Today we welcome author and prolific tweeter Liz de Jager to the blog where we talk about publishing, juggling a day job and those pesky characters that want to be heard. Liz is the author of Banished and Vowed from the Blackheart Legacy series.
How long
was it between finishing Banished and the release of it?
About 3
years? I finished Banished...rewrote it from scratch (changed point of view to
first person present tense) then sent it off to my agent, Juliet. We reworked it then sent it out to editors. Got the book deal with Tor in 2013 and then
Banished got published February 2014.
How do
you juggle writing and your day job?
I have to
be strict. About 40 minutes writing before work in a coffee shop around from
the office. At lunch time either an hour in a spare office or run off to
another coffee shop. In the evenings
from nine till around midnight and at least one full day of writing on the weekend
or at least a four or five hour stretch, for sure. You have to make compromises but you always
have to find time to write.
What was
the feeling seeing the first print of your book, with your name on it?
Just
incredible. You know in theory you're going to have this completed thing in
your hand but when they turn up, and you open that box and there they are,
these beautiful things with your name on it? I don't think there's another
feeling like it.
As you
write, do you have a set plan or is it very fluid?
Banished
had a firm premise. I knew I had to have around five big beats/scenes that I
needed to hit. So I just sort of wrote until I hit them and then edited them
into a tighter read. For books 2 and 3, there was far more planning, especially
book 3, which is out January 2016. Lots of planning and making sure things are
tied together.
If you
had to inspire other writers, what would you say?
Don't give
up. Believe in yourself. It's hard but it's the strongest weapon in your
arsenal. Also, read everything you possibly can, both in and outside of the
genre you write in. Watch movies, watch TV shows, read newspapers. These are all places to generate ideas. Stalk
your favourite authors, find out who the agents are who would be interested in
your book. Visit your library and local
bookshops and see what's popular, form an idea what's current and check out agents'
wish lists of books they're keen on reading and selling. Also familiarise yourself with publishers -
who's doing what and who the editors are.
It's a very small community in reality and its fascinating learning the
various facets.
How
naughty are your characters as you try to write them?
They are
THE WORST, literally. Like, Aiden (the
werewolf boy?) he could flirt for days. I could literally write an entire book
with him doing banter and flirting with boys and girls. I've had to rein him
and Dante in quite a bit.
How was
it trying to maintain the pace and world building throughout Banished and
Vowed?
Pace is
interesting because it depends on the type of story you're telling. Both books
are spread over a few days only so the pace is pretty damn fast. There is a lot of action and fighting to pack
in...with the world-building, it's really difficult because you want it to come
across easily without making a big thing about it, pulling your reader aside
and saying: listen, Bob, this is why my faeries can't drink coffee, it makes
them feel very frisky. It yanks readers out of the world and the story.
Was Kit
based on someone you know or built with a real personality for people to
relate?
Kit is
wholly her own creation. She was just there, fully formed. A bit of a brat, a
risk taker, someone who doesn't really stop to think things through and even
when she stops to think things through, she'll usually go with the decision
where she gets killed. She probably feels she's slightly immortal because teens
hardly ever think bad things can happen to them. No one is there to save her,
she's the one doing the saving and so that's what she does. Her word is her
bond and she will go to stupid lengths to carry it out.
Having
been a blogger yourself, how important is it for the world of books that people
share their opinions?
It is so
important. Everyone's opinion matters. You just don't have to mean and
antagonistic about it. As a blogger I'd been witness to so many bloggers /
authors / publishers losing their cool online and it never reflects well on
anyone, ever. In the end, we are all
readers and we all love reading / movies / music / TV shows. We are a tribe of really cool people and
there's really no reason to go to war with one another about silly stuff.
How do
you see the series ending?
Uhm. I'm
working on the edits for Book Three - JUDGED - right now and lemme tell you a
thing: its hard work because the way I thought the book would end is just not
happening. It's completely different and so much better. It made my agent cry. I have no idea what my
editor thought about it yet as I'm working my way through it (it came in Monday
past) but I think she's far happier with it than what I had originally handed
in to her. I had a tremendous time writing it and will be sad to say goodbye to
the characters, but hopefully one day I'll be able to dust them off and write
more adventures. Or write adventures in the same world using other cousins or
Spooks agents...or Fae princes...or werewolf boys who really should know better
than following their noses for trouble!
Thank you Liz for your time in answering these questions! Banished, the first book in the series is available in ebook and print and my review of it can be read here.
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