I was invited to be a part of the ”My Writing Process Blog Tour” by the ever-so-lovely Elodie Nowodazkij. Elodie is a French girl living in Germany, and spends a lot of time commuting. But it’s okay, but that’s how she gets writing done! Her debut novel, ONE TWO, THREE, about a former ballerina struggling in the wake of a career-ending car accident, releases in June. You can find Elodie on Twitter.
1. What am I working on? I’m knee deep in revisions for Annum Guard book 2. (Yes, STILL.) But before that, I was writing a very rough first draft of a novel that takes place in Prohibition-era Florida, and I really hope to get back to it soon. That one’s a departure for me. I normally write very fast-paced, action-y, go go go stories with complicated plots, and this new project is a much slower, voice-heavy, character study. It kind of scares the crap out of me, truthfully, but that’s how you grow, right?
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre? Hmm. That’s a good question. I guess first we have to define my genre. Time travel? Does that count? I’ve learned that there’s really no wrong way to do time travel because, when it comes down to it, it’s fiction. You want your characters to be able to go back in time and change the past? Cool. You want your characters to be able to go back in time and whatever they do won’t change a thing? Cool also. (My characters do the former, for the record).
But I do suppose my time travel world differs from a lot of others. I set up a fairly complicated set of time travel rules in my book (which I’m totally kicking myself for now as I’m trying to work through a sequel). For instance, my characters have “catching up” to do when they travel back to the present. If they go back in time 25 years, every hour they spend in the past means two hours go by in the present. So if you leave for 1989 at 1 p.m. and stay for an hour, you won’t get back to 2014 until 3. And the further back in time you go, the more catch up time you have. Want to visit the year 1614? That’ll cost you. For every minute you spend there, you’ll lose about two days in the present. Want to catch Richard Burbage playing Hamlet? You’re giving up about 8 months of your life.
That’s just one of many rules my poor characters have to live by. . . .
3. Why do I write what I do? That’s . . . actually a very deep question. I write what I write because I can’t imagine having these voices just living in my head. Because there are certain stories walk into your brain and demand that you put them on paper.
That’s how it was for THE EIGHTH GUARDIAN. I know I’m becoming that girl at the cocktail party who tells the same story over and over again, but this book was inspired by a song—Iris Was a Pupil by Autechre. I couldn’t get the title of this song out of my head, and within days I’d spun almost the entire story in my head—the beginning, the twist that comes in the middle, the various characters arcs. It was a story I simply had to get down on paper, and I’m so glad I finally picked up the pen.
4. How does my writing process work? I actually wrote a very detailed blog post on that here, so I won’t rehash it, but I will say that it takes me approximately eleventh billion drafts before I get it right. That’s how I roll.
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And now it’s my turn to pass the torch to three of my writing buddies and fellow Skyscape authors, who will share their writing processes next Monday!
After teaching and traveling internationally for ten years, Christina Farley started writing about her adventures, tossing in a little fiction for fun. This inspired her to write GILDED, a YA based on Korean mythology about a Korean-American girl who takes her destiny into her own hands. Besides writing, Christina loves traveling, running, driving too fast, and eating dark chocolate. Her debut YA, GILDED, was published by Skyscape/Amazon Children’s on March 1, 2014.
Jessie Humphries is a Full-time Mother, Part-time Attorney, Half-witted Writer, Full-blown Lunatic. She’s represented by the fabulous Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary. Her debut, KILLING RUBY ROSE, will be published by Amazon Children’s Publishing/Skyscape on May 1, 2014.
Lori M. Lee is an avid writer, reader, artist, and lover of unicorns. She should probably spend less time on the internet (but she won’t). She has a borderline obsessive fascination with unicorns, is fond of talking in capslock, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, kids, and a friendly pit bull. Her debut, GATES OF THREAD AND STONE, will be published by Skyscape/Amazon Children’s on August 5, 2014.
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