'A Fierce and Subtle Poison' by Samantha Mabry Review

'A Fierce and Subtle Poison' by Samantha Mabry

Review by Christopher Moore

Summary:
 

In this stunning debut, legends collide with reality when a boy is swept into the magical, dangerous world of a girl filled with poison. Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl - Isabel, the one the senoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family's Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill. Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic.

When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers - and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.


Review:

 

It was the combination of title and cover that brought A Fierce and Subtle Poison to my attention on Net Galley. I read the synopsis and seriously, how could I not read it? It took a single page to hook me on its lyrical, magical prose that delights and excites. Though dissimilar in theme to E. Lockhart's We Were Liars, I couldn't help but feel echoes of its style in Mabry's work. It's very readable with the words painting a visceral and vivid picture in the mind.

I adore the Puerto Rican setting; a breath of fresh air from the city settings of so many YA stories. I swear, either Mabry has lived a significant period of her life in Puerto Rico or she researched it thoroughly and infused it seamlessly into her plot and characters. The protagonist is likable though I don't think he's the most interesting part of the story. Isabel is an incredible character; she's dark and dangerous, the monster that haunts the island but is she really? There's so much more to her and her story than meets the eye that will have you tearing through the pages into the early hours of the morning.

I don't want to spoilt the story for anyone so I'm going to park this review here. It's a sensational debut; a murder-mystery meets magical realism; a balance of light and dark. Not only is  it the best book I've read so far this year, it's one of the best I've read in the last twelve months. A must for fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars and Moira Fowley-Doyle's The Accident Season.

Rating: 5/5 Stars  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 

Christopher Moore:

  

Christopher is a co-founder of the YAfictionados blog and is best known as the YAblooker. He is a twenty-five year old book blogger who has previously worked in marketing and consumer insight for various publishing houses and writes in his spare time. He loves to travel and will read anything YA-related and some general fiction and fantasy.

The #YAtakeover Schedule

8th January 2016
 

Twitter Chat: Best Reads of 2015

 

Time: 7.00pm-7.45pm

 

Readers, bloggers, authors and booksellers chat about their favourite reads of 2015. Looking for book recommendations? This could be just the chat for you!

 

Prizes in YA

 

Time: 8.00pm-8.50pm

Interview Panel: Charlotte Eyre, Jake Hope and Katie Webber

Host: @Joyisreading

Join us as some of the book industry's finest talent talk us through YA prizes and why they are so important to the genre.



Libraries and Reading in the Digital Age

 

Time: 09.00pm-09.40pm

Interview Panel: Alexia Casale and E. R. Murray

Host: @helloiammariam

Alexia and Elizabeth discuss the importance of libraries, reaching readers in the digital age and the future of YA literature.

 

 

Art in YA

 

Time: 9.50pm-10.30pm

Interview Panel: Jenn Bennett and Melissa Keil

Host: @Jenny_books_art

Jenny discusses representations of art in YA literature and more closely in their respective works.

 

 

'It's All in Your Head': Suicide and Depression in YA Literature

Time: 10.40pm-11.30pm

Interview Panel: Jasmine Warga and Jennifer Niven

Host: @ChelleToy

Michelle is joined by Jennifer and Jasmine who will chat about the stigmas of depression and the consequences of suicide in their work.

 

 

 

 

9th January 2016

 

 

The Bizarre and the Brilliant

 

Time: 12.00am-12.45am

Interview Panel: Andrew Smith

Host: @Lottie_LovesB

Andrew Smith discusses his unique writing style, what inspires him and teenage literacy.

'LGBT: You Be Who You Want To Be'

Time: 02.00am-02.50am
Interview Panel: Becky Albertalli & I. W. Gregorio
Host: @YAblooker

Becky and Ilene discuss sexual identity and being true to yourself.

Angels and Demons

Time: 03.15am-04.00am

Interview Panel: Jana Oliver and Lauren Kate
Host: @City_Of_YA

Jana and Lauren chat about representations of angels and demons in YA literature and more closely in their own stories.
   

No Frills Fiction

Time: 04.15am-5.00am
Interview Panel: Lynn Weingarten and Ryan Graudin
Host: @YAblooker

 
Lynn and Ryan discuss the grittier side to fiction.

Gothic Fiction:

 

Time: 05.10am-05.50am

Interview Panel: Kendare Blake

Host: @YAblooker 

Kendare chats to us about everything from ghosts to gods. Not to be missed!

