Victoria Schwab on Monsters, This Savage Song, and Staying Loyal to the Story
Victoria Schwab (or V.E. Schwab, if you’re reading A Darker Shade of Magic) alternates between writing young adult, middle grade, and adult fiction, and we can’t decide which she’s most brilliant at. (Answer: all of them. She’s brilliant at all of them.) Today, she’s back on the YA shelves with This Savage Song, a story full of dark, beautiful monsters, set in a city overwhelmed by violence. August and Kate are on opposite sides of the long-standing feud over who gets to run their city—those who ally with the monsters, and those who fight against them. But even though August would like nothing more than to be human, while Kate would kill (literally) to impress her father, they might have more in common than they think. We had a chat with Schwab about her inspiration for This Savage Song and what’s next on her to-write list.
This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity Series #1)
Hardcover $17.99
This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity Series #1)
By V. E. Schwab
Hardcover $17.99
What was the initial inspiration for what became This Savage Song?
I’m intensely fascinated by monsters. Not just the external and obvious kind that go bump in the night, but the kind that lurk within humans. My books tend to explore the theme of inner demons, and I wanted to play with that in a more concentrated way, to examine two characters: a monstrous boy who wanted to be human, and a human girl who thought she needed to be monstrous.
The inspiration for Verity itself came from a very dark place: reality. Surrounded as we are by so many acts of violence, I began to wonder: what if there was an aftermath? Not just the loss, the shrapnel, but something psychic, something cosmic. That question gave way to the monsters of Verity, each born from an act of violence.
August uses music to bring human souls to the surface—what prompted you to create monsters that destroy their prey beautifully?
As we discover in the book, pain works just as quickly, but it seemed fitting that it not be the only way. I’ve always loved music, always found it transcendent, so it made intuitive sense that it could be used to bring a soul to the surface.
You’ve created such a fascinating world for this new series. What fictional worlds do you love and draw inspiration from?
I’ve always been drawn to worlds in which the supernatural is layered over the ordinary. Maybe because I’ve always wanted the world to be stranger than it is, I like to envision a world in which it is. From Rowling’s Hogwarts to Gaiman’s Neverwhere, I like my magical blended with my real.
Do you play any instruments yourself?
I don’t, which is one of the reasons I think I find the ability almost preternatural.
Your two main characters, August and Kate, have a lot of chemistry, but it’s not necessarily romantic. Is that something you intentionally did or do your characters direct you?
I’m a big fan of long-burn relationships, especially ones that begin in antagonism. But the other reason is that I’m fascinated by relationships, and romantic ones make up a fairly narrow slice of the potential pie. I am more intrigued by rivals, friends, family.
Which of your characters do you feel the most connected to? Do you see yourself in any of them?
Definitely August, only because he’s so trapped in that chasm of who/what he wants to be and who/what he CAN be. I’ve always been an outsider, someone trying to masquerade as belonging, and while both Kate and August engage in that kind of social mimicry, August is the more lost of the two.
What’s your writing process like?
Messy.
You’ve spoken publicly of your struggle with anxiety. How does that affect your writing?
I’m unfortunately a very all or nothing person, which makes it even more important to stay in control of aspects of my life, including my anxiety. When I spiral out, nothing gets done, and given my constant workload, I can’t afford that. The solution is to stay very busy and very organized. I keep a calendar to chart daily progress for writing, exercise, editing, whatever needs to get done. And I have to stay physically active, since that has a direct impact on my mental health. I’m not always on top of everything, but I work very hard at it.
Did you work on other projects while writing This Savage Song (like, say, the last Shades of Magic book), or do you work on one project at a time?
I was actually in a graduate program in Edinburgh at the time, and wrote three books (including This Savage Song and A Conjuring of Light) while finishing my degree.
Did you come to YA first as a writer or as a reader? What are some YA books you love or have found inspiring?
I suppose as a writer first, since I didn’t intend my first novel to be YA, and then it was. I’d grown up with Harry Potter, of course, but that’s such a transcendent work, and I came to many formative YA books after I became a YA author (Megan Whalen Turner, Melina Marchetta, and Holly Black are three of my favorites). But now that I’m here, I couldn’t imagine leaving, and while I also write middle grade and adult, I still feel very much at home in YA.
How early in your process do you determine whether an idea is best for a YA audience or an adult one?
It’s honestly not something I think of in the conceiving of an idea. It’s only once I set out to find the POV, the voice, that I start to have an inkling, and even then I’m sometimes wrong. It’s a discovery, and I try to stay loyal to the story first, and the shelf space second.
