Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to follow us on Instagram @88CUPSOFTEA to keep up with our latest posts and Instagram stories where we announce new episodes and essays,  feature our favorite quotes, and host Instagram Story takeovers by some of your favorite authors. So make sure to head over to https://www.instagram.com/88cupsoftea/ so you don't miss out on the next takeover!  --------------------------------------- Having trouble pushing past emotional fatigue and brain fog to reach your writing goals? Yearning to craft vivid characters with emotional resonance? Seeking writing tips on plotting a series that still gives you the freedom to explore different storylines? We talk about it all and more with Maggie Stiefvater. Maggie is the #1 NYT Bestselling author of The Raven Cycle series, the Shiver trilogy, The Scorpio Races, and other novels for young people and adults. In our conversation, Maggie shares her love for storytelling and gives us a snapshot of her self-taught journey to becoming a best selling author. She chats about her love of music and how she weaves that in with her love of writing. We talk about the most difficult challenge Maggie’s had in her life and from that, we were inspired to discuss how to overcome brain fog and emotional fatigue to reach your writing goals. Further into our conversation, we chat about breaking down societal norms in her writing, how to craft vivid descriptions in your stories for emotional resonance, and how she plotted out her series that still gave her freedom to explore other storylines. She also shares the biggest piece of advice for debut writers that you don’t want to miss.   Be sure to check out the writing prompt that Maggie took the time to exclusive create for our community at the bottom of the page. Her writing prompt will help you if you’re stuck on the very first chapter of a new project. Please say 'Hi' to Maggie on Twitter! https://twitter.com/mstiefvater Head over to her shownotes page at https://88cupsoftea.com/podcast/maggie-stiefvater/ ‎to download her writing prompt and find the resources and books mentioned in her episode, tweetable quotes, and the timestamps of highlights throughout the entire conversation.