Crossover Fiction

 

Time: 06.00am-06.40am

Interview Panel: Christi J. Whitney

Host: @YAblooker

Christopher questions Christi on YA literature's increasing popularity and it's crossover appeal to both adults and teens. 

Supernatural Seduction

Time: 09.00am-09.45am
Interview Panel: Anna McKerrow, C. J. Daugherty and Lu Hersey
Host: @maximumpopbooks

The supernatural has always been a strong trope in YA literature. Anna, C. J. and Lu discuss the supernatural in their work.

 

 Mental Health is Not a Spectator Sport

Time: 09.55am-10.40am

Interview Panel: Brian Conaghan, Eve Ainsworth, Siobhan Curham and Tabitha Suzuma

Host: @helloiammariam

 Four of YA's most talented authors come together to chat to Mariam about the representation of mental health in YA literature and the portrayals in their respective books.

 Keep Your Friends Close

Time: 10.50am-11.30ampm

Interview Panel: Jess Vallance and Marcus Sedgwick

Host: @ChelleToy

 

Our panel discuss the representation of friendship in YA literature.

Fantastic Fantasy

Time: 11.40am-12.25pm
Interview Panel: Melinda Salisbury and Samantha Shannon
Host: @AssassinGrisha

Our panel consists of two of 2015's most successful Fantasy writers.

 

If You Can't Love Yourself, How in the Hell Are You Going to Love Someone Else?

 

Time: 12.35pm-1.15pm

Interview Panel: Abbie Rushton, Lisa Williamson and Liz Kessler,

Host: @JoshuaJAuthor

Joshua looks at love and sexual identity in YA literature.

The End of the World

 

Time: 1.25pm-2.05pm

Interview Panel: Teri Terry and Virginia Bergin

Host: @ChelleToy

Teri And Virginia discuss their latest books and dystopia in their work.

Everybody Say Love!

Time: 2.10pm-2.55pm

Interview Panel: C. J. Skuse, Cat Clark, Keren David, L. A. Weatherly and Laura Jarratt

Host: @ChouettBlog

Our panel discusses love in all its forms.

 It's Behind You!

Time: 3.00pm-3.45pm

Interview Panel: Darren Shan and Matt Whyman

Host: @MyBookishLife

Our panel discuss horror in their writing.

Crime and Mystery

Time: 4.00pm-4.40pm

Interview Panel: Lauren Oliver and Robin Stevens

Host: @ChelleToy

Lauren and Robin discuss two very diverse representations of crime and mystery.

Rude, Crude and Uncouth: The Shouldn'ts, Couldn'ts and Wouldn'ts of YA Lit

Time: 4.55pm-5.40pm

Interview Panel: Louise O'Neill, Non Pratt and Sally Green

Host: @EmilyDrabs

Our panel discuss taboo in their work and the need to represent taboo in YA lit.

Playing the Victim

Time: 5.50pm-6.30pm

Interview Panel: Holly Smale and Sarah Mussi

Host: @YAblooker

Our panel discuss representations of female characters that refuse to be victims of circumstance.

 

 

Blood is Thicker Than Water

Time: 6.45pm-7.30pm

Interview Panel: Clare Furniss, Lisa Heathfield and Sarah Crossan

Host: @ChelleToy 

Our panel discuss three very different portraits of familial relations. 

Alternate Reader Channels

Time: 7.40pm-8.20pm

Interview Panel: Alice Oseman and Taran Matharu

Host: @Lottie_LovesB

Our panel discuss different ways of reaching readers and why this is so important in a digital age.

Fact or Fiction

Time: 8.30pm-9.10pm

Interview Panel: Frances Hardinge and M. G. Harris

Host: @YAblooker

Our panel talk about deception and secrets as they discuss the multi-faceted characters and intricate plots they have created.

Twitter Chat: Most Anticipated 2016 Reads

Time: 9.30pm-10.00pm

We take a look at some of the most hyped and sought-after books in 2016. Have a pen ready because your TBR pile is about to get a whole lot bigger!

 

 

There will be tons of giveaways throughout the event across Twitter and Instagram. To be in with a chance of winning, follow us on Twitter @YAfictionados and on Instagram yafictionados. We will feature blog posts, giveaways, Twitter chats and interviews so be sure to mark this event in your calenders!

 

Please note that all times are GMT. The schedule is subject to change.



