Tonya Hurley is the New York Times bestselling author of the ghostgirl series and The Blessed Trilogy. Her newest novel, Feathervein, has been acquired by Feiwel & Friends and is sure to be just as eerie and captivating.

​Liz Szabla of Feiwel & Friends (an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group) has acquired Tonya Hurley’s Feathervein in a six figure deal. Hurley was ​represented by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg literary management. Described as Miss Peregrine meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Feathervein tells the story of Wren, a teenage girl whose family has a very strange relationship with birds. Inspired by Native American folklore, it is an empowering story about bravery, loyalty and family.

We have your first look at Feathervein and an interview with Hurley discussing her latest project.

About ‘Feathervein’

Wren Grayson hates birds.

She HATES them because they wake her every morning.
 She HATES them because her ornithologist father is obsessed with them. She HATES them because they took her mother away.
 She HATES them because she dreams of them.
 She HATES them because they talk to her. 
She HATES them because when they do,
 SHE UNDERSTANDS.

Excerpt of ‘Feathervein’

The taste of blood drives him mad. He circles her like the rabid predator, ready to take another swipe. She is nothing more to him than prey and her cries for mercy fall on deaf ears. He won’t rest until she is silenced. Forever.

My mother and I duck behind a moss-covered boulder deep in the lush forest, out of sight. She both quiets me and comforts me with the touch of her hand. There is excitement in her eyes, something I can’t fathom.

“He’s killing her,” I say, repulsed by the gleam in her eye.

She brings a finger to her lips, signaling for me to be shut my mouth. I drop my head and the thick sweaty nest of curls I call my hair falls over my eyes, shielding them from the horror above.

“Look, Wren,” she insists. “You have to look.”

“I can’t.”

Tears fall uselessly from my dirty cheeks to the parched ground and dry quickly there. Mom reaches for my chin and turns it gently upward, brushing the hair from my eyes, and stares directly into to them as she does whenever she has something of utmost importance to tell me.

“You mustn’t interfere,” she whispers again as if confiding a secret.

I search for a rock, a stick, an acorn; anything to throw at him but there is nothing.

“She needs our help,” I plead. “This is horrible.”

“This…” my mother offers in no uncertain terms, “is nature.”

Interview with Tonya Hurley

How did you get your start as a writer?
I’m from a small town in Pennsylvania so telling stories was a way to escape – whether it was a story, a song for my band, or in script form. I majored in creative writing at University of Pittsburgh and when I moved to New York, I studied screenwriting at NYU. Eventually I got hired as a music publicist so there was a lot of writing involved at my day job. It’s around that time I began writing and directing some independent films as well as writing for live action and animated TV series. My first novel, ghostgirl, actually began as a script I wrote that was optioned by Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal’s company TriBeca Productions (the book is currently in development by Matthew Vaughan’s Marv Films). The more I thought about the story and the characters, the more I felt it could be expanded into a novel. I wrote it and it became an instant New York Times bestseller. It was a long, often difficult, road but I believed in the story so much that I was determined for it to find its way – to live. I’ve been writing books ever since.

What inspired you to write ‘Feathervein’?
I wanted to write a fairytale – ethereal, magical, empowering, lush and somewhat creepy. I’ve always been obsessed with birds, by their meanings in different cultures and mythologies so it’s been a dream of mine to write about them. I was also inspired by my daughter Isabelle Rose. She sees the world in such a different way, with all her gifts, quirks and challenges. This book is about a lonely, misunderstood girl who comes to find that her differences are what make her extraordinary. I feel like I’ve had this story in me for my whole life.

Most of your novels have a very eerie feel to them. Do you think you would ever write something in different genre?
It feels natural for me to write darker stories, but they always have humor in them too. I thought I would write comedy – most of my friends are comedians or comedic actors or hilarious musicians so I feel comfortable around that sort of thing but you can’t have true comedy without tragedy and darkness. In terms of writing in a different genre — I don’t set out to write for a particular genre, it’s the stories that come first and wherever they fit, they fit. I think macabre stories are the most beautiful – the darker the night, the brighter the light in my opinion. It allows you to take the reader on a beautiful, extreme adventure. Featervein will certainly deal with life, love and loss like ghostgirl and The Blessed Trilogy, but it will also focus on rebirth and the power of hope.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
I played drums for a punk band in high school.
I have an identical twin sister.
I’m a founding board member of the Morbid Anatomy Museum.
I created two television series for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
I have a collection of antique bird taxidermy

Do you have things you need in order to write (i.e. coffee, cupcakes, music)?
Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! I also listen to music during first drafts as I am a diehard music fan, but I require complete silence for revisions.

Where’s your favorite place to write?
I have an attic office in my home, which is an old farmhouse on the ocean. I love to write there at night after everyone goes to sleep. I have a perfect view of the moon. I feel like I’m the only person in the world in that office. I also love to write in coffee shops around Brooklyn surrounded by other writers.

What is easier to write: The first line or the last line?
The last line.

Is there a YA novel you wish you had when you were a teen?
There are too many to list! What I love about YA books these days is the focus on strong female characters. I naturally write these kinds of stories and I love reading them. When I was a child, it was mostly damsel in distress sort of stories, which is fine, but there is something really satisfying and inspiring about a girl that can be extremely complex, kick ass and be vulnerable at the same time. But, at the end of the day she can and will save herself.