Interview with Author Bethany Wiggins

Okay, so I am so excited to have my good friend and amazing author, Bethany Wiggins, on the blog today! I've known Bethany for what feels like forever, and I've read a lot of her work. I loved STUNG, and I'm super-excited that CURED -- the sequel -- will be out tomorrow!

Bethany was awesome enough to answer some questions for me, but first, let's look at CURED. (Isn't that cover Ah-may-zing??! Answer: yes!)

About CURED: Now that Fiona Tarsis and her twin brother, Jonah, are no longer beasts, they set out to find their mother, with the help of Bowen and a former neighbor, Jacqui. Heading for a safe settlement rumored to be in Wyoming, they plan to spread the cure along the way--until they are attacked by raiders.

Luckily, they find a new ally in Kevin, who saves them and leads them to safety in his underground shelter. But the more they get to know Kevin, the more they suspect he has ties to the raiders. He also seems to know too many details about Jacqui and her family — details that could endanger them all. For the raiders will do anything they can to destroy the cure that would bring an end to their way of life.

So let's get to the good stuff!

1. So CURED is the second book. Tell us what we need to remember from STUNG to be ready to read.
Fiona wakes up with four years of her memory erased, her brother a beast, her father dead, and her mother missing. She has been given the bee-flu vaccine but isn't a beast like everyone else who has been vaccinated (remember the previously mentioned brother?). Why? Because a cure has been found, and Fiona is proof of the cure. Now that cure needs to be spread.

2. The idea of the extinction of bees and the repercussions that causes is fascinating to me. How did you come up with this idea? Did you have to do a lot of research?
Believe it or not, STUNG was primarily inspired by a horrible nightmare I had, about waking up in my childhood home and finding everything abandoned, and then being chased out a window by an insane beast who used to be someone I loved. That nightmare is chapter one! (Shut up! What a cool inspiration!)

Other parts of STUNG were inspired by the frenzy in the United States to get the flu vaccine when the swine flu was going around and the bees dying off (colony collapse). I didn't have to do a lot of research since the bee science in my book is mostly fiction (thank goodness), but I did have to do some. I mostly researched things like human behavior in the aftermath of a natural disaster (which is where the Raiders come from) and how things are pollinated.

3. When did you write CURED? What's one scene that you can still remember drafting for the first time?
I started writing CURED two and a half years ago, and finished a year and a half ago. The scene that sticks in my memory is the one where Jacqui and Jonah are being held prisoner by the Raiders, and Jacqui finally understands that true beauty is on the inside. Here's a quote:

He drops his head and laughs a hoarse, whispered laugh, possibly the first laughter that has come out of him in four years. "I know I'm hideously ugly. You don't have to pretend I'm not."

My heart aches at his words. I know how it feels to look at yourself and see nothing beautiful there. And then I think about how Jonah held the beast child for hours while we waited for the cure to start working, and how he spoke so gently to me when the raiders caught me and Bowen was furious. He is good and kind and meek. That is real beauty.

4. Is CURED the end of this series? Tell us all about everything!
As of now, it is the end. I wrapped everything up so that the readers will finish it and have a satisfied, warm, happy, pensive, thoughtful feeling. But I would love to do a book three with these characters in this world sometime in the future. There is always room for more! (I hope there is more to the story!)

5. CURED is your third published book. Give us a glimpse of your writing and publishing journey that led you here.
The only reason I started writing is because my sister thought it would be fun to write a book, and she wanted someone else to write one at the same time. So she dared me to do it. I started writing and was shocked at how much I liked it. I wrote and edited a lot of manuscripts--as in thousands and thousands of pages--before I finally got good enough to get an agent (Marlene Stringer) and a publisher. Cured is the tenth or eleventh book I wrote.

6. When you're looking to decompress by reading, what book do you reach for?
Well, honestly, "The Book of Mormon." At the end of every day I am pretty much too tired to do any major reading, so I always read a page or two of my scriptures before I go to sleep. Decompression=achieved.

7. If you could be a contestant on Survivor, what's the one item you'd take with you?
Water purifier.

8. A guilty pleasure?
Massage! (Oh, I don't get enough of these as I would like either!)

9. Bacon or chocolate?
Chocolate (Boo! Hisssss... *wink*)

About Bethany: BETHANY WIGGINS is the author of Stung and Shifting. She started writing on a dare and dove headfirst into the world of writerly madness. She lives in the desert with her husband, four quirky kids, and two very fluffy cats.