#YAtakeover Literary Classics and YA Lit Chat

Join us this Friday the 18^th December 2015 when we will be discussing literary classics and Young Adult literature using the #YAtakeover hashtag. From 7.30-9.00pm GMT, we will be hosting a discussion on the importance of literary classics and their impact and influence on YA lit. Whether it’s Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte, Mary Shelley or Sylvia Plath, tweet us your thoughts and network with bloggers, authors, readers and more!

Please note: The day has been amended from Thursday to Friday due to unforeseen circumstances.

 

#PassTheParcel

#PassTheParcel 

 

To spread some festive, book-ish cheer in the run-up to Christmas (and the #YAtakeover), we are launching a book-tubing venture in the form of a game.

 

#PassTheParcel will see a package delivered to three book-tubers. They will film themselves opening the package (which will contain a book - one that is personal to me) and a set of twenty flash cards plus instructions. Each card will have a clue to a particular book (a recreation of a well-known, YA cover, for example) or something more subjective (such as your favourite YA villain). The answering of these clues will be filmed, timed and posted on Youtube. The package is then re-sealed and the process repeated (it includes everything plus a book that is personal to you).


Everyone that takes part between now and the #YAtakeover on the 9th January 2016 will be in with a chance to win a copy of Tess Sharpe's Far From You and Robyn Schneider's Extraordinary Means. This is not just for book-tubers and book bloggers. Absolutely anyone can take part. You don't have to have a fancy, state-of-the-art camera to take part. A smart phone or tablet does the job just as well!

If you're interested in taking part, e-mail us at yafictionados@hotmail.com with #PassTheParcel in the subject line or tweet us at @YAfictionados.

 

Help us spread the book-ish cheer!

The #YAtakeover

 

The #YAtakeover is an event unlike any other. For 24 hours, we're taking Twitter by storm. Authors from around the word will be interviewed live on Twitter where you, yes YOU, will get a chance to ask your burning questions. Join us on the 8th January 2016 at 9pm right through until 9pm on the 9th January  for the first ever, 24-hour, global YA event. Authors, bloggers, readers, booksellers, librarians, YA readers: mark this date in your calendar but I guarantee you, this is something you will NOT want to miss.

Twitter interviews will be themed and include anywhere between one and three authors. This will be hosted by a blogger on the day so share your thoughts with the authors involved by tweeting them (don't forget the #YAtakeover hashtag though!). They will take questions for the last ten minutes of their interview.

Follow our blog for the latest. Check us out on Twitter and Instagram where we'll announce news and updates. We have tons of giveaways and games planned, a book-tubing event with a twist, Twitter interviews and chats, a literary YA week and a whole lot more. Watch the skies for our YAF signal or, you know, you can always just check Twitter if it's a cloudy night.

Our giveaways will be done on Twitter AND Instagram so make sure you follow us on both to double your chances.

A list of the authors involved will be posted on the 12th November and updated as the month goes on. Follow us on Twitter to hear the daily author reveals first. The #YAtakeover schedule goes live from the 17th December 2015. I've already got that Friday feeling!

'Take Back The Skies' Review

'Take Back The Skies' by Lucy Saxon

Review by Laura Ashforth

 

Summary:

Catherine Hunter is the daughter of a senior government official on the island of Anglya. She's one of the privileged; she has luxurious clothes, plenty to eat, and is protected from the Collections which have ravaged families throughout the land. But Catherine longs to escape the confines of her life, before her dad can marry her off to a government brat and trap her forever.

So Catherine becomes Cat, pretends to be a kid escaping the Collections, and stows away on the skyship Stormdancer. As they leave Anglya behind and brave the storms that fill the skies around the islands of Tellus, Cat's world becomes more turbulent than she could ever have imagined, and dangerous secrets unravel her old life once and for all . . .

 

 

Review:

For a debut author, Lucy Saxon's first book is pretty good. She certainly has a lot of potential which I’m sure will improve as she writes more.

The plot of TBTS is fairly good, it has a dystopian, ‘overthrow a terrible government’ feel to it but different and in a completely new world. However, at the start of the book, Cat’s objective is to escape her life, but we don’t get enough detail on it to know exactly what she’s escaping from; she dislikes her father, but doesn’t every teenager at some point? And her mother is ill; doesn’t she mind abandoning her? I felt it needed more on her father's cruel behaviour so that she felt forced to leave rather than seeming like a stroppy runaway.

