Interview with Kate Williams for For Better or Cursed
For Better or Cursed (The Babysitters Coven #2)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: September 15th 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Witches, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary, Magic Realism, Fiction
Synopsis:
Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this funny, action-packed sequel about a coven of witchy babysitters who realize their calling to protect the innocent and save the world from an onslaught of evil.
Esme Pearl's life used to be all about bumming rides and babysitting. Sure, it wasn't glamorous, but it was predictable. All that changed when Cassandra Heaven came to town, and they discovered their complicated, and connected, legacy: Esme and Cassandra are Sitters, supernaturally-gifted teens armed with an ever-changing grimoire of Sitter witchcraft to help them protect the innocent and keep evil demons at bay. You know, the typical teenage stuff.
But just as Esme is starting to adjust to--and maybe even like--her new normal, life lobs another glitter bomb her way. The Synod--the Sitterhood's governing circle--has called a Summit, a once-in-a-generation gathering that promises training, education, and whole lot of ice-breakers.
Esme should be excited--a Summit might mean she can finally get the answers she desperately wants--but she can't shake a building sense of panic. Especially since Cassandra's not acting like herself; Esme's dad is MIA; Pig is out of dog food; Janis is scared to be alone; and there's a guy who seems too good to be true, again. Worst of all, it soon becomes clear, there's no one watching the kids. It's obvious the Summit is a haute mess, but will it be a deadly one, too?
Can you briefly describe THE BABYSITTERS COVEN series, what’s happening in FOR BETTER OR CURSED and its characters?
The Babysitters Coven series follows two teenagers, Esme and Cassandra, who discover they are Sitters, which are superpowered witches charged with protecting the innocent and keeping evil at bay! I like to think of the series as a nostalgic mash-up of pop culture tropes and YA genres.
In For Better or Cursed, the entire Sitterhood convenes on Esme and Cassandra’s hometown for a weekend of training and education. What could go wrong? Everything. Literally, everything.
Could you describe your FOR BETTER OR CURSED with emojis?
🎄🐷🐓 🐓 😡 🏃♀️ 🏃♀️😂
Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?
For Better or Cursed brings several new characters into the fold, and one of them in particular was really fun to write. She’s from New York and is very worried about bedbugs.
How did the second book occur to you? Did you have a different process than with THE BABYSITTERS COVEN?
I would like to say that I had more of a plan with For Better or Cursed than I did with The Babysitters Coven, but I was still flying by the seat of my pants for most of it. I knew I wanted to bring in some new characters, but it took me a while to figure out the right way to do so.
If you could choose one song to describe FOR BETTER OR CURSED, which one would it be?
For Better or Cursed takes place in December, right before Christmas, and The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” plays a big part in the book. I love this song and listen to it all year round.
What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?
Hot chocolate and being cozy by the Christmas tree! Or, if you’re Esme, iced coffee and the thrift store!
Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish FOR BETTER OR CURSED?
These are not YA books, but I love Grady Hendrix’s My Best Friend’s Exorcism and Edgar Cantero’s Meddling Kids. They are both fantastic authors who really have perfected the nostalgic genre-blend that I am trying to achieve with my own work.
What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book and, especially, a second book in a series?
I love drafting! It’s a really fun stage where ideas come to you and you just get to throw any-and-everything onto the page. The first rewrite is when it gets hard, because that’s when you have to pull all of those ideas together and make them make sense.
In a way, the second book was easier because I knew the characters really well. It was also hard, though, because it had to stay true to what happened in the first book, even if there were places where I would have preferred to take things in a different direction.
What’s next for you?
I am just finishing up the third book in the series, which I have to say is probably my favorite. I am so excited about the title, too!
I’m the author of the YA novel The Babysitters Coven.
I also write for magazines, including Cosmopolitan, NYLON, Elle, Women's Health, Shape, Time Out New York, Monster Children, Russh, Oyster, The Fader, NME, H&M, Smith Journal, Gather Journal, KnitWit, Popular, Style.com and more.
I have ghostwritten New York Times bestsellers, celebrity tell-alls, memoirs, how-tos, and beauty bibles (Shh…. I was never here, and you haven’t seen me.)
And, just ‘cause we’re still talking about me, I’ve also written windows, billboards, emails and captions, captions, captions for brands such as Urban Outfitters, Nasty Gal, Vans, Calvin Klein, Nike, Lively, BAGGU and more.
I love to write about witches, teenagers, girls behaving badly, palm trees, and other forms of magic. Teenage girl witches behaving badly under the palm trees is my penultimate subject.
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