Interview with C.C. Wood, Author of I Crave You

What can you tell us about your new release, I Crave You?

I Crave You has been almost a year in the making. I had the story idea last summer but wasn’t able to start the actual writing process until the fall. I had so much fun writing this book, and the next, over the past six months. The characters made me smile, laugh, and sometimes groan in frustration. But I enjoyed every minute of it!

What or who inspired you to become an author?

My mother is the person who fostered my love of reading. She took me to the library every single week when I was growing up. It was from the love of reading that I found my passion for writing stories of my own. I’ve written stories and poetry since elementary school, but it was my sister-in-law who actually encouraged me to self-publish. She’d read several books by an up-and-coming indie author and knew I had written a couple of (horrible) romance novels in the past, and she told me I should write something else and publish it. That was eight years ago and I’m glad I took her advice.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

There are two books I read during my teen years that have stuck with me the most, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Bell Jar. In the last few years, I’ve also grown to love A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

I would invite Sarah J. Maas because I love her work and I would definitely want to ask her about her process for writing the Throne of Glass series. The characters, world-building, and timeline were so intricately connected that I want to pick her brain a little, maybe a lot, about how she did it.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

Telling stories that make me happy and, I hope, make other people happy when they read them. That’s one thing I love about the romance genre—the happily ever after. Or even the happy for now endings. There is enough uncertainty and pain in the world and there are times that it’s nice to put that aside for a few hours and watch people grow and fall in love, even if they’re fictional.

What is a typical day like for you?

Pre-COVID19, I had a solid routine. I would get up in the morning at 5 a.m., work before I took my daughter to school, go for a run, work some more until it was school pick-up time, and then spend the rest of the afternoon and evening doing homework, making dinner, and spending time with my family. Now, there is no schedule. There are no rules. Chaos reigns! I still go for runs and write, but I have to fit it in between homeschool lessons and feeding a seven-year-old who is always hungry.

What scene from I Crave You was your favorite to write?

I enjoy writing love stories, but the scenes between Cameron and her best friend, Sierra, were my absolute favorite to write in I Crave You. I guess that’s a different sort of love story, though. A story about the love we can have for the family we make with our friends.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

It sounds extremely corny, but I try to find joy wherever I can. Things have been so very dark in our world this year that it’s difficult to find the moments that can lighten that load. So, even though I know it will be a lot of hard work and long while before the state of the world improves, I also know that finding happiness in any place I can will help. And sharing that happiness as much as possible might help someone else.

C.C. Wood is the author of the new book I Crave You.

Connect with C.C.
Author Site
Facebook