Earlier this month it was announced that The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is one of five Whitney Award finalists in the Young Adult - General category. Congratulations to Sariah on this well-deserved honor.
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But what happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect—read pretty, smart, and, worst of all, sickeningly nice—stepsister is dating the charming, tall, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine years old?
Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston.
Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against wildly popular Jake.
Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie’s going to rule the school.
And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.
Author Interview:
*Who is your favorite character in your book, and why?
*What are your hopes/goals as an author, and what other projects do you have in mind?
*Do you have any unusual habits while you write?
*What do you like to do when you're not writing?
*What inspired you to write The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back?
Mattie herself. One night while in bed, I had this snarky voice in my head talking about her oh-so-perfect stepsister, and that was that. I got out of bed and started writing as fast as I could – and was up the whole night writing everything down. I loved the idea of telling the Cinderella story from the perspective of the ugly stepsister.
*Who is your favorite character in your book, and why?
That’s hard! It’s like asking me which one of my kids I like the best. I love them all for different reasons. I love Mattie’s creativity, integrity and strength. I love Jake’s charm, humor and cuteness. And I love Ella’s sweetness, kindness and loyalty.
*What are your hopes/goals as an author, and what other projects do you have in mind?
My only hope as an author is to make one reader smile. If I’ve managed to make someone forget their problems for a couple of hours by spending time in a world that makes them happy, that would be all I could ask for. My goal is to spend more time writing, but that doesn’t always work out so well. LOL Like most authors, I have ten million different projects in mind. The hard part is narrowing it down and deciding which story to focus on. I’m working on a YA time travel right now, and have in mind a novella with Mattie and Jake at their prom, and a sequel starring Ella set four years in the future.
*Do you have any unusual habits while you write?
I usually have a “soundtrack” for each book. To this day I can’t listen to Nick Lachey’s “What’s Left Of Me” without thinking of one of my previous characters. That was his theme song, and explained exactly how he felt in my story. So I listen to a very specific set of songs while writing. I also have a candle with a scent that I associate with each one of my stories, and I light it before I begin writing (different scents for different stories – my YA time travel is orange blossom, because that’s the scent my heroine wears). It’s this way of signaling to my brain that we’re being creative now and it’s time to start being brilliant. LOL
*What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I love spending time with my kids and my husband. I am a pop culture junkie, so I like watching TV and movies and reading EOnline. I also like to cross-stitch, and I love reading. I really enjoy baking, but I’m not as good at that as I would like to be!
*What is your favorite book, and why?
Not possible to pick one. I love different genres and different authors. If pressed to pick one, it would probably be the Harry Potter series. That’s one I can read over and over again. Such a fantastic, amazing series. I don’t think we’ll see anything like it again in our lifetimes.
*Do you like having books you enjoy made into movies? What is the best/worst adaptation you've seen?
I love having books made into movies. Sometimes I get bitter about casting choices – I’m still pretty upset that Robert Downey, Jr. isn’t Haymitch and Armie Hammer wasn’t cast as Finnick in “The Hunger Games.” One of the worst book adaptations was “Jurassic Park.” They completely changed characters and altered what I thought were pretty significant plot points so that the movie was almost completely different than the book. But sometimes that change is good – I absolutely love the movie “Possession,” but when I tried to read the book, I just couldn’t get very far because I was so bored.
*If money were no object, where would you like to go, and what would you like to do while you are there?
If I’m going with my family, I’d love to take my kids to Disneyland while they’re still young enough to enjoy it, and do the whole thing first class. If it were me and my husband, I’d take him some place tropical and lay on white sands all day. If it were just me, I’d probably go to England and take a Jane Austen tour.
Purchase
Praise
“My top pick of 2012 YA… This book is just. plain. fun.”
~Jordan McCollum, author of Saints & Spies and I, Spy
“Sariah Wilson's new book, The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back, is hilarious…What follows is a story of fun and romance with some good non-preachy life lessons thrown in. The voice in the main character, Mattie, makes the whole thing. I thought it was definitely a book I'd recommend to anyone with teenagers or who just want to read a good teen romance.”
~Julie Coulter Bellon, author of All Fall Down and All’s Fair
“Sariah [Wilson] has written one of the funniest stories I've read in such a long, long time. I literally couldn't put it down. Yes, my poor Kindle's battery died and I was attached to a short power cord, contorted in a very uncomfortable position while I read to the end…. Sariah Wilson captured the back-biting, insecure, hormone-driven, clique-riddled high school atmosphere so perfectly you'd think she never grew up. I dare you not to laugh as you read this witty and oh, so, romantic story.”
~Debra Erfert of Windows into Writing
“Sariah Wilson writes like the best of/most popular YA teen fiction/teen romance authors - Sarah Dessen, Jennifer Echols, Susanne Collins, Cassandra Clare. She sucks you in and never lets you go. I finished the ~194 novel in one night because I just couldn't go to sleep without knowing the ending! I hope that Sariah comes out with more novels, I know I'll be re-reading this one all the time! She's extremely talented and needs to be talked about. I highly recommend The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back! to anyone (over the age of 12) who wants a YA novel that's a real modern-day fairy tale.”
~Hilary at Novel d’Tales
“This was such an entertaining story! I shouldn't have started reading it so late in the evening, because I didn't want to put it down to go to sleep…This is a book I can see myself reading several times. It's a fast, clean read with great characters, and I highly recommend it.”
~Andrea of Literary Time Out
The book is wonderful. It’s quirky and fun. The story makes you laugh and you fall in love with the characters right from the beginning…This is a well-written book. It is one that will make you smile and sigh as you remember your first love. And it has a moral…be yourself, believe in yourself and maybe, just maybe, your fairytale will come true. Pick up this book.”
~Ana of The Book Hookup
About the Author
Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is her fourth happily ever after novel. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children. She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with three tiger barb fish, a cat named Tiger, and a recently departed hamster that is buried in the backyard (and has nothing at all to do with tigers).
Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 3/10/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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