Delightful Debutantes Revisited: Catching up with Sarah Alderson!

Hi, Sarah! It’s been a while since I first interviewed you for the blog (way back in 2011 to be exact – for the release of Hunting Lila!) Things have been VERY busy for you since then with the release of Losing Lila, Fated, The Sound and more. Now Out of Control is about to hit shops and shelves, so it’s time for you to take a breath, and tell readers Five Things they might not know about Out of Control:

- I wanted to write about human trafficking and my agent politely told me not to. But I did it anyway, except I sort of snuck it into the book.

- Jay is based on Ryan Gosling’s character in Drive who drives a getaway car.

- My friend Myanna Buring who is an actress (Twilight, Downton) gave me the inspiration for Liva. She went to school in Oman and grew up in the Middle East so I picked her brains about it.

- The opening scene is set in a police station that comes under attack and Jay and Liva escape together. I was inspired by a scene in the original Terminator movie.

- I spent 10 days  in New York wandering around finding locations for the book. I even did a food tour of Queens so I would have a feel for where Jay comes from.

How will you celebrate the release of Out of Control?

Sleep! I want to sleep. I’ve had three books coming out in six weeks. The Sound in the US, OOC in the UK and I have my first new adult Come Back To Me being published in a month too (with Pan Macmillan under the name Mila Gray). I’m so excited but also frazzled with all the promotion and work.

So in terms of celebration, not much. I have so much more to do. I’m in the midst of edits for my next YA (out in January) and also working on several screenplays and a couple of other books also in the pipeline, including a third Lila (if I ever get around to actually making a proper start on it!)

Just Some of Sarah's Books!

I’ve noticed a recurring theme in your books, and that is: Hot Boys. I’ve pretty much swooned over all of your boys, but to this day Alex Wakeman remains my number one. That said, at the time of writing, I haven’t yet met Jay from Out of Control. The question, though, is, who is your favourite of all the boys you’ve written – and why?

Hahahaha. Oh man. That is so hard. I fall a little in love with all my boys. Alex will always have a soft spot in my heart though (first love and all). He was very much my ideal man. After him Cyrus from Severed and Shadowed. He’s just so noble and sarcastic and funny and arrogant as hell. But I love him.

I love Jay in Out of Control too because he’s had a rough start to life but he’s determined to do the right thing and go far in life so at the beginning he’s really messed up and he knows that he’s messed up. He has all this integrity though and I really like the journey he goes on with Liva.

I guess all my guys have that integrity and honor. I find those qualities very appealing, far more than someone who is macho and aggressive.

And just for fun: How does Jay compare to Alex?

Jay is 19, Alex is 21

Jay is half Cuban, half Irish American. Alex is American but his father is a Swedish diplomat. Both of them are extremely hot.

Jay has grown up in Queens, New York in a fairly low income household, whereas Alex grew up well off.

Both boys have skills. Alex is cool under pressure, has a brilliant mind, is a trained Marine. Jay is way more street. He’s an awesome driver. Think Fast & Furious.

As an optimist I’m currently stocking up on summer reads in the hopes that we might get some sun over here sometime soon.  As someone who lives in year-round blissful Bali sunshine, I thought you might have some good summer reading recommendations to share with me. What’s on your summer reading list this year?

I eat books. My favourites so far this year are: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and I’m currently reading The Truth About The Henry Quebert Affair which is also fantastic.

I adored Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor and am looking forward to the latest by Morgan Matson.

Of course my own new adult novel Come Back To Me is out in June! It’s set in Oceanside where Hunting Lila was based and is about two guys who are Marines on the same base as Jack & Alex so Lila fans will enjoy it I think). It’s a contemporary romance with epic amounts of steam :).

And finally I just read an early copy of a book called Before He Was Famous by Becky Wicks - it’s a new adult novel coming out at the end of May and it is totally brilliant. I highly recommend it for your summer reading piles!

What has been your best author/fan experience to date?

I just had an email about half an hour ago from one of my best friends. He teaches English A’level and was writing to let me know he’d told his class he knew me and that now ‘he finally has kudos with them.’ That made my day.

He showed them the acknowledgement I wrote to him in Hunting Lila.

I’ve also had a few people write to tell me that they had never read a book before they picked up one of mine and were now addicted to reading. Honestly, I know I’ll never win a Pultizer but I don’t care. To know I’ve introduced just one person to the magical world of reading is the best thing ever.

Finally, can you tell me what you are working on next? Oh, and is there any news about the Hunting Lila movie? My life will not be complete until I see Alex on the big screen!

I mentioned all the books already! I am working on a third Lila book but so many things keep getting in the way - including the screenplay for the Hunting Lila movie - which is still in the production stage. We are just about to go out looking for a director so fingers crossed!

Out of Control the new novel from Sarah Alderson is available May 22nd 2014.

To Find Out More Follow Sarah on Twitter @sarahalderson