Can you share anything about the sequel to This Savage Song, or other projects you’re working on right now?
Ha ha, probably not as much as I’d like to. I’m putting the final touches on the third Shades of Magic book right now (it comes out in February) and am hard at work on the sequel to This Savage Song, which picks up several months after the first book ended! I’ve missed Kate and August, and can’t wait to finish their story.
What was the initial inspiration for what became This Savage Song?
I’m intensely fascinated by monsters. Not just the external and obvious kind that go bump in the night, but the kind that lurk within humans. My books tend to explore the theme of inner demons, and I wanted to play with that in a more concentrated way, to examine two characters: a monstrous boy who wanted to be human, and a human girl who thought she needed to be monstrous.
The inspiration for Verity itself came from a very dark place: reality. Surrounded as we are by so many acts of violence, I began to wonder: what if there was an aftermath? Not just the loss, the shrapnel, but something psychic, something cosmic. That question gave way to the monsters of Verity, each born from an act of violence.
August uses music to bring human souls to the surface—what prompted you to create monsters that destroy their prey beautifully?
As we discover in the book, pain works just as quickly, but it seemed fitting that it not be the only way. I’ve always loved music, always found it transcendent, so it made intuitive sense that it could be used to bring a soul to the surface.
You’ve created such a fascinating world for this new series. What fictional worlds do you love and draw inspiration from?
I’ve always been drawn to worlds in which the supernatural is layered over the ordinary. Maybe because I’ve always wanted the world to be stranger than it is, I like to envision a world in which it is. From Rowling’s Hogwarts to Gaiman’s Neverwhere, I like my magical blended with my real.
Do you play any instruments yourself?
I don’t, which is one of the reasons I think I find the ability almost preternatural.
Your two main characters, August and Kate, have a lot of chemistry, but it’s not necessarily romantic. Is that something you intentionally did or do your characters direct you?
I’m a big fan of long-burn relationships, especially ones that begin in antagonism. But the other reason is that I’m fascinated by relationships, and romantic ones make up a fairly narrow slice of the potential pie. I am more intrigued by rivals, friends, family.
Which of your characters do you feel the most connected to? Do you see yourself in any of them?
Definitely August, only because he’s so trapped in that chasm of who/what he wants to be and who/what he CAN be. I’ve always been an outsider, someone trying to masquerade as belonging, and while both Kate and August engage in that kind of social mimicry, August is the more lost of the two.
What’s your writing process like?
Messy.
You’ve spoken publicly of your struggle with anxiety. How does that affect your writing?
I’m unfortunately a very all or nothing person, which makes it even more important to stay in control of aspects of my life, including my anxiety. When I spiral out, nothing gets done, and given my constant workload, I can’t afford that. The solution is to stay very busy and very organized. I keep a calendar to chart daily progress for writing, exercise, editing, whatever needs to get done. And I have to stay physically active, since that has a direct impact on my mental health. I’m not always on top of everything, but I work very hard at it.
Did you work on other projects while writing This Savage Song (like, say, the last Shades of Magic book), or do you work on one project at a time?
I was actually in a graduate program in Edinburgh at the time, and wrote three books (including This Savage Song and A Conjuring of Light) while finishing my degree.
Did you come to YA first as a writer or as a reader? What are some YA books you love or have found inspiring?
I suppose as a writer first, since I didn’t intend my first novel to be YA, and then it was. I’d grown up with Harry Potter, of course, but that’s such a transcendent work, and I came to many formative YA books after I became a YA author (Megan Whalen Turner, Melina Marchetta, and Holly Black are three of my favorites). But now that I’m here, I couldn’t imagine leaving, and while I also write middle grade and adult, I still feel very much at home in YA.
How early in your process do you determine whether an idea is best for a YA audience or an adult one?
It’s honestly not something I think of in the conceiving of an idea. It’s only once I set out to find the POV, the voice, that I start to have an inkling, and even then I’m sometimes wrong. It’s a discovery, and I try to stay loyal to the story first, and the shelf space second.
Can you share anything about the sequel to This Savage Song, or other projects you’re working on right now?
Ha ha, probably not as much as I’d like to. I’m putting the final touches on the third Shades of Magic book right now (it comes out in February) and am hard at work on the sequel to This Savage Song, which picks up several months after the first book ended! I’ve missed Kate and August, and can’t wait to finish their story.