Hey ya'll, I'm so excited to get to share this super fun Friday post with you.
As I'm sure many of you know, I am a huge Wendy Higgins fan.
She is the author of the Amazing Sweet Evil series. The most recent and last installment in the series, Sweet Temptation just came out a few weeks ago and I have to say it is by far my favorite of the series.
I was given an ARC from the awesome people over at Harper Teen to review back in July and had nothing but good things to say about it.
I loved seeing the books from Kai's POV. There was so much more to the story from his view, and I loved all the extra parts Wendy added that we didn't get to see before. (FYI the ending is my absolute favorite part)
So to get the week started right on this rainy grey morning (at least that is how it is here in Georgia today) I have a fabulous interview that the amazing Wendy Higgins so graciously did with me.
Seriously ya'll she is the best. I got to meet her last year after Sweet Reckoning came out, and she is super sweet and fun to talk to.
Enjoy :D
Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NYT bestselling author of
the Sweet Evil series from HarperTeen, the high fantasy duology The Great Hunt,
and her independently published Irish fantasy, See Me. She is a former high
school English teacher who now writes full time, and lives on the Eastern Shore
of Virginia with her veterinarian husband, daughter, son, and doggie Rue.
Wendy earned a bachelor's in Creative Writing from George
Mason University and a master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford
University. She is represented by Jill Corcoran of the Jill Corcoran Literary
Agency.
So my first question is pretty simple
- What was your favorite part of writing Sweet Temptation, or really the whole Sweet Series in general? I know I absolutely love the books and could never just pick one of my favorite scenes and I’m just a reader. I’m so mean making you decide that, but I must know Hehe
~ I honestly loved
writing Sweet Temptation, all of it,
even though it was such a challenge. But having Kaidan live in my head for
those two months was a true comfort. I was going through a rough
transition—we’d just moved to a tiny town away from everyone we knew, and Kai
kept me company. It was the most fun I’ve ever had writing a book. Kai makes me
laugh and cry and feel everything.
My next question for you is just for some fun. I like to
keep it interesting lol
- Do you have an author you completely fan girl over? If so who? I can admit to it for not only you but Jen Armentrout, Cora Carmack, and Jay Crownover. Ya’ll are seriously some of my favorite authors and I’m sure if you really dug into my blog and FB pages I have many moments that would embarrass me if they happened in person instead of online.
~ I completely
understand and I’m flattered you feel that way about me! I’d have to say I fangirl like crazy over
Gena Showalter. She is a queen of the romance genre. She’s HUGE. But she has befriended
me, offered advice, blurbed Sweet Temptation for me, and been super supportive.
I’m still blown away every time she responds to me and I geek out when she
calls me friend!
- What was the hardest part of writing a book from another characters perspective? I write in my free time, just finishing an actual full over 50,000 word book (well I guess it isn’t a book yet lol) and I know it can be hard just getting something like that done from one POV. I can’t even imagine going back and trying to write it from a different one.
~ I pretty much had to read all 3 books again,
consult them constantly, decide which scenes to show, which to summarize, and
which to leave out altogether, which was HARD. But once I got all of that
decided, imagining the scenes from his point of view were simple because I’d
pretty much imagined his feelings throughout the original books when I wrote
them. I always knew how he was feeling, even when Anna didn’t. ;)
Next question
- Who has been your favorite character to write so far? (From any of your books) Who was the hardest to write as well?
~ Kaidan was both my
favorite and the hardest. He’s very complex. He shows you one thing while he’s
feeling the exact opposite.
- Is there anything from the Sweet Series that you would go back and change if you could? Personally I love the whole thing and think it perfect as is. Just saying lol
~ Yes, actually, I
wish the cast of characters was even more diverse. I really, really wish I’d
made Ginger and Marna (the twins) from Latin America or Spain.
Here’s another fun one for you
- Who is your favorite book boyfriend? As much as I love all the new guys in the recent books I read, my favorite is still Patch from Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush Hush series. He was the first book guy and well first book in general I fell for, and that got me really into reading YA back when I was a little sophomore in high school.
~ I will always love
Edward and I have no shame saying that. Also, I’m a Daemon Black girl for life.
- I know you have a pretty extensive explanation on how you got published with Harper Collins on your website, but I have a question regarding the process
Once
you got that email saying they wanted Sweet Evil what was it like moving
forward from there? I always read about the process of getting to a publisher
but never see much about what it’s like once you have one. I’m sure it has to
be a whirlwind experience but so much fun.
~ When they offered
on my first book it wasn’t actually Sweet
Evil yet. It was a standalone book called Angel Prophecy (awful, cheesy title, I know). It was basically the
Sweet trilogy but only focused on Anna and Kaidan. None of the other Neph were
really in it. That’s the version of the story that I was “discovered” with. By
the time the publisher made an offer I’d come up with a plan to turn my single
story into a 3 part trilogy, and I had the first book of it written, which I
called Sin Legacy. The editor read
it, liked it, changed the title to Sweet
Evil, and we signed contracts for it. Then they set the publication date for
18 months after that and we got started on editing/revising. I worked closely
with my editor and fleshed out all the parts she requested, but ultimately I
had the final say about details.
- What scene in particular were you most excited about writing from Kai’s perspective in Sweet Temptation? I have to say my favorite I read was that whole ending chapter. I think I might have even gotten a bit misty eyed (I’m not a crier much either)
~ The first kiss
scene was REALLY fun to write from his perspective. Also the (SPOILER) wedding
night scene. And of course the final scene from Sweet Reckoning. That seriously makes me cry every single stinkin’
time. (I’m a huge crier though.)
- What is the one thing you want people to take away from your books? I think the thing I see the most when reading these, especially from Kai’s POV is the notion of redemption, that no matter his past, he deserved it just as much as anyone else would.
~ Yes, redemption is
a huge one, and second chances in general. I think my two favorite themes,
though, are hope and choice. There is always a choice and only we as
individuals can make those choices, no matter our past or our lineage or what
the world tells us.
- Ok, I’m at my last question for you, and don’t feel like you have to share anything from this if you don’t want to.
I know
you have a new book coming out after Sweet Temptation *Cough cough The Great
Hunt* and I was wondering if you would or could minded sharing something from
it or about it. Anything you wanted really, I’m not picky hehe but as I said
don’t feel like you have to. I’m just greedy and like getting inside info lol
~ I’m super nervous
about The Great Hunt! It’s a high
fantasy, made-up world and all. It’s just SO different for me. It’s told in 3rd
person point of view from several character vantage points. At the belly of the
story is a dark mystery and tension on several levels, and yes there’s plenty
of romance. I hope my readers will roll with it and be able to get lost in it
like I did while writing it.
Bonus Round:
Jaws?
Or Jurassic Park?
~ Definitely Jurassic
Park!!!
Thanks again for doing this interview with me J
~ Thank you for
having me! *hugs*
I hope that ya'll enjoyed this fun interview, and if you haven't had a chance to pick up any of Wendy's books I highly recommend you go grab the first in the series Sweet Evil. You will completely fall for Kaidan and Anna's story :D
(This was from last year when I got to meet Wendy that I was telling you about at the beginning. And please ignore the squinty eyes. When I'm super happy I tend to not open my eyes in photos. You should see all my high school graduation pics, it's ridiculous lol)
