The Elite, the sequel to Kiera Cass’ 2012  debut The Selection, hits shelves today. And fans of the series—myself included—couldn’t be happier. The trilogy follows 17-year-old America Singer as she enters the Selection, a lottery in which girls from all castes are chosen to compete for a chance to marry Prince Maxon. And while America finds herself unexpectedly falling for the prince, she can’t forget the boy she left behind, Aspen. In honor of The Elite‘s release, Cass answered some of our burning questions about the series. (Unfortunately, the author remained tight-lipped about the title for book 3, but she did confirm that she would reveal the name in conjunction with HarperTeen and Ustream later today.) Check it out after the jump, and get caught up on the series before The CW launches its TV adaptation.

What can you tease about The Elite?
I’ve been giving out some teases with HarperTeen, like America and Maxon spend the night together. And that we find out Marley’s secret and that has really bad consequences. I think that’s the biggest thing for me is Marley’s choices and Marley’s secret. That was hard to write. Right now I’m in the process of reading the third book out loud. When I read about Marley out loud, I just weep because I love her so much.

Have you known from the beginning who America would end up with?
When I sat down and wrote it out the first time, I did. I knew who she was supposed to be with. And as I got to the end of the first book, I realized I didn’t know America as well as I thought I did—a lot of things about her were different. So when I went back and rewrote it I realized she would pick someone different. So yes and no. Because the person that she ends up with changes. It is exactly who she would have picked, I just wasn’t paying attention.

Read the rest @ Entertainment Weekly