Website | CURED on Amazon | CURED on B&N | CURED on IndieBound

AND -- you can enter to win a hardcover of CURED by Bethany Wiggins, right here, right now! Just use the Rafflecopter below.

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STUNG by Bethany Wiggins

Okay, today's recommendation is a killer. Literally. STUNG by Bethany Wiggins is a fantastic addition to the dystopian genre, and not only that, but it's a thriller!

I was so not expecting that, having only read the first chapter a very long time ago. I read STUNG last weekend at a dance competition, and I seriously had a difficult time tearing my attention from the page to watch my own daughter dance.

STUNG is that good.

About STUNG: Fiona doesn't remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered-her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right wrist-a black oval with five marks on either side-that she doesn't remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. And she's right. When the honeybee population collapsed, a worldwide pandemic occurred and the government tried to bio-engineer a cure. Only the solution was deadlier than the original problem-the vaccination turned people into ferocious, deadly beasts who were branded as a warning to un-vaccinated survivors. Key people needed to rebuild society are protected from disease and beasts inside a fortress-like wall. But Fiona has awakened branded, alone-and on the wrong side of the wall...

See, chills, right?

I liked the world-building in STUNG. The words and terms used didn't feel forced, and they weren't explained up-front, which I kind of liked. Fiona wakes up and knows nothing, and the readers get to experience and learn the world as she does. I thought that was well-done.

As I said, STUNG is a thriller. Well, maybe thriller isn't quite the right word, but in my world it is. I love the fast action of movies like Mission Impossible and Jason Bourne. And STUNG reads fast, with action and tension, much like those kinds of movies.

As if that weren't enough, there's also a tender romance in STUNG. As Fiona begins to remember swatches of her previous life, she remembers the people she used to know. One of her former neighbors is a boy named Bowen, who happens to be charged with guarding Fiona. I loved Bowen, and I enjoyed the development of their relationship interminged between all the fast-paced danger of the world they live in.

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• Stasia Ward Kehoe fawns over THE FIFTH WAVE by Rick Yancey
• Jessica Love raves about THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING by Ashley Elton
• Shannon Messenger shares an exclusive excerpt from INSOMNIA
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• Lenore Appelhans celebrates 17 AND GONE by Nova Ren Suma

SHIFTING by Bethany Wiggins

Dude, it excites me greatly to be talking about SHIFTING today. See, I read an early version of this book. And by "early version," I mean Bethany let me read it before she even queried agents.

One word: Brilliant.

Here's a little bit more about SHIFTING: After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect--it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear--and Maggie is their next target.

First off, you'll fall in love with Maggie Mae. She's interesting, and in a whole new way. I'm always salivating for that one thing that makes a book special. In SHIFTING, that thing is Maggie Mae.

Unless, of course, we're going to talk about Bridger--which we are, because you know how I like secretive, mysterious guys. Bridger is all that, and more.

Second, Navajo legend! Something unique, something different from other novels. I loved the legends in SHIFTING, because it almost felt like magic. (And I think it's been well-established that I adore magic.)

The shifting scenes were done beautifully, the bad guys are oh-my-heck-bad-guys!, and the characters breathe life into the YA paranormal genre in a whole new way.

I loved this book. I hope you will too. SHIFTING comes out on September 27--that's Tuesday, people! TUESDAY.

Don't you just love Tuesdays? That's when all the new books come out, you know?

Check out what the other Bookanistas are up to this week at the Reading Room.

Or on their blogs:

• Christine Fonseca is definitely Falling for Hamlet
• Corrine Jackson delights in a Hex Hall & Demonglass double feature
• Shelli Johannes-Wells contemplates The Future of Us
• Stasia Ward Kehoe shares her passion for Possess
• Shana Silver finds Fateful Fabulous
• Sarah Frances Hardy leads you into the Circle of Secrets

SHIFTING ARC Tour

Dude, I have an ARC that everyone needs to read.

It's SHIFTING by Bethany Wiggins. I was lucky enough to get a copy from her publisher at ALA.

Let me just start off my saying that I love Bethany. She's been a friend of mine for a few years now, and we sold our books at the same time. SHIFTING comes out on September 29, and I'd like to do an ARC tour for her over the next two months.

If you'd like to participate in this tour, I've made a Google form for people to sign up.

