This week YA Author Amanda DeWitt took over our Twitter as a part of our weekly Thursday Twitter Takeover. Amanda DeWitt is the author of Aces Wild: A Heist (See YEM’s write up of Amanda DeWitt here.) See highlights from the takeover below.
I’ve been writing since I was 11 or 12, but I didn’t complete my first novel until I was 21, after I graduated college. It was 7 years between that first manuscript and when ACES WILD published September of this year! #YAauthorTakeover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 29, 2022
Which is why AW ended up a Las Vegas adventure. And then I wrote my 2nd book, WREN MARTIN RUINS IT ALL…about just kids at school! It turns out that they can be funny too. WREN is also my first romcom, which I never thought I’d write either. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/IgbYRc29sl
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 29, 2022
I never expected to be a contemp author, I wrote fantasy before, but I love it! It’s been amazing to work with everyone at @PeachtreeTeen and I’m so excited to have WREN MARTIN out next fall, and then another book in fall 2024! But more on that in the future (; #YAauthorTakeover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 29, 2022
One frequent question I get is what would MY role in a heist be? Well. It would be to crawl through the air ducts. I know this in my bones. My friends would come up with a reason to involve air ducts just to make me crawl through them. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/TOBKanrMm1
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 29, 2022
You can also check out the longer interview I did for @YoungEntmag here! Check out the question about the writing process! This is what the emotional state of an author on deadline looks like 🥲 #YAauthorTakeoverhttps://t.co/lgT24Vx1ME
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 29, 2022
AW received a lot of agent interest, but only 2 offers. Similarly, a lot of editors passed on it because of the gambling element. It received one offer of publication from Peachtree, for their new Peachtree Teen imprint. I can’t think of a better home for it! #YAauthorTakeover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 29, 2022
I always imagined AW as having a bright and bold cover, and I got everything I wanted with the amazing neon design by Víctor Bregante and designed by Adela Pons. From the first sketches, the hotel sign-like design was perfect #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/ilrosH7T5I
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
The phrase I hear the most is ‘I wish I had this book when I was a teen’, starting from my editor but repeated by so many readers. Writing the book I wanted as a teen is how AW came to be, and it’s amazing to see it join the growing amount of ace YA books #YAauthorTakeover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
One part of the ACES WILD origin story is that the idea first came to me at a magic show! The ace = asexual card pun was obvious, but my first thought was Las Vegas magic show. That evolved into high stakes casinos and blackjack instead, and the rest is history #YAauthorTakeover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
Another big inspiration was SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo, everyone’s favorite heist YA, including mine. Both my agent and my editor compared Jack to a modern asexual Kaz Brekker, which I loved! Though Jack is definitely less violent😂 #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/cxxunp6KLy
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
In AW, Jack meets up with his online asexual support group, so a huge inspiration were my own online friends. In a lot of ways, this book is a love letter to them and how much they mean to me. Jack’s friends are definitely a found family, and mine are too #YAauthortakover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
If I could tell other ace writers one thing, it would be that there IS a place for your stories out there. I knew I wanted a book with an all-asexual cast, but I didn’t know if publishing would want it too. I was uncertain, but I’m glad it didn’t stop me #YAauthorTakeover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
If you asked me if I was ready to publish when I finished that first book at age 21, I would have said yes, but I definitely wasn’t. Not all the twists and turns were fun, but each of them were valuable when it came to finally being a debut author #YAauthorTakeover
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
Aaand its 8pm, so that's all from me! Find me at @AmandaMDeWitt and your local bookstore in the form of ACES WILD: a heist! And keep an eye out for WREN MARTIN RUINS IT ALL in fall 2023 for more ace shenanigans. In the meantime, have a happy new year! 🥳
— Teen Wolf Interviews Coming… (@YoungEntmag) December 30, 2022
