Emily McIntire talks Hexed, what's next and not writing to tropes

Emily McIntire is an author who immediately hooked me. Of course, the first book I read of her was Hooked so I had to make that joke.

While Hooked is part of her most popular series, McIntire has written other titles which is something she touches on in our interview. Most notably, you might know McIntire due to her being a breast cancer thriver along with her fun videos on social media.

Regardless if you've read Emily McIntire's books before or not, you've likely heard of her. That's why I was so excited to be able to talk to her amidst the release of Hexed. Her Never After series is honestly one of my favorites of all-time and I truly couldn't wait to hear her thoughts on some of these questions.

With that being said, I'd like to thank both Leo PR and Emily McIntire for getting these back to me so quickly and for generally being awesome.

Emily McIntire talks Hexed and so much more in our interview.

One of the first questions I asked McIntire about what Hexed meant to her as a project and as the closing of her Never After series. She spoke about her recent social media message so I'm including the post below. Before that, she shared that: "It’s bittersweet to be ending the series, and a little scary because there’s always that fear of wondering if people will read what you put out next. As for an individual project, Hexed means everything to me." If anything, this makes me even more excited to pick up what's next from her.

Since I adore the series, I asked if there's any chance she'd write anything else set in the Never After world and McIntire explained: "Right now, there are other characters screaming in my head and dying to have their story told. But never say never, I suppose." While things can change, it seems like we're saying goodbye to the Never After series for now. Of course, we can always re-read which is the beauty of the entire thing.

When speaking about her favorite couples from the series: "My favorite is always the book that I’ve most recently released. So, right now, it’s Hexed. I become so immersed in that world that it’s a little heart breaking to say goodbye, so I feel a strong emotional attachment to them because I haven’t detached yet in order to write my next one. I also think Venesa and Enzo are my most romantic couple to date." I couldn't agree with her final sentiment as Venesa and Enzo are not only incredibly romantic but just downright hot. If you've read the book already, then you know what I mean.

Most notably, the thing I found most interesting from my interview with Emily McIntire is that she doesn't pre-plot her books. Rather, she said: "...the characters always drop in my head right when I need them to. The Little Mermaid was always a very highly requested one, so when Venesa started yapping, I knew people would be happy." Once again, I couldn't agree more as this might be my favorite of the entire Never After series.

In doing some author interviews, there are two questions I almost always ask, starting with which tropes authors want to write next and Emily McIntire surprised me with this one. She shared that "I don’t really frame my writing around tropes, they just naturally happen within the story. So, I’ll write any of them, as long as they naturally fit within the development of the plot and characters."

Then my final question was if she can tease anything about her next project or what we can expect from her next. She didn't disappoint in her response: "Who says I haven’t teased the next project already? *side eyes Hexed dramatically*

I can’t say much about my next project, but I am so excited to have my debut series—The Sugarlake books—hit stores starting in January of 2025. These aren’t dark romances, they’re angsty, gritty contemporary, and they’re interconnected standalones that follow a group of friends. They all have been re-edited, have brand new covers, bonus content, and new + extended scenes, so even people that have read it before will be in for a treat. It was so much fun to go back into the world that made me a published author and get to hang out with those characters. I can’t wait for more people to fall in love with them." While I was planning on reading this already, it's always nice to hear an author speak so passionately about their work.

Whether you picked up Hexed on a whim or have loved Emily McIntire's work for years, hopefully you'll learn something new about her and her writing as I did.

Hexed by Emily McIntire is out now where books are sold.