Author Interview: Inara Scott

Inara Scott is the author of The Candidates and The Marked, books one and two in the Delcroix Academy series. (The Candidates review here)

Me: Where did you get the idea for The Candidates?
Inara Scott: I wanted to write a book where you couldn't tell who the good guys or the bad guys were.

Me: Did you want to be a writer growing up?
IS: Yes. but I didn't realize it was a profession so I thought about being a lawyer.

Me: How long did it take you to write The Candidates
IS:  About 4 to 6 months for the first draft.

Me: Did you plan before you started writing?
IS: Yes! I had very detailed outlines and color-coordinated story boards. I used different colored post it notes to symbolize whether there it was an action scene, romance scene, etc.

Me: Why did you turn the focus of the book to romance?
IS: I wanted the book to be about choices, and one of the choices was whether Dancia would choose Jack or Cam.

Me: How much of an impact did your editor have on your book?
IS: There was a very big difference between my first draft and the published book. My editor had me change the school into a boarding school, and added the character Catherine. I originally had the book end a few scenes earlier then the finished version, but my editor had me add several things.

Me: If The Candidates was turned into a movie, who would you want to play Dancia?
IS: Emma Watson.

The Candidates

Title: The Candidates (also published as The Talents)

Author: Inara Scott

Rating: 2 stars

Summary: Dancia Lewis has a secret: whenever she sees a person threaten someone she cares about, things "happen." Dancia does all she can to stay under the radar, but when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy offer her a scholarship, she reluctantly accepts.

Review: It started off awesome. Dancia has these awesome powers and is selected to attend a prestigious boarding school. (We all know it's a special school that's going to train her) I was all for that. Surprisingly, no one knows about the magic-ness of the school so when one kids figures out about it, it's this big conspiracy thing. I was really excited because hello, magic school conspiracies are awesome! But instead of making the book about that, which the author should have, she instead focused on whether Dancia should be with Jack or Cam. Seriously? I had to fight the urge to throw this book against the wall when the school conspiracy concept was pretty much abandoned in favor of the stupid romance. I gave it two stars instead of one because I really liked the beginning.