Cause hey, more about the writing process! 😉
- How do you decide which project to work on? If I’m not dedicated to a series, I usually browse through my story ideas folder and pick whichever grabs my attention the fastest.
- How long does it usually take you to finish a project? Not counting publication, the longest it’s ever taken me to go from first to final draft was about three years (for Forged Steel.) I don’t count anything before that because Forged Steel was the first book that I actually edited and polished.
- Do you have any routines to put you in the writing mood? Weirdly, my breakfast routine. If I don’t write after breakfast, it’s probably not going to get done, so after I’m done feeding the monkeys, we usually trek upstairs so they can play in the playroom, and I retreat to my office. It’s not very glamorous or “writerly”, but hey, I’m a work-at-home-mom, I take what I can get.
- What time of day do you write best? It used to be late at night. Nowadays, it’s whenever I can fit in the time. Like I said above, that’s usually mid-morning after breakfast. Sometimes if I manage to sneak out of bed without waking anyone up, I’ll write in the early morning before breakfast too.
- Are there any authors you think you have a similar style to? I honestly have no idea.
- Why did you start writing, and why do you keep writing? I don’t remember a time I wasn’t making up stories. My mom put the idea in my head to write them down so I wouldn’t forget them. I don’t think she had any idea of the monster she created. But over the years, I’ve discovered I need to write. My head gets too noisy otherwise, with all the ideas and thoughts swirling around it, and that makes me cranky. I communicate best in writing. And often, I don’t know exactly what I think of any given subject, or at least I’m not sure how to articulate it, until I’ve written it down first.
- What’s the hardest thing you’ve written? I’m currently working on (and have been for a year and a half now) an MG story, Misfits. MG fantasy is such a hard genre to get right. Most of my writing is aged for older YA/NA/adult, so learning to write MG is a struggle, but it’s something I really want to accomplish for my kids.
- Is there a project you want to tackle someday but you don’t feel ready yet? I have a half-written dark steampunk/fantasy, Darkglass, about two brothers and the girl they’re both in love with. I don’t want it to be just any other love triangle–there are so many nuances and ideas I want to explore in it, but I feel like I don’t quite have the skills for it. Some of my newer ideas I already see themes emerging for, and complicated magic systems, and I know I’m going to have to level up in both of those areas. The next few years of my writing life should prove quite
mentally exhaustinginteresting, given all the things I want to learn. - What writing goals did you make for 2017 and how are they going? I wanted to: finish and pitch Misfits (not going to happen, as stated above I still have way too much to learn); finish and publish the Crucible 1.5 novella, Slag, in time for Realm Makers (on track!); finish and publish Book 2 of the Crucible series, Burnt Silver (I still have hope); finish Darkglass (see above…); write, edit, and publish a short magical rom-com called A Thousand Paper Stars (pretty sure I can still do this). I also surprised myself by starting and finishing Dragon’s Catch (I still don’t like that title…) in April.
- Describe your writing process in 3 words or a gif!
literally me