Ana Huang talks King of Sloth, The Striker and more in our interview

Some romance authors just get you and for me, one of those is Ana Huang. That's why I jumped on the chance to be able to interview her ahead of the release of King of Sloth.

For those who don't know Ana Huang, you might be living under a rock as her books have blown up on BookTok, BookTube, and Bookstagram. Most notably, her Twisted series is a favorite as it features Twisted Love, Twisted Games, Twisted Hate, and Twisted Lies.

After wrapping up the Twisted series, she started her Kings of Sin series which is currently being published by Bloom Books and it is easily her best work yet. However, she's not slowing down at all as she already has releases planned for the fall, too.

Thankfully, we were able to sit down and talk with her about King of Sloth, her other series, and even, get a question answered that I've been dying to know about so let's get into it.

Ana Huang talks King of Sloth, her writing process and more!

I'd like to thank both Ana Huang and Jill Fritzo PR for setting this up. It was an absolute dream to be able to talk to Ana even if I did fangirl a little bit. I didn't think I did but maybe she did. Either way, she was a gem and I'm so happy we were able to connect.

Culturess: King of Sloth is your next release and we’re so excited about it. What made you decide to tackle the Sin of Sloth next?

Ana Huang: The order kind of comes about organically. I didn't really plan the order of the sins when I was first writing it. I just knew Wrath was going to be first but then Xavier who is the hero for King of Sloth, just ended up popping up when I was writing some of the previous books and it just felt like the right time for his story to be told.

Culturess: Is there any teasers or details you can share about King of Sloth?

Ana Huang: I don't want to give too many spoilers away. But as you may know, some of my books feature travel destinations in them and that is true for King of Sloth as well. I will say I think the travel in this book comes a little earlier compared to some of my previous books. It also ties into some forced proximity aspects of their story. So that's all I can say for now.

Culturess: Most people know you from your Twisted series but did you imagine that series would blow up as it did?

Ana Huang: No, not really. It was kind of wild. I kind of just wrote off the things that I wanted to see as a reader. I was fortunate enough that when it launched I had a lot of people in the Bookstagram and BookTok community who were kind enough to share and promote it.

You know, things kind of took off from there, but even in 2021 when it was released, I didn't imagine that it was still kind of the same residence today. It's been definitely kind of a wild ride.

Culturess: Speaking of the Twisted world, I adore the little Easter eggs in the Kings of Sin world. Was it always your plan to have those worlds be interconnected?

Ana Huang: I wouldn't say it was my plan from the very beginning. Because when I wrote Twisted Love, I was still kind of exploring where I was as a writer and where I wanted my books to go. By the time Twisted Lies came out, I knew because that was when we first saw Dante, the hero of King Of Wrath.

By the time that came around, I kind of knew. Even as a reader, I loved authors' universes. It feels like a little sneak peek. Whether it's locations or characters from other series, it’s a very cozy feeling of coming home to a familiar world. It's something that I really love. By the time I got through the Twisted series, I knew I wanted to have an overall Ana Huang universe.

Culturess: Last question about the Twisted series, but do you think you’d ever revisit that world or those characters? I know many have asked about next-gen!

Ana Huang: There is not going to be a next-gen series. At most, one day, maybe I will write an epilogue and that will be the extra thing I do for the Twisted series. But no, there's not going to be a next-gen series and there's not going to be another couple from that series.

Culturess: Moving onto your If Love series, this is a series I devoured and can't wait to see Bloom Books publish it. Will these new editions feature any new content?

Ana Huang: The new additions will not feature new content but they do have very cool first editions which I recently announced on Instagram. They will have sprayed edges and a special spine design with different locations where every book takes place. I'm very excited about that.

This isn't specific to the republished version, but I do have bonus content on my website for the If Love and Twisted series.

Culturess: Your If Love series does have some sports elements in it, but how has it been writing The Striker?

Ana Huang: Yeah, it's definitely been interesting, for sure, and a lot of fun. I think it's something that's very different from what I usually write which is always fun and a bit of a challenge. But in a good way.

It definitely has a little bit more of a sports element in it than the If Love series just in terms of how much I focus on the game and the lifestyle of the athletes. The hardest part for me is that it is set in London so sometimes in my mind I have to make sure that I'm not putting too many Americanisms in it. I'm like, Okay, would a British person actually say that and do some research into the actual game and then what goes on, especially behind the scenes or these footballers?

It's been really fun and I have loved writing so far so I'm really excited for people to read it in September.

Culturess: Are there any tropes you'd like to explore in the future that you haven't done yet?

Ana Huang: I have written most of the tropes that I love and one I haven't explored yet is single so we may or may not see that in a future book. It depends on the character so we'll see.

Culturess: Last but not least, we know that The Striker is coming in September but do you have any other projects in the works that you can share?

Ana Huang: Well The Striker is coming in September and then it's King of Envy which is the next book in the Kings of Sin series. Between The Striker series and the Kings of Sin, I'll be busy for quite a while but I already have an idea of what I want to write after both those series are complete.

I can't say much yet but it is still set in the same universe and it will feature a character I think a lot of readers really were excited about when they first met them.