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GL Author Exclusives! Ruth Ames, author of This Totally Bites!Tells All
Here at GL, we have an undying love for reading and writing (shocker!). And we want to spread the love to all you girlies.
In this new series, we’ll spotlight accomplished writers to find out what inspires them, how they became novelists and the tricks of the trade they have learned along the way.
Who: Ruth Ames
Ruth’s latest project: This Totally Bites!, the first book in the new Poison Apple series from Scholastic. We chatted with Ruth about vampires, middle school and what’s to come for This Totally Bites! character Emma-Rose.
GL: Where did you pull inspiration from for your book, This Totally Bites! It couldn’t have been from real life…
RA: It actually was! My family, like Emma-Rose’s in the book, hails from Eastern Europe—an area very close to Transylvania. I grew up hearing stories about Count Dracula and vampires, about villagers hanging garlic on their doors. I’ve always had a big imagination (still do, guess that’s why I became a writer). I would wonder if someone in my family—or even me—might be a vampire! From that seed of an idea grew the story of This Totally Bites.
GL: How do you begin writing a story like this? Does it start off an outline on paper or an idea in your head?
RA: The idea is always in my head first—but then I need to put it down on paper so I don’t forget it…and so it can expand into a story. I like to write off an outline because it acts as a kind of “road map” for the book. You can veer off course a little if you need to, but it helps to have a sense of where you’re going.
GL: How does your book differ from other vampire books out there? Twilight and Vampire Academy come to mind.
RA: My editor likes to call This Totally Bites a kind of “tween Twilight” (say that five times fast!). The characters in my book are middle school students—not high schoolers—so their problems and dramas are a little bit different from those in Twilight and Vampire Academy. Also, there’s a big emphasis on friendship in This Totally Bites, and on self-discovery. But there is a little bit of flirting, too!
GL: Do you enjoy writing books for younger readers? Any particular reason why?
RA: I love it. I think younger readers are often passionate about books in a way that adult readers are not. I get e-mails from readers who are so enthusiastic, so affected by my books, and that means the world to me. Also, adolescence is such an exciting, rich time to explore—I wrote and read constantly growing up, so it’s wonderful to get back in touch with that part of me.
GL: What do you hope girls get out of This Totally Bites!?
RA: I hope readers will be drawn into this spooky, spine-tingling story of vampires, bats, and secrets set in New York City. I hope they relate to Emma-Rose and the other characters, and I hope they are inspired to let their imaginations roam…and maybe write a story of their own!
GL: Can we expect more Poison Apple books from you? Possibly more Emma-Rose?
RA: There’s currently no sequel planned for This Totally Bites, but that may change! And I’d be thrilled to write another Poison Apple. I’ll keep you guys posted about any new projects coming up.
Dying to take a bite of this tasty tale? CLICK HERE to check out all the deets on Poison Apple This Totally Bites!
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