Luke gasped--and when he blinked, he was alive. He was so alive, his eyes so bright, his face so light, that I realized I didn't know anything about him. He grinned at me, this strange, young, wild thing, and he kissed me, hard.

Una came over and gripped Luke's shoulder. "You're one of us now. You're bound by music.

Music owns you. Music is your life."

Luke looked at me. "I'm here as long tonight as the music lasts, pretty girl. Get your harp."

About the Author [Image: Maggie Stiefvater. © Kate Hummel.] Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have revolved around her inability to be gainfully employed.

Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists (she's made her living as one or the other since she was twenty-two). Maggie now lives a surprisingly eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, and neurotic dog.

Look for Ballad, the sequel to Lament, in Fall 2009.