Apr 30, 2012

{Q&A + Giveaway} with author Aimee Carter of Goddess Interrupted

Q&A With Aimée Carter, Author of the Goddess Test Series
Today on Seeing Night Reviews Aimee Carter author of the Goddess Test series has answered a little Q&A for us! Plus SNR is giving away a copy of the Goddess Interrupted to one lucky follower!

Dont forget to check out my 4 out of 5 star review : The Goddess Interrupted by Aimee CarterI was excited to jump back into the world of mythology and follow the young Kate Winters in her new role in the Underworld. I have to say I felt Goddess Interrupted was possibly even better than the first, I enjoyed it all the way through and even got a little emotional at some points.
Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test, #2)

How familiar were you with Greek myths and folklore before writing the Goddess Test series?  Was a lot of research required?

+ I first fell in love with Greek mythology when I was a kid learning how to read, and my infatuation only grew from there. I’ve studied various kinds of mythology for years, sometimes for class and always for fun, but even then I put a great deal of research into the Goddess Test series. Mostly as a refresher to make sure I was getting my facts right, but I also researched the various myths looking for ways to tie the plots and characters together in unexpected ways.

Was Goddess Interrupted any easier or harder to write than the first book in the series, The Goddess Test?

+ It was both easier and harder, in a strange way. I rewrote The Goddess Test multiple times, and I’ve never edited a book more heavily in my life. Goddess Interrupted did require some editing, of course, but it was much easier.

However, the pressure to deliver a sequel worthy of the series made the writing process for Goddess Interrupted more difficult than I’d anticipated. There’s something called the “sophomore slump”, where sequels or second books generally don’t quite match up to the second, and I wanted to avoid that at all cost. So that added a lot of stress, but in the end, I was very happy with the results.

You give the gods and goddesses in the series “ordinary names” – Zeus is named Walter, Aphrodite goes by Ava, Hermes is named James.  Why did you do that and do the more contemporary names have any significance?

+ This was something I went back and forth on multiple times. Initially the characters Kate encounters weren’t council members at all – I changed that very, very quickly though. By the second draft, I had a place for each of the Olympians, and I did some heavy rewriting to replace my first draft characters with the gods. I wanted to find a way to keep their names the same, but since they’re supposed to live among us in secret in the modern world, it didn’t really make sense. How many men named Zeus do you know, or women called Aphrodite? On top of that, keeping the council’s identities secret was incredibly important to the plot. So eventually I decided they would have changed their names when Western civilization stopped worshipping them as gods, allowing them to live freely among us.

I did choose each name for what it means, some more than others – Walter, for instance, means “army leader”, while James means “supplanter”. The exception is Calliope, which in the story was chosen by her counterpart for its Greek roots. The reason the gods changed their names – and why Artemis didn’t wind up with the name Diana – is explained throughout the series, but you get to actually see this happen in The Goddess Legacy (July 31).

Goddess Interrupted begins with the main character Kate Winters adjusting to her new life as an immortal.  Given Kate’s innate strength and stubbornness, was it difficult to switch gears to portray her as a bit more vulnerable and unsure of herself in her new role as goddess AND wife?

+ Not so much, to be honest – her progression felt natural to me. While Kate is very tough in certain ways, she’s extremely vulnerable as well. She’s emotionally dependent on the people around her (her mother in the first book, Henry in the second), and that in and of itself carves the path she takes in the sequel. She’s spent six months with Henry, falling in love with him and forming a relationship she thinks is going to last for eternity. But Henry is battling his own demons and isn’t ready to be the person she needs him to be, and because Kate is so stubborn, she has a hard time coming to terms with that. In the sequel, Kate really is her own worst enemy emotionally – her entire world has changed, after all, and that’s a lot for anyone to take – but it’s all part of her development into a goddess and queen.

Kate finds herself trying to work through her rather complicated relationship with James, as well as her relationship with her new husband, Henry (Hades).  Neither seems to be black and white, but rather varying shades of gray.   Were any of Kate’s feelings or situations based on any relationship struggles you’ve been through?

+ Not personally, no, but I did try to make Kate’s relationships with the people in her life as realistic as possible. She isn’t perfect, and neither are they, and that’s something they all have to work through at varying points in the series. None of the relationships in the books are based off of specific experiences I’ve been through though.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?  Least favorite?

+ Outlining is by far my favorite part of the process. I love the idea stage, where anything’s possible, and it’s such a shiny place. All of that comes crashing down when I write the first draft though, which is the hardest part for me. I tend to get mentally exhausted about two thirds to three quarters of the way into the manuscript, and it’s always a struggle for me to push through it, especially if I’m on a deadline. And inevitably there are a ton of problems I didn’t notice in the outline stage that have to be fixed for the story to work. I’m a perfectionist, so in order for me to continue writing the story, everything I’ve already written has to make sense.

When is the next book in the series due out? Any hints on what will happen in book 3?

+ Goddess Interrupted, the sequel to The Goddess Test, came out in late March. The next book in the series, The Goddess Legacy, will be out July 31. It’s a collection of five novellas told in the perspectives of Calliope, Ava, Persephone, James, and Henry, and together they form one story.

The third book in the series, The Goddess Inheritance, is currently scheduled to be released in March 2013. Unfortunately I can’t say too much about it, but the challenges that Kate will face are pretty clear by the end of the sequel!

After the huge success of The Goddess Test, Goddess Interrupted is on many, many TBR lists for this summer.  What’s on your TBR list?

+ I’m so excited for a slew of books coming out – The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, Grave Mercy, The Selection, The Serpent’s Shadow, Philippa Gregory’s YA novel, and a ton of others. I never have as much time to read as I want, but I’m definitely making time for all of those and more!

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15 comments:

  1. Awesome Q&A. I loved seeing the some of the process told by the author. I also think it's fun to know what they the authors of the books I read, wants to read.

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  2. Loved the Q&A. I had wondered about the names, but now it really makes more sense to me knowing what Walter and the others actually mean! :)

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  3. Great review! After reading it, I definitely want to read this book!

    Suz Reads in Rafflecopter

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  4. Great review! After reading it, I definitely want to read this book!

    Suz Reads in Rafflecopter

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  5. I liked your interview. :D I got a lot of info out of it. :D

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  6. This series was already on my TBR list now I want to move it up!

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  7. Love this interview! I've wanted this book for a really long time now, and I can't wait to be able to get it Thanks for the chance to win it! :)

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  8. I liked the Q&A especialy the part about the writing process. Everyone's different and it's interesting to read about.

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  9. Loved the Q&A, i always love hearing the back story of a novel, like why the Author chose to make their names this and what was going through their head while writing it. Very good questions!

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  10. Good questions that required some thought for Aimee! Great job!

    Wendy/books4me

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  11. I read and loved the first book in this series and can't wait to read this!

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  12. Great interview and review.
    Love it when a book makes you feel emotions

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  13. Great interview. Really well presented and thought out. There could me mini-spoiler for those that haven't read the book yet though.

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  14. Loved the interview...I can't wait to read this book..I've only heard amazing things!!!

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