Cured Blog Tour: Interview

 

Welcome to my stop on the CURED blog tour! Today I have an interview with the author, Bethany Wiggins, to share with you - I hope you enjoy it!!

Cured (Stung #2)
Author: Bethany Wiggins
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopia
Release Date: March 13, 2014
Publisher: Walker Childrens (Bloomsbury)

Description:

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. Bethany Wiggins’s reimagining of our world after an environmental catastrophe won’t fail to stun readers.

1. What inspired you to write the series?

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! 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 also, the bees dying off (colony collapse) inspired part if it. CURED is a continuation of that.

2. What do you find the hardest part of writing to be?

There are two hardest parts. Right now, the hardest part is finding time and balance. I'm a new mom--for the fifth time!--and it is really hard to find a spare moment to sit at the computer when laundry is piling up, diapers are needing changing, and kids are hungry. The other hard part is not knowing where a story is going (aka writer's block). How can you write a story if you don't know what is going to happen next? 

3. What can we expect from the next book in the series?

I don't know if there will be a next book in the STUNG series. This might be a duology. CURED is written in a way that will give readers closure so that if I don't write more in the STUNG world, people will still be satisfied.

4. How did you become an author? Was there a person or significant event that motivated you?

The reason I started writing is because my older sister thought it would be fun to write a book, and she wanted someone to write one at the same time. So she dared me to do it. I started writing and was shocked by 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.

 
5. What's up next for you?

In the immediate future, motherhood. As for writing, I'm kind of funny when it comes to writing books. A story idea has to hit me, sort of like being struck by lightning. I am quietly waiting for that story--I can feel it in my near future. When it hits, I will write it.

Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting today Bethany!

 

Bethany Wiggins has always been an avid reader, but not an avid student. Seriously! She failed ninth grade English because she read novels instead of doing her homework. In high school, she sat alone at lunch and read massive hardback fantasy novels (Tad Williams and Robert Jordan anyone?). It wasn't until the end of her senior year that the other students realized she was reading fiction--not the Bible

Once upon a time, Bethany's sister dared her to start writing an hour a day until she completed a novel. Bethany wrote a seven-hundred page fantasy novel that she wisely let no one read--but it taught her how to write. Since then she has penned SHIFTING (2011), STUNG (2013), and CURED (2014).  (Taken from Goodreads)

 

Author Links:

http://bethanywiggins.com/ 

http://www.suzettesaxton.blogspot.com/ 

@WiggB