Article contributed by Tessa Qi
We had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Stephanie Garber, who is best known for her best-selling YA series, Caraval. This year, Garber releases her latest novel Once Upon A Broken Heart, so we chat all about this new novel, writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Stephanie! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your latest novel, Once Upon a Broken Heart?
Hello! I’m a young adult fantasy author. I love writing books with morally gray characters, deceptively magical worlds, and kissing. Once Upon a Broken Heart is my newest book and it is all about broken hearts, curses, and the lengths that people will go to for a happily ever after.
What three words would you use to describe Once Upon a Broken Heart?
Fantastically bad decisions.
Did you encounter any difficulties whilst writing this book?
Once Upon A Broken Heart is set in the same universe as Caraval, but I really wanted to make sure this book could be read without reading the Caraval series. It was a bit of a tricky thing to balance because I knew some readers would enter into this book already knowing one of my main characters—Jacks—while other’s would be meeting him for the very first time, and I really wanted to write a book that would appeal to both. It was definitely a challenge to do this, but it was an exciting one and I can’t wait to see how both sets of readers respond to this story.
What was your favourite part or scene to write?
It involves biting—I can’t say more because spoilers, but you should know it when you get there.
Would you consider writing some POVs from Jacks in the sequels?
Great question! I’m actually considering it right now. I’m revising the sequel to OUABH. Currently it is only from Evangeline’s perspective, but I’m thinking of adding some scenes from Jacks’s point of view. I haven’t mentioned this to my editor yet, so it might not happen, but I really think it would be fun to do.
Will we get to see other characters from the Caraval series returning in the rest of the series?
I’m not sure yet . . . but it’s definitely a possibility.
Was the writing experience different for you when writing this book in comparison to the Caraval series?
Each book in the Caraval series was a completely different writing experience. So, on the whole I would say this was different than writing that series. But I a lot of ways it was very similar to writing Caraval. Caraval was a book that really came from my heart. I wrote the story because I loved it so much I felt as if I had to write it—and I believed that other people would love it just because I loved it, which is exactly how I felt writing Once Upon A Broken Heart. And like Caraval, OUABH was just really fun to write.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
This is a tricky one. I think the thing that helps me the most is shutting out all the outside voices—specifically taking breaks from social media. I’ve found that more than anything, too much social media makes it hard for me to concentrate on my writing and when I’m able to cut it out completely, I rarely, if ever, suffer from writer’s block.
Are you currently working on the sequel? What can we expect in the next book?
Yes! The sequel to OUABH is drafted and right now I’m waiting on notes from my editor. I can’t say much about the book storywise—sorry!—but as soon as I have more information I will be sharing it on my social media.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Yes! I recently read and loved These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan. It has a fae love triangle, which I feel is all I really need to say about that book. Another book, which also has a love triangle that I adored is Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. This one is adult fantasy and it doesn’t come out until next year, but the world building is magnificent, the storytelling is fascinating, and the writing is beautiful, so I’ve been recommending it to everyone.
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