Interview with Tricia Rayburn

Tricia Rayburn is the author of SIREN, which I reviewed here. This New York author also writes books for tweens, most notably the Maggie Bean series. Today her blog tour brings her to IBWB. Tomorrow she'll be at The Bookologist.

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1.Caleb and Simon, the male leads of SIREN, are both involved in romances. What qualities do you think a romantic literary hero needs?

I think a romantic literary hero should be kind, attentive, perhaps a little confused as he goes back and forth between his feelings for the girl, and able to help her overcome some obstacle—preferably by either showing or reassuring her that she’s strong enough to do whatever needs doing!

2. Your sirens are a little different from the classical depictions. How did you decide what traits to give your creatures?

Most of their traits were inspired by the traits of mythological sirens, but I did give them others that helped propel the story. For example, my sirens are physically dependent on saltwater while those in mythology simply lived near the water. That constant need—and the struggle that results when it’s not met—adds to the tension.

3. When you began writing SIREN did you know it would be the beginning of a series or did you think it would be a standalone story?

When I began writing SIREN I didn’t even know if I’d make it through one book (!), but about halfway through, once I was sure of the ending I was working toward, ideas for what might happen AFTER the ending started to take shape. In fact, when we submitted SIREN to editors, we also submitted proposals for the next two books.

4. I loved the restaurant scenes in SIREN, featuring Vanessa, her friend Paige, and Paige's sister Zara. They felt very lived in and showed off the girls' characters. Did you draw on any restaurant work experiences of your own, or was that all extrapolated?

I’m so glad you liked those scenes! They’re some of my favorites, too. I didn’t have restaurant work experience of my own to draw on, so I relied on stories from family and friends as well as observations while visiting similar places. Those local seafood spots are always so popular—and great for people watching!

5. According to your "Real Life Scary Sea Creatures" blog posts, you won't swim in the ocean due to your fear of sea creatures. But while there are some scary things beneath the waves, there are also some beautiful and friendly ones. Which sea creatures would you most want to swim with? If you weren't scared of sea creatures, do you think you would've written SIREN?

To be honest, I’m as fascinated and awed by sea creatures as I am scared of them! And I would absolutely swim with dolphins if given the chance. If I wasn’t scared of sea creatures I still might’ve written Siren, but it probably would’ve been a very different story.

6. In addition to SIREN, you're new middle grade novel RUBY'S SLIPPERS came out in July. What would you consider the main differences in your approach to writing for young adults or tweens?

Because I need to be able to relate to my characters as I write them, I’m constantly thinking back to my ‘tween and teen years and how I felt about/reacted to certain scenarios. So generally speaking, my ‘tween characters are rather reactive to every little thing that happens to them while my older characters are a bit more reserved and thoughtful—unless, of course, circumstances don’t allow them time for reflection! Also, while romance (in the form of first crushes) is present in my ‘tween reads, it’s definitely a bigger factor in the older ones. Just as it was in my—and most girls’—‘tween and teen years!

Review: Siren

By Tricia Rayburn
Available now from Egmont
Review copy



Back in June, my grandparents and I drove from Texas to North Dakota using a roundabout route in order to sightsee. With four days in the car, I was reading plenty of books. In my day to day life, I often put books down for various reasons - need to go to class, need to make dinner, need to write an essay, and so forth. But in the car, on a road trip, I'm a fairly captive audience.

I put SIREN down a lot.

First, I don't like the title. One of the things Tricia Rayburn works hard at is to create a haunting atmosphere, a dread of the unknown that's tying the creepy events in Vanessa Sands's life together. Unfortunately, we all know sirens are responsible since it is the title of the book. I know authors don't usually get to choose their title, but I wish someone had said something along the way.

As for the relationships . . . I liked the ones that got elaborated least. Vanessa makes friends with Paige, a local waitress, while searching for a place to hang out while she mourns. Paige has issues with her gorgeous and abrupt older sister Zara, which always prick at Vanessa since she's keeping it a secret from her new friends that she's the younger sister of the drowned girl.

Justine, Vanessa's sister, just made out with Caleb and was planning to go to Dartmouth. As Vanessa discovers after her death, she was in love with Caleb and never applied to Dartmouth. (Seriously, I'd love to read more about Justine and Caleb's secret life together. I bought them way more than I did Vanessa and Simon, but of course the book starts with Justine's death.) Vanessa, like most siblings, didn't know as much as she thought about her older sister.

Rayburn pulls off a neat twist with Vanessa's narration. Halfway through, various characters enlighted the reader to the fact that Vanessa isn't very self-aware. I like that realization of the limits of first person point-of-view. That's also the end of the slowest parts of SIREN, but the revelations become rather abrupt. Rayburn builds and builds (and builds) only to suddenly throw answers to questions that weren't even asked at the reader.

SIREN wasn't terrible. It was a decent paranormal, even with the obvious sequel-baiting at the end. But I read it after finishing a couple of great paranormals, and it really paled in comparison. Rayburn's YA debut (she wrote the MG Maggie Bean series) is full of interesting concepts, but the execution is sloppy. SIREN wasn't the engrossing horror/mystery it wanted to be.