The Bookanistas: YOU WISH an interview with Mandy Hubbard

This week we'd like to welcome the amazing Mandy Hubbard to the Bookanistas! Mandy is the author of Prada & Prejudice, You Wish, and five other to-be-published novels for teens. She is also a literary agent for D4EO Literary, where she represents authors of middle grade and teen fiction. You Wish is her second novel and it releases today.

Naturally we had some very serious questions for her....

1. Tell us about your book in 140 characters or less.
Kayla's Sweet Sixteen Bites. She wishes all of her past birthday wishes would come true. Then they do, one every day. And its a wild ride.

2. Where did you get the idea for YOU WISH? (As the official idea whores we have a vested interest here.)
I am the sort of person who tends to actively brainstorm for ideas, rather than wait for the magical idea fairy to visit me. One of my ways is to think of things characters may want-- whether that is a realistic thing (Get into harvard! Get Revenge on someone! etc) or unrealistic (Make wishes come true via magic.)

One night I was falling alseep, thinking: What if you gave someone EVERYTHING they wished for-- not just their current, most-longed for desire, but things from that past? I remember grinning as I imagined a 16 year old getting a life-sized My Little Pony that she wanted when she was 3. And I thought to myself, "DUDE. It is a LIFE SIZED MY LITTLE PONY. How can I not write that book?" But I also thought, "It is almost midnight and you are half-asleep, there is no way this idea will sound as cool in the morning."

I actually FORGOT the idea for a couple of days and then it hit me again, and I knew I had to write it.

3. Someone has a pair of scissors to your head (oooh, SCARY!) and you have to choose: Awesome title or gorgeous book cover?
COVER!! I am obsessed with book covers, and they are far more memorable to me than titles. Sometimes I meet people and they tell me their title and I think I've never heard of it, then I see the cover and am like, *Facepalm*.

4. When did you know you had to be a writer?
Hmm.... 23? I started writing at 20. I wrote for three years (six or seven books) without ever thinking I was a writer. It was a hobby, not who I was. But then I read a regency romance, fell in love, and wanted to be published. And PRADA & PREJUDICE, my debut, does actually take place in Regency England. So it was like going full circle. :-)

5. Twizzlers or M&Ms?
Oh, uh-uh. I say Skittles. If you do not have skittles, we will go to the store and get them.

Now, go order your copy of YOU WISH. Our copy is on its way and can't wait to dive in!

Want to see what the other Bookanistas are up to on this steamy Thursday? Check out the links below:


Elana Johnson Recommends THE DUFF
Shelli Johannes-Wells Recommends PERSONAL DEMONS
Scott Tracey is Spreading Some Cover Love
Beth Revis Recommends THE ETERNAL ONES
Myra McEntire Shares the Top 10 Reasons She Loves The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassie Clare
Shannon Messenger Recommends CANDOR
Carolina Valdez Miller Recommends THE BODY FINDER