1--What is the title of your latest release?
ROYAL BLOOD
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
After accidentally setting her boarding school on fire, the seventeen-year-old illegitimate American daughter of the King of England is forced to spend the summer in the UK with the less-than-thrilled royal family, whom she’s never met, and things only get worse when her identity is leaked to the press—and she’s accused of murder.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
This might seem like an obvious answer, because of course a book about the illegitimate daughter of the King of England would take place in England, but I’ve been trying to write this book for more than a decade, and the original premise involved an American royal family and a Swiss boarding school my main character attended with her half-sister, the heir to the throne, and other teens from royal families throughout the world. None of that was working the way I’d hoped, though, and when I got the idea to have the story take place in an actual royal setting, everything else started to fall into place.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
The real question is whether Evan would hang out with me.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Rebellious, independent, guarded.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned an enormous amount about the real royal family and how the system—the “Firm”—works.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I do a combination of both. The goal is always to wait to edit until I’m done, but if something significant changes mid-draft that’s an easy or, more often, necessary fix to make sure the finished draft is readable, I’ll go back and make those changes. I try to write as cleanly as possible, and I always reread what I did the day before.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Hot chocolate
9--Describe your writing space/office!
Organized chaos, with post-it notes everywhere. I rely on whiteboards and have three of them, all with different purposes, and I’m always working on multiple projects at once, so I try to keep things relatively color-coded. I have bookshelves lining the entire wall behind my desk, and I have four pets (a dog and three cats), so there are multiple pet beds for them to hang out in.
10--Who is an author you admire?
I admire anyone who can create an entire world out of nothing, and I always learn something from every new author I read.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
The books I devoured as a kid are the ones that led me to want to write in the first place. I read everything I could get my hands on, from Greek mythology to The Baby-Sitters Club to the Thoroughbred series to Harry Potter to the Belgariad and Malloreon series. Out of all of those, though, the book that had the biggest emotional impact on me was The Giver.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Royal Blood will be my nineteenth published book, but this one felt special from the moment I started writing the first draft. The submission process was fairly speedy, with only a month or so before we had offers from different editors and publishers, but I was on pins and needles the entire time. My editor, Kelsey Horton, and I clicked immediately, and I’m beyond grateful and thrilled that Royal Blood ended up with her and Delacorte Press.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
This changes all the time. Right now, I’m really into adult romcoms (Emily Henry especially). Fantasy is a staple of mine, too—usually chapter books/middle grade more than adult fantasy—but really, what I love is a well-told, high-concept story with interesting characters and conflict, regardless of genre.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
This also changes all the time! Some of my favorites include The Lion King, A Knight’s Tale, Easy A, Closer, Steve Jobs, A Star Is Born, The King’s Speech, How to Train Your Dragon, Stardust, and The Greatest Showman.
15--What is your favorite season?
Usually whatever season is next. I used to very much be a winter person, and I still am in a lot of ways, but now that I have a dog I walk all the time, I really appreciate spring and autumn.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I just had a birthday late last month, and I’m usually very low-key about it. Maybe dinner with friends or family, nothing fancy.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I really loved Emily Henry’s Book Lovers – as soon as I finished, I went back to reread it. I also enjoyed the movie The Menu, with Anya Taylor-Joy, but it’s definitely not for everyone.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I’ll never say no to good Chinese food, and Italian is also up there.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Travel, spend time with friends, read, watch a lot of movies, go on adventures with my dog, paint, do puzzles – nothing too out there, but all enjoyable. And I’m always thinking of what to write next.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
The sequel to Royal Blood will be out next year (it’s a trilogy!), and I’m always working on something new.
Royal Blood , #1
An American girl becomes the British Monarchy’s greatest nightmare in this thrilling new series where royal scandals just got deadlier.
As the King of England’s illegitimate daughter, 17-year-old Evan Bright knows a thing or two about keeping secrets.
But when she’s forced to spend the summer in London with her father and the royal family, who aren’t exactly thrilled she exists, her identity is mysteriously revealed, and suddenly the world is dying to know every juicy lie the press prints about her.
After a fun night turns deadly and Evan becomes the primary suspect in a murder investigation, the escalating rumors and fallout threaten to tear her life apart. As she fights to uncover the truth about what happened, she discovers royal secrets that are even more scandalous than she imagined – secrets that could change the monarchy forever.
And her own may be next.
Young Adult | Mystery | Thriller [Random House Publishing Group, On Sale: March 7, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593485897 / eISBN: 9780593485910]
Aimée Carter was born and raised in Michigan, where she currently resides. She started writing fan fiction at eleven, began her first original story four years later, and hasn’t stopped writing since. Her first novel for young adults, The Goddess Test, will be published by Harlequin Teen in May 2011. The sequel, Goddess Interrupted, will follow in February 2012.
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