Written by Stacey Rourke
Hi Kami! Thanks so much for joining us. Let’s start with the Twitter challenge! Describe your book in 280 characters or less.
Raven loses her mom and her memory and has to move to NOLA. She doesn’t know she has powers and she has to find the strength to face the truth about herself — with the help of her foster sister Max, Max’s mom, a boy with a secret, ancestral magic, tarot cards, a copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the huge reappearing shadow of a raven.
I’m hooked already! Tell me, what kind of research did you do before beginning Teen Titans: Raven?
I was already a fan of Teen Titans and the character, but I did watch the animated series again and re-read some of the comics. Most of my research focused on New Orleans. I’ve spent a lot of time there, but it’s not the same as being a local. My friend Alys Arden, author of The Casquette Girls series and the forthcoming graphic novel Zatana: The Jewel of Gravesend (for DC), is a native New Orleanian. She helped me get NOLA and the tarot card reading details right. The graphic novel is also very diverse and we had several sensitivity readers. I was a teacher for seventeen years, so I how important it is for teens to be able to see themselves in the book they read.
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The character of Raven has been featured in different comics, television series, and films over the years. How did you go about portraying your version of Raven?
I wanted to write a version of Raven that focused more on Raven as a teen than Raven as a superhero. But I also wanted to be true to the character co-created by Marv Wolfman, because she embodies how it feels to be different and the loneliness and isolation that often comes with it. Yet Marv also crafted a female character who pushes through those feelings. I wanted to write a teen version of Raven that was really relatable. Gabriel’s art really made that happen. He captured the heart of the character with his art.
What was the process like working with illustrator Gabriel Picolo?
Working with Gabriel was a dream. He immediately understood what I was trying to do with the characters and he loved the idea of grounding Raven in reality just enough to make her more accessible to new comic readers. He also brought a new character — Max — to life, which was incredible. Gabriel’s art captures the heart of what makes these characters special.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A lion would be my spirit animal because they’re dangerous if you mess with them, but they spend most of their time sleeping and lounging around until they get hungry.
