Author Interview

Today we have Amy McCaw on the blog to talk about her debut novel, Mina and the Undead! I read Mina last month and I had an absolute blast with it. It’s full of murder (always a good thing… in fiction), haunted houses, and local myths and legends, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s hunting for their next vampire fix!

About Mina and the Undead

About the Author

The Interview

1. Congratulations! How does it feel to be a published author?

Thank you! To be honest, it still feels quite surreal – especially because bookshops aren’t open when the book comes out. I’ve wanted to be an author for so long and publication day is almost here. I’m really proud and excited that I’ve managed to do it!

2. How long did it take you to write Mina and the Undead from start to finish?

I had the idea when I visited New Orleans in 2012. I knew the main ingredients of vampires, myths and murders but I couldn’t figure out how to fit it all together. It fell into place in late 2016 and I’d finished writing the first draft by spring 2018.

3. Why did you decide to set the book in the 90s? 

When I was plotting and researching the book, I realised that 1995 tied in to the plot really well. It’s the year the Interview with the Vampire movie came out (in the UK) and is just after the deadliest year in the history of New Orleans. I decided to go with it and filled the book with 80s and 90s pop-cultural references, as well as playing on the obsession with vampires at that time.

4. Mina and the Undead is your first published book, but is it the first book you wrote?

No, I’ve written quite a few others: a couple of unfinished ones, one that will never see the light of day and a few that weren’t too bad. The most recent ones got better each time, until I wrote a YA dystopian that I thought might actually get published. Then I wrote Mina and the Undead, and I really believed that this was the one.  

5. Are you a plotter or pantser? 

A bit of both! My best ideas usually come to me as I’m writing, but I always have a rough plan of where the plot will go. It doesn’t mean I’ll stick to it though. I find that it takes me a while to get into a new project and then I do stretches of writing and plotting in between.

6. Did anything about the publishing or writing process surprise you? 

I started blogging a few years ago and I know quite a few authors, so there weren’t too many surprises. There were things I knew, such as how slowly the publishing industry can move, that didn’t truly sink in until I experienced them.

7. What do you hope readers will take away from Mina and the Undead? 

I poured everything I enjoy into this book: from vampires and murder mysteries, to history and creepy locations. I hope this book will end up in the hands of readers with interests as quirky as mine and that they’ll find it a fun, twisty read.

8. What are your writing plans for 2021 (and beyond)? 

I’m hoping to write a sequel to Mina and the Undead, but I’m currently working on a standalone in a similar dark vein.

9. What are some of your favourite vampire books, movies, or other media? 

I have so many favourites! Buffy the Vampire Slayer has always been my favourite TV show. Everything just came together: the witty dialogue, found family, inventive storylines and brilliant cast. I also love The Vampire Diaries and True Blood (mainly the TV shows but the books too). My favourite vampire movie is definitely The Lost Boys, which is such an entertaining, creepy watch with everything I love about vampires crammed into it. One of the first vampire books I read was Interview with the Vampire, so that book has always been quite a special one for me. 

10. You’ve visited a lot of bookish locations, are there any others you’d like to visit when we’re allowed to travel again?

That’s a really good question! I’d love to go back to Bath (the home of Jane Austen), Haworth (the Brontës) and Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare). Top of my list is Prague. I’ve been desperate to go there ever since I first read Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

11. Who do you like to dress up as at Halloween?

I love visiting scary places at Halloween, like immersive horror experiences, but I haven’t dressed up properly for a while. I have bought a vampire costume to wear for my launch so that will probably get a second outing this Halloween. It’s just a shame that I haven’t perfected how to talk in fangs…

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Thank you so much, Amy, for taking the time to answer my questions! I was actually really hoping for a sequel to Mina, so this made me happy. As did your love of The Vampire Diaries!

Interested in more 2021 Debuts? Check out my Debut Showcase feature, in which I talk about a tonne of authors with debut books coming out in 2021. While you’re here, perhaps consider taking part in the Debut Author Challenge? There are giveaways, readathons, read-ins, and more!

We’ve got the lovely Crystal Maldonado on the blog today to talk all about her debut book, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega and her writing and publishing process! I’ve already read the book and my review should be going up next week (migraine-depending), and I can’t wait for you all to meet Charlie!

About Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

About the author

The Interview

1. Congratulations! How does it feel to be a published author?
Getting published during the pandemic has been exciting, rewarding, and a little exhausting! Being able to have this book published is truly a dream come true, so it’s been interesting to have those positive feelings juxtaposed with the stresses of the pandemic, which I know has been difficult on us all. That said, there have been some silver linings to debuting during this time, like being able to attend events from anywhere and meeting so many incredible authors on Twitter and over Zoom. I’m appreciating everything as it comes and enjoying all of the big and small moments. I’m also very much looking forward to being able to celebrate the book — and meet readers! — in person when it’s safe.

2. What inspired you to write Fat Chance, Charlie Vega?
The inspiration for FAT CHANCE, CHARLIE VEGA came from my own high school experience, my journey to self-acceptance, and my love story with my now-husband. Like Charlie, I grew up in a town where I felt like I really didn’t fit in: I was a Puerto Rican girl surrounded by mostly white classmates, I was fat, I had a unique family dynamic, I wore glasses. It just felt like I wasn’t what the world viewed as “normal” in any way at all. There
were so few positive depictions of fat characters in media then, too. Though there are more now, it still feels like fat girls deserve more. I wanted to do what I could to change that and show that fat girls everywhere are worthy of a happily-ever-after.

3. What has been your most memorable moment of the publishing or writing process?
Holding the book in my hand has been so memorable! That might seem a little odd, but I swear I almost didn’t believe this was all happening until the real, final version was in front of me. This whole time, I’ve had so much fun that it felt like I was living in a dream and if someone pinched me I might wake up and realize it wasn’t real. But it is real! I also really loved the editing process for the book. I have a tough time with drafting, but being able to edit and revisit the characters and watch their story really take shape feels so satisfying.

4. Who would you want to play Charlie in a movie?
If this book became a film (and oh my God, that would be everything), then I would actually love to see some new actresses and actors on screen in the roles! It would be incredible to have my book help bring some otherwise lesser known young actors to prominence. One thing I know for sure is that I totally want to show up in the background of a scene as a teacher or hall monitor or something!

5. What was your favourite scene to write?
It’s hard to pick a favorite scene, but one of the most fun for me was Charlie’s birthday party! It ends up being such a pivotal night for her character.; she feels pretty, her friends are so loving, her crush joins her for the evening, her friends are great, and the future feels so full of hope and possibility.

6. What is a book you wish was around when you were a teenager?
I really wish I’d had “Puddin’” by Julie Murphy as a teen because I think I have a lot in common with Millie Michalchuk — fat, aspiring journalists, who are maybe a little too naive or sweet for our own good sometimes. I think I was more jaded than Millie, but I imagine if I’d read that and realized fat girls could just be happy with themselves, that would’ve felt really monumental.

7. What are your writing plans for 2021?
I’m currently working on a book about a different fat Puerto Rican girl who is obsessed with photography and Instagram — but she has trouble getting any followers. She takes her obsession to the next level when she decides to steal someone else’s photos and pretend to be them, which goes about as well as you can imagine. Super excited for everyone to read this one! It’s tentatively scheduled to come out in fall 2022. Fingers crossed I can share more soon!

8. What do you hope readers will take away from Fat Chance, Charlie Vega?
I really hope that readers finish this book feeling seen and validated. It can be pretty lonely to consume media but never quite see yourself reflected back at you. To me, if this book helps even one person feel worthy and understood, then I’ll have done exactly what I set out to do. I’d also love for Charlie and her story to start conversations on things like fatphobia and Latinx identity, and how there is no one right way to be fat or Puerto Rican. There’s only your way, and that’s completely valid!

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Thank you so much, Crystal! I can’t wait to see you in the background of any future adaptation of Fat Chance, Charlie Vega.

Interested in more 2021 Debuts? Check out my Debut Showcase feature, in which I talk about a tonne of authors with debut books coming out in 2021. While you’re here, perhaps consider taking part in the Debut Author Challenge? There are giveaways, readathons, read-ins, and more!

Today I’m here interviewing the lovely Emily Victoria, author of the debut fantasy book This Golden Flame. I’m honoured and thrilled to have Emily on the blog today! I’ll be posting my review of This Golden Flame separately this week, otherwise this post would have turned out to be quite meaty.

Even better, This Golden Flame is out TODAY, so you can get your hands on it too!

