Tamora Pierce discovered she had a gift for writing when her father heard her telling stories to herself. It was he who suggested she write them down, when she was merely in sixth grade, and the rest is, as they say, history. Tamora, who was a fan of fantasy television shows like Star Trek, was a natural. Reading all the sci-fi and fantasy she could get her hands on, she discovered one thing: most of the books she was reading lacked heroines. Never one to step away from a challenge, Tamora did what she felt she had to, and began writing the stories of the missing female warriors.

Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, Tamora did not think she would become an author. She went to Pennsylvania State university, where she majored in psychology, with a goal of becoming a social worker. It was here she once again discovered her love for writing, and began bringing her girl heroes to life once again. And it was in 1983 that her first book, Alanna: The First Adventure was published.

Tamora Pierce has since written many fantasy books and finds inspiration for new characters and books wherever she looks. Here, Tamora talks with four fans about writing and the future.

Jenni: It was great meeting you on tour! Did you enjoy meeting your fans? What was it like?

Tamora: I love meeting fans. They're always fun, they always have good things to say, smart questions to ask, and plenty of ideas for me to explore in the future. They're the best part about writing books. Everyone I know who's ever been at an appearance with me agrees: I have very cool fans.

CJ: I want to be a writer, too. What's your best advice to someone who wants to write books?

Tamora: Well, first you want to entertain yourself. If you aren't having fun, if you aren't anxious to find out what happens next as you write, then not only will you run out of steam on the story, but you won't be able to entertain anyone else, either.

Most important of all, there is no right or wrong way to write -- there's only what works for you. I was taught to write every day, but I know a writer (a bestseller at that!) who only writes on weekends. I type everything in and try to write anywhere from seven to ten pages a day, but my college mentor, who won a prestigious literary award for his second novel, wrote in pencil, on legal paper, a sentence to a paragraph a day. Listen to your instincts, to the thing that makes you want to write, and figure out the way that best works for *you.*

Lesa: You've written the last book in THE CIRCLE OF MAGIC quartet. So what's next for you?

Tamora: :: weak chuckle :: Oh, boy. Well, there's my next book for Random House, and a book featuring Briar's student Evvy (STREET MAGIC) that will be published first as an audio book by Full Cast Audio (Bruce Coville's company). I also have the first draft my next Circle novel to write this year. That's going to be a single novel titled THE CIRCLE REFORGED, it takes place after all four of the Circle kids have returned to Summersea at the ages of 16 and 17, and it reunites them as they go to Namorn so Sandry can meet her northern relatives. It's hard for the gang to fall into their old connections with each other, because they've been separated for a couple of years and because so much has happened to each of them in that time. Now they're on their own in Namorn, linking together again as they try to deal with all the temptations and hazards of the Imperial court (don't forget, Sandry's cousin is the empress there).

Just so everyone knows, yes, this time there will be some romance, probably even smoochies. (Everyone always asks when I'm going to get some romance into my books!) And of course there will be peril, and a few old friends, and some more people who just don't realize that when these four say, "We really must insist," it's time to go someplace far away from Sandry, Tris, Briar, and Daja!

Kate: I really liked your character Daja. Where do you get inspiration for your characters?

Tamora: Some of my characters I base on people I know: Niko on an artist friend, Sandry on four of my fans, Tris on, well, um, me. Other times I base characters on actors and performers, like the Duke, Moonstream, Crane, and Rosethorn.

With the Circle of Magic books, I tried something new. I keep files of photographs of people who catch my eye: Lark, Briar and Daja came from those files. Briar's photo is of a mysterious, yet strong Latino boy; Lark's is a warmly smiling Latino woman. The broad shapes of one black girl's cheeks and the steadiness of her eyes drew me to her picture. Something in those faces caught my eye, as if their owners were clamoring for me to thing about them. Once I had their names, I knew pretty well what they would be like. In Daja's case, I also had a new background I wanted to fill in, one based on people like the medieval Jews and on the gypsies, cultural outcasts who have a proud culture of their own. It all depends on the faces that strike my attention as I go through my files.

CJ: Do you believe in magic like the kind you write about?

Tamora: I believe that we haven't begun to understand the many forces that bind the physical world, any more than we understand our own minds and what they're capable of. And to me things like making cloth from thread or yarn, or shaping a tree or metal, and the patterns made by lightning are magical, just as magical as the motion of tiny muscles in animals and the spin of dust in the wind. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm smart enough to keep an open mind. Since we don't know what all is in the universe -- physicists are discovering new forms of energy, new kinds of forces, and new sub-atomic particles every year -- there's a very good chance that magic is around the next bend in the universe, appearing in our own lives when we don't look for it.