I'm so excited to be talking with Jessica Burkhart today.
I loved her Canterwood Crest series and I was so happy to learn about the Saddlehill Academy books.
Currently there are four books out in the series AND I will tell you that there are mentions of Canterwood Crest characters!
Read my reviews of all four books here.
How many books could there be in the series?
Right now, I’m contracted for four books, but if readers pick it up and it sells well, there could be more. I’m hopeful there will be, but I don’t have any answers yet about the series continuing. It’s sad not to know already because with Canterwood, there were 20 books, and that’s what I’d hoped for Saddlehill Academy. But I’m afraid pushback from some bigots about the main character being queer in a sport that’s historically been incredibly straight and white has impacted the sales. Plus, It’s a really rough climate to be writing LGBTQ+ middle-grade novels.
Still, I hope there will be additional novels, and I’ll write as many more as my publisher wants!
I hope there are many more because I NEED to know what happens next!
How much fun was it to go back to the Canterwood Crest characters?
So. Much. Fun. It’s a lovely blast from the past to see these characters that I’ve lived with in my head for so long. They’re all adults (!) now, which is wild. Returning to Canterwood Crest and some of my favorite characters has been a dream, and I hope OG Canterwood readers are having fun with their cameos in Saddlehill!
I am loving hearing about favorite characters.
Is it hard or fun to write a mean girl scene? And why?
It’s…shockingly easy for me. I don’t know what that says about me as a person, haha. But I love writing mean girls and coming up with the sabotage and their arguments is such a fun part of the job.
Are you the type of person who holds a grudge?
Not usually, no. If a person wrongs me and apologizes, I’ll typically give them another chance. Most of my mean girls in Canterwood and Saddlehill sure do hold grudges, though!
How do you come up with all the wonderful ideas for the drama?
I try to ask myself “what’s the worst that could happen?” within the framework of a scene and go from there. I pull ideas from media I’ve consumed and then put my own spin on them to fit the scene.
The drama is so good. I never want to put these books down.
Thank you so much for interviewing me, Jen! And happy Pride Month to all!
Happy Pride everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment