Dear minty-minho,
Deep in my black heart, I always dreamed of a day when I would write a series full of non-romantic friendships with as much tension — nay, more — than the romantic relationships. Where readers would gasp and clutch their pillow in suspense … not over whether or not A and B would kiss, but rather if C and D would still be friends in a month.
Not to discount romance or kissing in the slightest, of course. Rather to lift up and point at the Healing Power of All-Consuming Best Friendship.
A reader asked me at a signing if Calla and Persephone had been sleeping together — if that was why Calla was destroyed by the events of book 3. I don’t recall what I said at the time — probably I just opened my mouth and words poured out in a grammatical fashion — but I was thinking how strange I felt about the idea that a platonic or asexual relationship was considered to be a subordinate thing to a sexual relationship; that passion in the sack equaled passion in one’s heart. Love is love. I am ferocious about my best friends; I reckon that is what I’m trying to say in The Raven Cycle.
Does that make the answer “yes”? I think it does. Yes. There was a reason.
urs,
Stiefvater
ETA: I forgot to mention that when I wrote The Raven Boys, I had a sticky note affixed to my computer that read: Remember that the worst thing that can happen is that they can stop being friends.
hi <333 i was wondering, did you put off the romance in trc for so long on purpose? when i first read the series, i was surprised that blue and gansey didn't even become a thing until bllb, and you spent so much more time on adam and gansey's relationship. i get that a few months isn't a lot of time for people to get together, but with the way the series is paced, it feels like forever. was there a reason for that? xoxo
Published
bullshit central 