"Writing is for me simply recording the story which is currently playing in my head," Gregory Maguire once commented in Something about the Author (SATA). Nevertheless, he added, "sometimes I take a long time getting up the nerve to look in on it." From a reader's standpoint, Maguire has quite a bit of nerve--his stories range from fantasy to science fiction and from biting reality to fairy tales. His characters face crises and survive, and he always returns to the power of love. These features have made his work popular with children and young adults. Maguire has also written a novel for adults as well as a short story for young adults in a volume about growing up gay. To further confirm his versatility, Maguire has published a humorous story called Seven Spiders Spinning.

Maguire's childhood began with tragedy when his mother, Helen, died while giving birth to...