Interview with Becca Wilhite

Becca Wilhite
Photo: Scott Wilhite

Becca is the author of several YA books, including My Ridiculous, Romantic Obsessions. 

Christy:  Your characters are so lively, how do you go about creating them?

Becca:  Character is always my favorite part of a story -- mine or anyone else's. I put a generous dose of myself into my characters (that's where all their truly believable flaws come from) and then I try to make them as real as possible. I have made lists of traits, done fake "interviews" where I ask the characters questions, stolen freely from people I know, and just made up a whole bunch. I give them weaknesses that I can exploit for all kinds of comic effects later. That kind of makes me sound mean, doesn't it? But I guess all authors have a mean streak. Some of ours are bigger than others.

Christy:  Did you set out to be a writer?

Becca:  Not at all. I was always, always a reader, though. I didn't even take a single creative writing class when I was a university student. But once I decided I wanted to be a writer, I took a whole lot of classes and courses and everything I could get my hands on. I read a ton of books about writing. I love writers' conferences, and I recommend them to everyone (kid and adult) who wants to write. 

Christy:  What do you want readers to understand after they finish your books?

Becca:  I just want to provide a laugh. Maybe a tear or two. If anything else comes of it, that's bonus material. 

Christy:  What are you working on now? Do you have a novel in the works?

Becca:  I do! It's so fun. I'm in revisions with my agent for a YA fantasy that hopefully we will submit early in the fall. The book is called THE FIFTH GIFT, and I'll be sure to let you know if/when it gets picked up for publication. (I'm sure I'll be obnoxiously obvious about it.)

Christy:  What do you eat while you are reading/writing?

Becca:  I love salty stuff -- popcorn, mainly. (Popcorn with butter and ranch powder, or with garlic salt and parmesan cheese, or Jamaican jerk spice... whatever strikes my fancy.) I've been known to consume vast quantities of popcorn while reading (or watching movies). But I don't really eat while I'm writing. I save the snacks as a reward for finishing. Especially since a lot of my writing comes before sunrise. And popcorn at 5:30 a.m. is a little weird, even for me.