by Marie Moeller ’15

Maureen Johnson, the queen of young adult literature and author of the riveting novel “13 Little Blue Envelopes,” recently visited the Bethesda Library to share her new book, “The Madness Underneath.”

Johnson’s new novel is the second book in her most recent series, “The Shades of London.” The new novel continues the haunting story of Rory Deveaux, an average Louisiana teen studying in England who becomes the next target of a copycat Jack the Ripper, a renowned serial killer. The enticing plot twist in the first novel continues throughout the sequel, which Ally Carter, New York Times bestselling author, described as “An unputdownable thrill ride that will leave you gasping, laughing and dreaming of London.”

At the presentation, I asked Johnson a little bit about her works:

Q: I heard you got your inspiration for “The Name of the Star,” the first book in the series, when touring London. Did this inspiration continue to influence your writing or did an entirely new inspiration evolve for the plot development of “The Madness Underneath?”

A: I proposed it from the beginning as a series. I basically had the idea for the whole thing. I got the plots for the next one as I researched more. “The Madness Underneath” came from the fact that I pulled up a map of the East London area. It shows the sight of the original Bedlam Hospital which was an infamous mental hospital [that] was destroyed. There were grave yards all around it that would have had all the bodies of those that lived there. That’s got to be interesting for something, so that is where the starting point came.

Q: How much does the story tend to write itself compared to how much you have in mind before you begin conducting research?

A: Not nearly enough. You end up with a good and bad problem. The first good problem is suddenly you have all this knowledge and you see a lot more options. The bad thing is that you know too much about something, and it’s boring. It’s both fascinating and incredibly tedious.

Q:”The Shades of London” series is more of a different genre than most of your other books, consisting of a mystery/thriller vibe with an unexpected plot twist of ghosts. Is it nice to try something different?

A: I was always a big mystery reader, and I’ve always wanted to write a mystery. Mysteries are what I know best, and it occurred to me one day I had never written one [even though] I really wanted to do so. I sort of jump around, [doing] all kinds of genres. I do whatever feels right.

Q: What is the most important element of a novel that you try to emphasize in your works (characterization, plot, etc.)?

A: They are sort of one in the same because the characters are there in order to serve the story. I never think one is more important than the other. I think the best [stories] are very balanced.

Q: Are there more books in the series for us to look forward to?

A: Four. I am totally working on [the third book] now, but I’m not done yet. It has a title! It’s called “The Shadow Cabinet.”