Jenny Han: Writerly questions first. Do you write every day?

Becca Fitzpatrick: I write Monday through Friday. I take the weekends off.

JH: Do you outline?

BF: I didn't used to. But writing Crescendo made me a firm believer in outlining. With a book coming out every year, I don't have time to mess up. I think five years would be my optimal time period for writing a book, but with the nature of a series, I think that would make fans very antsy! When I'm on a deadline, every day counts. I feel an urgency to get the story right the first time.

JH: Did you find the series schedule grueling, doing one book a year?

BF: So many authors say the second book is hard, and they're right. Writing Crescendo was super stressful. The whole time, I kept thinking, I'm never writing a book again. All that pressure, to finish on time, and I also had readers' expectations to think about.

JH: Becca, trust me when I say you more than exceeded them with Silence. When I got to the end of the book, I was so excited Nora's story wasn't over yet. When did you know it would be four books instead of three?

BF: When I was nearing the end of Silence, I kept trying to wrap everything up. I'd planned on ending Patch and Nora's story there, and I wanted to stick to the plan. But a nagging voice at the back of my mind told me I needed to write one more book that takes place during Cheshvan. Those who've read my books know that Cheshvan is the time of year when fallen angels sweep in and possess Nephilim bodies by the droves. I heavily allude to Cheshvan during the first three books, but have never set any of the novels during those dark and haunted weeks. For readers who've been anxiously awaiting a final showdown between fallen angels and Nephilim—-with Patch and Nora torn between sides-—I can't wait for you to read the fourth and final book.

JH: That's genius! Now that you say that, it feels like a fourth book was an inevitability, because how could you even think of keeping all that from us?! Or rather, how could you think of keeping more Patch from us?! Patch is easily one of the sexiest guys in YA literature ever. He's flirty, he's dangerous, he's dark. Is he the guy you would have gone for in high school?

BF: My boyfriend in high school was smart, athletic, and sensitive. He played the saxophone and the piano-—really well. In other words, not a lot of commonalities with Patch. I was crazy in love with him, and so many of my high school memories revolve around him. But I always wondered what it would have been like to fall hard for the baddest of the bad boys-—the guys who made you nervous with a single look, whose thoughts you never could guess. Several novels later, Patch still feels that way to me—-dangerous and impenetrable. I don't think he'd be the least bit disappointed to learn this!

JH: I feel like there's a part of Nora that still doesn't trust Patch completely. Do you think she's justified?

BF -- From Amazon.com Amazon.com Review