Interview with YA Paranormal Author Wendi L. Wilson

Today I had a chance to interview Wendi, a paranormal young adult author and fellow Southern Californian! Wendi is a fast paced writer with an edge with her storytelling. Hope you enjoy the interview. Comment below and I will make sure she sees your posts.

Can you give us a little background on yourself and your life as a writer?

I am a stay at home mom to two boys, ages 10 and 7. I’ve been writing for a long time, but I never thought I would actually do anything with it- it was just for fun. In the early 2000’s my sister-in-law won a writing contest and got a three book deal out of it. She writes erotic romance and four years ago, one of her books exploded. She had been publishing books for 10 years, but with that one book that came out at the right time (at the same time as 50 Shades of Grey), she was suddenly famous and selling books like hot cakes. That was my motivation to really do this. I thought, if she could do it, so could I. So I got to work and finished Shadowed Strength.

Where do you get your ideas for your Shadowed series?

I actually wrote the original manuscript when I was sixteen. I wrote the whole thing long-hand on a yellow legal pad. At some point in my twenties, I lost it and decided to rewrite it (pulling as many details as possible from memory). It was a basic teen romance/suspense/mystery until I read Twilight and fell in love with paranormal romance. I changed the whole thing up to add the paranormal element. Best decision I ever made.

Which YA authors are your biggest inspirations?

Well, Stephenie Meyer, of course, for making me love the genre. I am also greatly inspired by Amanda Hocking. Not only is the Trylle Series amazing, her personal story of success is awe-inspiring.

When does your 3rd book come out and what will the title be?

I don’t have a release date yet, but I am hoping to have it out by the end of the year. The title is Shadowed Ascension.

Do you have a plan for a new series after the Shadowed series? If so, what will it be about?

I have a one-track mind. Always have. I can’t concentrate on more than one thing at a time. But, while I have no definite plans for the next series, I would like to write about teens with super powers- maybe psychic abilities or time travel. I think either of those would be really fun to write about.

Just for fun…

Do you have any specific writing habits, rituals, or routines? If so, what are they?

I’m a “seat-of-the-pants” writer. I don’t outline- I’m too impatient and need to get the story out. My friends ask me things like, “What is going to happen to such and such character?” and I’ll answer that I have no idea, I haven’t gotten there yet. At one point, my main character told another character her plan (off-scene), but she forgot to tell me. So I spent two or three days staring at my computer screen waiting for the plan to come to me. I was so mad at her for leaving me out of the loop like that.

If you were forced to live on a remote island and could take one YA book character with you, who would it be and why?

It would probably be Ren from Colleen Houck’s Tiger’s Curse. A.) He’s gorgeous. B.) He’s kind, thoughtful, respectful, and protective. C.) He can turn into a tiger. You snuggle with a tiger when it’s cold. A tiger can hunt and fish. And..it’s a tiger.

Anything else you would like to mention to our readers?

I would love it if everyone could check out the Shadowed Series! Book 1, Shadowed Strength, is $0.99 right now through 5/10/16 on all retailers (Amazon, Kobo, iTunes and Barnes & Noble)

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