Interview with Jasinda and Jack Wilder, authors of Captured - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Blogger

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Interview with Jasinda and Jack Wilder, authors of Captured

WILDER

Synopsis

captured coverYou go into combat, you fear death. It’s what keeps you careful, keeps you alive. I’ve faced death more times than I can count. I’ve taken bullets. I’ve taken lives. 

But nothing can prepare me for the soul-crushing terror of being captured. 

***

I married a Marine. I knew the risks. Every time my husband shipped out, I knew there was a chance he wouldn’t come back. But Thomas always did. Always. Then one day two officers in full dress uniform knocked on my door and shattered my world. 

How do you keep going when you lose what made life worth living?

Interview with Jasinda and Jack

Tell us about Captured.

Captured is a standalone sequel to Wounded, featuring Hunter Lee’s buddy Derek West. It’s set in and around the war in Afghanistan, dealing in depth with the effects of war on men and women, on relationships, on love. And, like our other books, it’s an homage to the healing power of love.

How did this story come about? Were you inspired immediately after Wounded or did this story come to you guys over time?

We had ideas for a Wounded sequel pretty much right away, and when we started to get a lot of feedback requesting a second book, we knew we had to figure something out.  I *Jasinda* came up with the title and the core notion of a captive soldier and the letter, oh, I think it was in the fall of 2013, actually. Jack and I talked the idea out over the course of several months. So, I guess the answer to your question is both.

Did the story come quickly once the idea took flight?

Yes and no. The original idea took some time to work out. Originally it was a photograph that Derek carried, but then the Zac Efron movie came out and we had to shift tactics, which was propitious, since the letter works so much better for our story anyway. Getting a book from idea to the first word on the Mac is always a process of months. But once we start writing, yes, it goes really fast.

Many think that this book is about war, but it’s really so much more than that. Can you both comment on this. How would you describe the story.

JACK: As with Wounded, a lot of people are scared to pick this book up, thinking it’s a war story. But, as with Wounded, the war is a setting, and catalyzer for events. It’s a means of establishing motive, if you want to get technical. The war itself is not the story. We certainly don’t shy away from depicting war with the devotion to accuracy and unflinching accuracy and realism as we do anything else, because we want the reader to FEEL the book, to be immersed, as that’s when they really connect. You can’t understand where Derek and Reagan are coming from without a strong sense of history, without the war as a very awful reality.

JASINDA: The story dictates all. It’s been said by countless other artists that the act of creation is more like carving away what doesn’t belong from the image, than actually forming something new, and that’s how it is with us. Captured is the story of Derek and Reagan, and what you read is what exists for us as the story. It’s a love story, first and foremost. We write about love, about the capacity for love to heal and mend and bring people past pain.

You have both written books that put our protagonists in situations that are sometimes impossible to process or work through. In this story, both Derek and Reagan struggle so much with their feelings. Guilt. Insecurities. Fear. Their pasts and their presents colliding. What is it about those emotionally impossible situations that call to you?

The impossible is what makes books unputdownable, to us. Life is often impossible. We have both lived through situations that seemed impossible, that had no easy or clear solution, so to us, it’s also just what we know. We don’t want to write about the same situations, the same scenarios or characters. We want our readers to never know what they’re getting into then they open a book, except compelling plots, believable characters, clear and beautiful prose, and professional packaging.

Jasinda, you write books that range from the super steamy to lighthearted romance to emotional powerhouses. How do you adapt your frame of mind from one type of book to another? Is there one type of book you enjoy writing the most?

As I said a couple questions ago, the story dictates what it will be, what will happen and how it will feel to read it. I don’t really have to shift my mindset, i just have to be willing to listen to the story and tell it as it demands to exist. I couldn’t pick one kind of book, no. They’re all fun, and different. I couldn’t write one type over and over, though, I get burnt out and bored, which is why we’re always shifting things up, because we like to feel surprised by what we’re working on as much as our readership does.

Tell us about what’s next after Captured. You’ve got a calendar full of releases — like usual — coming up!

Take a look at what we have up on preorder. That’ll tell you what’s next immediately. BETA, which I can promise you will be super fun, super sexy, and absolutely riveting, but in a different way than ALPHA. There’s TRASHED, which is going to feel a lot like STRIPPED, in terms of character type and emotional punch/sexy-times balance. Falling Away, the fourth book in the Falling series. That one…oh boy. We’re excited for that one. It’s gonna be good. Ben gets his book. that’s all I can say about that one. Beyond that? We have ideas, but nothing I can really hint at yet. Jack has Scavenger’s War on the burner. There’s a project we’re working on that, if it works out right, will be totally unlike anything we’ve ever done before.

Reading Order and Links

Captured can be read as a standalone, but is considered a follow-up to Wounded,
featuring connected characters.

wounded captured cover

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2 Comments:


  1. Livia said:

    Good interview! I was surprised to learn that the books are slightly different than the initial impression I got reading the synopsis for each. I haven’t read either book yet but I might now. Thanks!

    Reply

  2. Barrie Mac (@BooksForMe2) said:

    I loved, Loved, LOVED Captured. I was sucked in from the first page and didn’t breathe till the last! It was such an emotionally charged love story and I. LOVED.IT. I had NO idea there was a story about Hunter! Just purchased it and can’t wait to read it!!!

    Reply

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