Welcome to our first ever interview on Tarts’ Wardrobe!

Georgia Beaverson is a Madison, WI author and freelance writer/editor whose first title The Hidden Arrow of Maether (Delacorte 2000), a mid-grade fantasy, was published under her pen name Aiden Beaverson. She’s now moved into young adult fiction and has recently written a paranormal romance featuring werewolves.

Why did you choose werewolves over other paranormal romantic possibilities (like, say, hot vampires)? 

I love how connected to the earth and to their physical selves wolves, and by extension werewolves, are. The idea of being able to increase the intensity of the human senses, well, that’s pretty exciting, isn’t it? And somehow, relating physically to what is essentially an animated corpse, well, that feels kind of creepy to me. I’m not saying that vampires can’t be hot, but I personally prefer something warm to snuggle with.

Can you tell us a little bit about your story?

My protagonist, Fil, is fat, funny, smart and snarky. She’s new to a small-town school in a fictional northern Wisconsin town, and her senses immediately start picking up all kinds of extra-normal information — especially her sense of smell. In particular, she can’t help but notice one hot guy, Nick Varger, who simultaneously takes a big interest in her. His odor is delicious and tantalizing and unnerving. Slowly, Fil starts to realize that whatever is happening to her is somehow tied to Nick. In the words of Glen Hansard of The Frames, they are “in this boat together.” The boat just happens to be turning into a werewolf.

How did you research this book? 

I used a combination of listening to music (The Frames, Snow Patrol, Emmett Tinley to inspire the relationship part of the book) and reading (for the cultural aspects of the werewolf legends). I latched onto some Irish and Scandinavian shape-shifter details, and combined them with other things to create my own werewolf lore. Spent time putting myself in Fil’s shoes, and in Nick’s, wondering how it would feel to have your entire body change, how it would feel to be much more connected to everything around you in a very animal way, how it would feel to start a relationship with someone who had the same gigantic secret. I researched some medieval stuff to come up with some small details to make myself happy, and tried to keep much of the shifter (aka, werewolf) behavior tied to real wolf behavior to ground it in reality.

Janet and I have been discussing the merits of the Twilight books and the Twilight phenomenon — what do you think of this series?

I think Twilight had a lot to live up to. Vampire books have long had a strong romantic/sexy aspect, so there’s nothing new in a romance book with a vampire as the love interest. That said, while I thoroughly enjoyed reading Twilight itself, I did feel disappointed in the protagonist, Bella, and in her relationship with Edward, especially in the subsequent books. Jacob seemed a much more fully developed character than either of them, one who actually changes and grows as opposed to just reacting to outside events. In my mind, he was the hero of the books and he flattened into a less dimensional character in the final novel. That was just a shame.

Do you have any super fab werewolf or paranormal romance titles you’d recommend?

Robin McKinley’s Sunshine, which I wouldn’t necessarily classify as a romance although it does have romantic tension running throughout, has vampires. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong, has werewolves. And of course the marvelous Scott Westerfeld’s Peeps and The Last Days have vampires. Wonderfully original and NOT romance novel-y. I hear that Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate (werewolves) is really good, but I just bought it today (I can read it now that my book’s written). But above them all towers Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who it must be said, started her life in a script and is therefore a genuine literary character (in my book, anyway). And she’s just butt-kicking good! I know there are many other excellent vamp/werewolf novels; these are the ones that spring to mind immediately.

I know that you aren’t certain of your title yet and we want people to be able to find your book once it’s out — are you planning to put your new werewolf book out under your given name or your pen name?

I will probably publish under Aiden Beaverson again since I started my fiction career with it. But don’t be surprised if I revert to Georgia; a girl’s allowed to change her mind at a moment’s notice, right? And please let your readers know that this book is the first in a series; I’m seriously working away at book number two (and listening to Emmett Tinley nonstop for inspiration).