About This Golden Flame

About the Author

Interview Questions

1. Congratulations! How does it feel to be a debut author?
Thank you! It feels so wonderful to be a debut author. Getting to be a writer and to have my book published has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, and it’s truly so amazing to realize that dream.

2. Tell us about the moment you found out you had a book deal.
It’s funny. The original offer actually came the day before a large conference I was attending for work, and I remember Rebecca, my agent, calling me on the phone during the lunch break in the middle of this noisy conference room so that we could talk about it, because that was my only free time.

And, of course, we also nudged the other editors who had it. Inkyard Press also ended up taking the book to their acquisitions meeting. For that one I was actually at home when Rebecca called again letting me know that they wanted to make an offer too. We ultimately decided to go with the Inkyard
offer and as soon as we did, I texted all of my family and I just had the most wonderful calls and texts come in from all of them.

3. Describe This Golden Flame in three words.
Friendship, mystery, automatons.

4. Are you a plotter or pantser?
I am absolutely a plotter. I love outlining and I’m also a very visual person, so I’ll grab a stack of cue cards and just go at it. I usually lay the cards out on a table so that I can see the entire structure of the novel in one look. I also like that format because then I can easily shift scenes and plot points wherever I need to.

5. How long did the process of writing This Golden Flame take from your initial idea to final edits?
I don’t remember the exact timeline, but I want to say that it took me about 4-5 months to write the book and then 4-5 months to edit it with Rebecca. Then, of course, it sold to Inkyard and I had to do many more edits. I’m not entirely sure how long that process took because there were some large gaps between the different editing stages, but needless to say, it took quite some time to get it to the fully polished version that is now the final book.

6. How did you come up with the magic system? Did it take a lot of planning?
I knew very early on that I wanted a rune-based magic system called the Script. I don’t remember how I came up with the initial idea, only that I wanted to do it. And it definitely took a lot of planning. A lot of the plot, and even a lot of the character development, relies on the Script to work. But it didn’t all come at once. With every draft I did, I had to expand the magic system as the world of the book and the characters expanded around it.

7. This Golden Flame is (currently) a standalone, but do you have more planned for this world?
Not at the moment. Though I did a short story from the POV of a side character for my preorder campaign and that was a lot of fun, so I would definitely be open to writing more stories like that.

8. Apart from the magic system, people are very excited for the aro-ace rep in this book. Do you have a book that you remember deeply connecting with?
I’m so glad that people are excited! This Golden Flame was really the book that I needed when I was younger, because I can’t remember ever seeing my identity reflected on the pages of the books I read. That being said, I do remember deeply connecting with Daine from Tamora Pierce’s Wild Magic. Unlike her, I could not talk to animals, but I definitely wanted to.

9. What do you hope readers with get or take away from This Golden Flame?
This story is really about losing yourself and finding yourself. Both Karis and Alix deal with loss in different ways: Karis because she has lost her brother, Alix because he has lost basically everything. But they find each other, and through that they find ways to hope. So I guess I want readers to find that hope too, those persistent flames that flicker despite the darkness that might be around us at times.

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Thank you so much for coming on the blog, Emily! I wish you a wonderful release day.

Interested in more 2021 Debuts? Check out my Debut Showcase feature, in which I talk about a tonne of authors with debut books coming out in 2021. While you’re here, perhaps consider taking part in the Debut Author Challenge? There are giveaways, readathons, read-ins, and more!

Cast in Firelight released yesterday in the US, and author Dana Swift is here on the blog today to celebrate and answer all my burning questions! I’m so excited for Dana, and I’m excited to finish off reading Cast in Firelight because the reviews for it have been overwhelmingly positive so far. Scroll on for the interview, and a surprise giveaway at the end of the post!

About the Author

Interview Questions

1. Describe Cast in Firelight in three words

Fun, Romantic, Action-packed

2. What is your must have item for writing, aside from the obvious laptop?

I like to listen to music while I’m writing especially if it’s in a public place, so I’d have to go with my headphones as number one essential.

3. Cast in Firelight is your first novel to be published but is it the first novel you wrote?

It’s my second completed manuscript. My first I wrote in high school and then edited and submitted in college. It had a big plot structure problem with no cohesive premise, but it still took querying and getting rejected for me to see its faults. I started CAST IN FIRELIGHT right after I graduated college. I wrote it in about a year and then queried for year before getting an agent and the book deal at the end of 2018.

