG probably comes easier to me. I just really connect with the mind and voice of MG characters in this way that resonates all the way through me from head to soul to toes.
I think CAVENDISH was probably the most flat-out enjoyable to write simply because I was writing it 100% for me. I wasn't published yet, I didn't have anything under contract. I didn't have to worry about expectations or marketing or anything like that. I just wrote for the sake of writing! And that was a lot of fun--not to mention very freeing! :)
Thanks for the questions! Happy reading!
Both MG and YA have their challenges, but I think MG probably comes easier to me. I just really connect with the mind and voice of MG characters in this way that resonates all the way through me from head to soul to toes.
I think CAVENDISH was probably the most flat-out enjoyable to write simply because I was writing it 100% for me. I wasn't published yet, I didn't have anything under contract. I didn't have to worry about expectations or marketing or anything like that. I just wrote for the sake of writing! And that was a lot of fun--not to mention very freeing! :)
Thanks for the questions! Happy reading!
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