Guest Blog Post with Aimee Carter

Aimee Carter is the author of the fabulous Young Adult book combining the ancient world with our contemporary one, The Goddess Test  

Aimee very sweetly answered 5 of my questions as part of promoting her book with guest blog posts. 

Nayu: Kate is of a good moral grounding to be selfless and give up her freedom to save others, once she knows what the consequences of ignoring Henry are. There are moments when she is understandably selfish, for example in wanted to keep her mother around for longer. Is this selflessness the main characteristic you wanted readers to think about? 

Aimee: When I create characters, traits aren't necessarily the main things I work with. My primary focus is motivation (and, of course, how the prominent character traits affect it). With Kate especially, I think her desperation to save her mother and her willingness to do anything to make that happen may come off as both selfless in what she must do to see this come true, and selfish for her reasons behind it - for wanting more time with her mother, who is in so much pain. But that motivation and what it leads to - especially selflessness - is definitely one of her strongest characteristics, and it comes into play later on in the series as well. 

Nayu: I was a little disappointed that Kate got her way with her own clothes, as no matter how uncomfortable they are, I love historical outfits. What made you choose those particular dresses, as they are far from Ancient Greek fashion? 

Aimee: I chose those particular dresses because of  Ella - because she wanted to make Kate as uncomfortable as possible. Without getting into any spoilers, given who  Ella is, the idea of what Kate's going through doesn't sit well with her, and in a way she's trying to make Kate miserable in the hope that she won't be pushed into marrying a god. And let's face it, wearing a corset might just be enough to do the trick.

Nayu:  Is there are particular reason why the characteristics of the gods and goddesses weren't made more obvious so the reader could realise who they were? (Either that or I was sleepy when I read the book). 

Aimee: There are several hints sprinkled throughout the story, but when I wrote it, I'd hoped that if people ever read it, many would be familiar with Greek mythology already. And I did want the twist in the ending to be a surprise for them. 

Nayu: Would you ever consider telling the tale of the other girls, the ones who failed or perhaps even Persephone? It must have been so hard for everyone to watch them die, especially Henry who cared for them more than he cared to admit. 

Aimee: Yes! I would absolutely love to write short stories or novellas based on a handful  of those girls. One in particular, who shows up int he second book, has some fun backstory I would love to write out someday. As for Persephone, I can't promise anything for sure at this point, but somewhere down the line you may be able to read what really happened to her for yourself. 

Nayu: Last question: what's your favourite snack and drink while you write? 

Aimee: I usually don't eat anything while I write, since my hands are preoccupied. And as for drinks, I usually stick with water or hot chocolate, depending on the seasons. 

I'd like to thank Aimee for such interesting answers. Hot chocolate is the best winter drink!  

You can find out more about Aimee on  her website.