DelSheree Gladden: Character Interview: Vanessa Roth (Wicked Hunger by DelSheree Gladden)

Welcome, Vanessa Roth, from DelSheree Gladden's YA novel, Wicked Hunger.

Vanessa Roth really tries to follow the rules her grandmother has put in place, because she knows it means keeping her secret safe, but it’s not easy. More often than not, her temper, emotions, or hunger land her in a whole mess of trouble.

1. How did you first meet your writer?

If I remember right, DelSheree was visiting Albuquerque for some kind of dental hygiene test. It seems like that’s all she was doing around that time. Anyway, I probably would have walked right by, but her daughter tripped and skinned her knee. Poor kid had forgotten her glasses again and didn’t see the curb. My hunger responded—don’t worry, I didn’t attack the poor girl—but my response caught DelSheree’s attention.

2. Want to dish about him/her?

As much as I enjoyed working with DelSheree, she tends to be a little forgetful. If she doesn’t put it in her phone with an alarm to remind her, shell space it out. Her life has been a little crazy, though, with school, job hunting, and family, so I understood and just sent a lot of reminders.

3. Did you ever think that your life would end up being in a book?

Oh, I pretty much knew someone would right my story from early on. I just expected it to be in the newspaper, under the crime blotter. Being the heroine of our story never crossed my mind.

4. Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

I don’t want to give away too much, but under the bleachers after the football game. That is the first glimmer of hope that I can be honest with Ketchup about what I am and not have him run away.

5. Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you?

There is a scene where I’m working with Noah at his house that we had some arguments about. DelSheree wanted it to go one way, but I knew what direction it was really supposed to go.

6. What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?

Controlling my hunger is always a high priority, so you’ll usually find me doing ballet or practicing Jeet Kune Do.

7. If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?

If I could rewrite anything, it would be before the book started when my brother Zander nearly killed Ketchup and ruined my chances of being with him.

8. Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?

Zander is one of the most pigheaded, frustrating people I know, but he’s my brother and I still love him. Ivy, that girl rubbed me wrong from the second I saw her stupid pink hair. Noah is so sweet and normal. Being around him makes me believe I can actually have that one day. Oscar, well, he’s certifiably nuts, but sometimes I still think he’s the sanest of anyone I know. And Ketchup…I better not say anything about Ketchup or I’ll jinx myself.

9. If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

Disappear with Ketchup, and NO I won’t tell you where we’d go or what we’d be doing.

10. What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they've known you for a while?

When I first meet people, they generally think I’m weird and moody. I’m generally just trying not to kill them. Not many people stick around to get to know me, but the few who do realize I’m actually a pretty nice person—minus the hunger issues—and I love music and dancing.

11. What's the worst thing that's happened in your life? What did you learn from it?

Both of my parents were murdered, and it taught me that protecting my family comes before anything else, including personal relationships.

12. Tell us about your best friend.

My best friend is Laney. She never stops talking, falls off her shoes on a regular basis, and makes me laugh when I really need someone to pull me out of my dark thoughts.

13. What are you most afraid of?

Losing the people I love.

14. What’s the best trait your author has given you? What’s the worst?

That would probably be the same trait for both. Passion. I am a very passionate person when it comes to protecting my friends and family, but it tends to put me in hot water fairly often as well.

15. How do you feel about your life right now? What, if anything, would you like to change?

Pretty uncertain, actually. I know that there are some big, scary events on the horizon, but I can’t pinpoint what they are or who is going to set them in motion. I’ve had to put my life in the hands of someone I don’t trust at all and that scares me more than I can tell you.

16. What aspect of your author’s writing style do you like best?

DelSheree always manages to capture the emotion of a scene just the way I remember it happening. She makes people feel what I felt so they really understand my story.

17. If your story were a movie, who would play you?

I’d have to go with AnnaSophia Robb. She seems tough info to take on my life!

18. Describe the town where you live.

I live in Albuquerque, NM. It’s big enough for us to hide in, but secluded enough that we won’t draw a ton of attention if something goes wrong.

19. Describe an average day in your life.

I’ve got school, like most normal kids, but along with classes to suffer through, I have to deal with keeping my hunger in check. There are dozens of kids at school that my hunger wants to make a snack out of, so it can get tricky trying to dodge all of them. After school I try to feed my hunger through the physical pain hours of dance practice gives me. When all else fails, Zander and I can always use each other to keep our hunger in check.

20. Will you encourage your author to write a sequel?

I have been hounding her daily to finish the next book! She’s almost halfway through it, but I’ll keep on her until it’s complete and ready to land on the editor’s desk. Readers are already asking for the next book!

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