After Cat leaves, there is too big a gap in the plot where nothing really happens. She just lives happily on the Stormdancer with nothing building in the background and you wonder what the rest of the story is going to be about. It leaves you bored just waiting for the plot to pick up.

Once things do pick up, sometimes you’re left thinking, really? The main characters have snuck in to a secret government building and to avoid being caught hide in a cupboard, where they begin talking. Surely, they couldn’t be at all surprised when they’re shortly after discovered and hauled out?

The characters, I think, could’ve been better developed with more stand-out, individual characteristics compared to the stereotypical enigmatic male with a dark past he doesn’t wish to speak of. He didn’t seem different to past heroes. The heroine was a typical, stubborn girl who wants to escape her life and ends up falling in love with the first boy she encounters. 

The language was unnatural and forced almost. The dialogue just didn’t flow but seemed disjointed; it needed to be more conversational.

The world building was good; Lucy has built an odd and new world with opportunity for later books set in it. It was easy to slip into the world and imagine it and want to be aboard the Stormdancer. 

The end of the book I feel isn’t satisfying; you’re left hanging and angry. After finishing, I liked that the end was different and sort of angered me because it made it stand out but I felt saddened by it in an already quite dark book. It didn’t change and end lightly, which was surprising. 

 

 

Rating: 3/5 Stars  ★ ★ ★ 

 

 

Laura

Laura is a blogger who started reviewing for the Guardian’s Children website before starting her own blog and joining the YAfictionados. She loves to read everything and anything though fantasy is her favourite (probably, she thinks, because of her childhood love of The Lord of the Rings). Her favourite books include the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Follow Laura on Twitter: @AssassinGrisha

Find Laura on Goodreads: Laura Ashforth

'Because You'll Never Meet Me'

'Because You'll Never Meet Me' by Leah Thomas

Review by Christopher Moore

 

Summary:

 

Ollie and Moritz are two teenagers who will never meet. Each of them lives with a life-affecting illness. Contact with electricity sends Ollie into debilitating seizures, while Moritz has a heart defect and is kept alive by an electronic pacemaker. If they did meet, Ollie would seize, but turning off the pacemaker would kill Moritz.

Through an exchange of letters, the two boys develop a strong bond of friendship which becomes a lifeline during dark times - until Moritz reveals that he holds the key to their shared, sinister past, and has been keeping it from Ollie all along.

 

Review:

 

Because You'll Never Meet Me is an incredibly touching story told between two boys who will never meet because Ollie, repels electricity and it repels him, and Moritz requires a pacemaker to live. The story is told in a letter narrative, mostly, between the two boys and is an intimate form of writing that lets us see both characters, their relationship and so much more.

 

I would have liked a little more character differentiation between Ollie and Moritz. Sometimes the lexicons feel quite similar but overall, Thomas has produced a magnificent story with endearing characters (admittedly, Ollie being the most charismatic and bubbly) that reveals so much about human nature, love, friendship and family. It's not without its highs and its lows but ultimately, it's a long-distance journey that changes both boys for the better.

 

The LGBT element is subtle and this is a perfect example of where LGBT representation can be prominent without it being centre-stage and completely taking over the story. Yes, the story does cover LGBT issues but it's not a LGBT story. It cannot be pigeon-holed as such because it is a compelling and deeply touching story that encompasses this but is so much more than JUST THIS. This is exactly the sort of story that we need. I would class it as a diverse book and as James Dawson commented this year at YALC, we have diverse books around us already but we need to champion and support them in order to push publishers to produce more wonderfully diverse stories. We don't just need DIVERSE books, we DESERVE them.

 

Rating: 5/5 Stars  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

 

Christopher Moore:

 

 

Christopher is a co-founder of the YAfictionados blog and is best known as the YAblooker. He is a twenty-four year old book blogger who has previously worked in marketing and consumer insight for various publishing houses and writes in his spare time. He loves to travel and will read anything YA-related and some general fiction and fantasy.

 

 

 

Follow Christopher on Twitter: @YAblooker

 

Find Christopher on Goodreads: Christopher Moore

Follow Christopher on Instagram: @yablooker

Author Interview: Melinda Salisbury

Melinda Salisbury is the debut author of The Sin Eater’s Daughter, the first in a new YA trilogy. She lives by the sea, in England, and saw The Grand Budapest Hotel (great film!) ELEVEN times at the cinema.


