Book and a Beverage Author Edition | Jessica Spotswood

Welcome back to BOOK AND A BEVERAGE!

It’s been a while since I’ve hosted an author edition of Book and a Beverage but I am SO excited to be getting back into the swing of things! I had an overwhelmingly wonderful response from authors who were interested in participating so keep an eye out for even more author posts within the next few months!

Give a big welcome to author JESSICA SPOTSWOOD!

Name: Jessica Spotswood
You know her best as the author of… The Cahill Witch Chronicles: BORN WICKED (1/25/12), STAR CURSED (6/18/13), and SISTERS’ FATE (8/14/14)

BORN WICKED: Amazon // Goodreads
STAR CURSED: Amazon // Goodreads
SISTERS’ FATE: Amazon // Goodreads

READING

What are you reading? FAR FROM YOU by Tess Sharpe.
What’s important that we should know about this book? Would you recommend it? Sophie is bisexual and a drug addict, and when her best friend Mina is murdered everyone thinks it’s because of a drug deal gone wrong and blames Sophie. But Sophie knows that she’s clean and she is determined to stay that way – and find Mina’s killer. I’d absolutely recommend it; Sophie is a really intriguing, flawed, smart protagonist and the pacing is wonderful.
What are your top three books you would recommend to other people? I don’t know if I can pick my top 3 of all time, but my favorite so far this year have been Courtney Summers’ ALL THE RAGE (an important, infuriating indictment of rape culture); Nova Ren Suma’s THE WALLS AROUND US (creepy-gorgeous and a master class in voice); and Erin Bowman’s VENGEANCE ROAD (a Western revenge story that I loved so much I blurbed).

WRITING

What can you tell us about your current work in progress? I just finished drafting my first contemporary YA, WILD SWANS, which will be out next April! It’s about a girl named Ivy whose mother – who abandoned her when she was two – comes back home with the two half-sisters Ivy’s never met. There’s also a romance with a biracial tattooed poet. (What can I say? I love bookish boys.)
Are you a pantser or a plotter? I like to outline a few chapters ahead, but I love when characters surprise me, and most of the time when I get really stuck, I wind up realizing that it’s because I’m trying to stick to the outline instead of following my characters.
Do you have a favorite spot to read/write? I love reading in bubble baths (Lush bath bombs & bubblers are my favorite) or in bed before sleep. I write either on my loveseat in my office, or at a nearby coffee shop.

What are you drinking? Iced tea
What’s your favorite thing to drink while reading/writing? In the summer – iced tea; in the winter – hot tea

If you had one subplot or minor character that could go off on its own tangent, who or what would it be? I’d love to write a short story about Cate’s best friend and roommate, Rilla. Rilla’s bouncy and chatty and big-hearted. She gets her own love interest in SISTERS’ FATE – patronizing newspaperman Alistair Merriweather – and their banter kept threatening to take over scenes. It would be hugely fun to write about Rilla as a girl reporter getting into scrapes and arguing with Merriweather!
What type of scene is your favorite to write? Kissing scenes! But terrible heartbreaking scenes that will make people cry are my next favorite. I’m a contradiction.

 A big thank you to Jessica Spotswood for taking part in Book and a Beverage today! I love her Cahill Witch Chronicles books and I’m so excited for a new YA contemporary next year!
I also REALLY need to read Far From You soon! I’ve heard such good things about it and it sounds so interesting!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Spotswood is a full time author who lives in Washington, DC with her husband Stephen and a very cuddly cat named Monkey. Visit Jessica online at jessicaspotswood.com or on Twitter at @Jessica_shea.

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