First, a little bit about the book, so you can decide if this is even something you'd like to read. (And trust me, it is.)

After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.

Full of romance, mysticism, and intrigue, this dark take on Navajo legend will haunt readers to the final page.

Isn't that cover gorgeous?? I love how blue-gray it is, with that green snake... Creeptastic.

Second, I'd really like as many people as possible to be able to read SHIFTING, and I'd like the participants to blog about the book after they've read it. So you have to commit to reading really fast, mailing to the next person priority mail ($4.95, free envelope), and then blogging about the book and what you liked about it.

If you can do all of that over the next two months, click here to sign up.

What book are you eagerly anticipating in these last several months of 2011?

What Writers Read

Okay, so like you don't have enough blogs to read or something. But, you guys, this one rules. And not just cuz I'm writing some of it.

Suzette Saxton, Bethany Wiggins (did you see her book sold to Walker/Bloomsbury??? Ahhh!) and I have teamed up and will be dishing on get this, books.

That's right. Most writers are voracious readers (or they should be). Well, we're no exception. We've each got a page to keep track of the books we read, and we need suggestions! (My page is here.)

Couple that with the fact that we're giving you a million plus one book review blogs so you can find even more amazing books, and this blog is already shaping up nicely. We're going to post about whatever strikes us (about reading and books) whenever we feel like it, so you'll get to see some of the crazy that is Elana, Suzy and Bethany.

And who doesn't want to see that??

I mean, really.

So hop on over to What Writers Read and follow us. You never know what we might come up with! And by that, I mean, if you go over there and follow us, you might could win a book...

And what have you read lately? You are reading, right? I just got The Iron King by Julie Kagawa! Squee!!

Gangsta Style

Okay, let's have some fun. First, I'll let you inside my head. I had to go to a meeting a month or so ago. It was not a meeting I was looking forward to. It was summer, I didn't want to go, and the meeting was about making a schedule for a bunch of other people to follow.

Luckily, the three other people in the meeting are some of my favorite people who breathe oxygen. So I'm at the meeting and we're hammering out the schedule. Checking how many kids are in each class. Calling other principals. Reading a chart that someone from Jupiter made, cuz that thing was a beast. In order to read the chart, you had to attend graduate school for four years and obtain two Ph.D's. So since I'm the one with the math minor (not two Ph.D's, mind you) I've got the chart. I finally figure it out and the four of us think we've worked out a schedule that everyone is just going to love. How could they not? (insert snarfage and heavy sarcasm here)

With me still? So since I'm also sort of witty sometimes, (usually only on Mondays, which this meeting was on a Monday) I was designated as the official email writer. So the other three people are dictating and I'm typing the email.

And I happened to give one of the people a nickname. I'm all over nicknames. I really like them. My DH gives them to our kids, his students at school, even me. He calls them rapper names, I call them Gangsta names. Details, schmetails.

So I made one up for this guy. Let's call him Zach Attack. So ever since then, he's been trying to come up with a gangsta name for me. Which, I must admit, thrills me to no end. I've always wanted to have a gangsta name. (In high school, I went by "Lane" or "Lanie" or pretty much anything else that started with an L or an E.)

Problem: my name is, well, not that easily adapted to gangsta style. But he's been working on it with his team. That's right. A whole team. So he comes in the computer lab last week to run a couple of the names by me.

The one we like best: EJ Jamma.

My DH hates it. He thinks E-Jamma would be better. So I need some help. What should my gangsta name be?

Here's some I've come up with for some gangsta friends of mine. If you imagine a gangsta accent and like me swinging my arms with my fingers splayed out and some baggy pants and my hat on sideways and some serious bling, it really helps. Trust me.

Christine Fonseca: Fonz-C. (Yo, yo, yo, Fonz-C. How's the WiP?)

Suzette Saxton: Z-Shizzle (Have your peeps call mine, Z-Shizzle. We'll do lunch.)

Bethany Wiggins: Wigs (He-ey! Wigs is in da house! *imagine the heavy gold chainz and you'll be there with me*)

Michelle McLean: Triple M Stack (Triple M Stack is bustin' out the wordage, yo.)

Heather Dyer: HDMD (Dude, HDMD, keepin' it real.)

So...so many of your are uber-creative. What have you got for a name like Elana Johnson? And this picture totally made me laugh. Cuz, well, E-Jamma and Zach Attack, yeah, we're pretty much like these guys. Can't...stop...laughing!