4. What is a book you wish was around when you were a teenager?

This is a great question. I almost want to say mine since these are the tropes I adored as a teenager and still do today. It would be interesting going back in time and handing my teenage self, CAST IN FIRELIGHT and seeing what she would say, haha.

But in seriousness I love the diversity and plethora of young adult that is
happening presently. I’m overjoyed with the surge of rom-coms and romance that aren’t completely angsty as well. As for specifics I wish I had anything written by Brigid Kemmerer when I was a teen because I think her books talk about emotion in such real and raw ways and would have helped me express myself more.

5. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m a panster and always have been. I get an idea for the beginning and inciting incident and then have a vague sense of an interesting climax and start writing with that. Many details, worldbuilding elements, and character intricacies come while writing. When I hit a wall where I don’t know what I want to happen next, which seems to happen around 20% and 60% through the book I write out of order to keep the writing pace and enthusiasm going. It causes me to have to edit more, but I like the editing process more than drafting and fixing a story thread or inconsistency brings me joy.

I can say I’m a panster not because it’s the easier way to write for sure. In fact, I think it’s the opposite. But I love to be free to take the story in unexpected ways and discovery write. It’s brought me some great twists, especially in my most recently finished novel, Book 2 of the Wickery series!

6. What are your writing plans for 2021?

Well, first I’m going to write the proposal for a third book in the Wickery series and pitch it to my publishers. Then I hope to get edits for Book 2 finished and ready for ARCs to come out. After that I want to work on a whole new fantasy project. I’ve already started something and have a few thousand words, but I hope to finish it if not in 2021, then in early 2022.

7. How different is the final version of Cast in Firelight to the first draft?

The biggest difference was actually an edit my agent suggested right when she took me on as a client and it involved rewriting the last 10,000 words of the book. I was setting up the series with too many unresolved plot points and creating new problems in the resolution chapters of the early draft. Her advice helped me change the last couple chapters and it’s so much better for it.

Other big differences include: some scenes in the middle were added because of suggestions from my editor, in the very first draft Adraa didn’t have a sister, and the spells were modified with the help of an amazing friend and beta reader.

8. What was the most difficult part of the writing process for you? And the easiest?

I’d say most books the hardest part is the drafting stage. Now that CAST IN
FIRELIGHT has been completed for quite some time I kind of forget the turmoil of drafting it. But I can easily say it’s my most difficult stage (probably because I don’t outline).

The easiest part for me is probably the editing after getting notes from my
talented editor. It’s easier because I can use their feedback and think up ways to fix the problems they have pointed out and it’s really fun and satisfying to make the story better. When I first started writing and editing, I doubted myself and didn’t know if I was changing the story in the right ways. That’s why I love traditional publishing where you have a team of people helping make the book the best it can be.

9. Which part of the book came to you first? The plot, characters, themes, etc?

I’d say the basic premise came first. I had the idea of two royal teen rivals stuck in my head for quite some time, but I didn’t rush to write it until the idea for the ending came to me and soon after the voice of the characters, Adraa in particular.

So, I guess plot came first, quickly followed by characters who made me interested in their story enough to write and think about the book more. Themes come at the end of drafting and sometimes even in edits after I’ve had time to think about the book and enhance what it’s already saying.

10. Have you managed to incorporate fencing into your books yet, or do you plan to?

This is such a great question and you are the first to ask me it! For those that don’t know I fenced saber all through in college and went to many school tournaments. I’d say fencing helped me write many of the fight scenes. It is also some of inspiration for the tournament of colors and cage-casting in the book. Even if not directly alike the emotions of how Adraa feels being in a competition or heated battle were drawn from how I felt under the mask fencing with people who were much better than me.

I think I will use the sport in any book I write that has sword fighting. And maybe one day I’ll write a character that fences.

Cast in Firelight Giveaway

Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter for a chance to win a hardback of Cast in Firelight! The giveaway is open internationally via Book Depository. You must be over 18 to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interested in more 2021 Debuts? Check out my Debut Showcase feature, in which I talk about a tonne of authors with debut books coming out in 2021. While you’re here, perhaps consider taking part in the Debut Author Challenge? There are giveaways, readathons, read-ins, and more!