'Shiver' trilogy author reveals her sketches of Sam and Grace

The conclusion to Maggie Stiefvater's bestselling young-adult werewolf romance came out Tuesday and is already huffing and puffing its way up the bestseller list. Now readers who feel as if they've been waiting, well, forever for the finale to her hugely popular "Shiver" trilogy get a bonus: Stiefvater's own drawings of the main characters.

On the eve of the release of "Forever," Stiefvater teased readers with her pencil drawing of Grace, who, in the last book of the series, finds she's been prowling the forest on all fours. Today, she let fans see the face of Grace's true werewolf love, Sam -- the boy with a heart -- and eyes -- of gold.

As part of her press tour, Stiefvater is traveling the country and also blogging. Yesterday, along with her Grace sketch, Stiefvater offered up a play list of songs supposedly compiled by Grace.

The songs include "Sort Of" by Ingrid Michaelson, "Sister Winter" by Sufjan Stevens and "A Sorta Fairytale" by Tori Amos, among others.

 Stiefvater fans won't have to wait long for more fantastical romance. "The Scorpio Races" is due out October 18.

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: Maggie Stiefvater's sketches of characters Sam and Grace from her "Shiver" trilogy. Credit: Scholastic.