Follow Melinda on Twitter: @AHintofMystery

Buy 'The Sin Eater's Daughter':

-  Amazon
-  Foyles
-  Waterstones

 

 

 

 

The interview

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.


1. For those that haven’t read The Sin Eater’s Daughter, can you sum it up in 140 characters?

Executioner of traitors. Embodiment of a Goddess. Betrothed of a Prince. Puppet of mad queen. Take away her duty and who is Twylla?

 
2. Were there any books, in particular, that influenced or shaped the story? 

Originally I’d planned it as a re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood, but instead of a young woman navigating a forest, she’d have to move through castle politics, where the wolves were the people around her. That motif was largely lost, as the story grew, though it still has a very fairy-tale theme to it, which I like, as I have such a love for the traditional fairy-tales – the darker the better. The Pied Piper of Hamelin and Sleeping Beauty all play a massive part in building the foundations of the world, though both have been distorted to suit my needs.


3. What made you want to write this story and in particular, why the fantasy genre and (young adult) audience?

When I was a little, almost all of my games involved very elaborate world building. At my Nana’s house I’d play with the decorative glass stones she’d bought for her garden, organising them by colour into factions; red for the royals, yellow for servants, blue for the armies, and green for villains. I’d play out childish versions of love affairs between princes and witches, and queens and jesters. I was the same with normal toys, preferring ones with lots of characters, where I could spin the game out for days, if not weeks, until it became a self-supporting world of its own.
 
The same thing happened with The Sin Eater’s Daughter – I never consciously chose to write it, it just developed out of the materials in my head – a love of poison, and medieval history, and darkness, and fairy tales. Fantasy has always been my favourite genre, because I find it difficult to be entertained by ‘reality’. I don’t like to read or watch things that I could be doing myself – soap operas and any kind of reality based television has no appeal to me, because I feel almost wasteful watching people live a life that is very similar to mine, or doing things I could be doing. I tend to want something different – like Vikings, or The Musketeers, for entertainment. I want to experience lives that are vastly different from mine and fantasy offers me a way to do that.

As for why YA, because quite simply it’s what I prefer to read. YA novels, regardless of genre, are always breaking new ground and pushing boundaries in ways that challenge the reader without alienating them. They are stories filled with people figuring out who they are and how they fit in, and I think deep down that’s how most people feel all the time. I’ve technically been an adult for a while now, but I still feel as though I’m on a learning curve and YA is a great reminder I’m not alone in that. I’m writing what I feel I know. And what I love.


4. Where did the idea for Twylla’s story come from? How did you go about creating the mythological framework for the story?

It started with a small, idle idea in the shower and grew from there. I was singing away to myself and suddenly wondered what it would be like if I had to sing for a king, was taken from my home to do it, and my family’s lives would be at stake if I didn’t? What if I’d originally seen this as an escape, only to find it was even worse? What if my whole life was designed around me and I had no choice in it? The plot grew from there. I knew there would be a queen and she would be a bad person. I knew my heroine would be forced to choose between love and duty, and I knew that every single character – even the good ones – had an agenda.

I also knew religion would be a huge part of it, because it’s the cornerstone of every world, including ours. It determine a lot of the laws, and rules, and behaviours of a people and so I spent a lot of time developing those and making sure they were both ‘realistic’ and solid. Civilisations have risen and crumbled in the names of gods. Countries have been invaded; populations decimated – all in the name of gods. For any world to be fully realised, whether we like or not, it needs some kind of higher power, a rallying or rebellion point for its people.   

And because kings and queens are traditionally the gods’ representatives on earth, regardless of century, country or people, Gods and kings (or queens) are inextricably linked. Therefore if I was having a royal family, I needed gods, and vice versa.

So I created my gods; the female, Næht – death, darkness, temptation, and her counterpart Dæg - life, light and strength. I can’t say, without revealing part of the plot of the next book, why there are dual gods, and how they came to be worshipped in Lormere, but that mythology exists, and will come to the fore.

As for fairy tales and mythology, I’ve always believed those are the tools we use to make sense of the world around us – the monster in the woods, the wicked witch. It’s how we learn, and teach. Again, as with religion, a fully-developed world needs its own folklore.


5. Twylla: where did her name come from and how did you build her identity?

Twylla was the name that came to me when I imagined her! It was never a choice; I’d never heard it consciously before, but I must have picked it up from somewhere. I just knew that was her name, and I never questioned it. I later found out though that ‘Twyla’ is the Cherokee word for ‘twilight’ and loved how that fitted with her being Daunen Embodied (Daunen is Old English for dawn) and Naeht and Daeg (Old English for day and night). It felt right, somehow.

