Hello gentle reader,

I was invited by the awesome Rhiann Wynn-Nolet to join the Writing Process Blog Tour. Rhiann is one of the co-founders of the Like A Virgin Contest and the CriTiki Lounge, which both help writers in their querying process. She’s represented by Stefanie Lieberman of Janklow & Nesbit, and writes YA/NA fiction with a gothic atmosphere and passionate characters. She blogs here and you can also find her on Twitter here.

What am I currently working on?

I’m working on a YA Historical Fantasy entitled THE BRIGHT AND THE LOST. It takes place in the 1920s during the London Season and it involves flappers in jazz nightclubs, debutantes in Mayfair mansions, dark magic and strange creatures. I like to think it as THE GREAT GATSBY meets DOWNTON ABBEY with magic, because that’s not ambitious or anything 😉

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

YA Historical Fantasy – Fantasy set in a specific historical era – is quite a niche genre. When I researched YA Fantasy books set in the 1920s, I found that most of them were set in the US and I thought it’d be interesting to write a story set in London instead. The Roaring Twenties did cross the ocean after all, and post-WW1 England is a great, dark setting which I wished to explore.

Why do I write what I write?

My answer to this question is always the same: I write the books I want to read. So I write books with clever, strong female characters, with magic and monsters, with darkness and love.

How does my individual writing process work?

I’m not the kind of writers who gets a Shiny New Idea and spends the next three months turning it into a book. I’m quite a slow writer. I get a Shiny New Idea, then I mull it over for months. Once this New Idea is fleshed out with a world, main characters and a loose plot, I outline. Only then do I start writing a first draft, which will need many, many rounds of revisions before it finds its way into the hands of my beta-readers. My CPs are the only one whom I ask to read earlier drafts, and I’m so lucky they’re the most patient people in the world.

And now, to tag some friends!

The wonderful Katie Bucklein who let me read her AMAZING YA Fantasy novel with pirates. She’s the Next Big Thing, you’ve been warned.

The lovely Melody Marshall who writes YA Fantasy and Science Fiction and is always happy to chat on Twitter.

My wonderful CP Jessica Rubinkowski who writes YA Fantasy and who just had a baby! She’s awesome, I’m telling you.

If I haven’t tagged you and you’d like to share your answers to the writing process questions, please feel free to do so in the comments section below!