We’re back! Did you miss us? Yes, it’s only been a few weeks since our last author interview. But we’re proud to announce that we have another exclusive interview to share with you all: Aimée Carter!
We chatted with Aimée Carter on her new YA thriller, Royal Scandal, which follows a fictional royal family with just as much drama and speculation happening as the real one. Be sure to check out our in-depth review of Royal Scandal!
Her new novel had us racing through the chapters and screaming at the cliffhanger ending! We’re so excited for the conclusion to the Royal Blood trilogy, but we’re trying not to get ahead of ourselves. Here is our author interview with Aimée Carter!
Welcome to The Honey POP! To get things started, can you share three fun facts about yourself?
Hi! Thank you so much for having me! Three fun facts about me:
1. I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
2. I’m an original Swiftie, est. 2006.
3. I have a scar on the side of my head from brain surgery after a traumatic brain injury when I was a toddler. I don’t have any memories of the accident or recovery, but I can’t wear certain hairstyles because of it.
The Royal Blood Series
Congratulations on the release of your new YA thriller, Royal Scandal! How do you feel now that book 2 of your Royal Blood series is out?
Thank you! I’m ridiculously excited for readers to learn what’s in store for Evan, Princess Maisie, Kit, and the rest of the royal circle.
How would you describe the publishing journey for this book and the rest of your trilogy compared to your other YA series?
The initial idea for Royal Blood came to me over a decade ago, and I’ve been trying to write it ever since. Thanks to a series of false starts, I had no choice but to let it “bake” for a very long time, giving it room to breathe and letting the right plot fall into place. This isn’t my normal process – usually the “baking” part only takes a few months, maybe a couple of years at the most – but I’m glad it happened the way it did, as it led me to the story that eventually became Royal Blood. It sold to my editor, Kelsey Horton, in a matter of weeks, which was a huge shock, especially after my first YA series took more than a year to sell. And it’s been a blast to write every step of the way.
Her Characters
Which character from Royal Scandal is your favorite to write about, and why?
I love writing every single character in this series. They all have secrets, they all have something they desperately want, and they’re all willing to do whatever it takes to get it. In Royal Scandal especially, Kit steps into the limelight, and you get to see a side of him that isn’t really revealed in the first book. And Maisie is always one of my very favorites to write.
We love Evan and Kit so much, even when everything stood in their way in Royal Scandal. In your opinion, what character traits make them a good pair?
Evan and Kit both offer the other something they need to feel more at peace with their lives and circumstances. Kit is a loyal and steady presence for Evan after she’s spent her life believing that “people aren’t permanent,” and Evan’s trust in Kit helped him out of a dark place, showing him he wasn’t alone after the death of his brother, and that there were still good things in his world. There’s much more to it than that, of course, but their relationship is still developing, and I don’t want to give too much away!
The Royal Family
Did you know a lot about the royal family and their traditions before writing this series? How accurate did you want Royal Blood and Royal Scandal to be?
I was only vaguely curious about the royal family before I got the idea for Royal Blood back in 2011 or so, and from then on, I did start to pay attention – not to things like etiquette and gowns and crowns, but to how the media (and those on social media) talked about the royal family, and how easily rumors seemed to spread. That’s where I got a lot of inspiration for what Evan goes through.
For the sake of being as accurate about royal life as I could be, I did learn a lot about the inner workings of the Firm, and about the minute details of royal life that most people don’t notice, but that was never the draw for me. It was very much what we’re seeing now, with Princess Kate’s health crisis and the rumors that piled up until the palace had no choice but to reveal her cancer diagnosis. I wanted to explore the (anti)relationship between the press, the public, and the royal family, and how fast things could spin out of control – and how quickly devastating rumors could spread that could threaten the entire monarchy.
Fictional families are nothing if not dysfunctional. How did you establish the royal family tree? Did you make any major changes to the cast since the beginning?
The family tree for this series is based on the real royal family, with one tiny tweak: Edward VIII never abdicated, and instead, he married someone his family approved of and had children, and the royals in this book are his descendants. The royal family we see on the page has stayed more or less the same from the beginning – I always knew Evan would have a half-sister who was the heir to the throne, and that her stepmother, the current Queen, wouldn’t be Evan’s biggest fan. Prince Nicholas, the King’s brother, and his son, Prince Benedict, came into the mix later on during the “baking” process, but I never wanted to make the family too big.
All The Drama
We’re huge fans of juicy drama and thrillers, both of which we can find in your newest release. What are some of your favorite TV shows or books to enjoy when you’re in the mood for drama?
I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s books and how intricate and dramatic her plots are. I’m also a big fan of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood and all the romantic drama in their work. I don’t watch much TV, but I love Bridgerton (the definition of drama!) and have seen way too many seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.
If Royal Scandal were a TV series, who would you cast as Evan, Maisie, Kit, and Ben?
This is such a tricky question because the characters I see in my head aren’t real people – they’re blurry and ever-changing figments of my imagination, and I never want to shatter the reader’s mental image of a character. So take this answer with a grain of salt: the only actor I can think of would be a young Kit Harington for Kit, but that’s probably because of the name connection.
What’s Next
The ending of book 2 has us in a chokehold because we want to know what Evan is planning so badly! If anything, what hints can you give us about the next book in the Royal Blood series?
I will say that all of the answers about that ending are in the second book! I made the decision to never have the characters actually say their plans out loud, because it felt like too big and dangerous a thing to put into words, but all of the information the reader needs is already there.
How much more will Evan and Kit’s relationship be tested? (Because they have to be endgame!)
The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire. 😊
Once Royal Scandal releases, what other goals have you planned for the year?
I have more books I’m working on, including another YA I’m hoping to get to later this year, and a couple of middle-grade books I need to write. I’m very lucky to have a queue of books that need to be written, and I can’t wait to dive in.
Which book trope is your favorite one to read and write?
Read: Fake dating/marriage of convenience! So much fun when done right. (Bonus: my least favorite is true enemies to lovers. If there’s ever real bullying or attempted murder involved, I can’t get behind the couple falling in love later. Rivals to lovers is great, though! See: Ali Hazelwood.)
Write: Life-changing family secret. Unintentional, but looking back, all of my books have this.
I wanted to explore the (anti)relationship between the press, the public, and the royal family, and how fast things could spin out of control – and how quickly devastating rumors could spread that could threaten the entire monarchy.
Aimée Carter
You can order a copy of Royal Scandal by Aimée Carter here!
We loved getting to chat with Aimée Carter on her new novel, Royal Scandal! Have you started the Royal Blood series? What do you think so far? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
Interested in reading more bookish interviews? You’re in luck!
Want to hear some of our audiobook recommendations? Here’s the latest!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AIMÉE CARTER:
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