Today's Author Spotlight is on Carrie Jones and Captivate, the much anticipated sequel to her NYT bestseller Need. Regular Ypulse readers will remember the YAB Review we ran for Need from Youth Advisory Board member Caroline Marques. [Note: I'll be passing Captivate on to Caroline as well. So watch out for that review coming soon!]

So much more than a paranormal romance, Captivate follows Zara, caught between her sense of loyalty to friends, community and, ok fine, her dreamy werewolf boyfriend and her ideals as an Amnesty International-card carrying pacifist. When we last left Zara and her crew in Need, they had been forced to contain and subdue an entire population of pixies as a means of stopping them from terrorizing the small town of Bedford, Maine. Always a temporary solution, the arrival of a new pixie king Astley throws a heavy duty wrench in the works. On all fronts. I sent a few questions to Carrie to ask more about the progression in the series.

Captivate is in bookstores now, but we're offering a free copy to the first three commenters who share the first fictional book that made them want to "save the world" and why.

Ypulse: How did the initial idea for Need and a world of pixies come to you?

Carrie Jones: I was at the Common Ground Fair, which is this huge, cool fair in Maine that’s sponsored by Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association (MOFGA). To get to the main part of the fair you have to walk through this sweet trail that curves through these tall spruce trees.

Right in front of me was this guy. He had a weird vibe. He was wearing all corduroy – blazer, pants. And sticking out from his blazer was this long tail-like appendage that was wrapped in different colored earth-toned cloth. I guess he could tell I was checking him out because he turned his head and looked at me. His eye was this startling silver color. How startling? So startling that I actually gasped and got creeped out.

Then when we were in line to pay we made eye contact again and his eyes were brown.
I know! I know! I probably imagined the silver eye color.
It doesn’t matter. That was one of the main things that got me started. Then, I just had this image of a man standing outside an airport pointing at an airplane this girl was on.
It also creeped me out.

So, I started writing.

YP: Did you always know the story would span multiple books? How did that affect your writing process for Captivate?

CJ: When I wrote NEED, I had no idea that it would become a series. There was a general idea about what would happen to Zara and Nick, but I didn’t realize I’d ever write it. I like to explain it like this: there was a movie trailer in my head for CAPTIVATE and the rest of the series, but it isn’t until I start writing the books that the trailer becomes an actual full fledged movie.

I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve gotten the chance to write more.

It did, however, make writing CAPTIVATE pretty hard for me. I cried a lot writing this book, and longed for a good strudel or something to take me away. There was more pressure to make it good, really. I’m really lucky that I have such an incredible editor, Michelle Nagler, to work with it on me.

YP: I love how real and passionate Zara is about her causes (real world and fantasy alike). What went into developing her character over the course of both books?

CJ: Well, I really didn’t want a character who just let things happen to herself and her friends/family. I wanted Zara to be proactive and protective, a hero kind of person. That was a conscious decision, but I don’t think Zara would have let me create her any other way.

There’s been a deliberate character arc where I know that I want Zara to start off in one emotional state and end in another. In NEED she starts out really passive and depressed. People describe her as a zombie but by the end there she’s this proactive hero type person. In CAPTIVATE, I wanted her to grow the same way. She’s terribly dependent on her boyfriend in the beginning, but then she becomes an independent decision maker.

But other than that, Zara really just took over. She’s one of those characters who emerges pretty fully formed and then as the author all you have to do is sit back, hang on, eat some strudel and enjoy the ride.

YP: You just started your in-store/virtual book tour with Alyxandra Harvey. How did that get set up and what has it been like to have a paranormal partner in crime along for the ride?

CJ: It was all set up by the director of publicity at Bloomsbury. She really did a lovely job of putting us together because I like Alyx a lot.

It’s really pretty fun touring with Alyx although we did manage to:
1. Get in trouble for giggling
2. Get in trouble at Graceland (that was totally my fault actually)
3. Get lost looking for a bathroom.

The best part is that if one of us gets nervous about a TV event or something like that the other one is there for support. During one interview for a live-TV segment I really had to resist the urge to grab Alyx’s arm and snuggle in.

YP: What was it like to shift gears into paranormal romance/ fantasy territory as a writer?

CJ: It was fantastic fun. When I started NEED, I didn’t really have any pressure for it to be published. I was just experimenting with writing something more plot-driven and something paranormal. I think because I didn’t have any pressure to succeed with it, I ended up really enjoying it. I wrote it while writing other things, too. It was my happy escape from contemporary realistic fiction.

The entire time I was thinking, “Hm. I wonder if this is how you do this?” And then I’d be all, “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter does it? Nobody will ever see it.”

YP:What were the biggest challenges for you? What comes next for you?

CJ: I have a really hard time believing in myself. When NEED and CAPTIVATE appeared on the NYT Bestseller List I was a bit confused. I kept thinking, “Hm… Wait a second. This can’t be… WOW.” And I still have a hard time accepting that something I wrote is being read by so many people. It’s insane really. Or even going on a book tour? I keep thinking, “Aren’t you here for someone else? Are you sure you want me to sign your book? Me?” Fan letters? Same thing.

Right now I’m working on the third book in the NEED series and trying to figure out how to make strudel without setting the oven on fire. I am having a really hard time with that.

For more coverage of YA books and publishing, check out the Ypulse Books & Print Channel sponsored by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, publishers of Fang

Categorized under: Author Spotlight, Books & Print

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. If you are a Facebook user, comment using your Facebook account.