Interview with author Aimée Carter

Hey guys! So I got the pleasure to interview Aimée Carter, author of The Goddess Test. And without further ado, here goes the interview:
Benji: How did you get inspiration for The Goddess Test?
Aimée Carter: I've always loved Greek mythology, and ever since I heard the myth of Hades and Persephone, I wondered about Hades' side of things. I began to form the idea for this story back when I first started writing, nearly fifteen years ago, but it wasn't until 2007 that I began to form it as it is today. It took a long time for the pieces to fall into place.

Benji: When did you first become interested in Greek Mythology?
Aimée Carter: Around five or six, when I got my hands on a copy of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. To this day it's my favorite book on mythology. I used to watch Hercules and Xena, two TV series based on Greek mythology; I played computer games, read everything I could get my hands on, and I was that annoying kid who lectured everyone else during the mythology unit in fourth grade.

Benji: How does the character of Kate relate to you?
Aimée Carter: When I wrote The Goddess Test, I didn't relate to Kate's situation much at all. My mother died when I was ten years old, so it's been a long time, and I was never in the position of caretaker. However, after I'd sold the book to my publisher, Harlequin TEEN, my father was hospitalized under life-threatening circumstances, and in a twist of events, I was placed in Kate's situation as caretaker of my only family. Armed with a new understanding of what that was like, I edited portions of the manuscript to reflect that.

Benji: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Aimée Carter: Write what you want to write and not what anyone tells you that you should be writing. Pay attention to critiques and learn from them, but trust your gut as well. Keep writing and don't give up. And learn as much about writing and the publishing process as you can. It's a craft that takes years -- you wouldn't expect to play guitar like a rock star when you pick up an instrument for the first time, right? It's the same thing with writing. You have to really work at it, and it's a skill like anything else.

Benji: What kinds of research did you have to do for this book?
Aimée Carter: I was already very familiar with Greek mythology, so it didn't take too much research there. I did some geographical research based on the place the story takes place, and I did some research on cancer and the like. The interesting part of writing this for me was the research I couldn't use -- the mythology that didn't work with the story I wanted to tell, and how creative I had to get to work around that while still sticking to as much of the myth as I could.

Benji: Who are some of your favorite authors?
Aimée Carter: JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins, David and Leigh Eddings, Orson Scott Card, Kevin Brooks, Rick Riordan, and I love so many of the debuts this year as well - Wither by Lauren DeStefano, Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, etc.

Benji: Could you tell us a bit about the sequel, Goddess Interrupted?

Aimée Carter: Sure! Goddess Interrupted will be released in March/April 2012, and the back of the book was just released. This is what it says:
Kate Winters has won immortality.
But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry’s first wife, Persephone.





Here's a look at the cover:



Benji: Anything else you would like to tell us? About you, your books, or life in general?
Aimée Carter: Bloggers and readers like you are the reason we get to write, and I can't tell you how grateful I am for everyone who has given The Goddess Test -- or really, any debut YA book -- a chance. You're amazing.
Thank you so much for having me!




Aimée Carter is a great author and I invite you to visit her at her website!