I built her identity out of my own experiences at her age! I had tremendously strict parents, my weekend curfew at age seventeen was 11pm, I wasn’t allowed a key for the house and was rarely allowed to remain in the house unsupervised, (I would often spend the day at the library if it was raining, or in the woods if it was sunny, taking food and books with me). I was very, very rarely allowed to sleep away from home, I had to fight tooth and nail for almost every freedom and it really isolated me from my peers, who were experimenting with boys and girls and drinking and basically being “normal” teens.
 
I lived a double life at home and at school, keeping so much of who I was a secret from everyone in my life. And I also had a very strained relationship with my family. So it wasn’t at all hard for me to put myself in the shoes of a seventeen year old who is disconnected from the world around her, and who has little love and support in her life. I was better off than Twylla in many ways, but there’s a lot of me at seventeen in her. All her naivety, and her fear of questioning the status quo comes directly from my experiences and my fears. So I built her around that – at her core is a confused, frightened and lonely young woman who doesn’t know who she is or what she should do.


6. What was the most difficult part to write?

I didn’t find any of it difficult! I don’t know whether it was because I didn’t feel under any pressure when writing it, but the words just flowed, I didn’t get at all stuck during the first draft. At times it was almost as though I wasn’t in control of the story at all, it happened without any planning, or real thought – it just happened. Of course, the first draft was kind of a hot mess because of that, but there was a lot of stuff in there that made it to the final version. 


7. The ending to The Sin Eater’s Daughter is a definite nail-biter. What can we expect from the next book?

I can tell you that it’s set in Tregellan, and is based around a new character, and their life and the challenges they face in the aftermath of The Sin Eater’s Daughter. There is more danger, more treachery, and more death; we’ve said goodbye to some characters and we’ll say hello to some other new ones. It’s always been an uncertain world, and it continues to be so. What happened in The Sin Eater’s Daughter set off a chain of events that reaches far across the realm, and things are changing for everyone. 


8. How did you find the writing-to-publication process? 

Surprisingly pleasant! I went down the traditional route of finding an agent, working with her, and then submitting to publishing houses when we thought it was ready. Thanks to her expertise the whole thing was very smooth, and easy to participate in. 

I found my agent because I submitted a different book to her, but whilst I’d been looking for an agent I’d begun to write The Sin Eater’s Daughter as way of keeping myself occupied. My agent came back to me after reading the full MS of the original book to say she loved my writing, but the story wasn’t anything new or exciting, and then she asked if I had anything else. By coincidence, I’d finished the very first draft of The Sin Eater’s Daughter the day before, so I told her about it, but warned it was unedited. She read it anyway, loved it, though felt it needed some work, and eventually we both got it to a place where she felt she could try and get it onto publisher’s desks. And boy did she! 

I’ve been incredibly fortunate that both my agent and my editors have loved the story as much as I do, and have so much faith in me. I’m very privileged and honoured to work with the team I do; there is a lot of expertise and creativity – but more importantly, a lot of trust and support from them and it makes writing an absolute pleasure.


9. Do you have any unusual or strange habits while writing?

No. I’m really dull! I free write at first, and pretty much just let the characters do what they like! I loosely map the ending, and the beginning, and who the main characters are, and what they are to each other, but in between I give them free reign to do their thing while I build the world around them. I keep a notebook with me all the time in case I have an idea, and I like to get it down on paper, as a starting point, as soon as possible. I love editing, I prefer it to writing. I like making things pretty, the hard work bit at the start is my least favourite.

I am a night-time writer. Between 7pm and midnight is my best time for writing. I tend to start by re-reading the last passage I wrote, and making alterations, which helps ease me back into the story, and then the new writing tends to come between 9pm and 11pm. Then I read back again for a bit. I’ve tried working in the day, but I get distracted by the outdoors very easily, so it’s better for me to work at night, when the light is gone. I like to have a cup of tea going cold beside me, and I can’t write to music, but that’s about it.


10. You’re on Mars (because that’s what authors do, right?) and you realise that you only have 48-hours of oxygen left in your canisters. You reach for your emergency kit filled with five books (apparently, there was a food shortage, you’ve lost communication with Earth and no Kindles!). What five books are they?

The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

 
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. We, at YAfictionados, wish you all the best with the book and your writing career.