Hannah Jennings first published with us in 2014. Her book Secret Society began the story of Blaise Pryde, a shapeshifter and leader of her pack. But Blaise’s story was far from over at the end of the book and now the sequel, Secret Kingdom, is being released tomorrow. Hannah answered some questions with us to celebrate the book’s launch.

1. How would you describe Secret Kingdom and who would you say it is aimed at?

I would describe Secret Kingdom as a sequel to Secret Society first and there’s action, a little bit of adventure and romance. I would say that it’s aimed at anyone who enjoyed Secret Society and older teens. I wrote it mainly for teens but from talking to adults who have read it I think anyone who likes fantasy and magic realism books would enjoy it.

2. This is the sequel to Secret Society. How do the plot and the characters develop in the second book?

I would say that the plot definitely develops in terms of setting up for the third book, we meet a lot more of the angels and people from Kayle’s past, and it also touches on the fallout between Kayle and his brother. There are certain incidents that force Blaise and Kayle to grow up and explore aspects of themselves that they didn’t know they had. I do feel sorry for Vlad in this one, he really has to go through a lot in this book which does change him, but whether that changes him for the better has yet to be seen.

3. Secret Society was published in 2014. Did you always know you were going to write a sequel? Has what you originally planned for the story changed over time?

I think I did always know that Secret Society wouldn’t be the only book in this series, there was so much more to Blaise’s story that I wanted to say and I wanted to explore the angels a lot more as they are only touched upon in the first book. Yes, definitely. Certain characters who have a supporting role in the story weren’t meant to be so prevalent and there is a major turning point towards the end of the book involving Vlad and Damillias that wasn’t supposed to go on for so long. I surprised myself when I wrote that cliffhanger, that character was not meant to do that!

4. What gave you the idea for the series?

I’m not sure what gave me the idea. Without sounding cheesy or cliché I think I was inspired by books and movies, dreams and random little ideas that popped into my head. It wasn’t one particular thing that gave me the idea but lots of little things and the hardest part was trying to sort out the multitude of ideas - some of the ideas I had I was able to fit into the Secret’s Trilogy but others have turned into stories in their own right.

5. The book ends on a definite cliffhanger! Can you give us a sneak peek of what might be to come in the next book in the series?

All I can say without giving out major spoilers is that everything comes to a head and the humans and supernaturals are forced to work together. I hope that I answer all the questions you’ve been asking and since this is the final book to the series there is an event that I knew would be the final scene and I’m really looking forward to writing that.

6. Blaise’s world is full of supernatural beings. Which supernatural creature would you most like to be and why?

I think it would be cool to be a shapeshifter like Blaise, you could be a literal fly on the wall and listen in on conversations, but I would like to be an angel or something with wings. I’d be able to visit everywhere in the world without having to worry about the cost. I could fly all over the world and with the portal system that both the fallen and white angels use it would be instant and free.

7. Other than this series, are you working on anything else? Will you be branching out into other genres?

I am working on a few other stories, mainly fantasy and magic realism since I really enjoy the world-building aspect and fitting magic systems into the modern everyday world, I like the idea of hidden worlds and societies and how they make the ordinary extraordinary. That being said I do have a sci-fi book that does blur the edges between sci-fi and fantasy that I’m hoping to turn into a duology and publish soon.

8. What are some of your favourite young adult fantasy books?

I really enjoy the Harry Potter books - I’m a total Potterhead - and anything to do with vampires and witches. I like the House of Night books by PC and Kristen Cast as well as the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine but I have far too many favourite books to list.  

9. What advice would you give to any young writers who want to be published?

The best piece of advice that I would give is don’t be discouraged. It’s hard to find the right publisher but if you write it then someone will take the chance on you and publish it - I think the amazing J K Rowling was rejected 7 or 8 times before Bloomsbury took a risk on the story of an orphaned 11-year-old wizard.