BOOKS

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.

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.

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.

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!

  

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.

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!

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!

check these out!

• WIN! Fill your shelves with these spectacular spring reads
• Romance books to read, based on your favorite Taylor Swift album
• Our fave YA retellings of classic fairy tales
• If you love The Vampire Diaries, add these reads to your TBR

you might like these

• 5 romantasy books you should be reading rn
• Just the perfect TBR (that's tote bag rec) to match your TBR
• 4 mystery books to get you out of a reading slump
• What you should read next, based on your fave song from The Tortured Poets Department