What is your book about?
Big Bad Me is tongue-in-cheek YA Urban Fantasy told from the points of view of two sisters: Evie (a werewolf) and Kate (a monster hunter). After Evie is attacked by a monster, the girls escape to a town called Brightside, where they stay in a guesthouse run by Kevin, a dorky-hot teen who seems veryinterested in Evie and her wolfy-superpowers. While Evie gets closer to Kevin, Kate searches for their missing Mom, and tries to get to the bottom of Brightside’s mysterious “animal attacks”.
It’s all building to a big, bloody supernatural showdown – but really the story is about sisterhood, friendship, figuring out who you are, and how far you’d go to protect the people you love. Plus, there’s lots of quips, banter, hot chocolate and awkward flirting.
How long did it take to write the book?
SO LONG! I started Big Bad Me almost exactly thirteen years ago, and finished by first draft in February 2010. It was really different; Evie was the only narrator (and she was ‘Emily’ then), Kate didn’t exist – Evie/Emily had a big brother called Jack – and while bits of the plot were the same, the story was very different. It was fun to write but it didn’t really work so I shelved it – then couldn’t stop thinking about it.
In 2018 I decided to ‘reboot’, replacing Jack with Kate – just for fun. I thought it would be a quick rewrite but Kate insisted on telling her side of the story, which meant scrapping everything I had and starting over. That took about six months, but I enjoyed every minute! I did another draft with my agent, Amber, and one more big one when I signed with Little Island Books. My very last tiny edits were finished in June this year.
So, depending on how you look at it, I either spent thirteen years writing Big Bad Me or, if you want to take all that broken up time and smoosh it together, about two years.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Pantser. I wish I could plot, but usually my first draft is like an elaborate outline and I have to rewriting it into submission later. That said, there’d be no Cass or Felix in Big Bad Me if I plotted. They were meant to be “background extras” in an amusement arcade scene, playing games in the corner while Evie and Jack looked for their mom. Somehow, they all wound going for milkshakes and becoming friends! Those scenes were cut, but Cass and Felix stayed – and are really important now.
What is the weirdest or most interesting thing you had to research for your book?
I looked up a lot of weird stuff, like how long you’d microwave blood to get it body temperature (about 3 mins) or how long your brain can survive if your heart stops beating (6 to 9 mins). But my most interesting research was about teenage brains. I have some teen vampires and, as Big Bad Meis a bit science-y, I needed to understand how they’d stayteens after, say, thirty years. I learned how teenagers processinformation using different parts of their brains than adults’. Someone whose brain stopped developing at 16 couldn’t grow up, because their brain would continue thinking/processing/feeling/reacting like a teenager. Of course, all this information barely appears in the book – but it helped me understand my characters better, even the human ones.
Where did the idea for your book come from?
From a dream I had after binging Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I had a huge crush on Oz – the werewolf – and in my dream I’dbeen born a werewolf, but my family has hidden that from meuntil I got too dangerous and had to leave home. I toyed thatconcept for years – at one point planning a musical about scientist kidnapping local teenagers to experiment on in his basement lab, hoping to cure for his son’s lycanthropy. I still quite like that idea, but then Evie/Emily popped into my head and suddenly I knew I wanted to tell her story instead. So I did!
Who is your favorite character from your book?
I don’t have one. I adore Evie’ excitability: how she can rip the head off a vampire but turns into a jabbering mess around cute boys. I love Kate’s big-hearted toughness, exhausted quippiness and ability to make friends with anyone. And Kevin was such fun to write, dorky and caring- with this whole other side to him. I love them all!
What is in your to be read pile?
Ooh, lots. I’m in the middle of The Haunting of Tyrese Walkerby JP Rose (a spooky teen novel about a grieving boy uncovering a ghostly secret in Jamaica). Then there’s Mina and The Slayers by Amy McCaw (vampires and murder-goings on in 90s New Orleans), and some brilliant MG books including The Book of Secrets by Alex Dunne (fairies, Irish Mythology and lots of creepiness!), Wren by Lucy Hope (a gothic adventure about a girl who lives in an old castle in South Wales) and The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair by Nathasha Hastings (two girls trying to undo a family tragedy by tracking down a magical Frost Fair). There’s also a festive Rom-Com by Lizzie Huxley-Jones – Make You Mine This Christmas – about a woman trying to fake-date her friend while spending Christmas with his family, only to fall for his sister.
If you were stranded on a desert island what 2 books, 2 movies and 2 animals would you bring?
I couldn’t choose between my favourite books! But my Dadwrote one called The Yuckee Prince, so I’d bring that to remind me of him. And I’d bring Big Bad Me, so my characters could keep me company. Movies? Definitely The Princess Bride. And I’d like music so … the Hamilton movie? I could entertain myself learning all the part! For animals, I’d bring a dog and a chicken: the dog for friendship (and to play the other roles in Hamilton?) and a chicken for eggs!