Who was your favourite character to write in We Ride The Storm?
That’s actually a tough question because I enjoyed writing them all in different ways for different reasons. Cassandra for the ease of spilling snark and aggressive boredom onto the page, Miko for embodying many of the struggles that are very dear to my heart, and Rah for possessing my stubbornness and my eternal optimism that people are good at heart and that we should always strive to do the Right Thing.
What's your favourite thing about traditional publishing?
All the things I don’t have to do! I’m not very good at multitasking. When I get focussed on something I do it to the exclusion of everything else and that’s great for writing a book or fixing up my website, but is terrible when there are a hundred tiny other tasks that need to be done just to keep the business going. I also love feeling like a part of a team of people all focussed on putting out the best possible books. Being an author is a very solitary occupation, and traditional publishing makes that feel a little less the case.
Is there anything you miss about being self publishing?
Hmmmm, the control over covers and timelines, but only a little bit. And the being able to see in real time how well the books were selling in order to see whether spikes were linked to anything in particular. I was not a very good businesswoman in this regard and always forgot to look anyway, but it was a nice thing to be able to think I would one day get around to doing it well.
What's your current favourite book?
Argh that’s such a tough question! I love so many books and I’ve read so many great ones recently. My most favourite from the last few years though, is still Black Wolves by Kate Elliott. It’s been my answer for the two years since I read it, nothing having quite been able to topple it from top spot. The sheer magnificence of the world building and the characters… it was one of those books I felt I learned from reading as much as I enjoyed reading. If you haven’t read it, I highly highly cannot more highly recommend it.
Do you have any authors you take inspiration from?
I feel like these days I take small bits of inspiration from every book I read rather than relying on the works of particular authors. Recently I was inspired by the detailed and thoughtful worldbuilding in K.A. Doore’s Ghadid Trilogy, the nuance and heart of the interpersonal story in A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, and the messy relationships and humans in Tasha Suri’s upcoming The Jasmine Throne. I’ve been lucky that in every book I’ve read of late I’ve found something I want to see more of in the genre, and end up absorbing it all into my writer subconscious.
Do you have a writing routine?
Sort of. It changes all the time depending on what I’m doing. I’ve had projects where I couldn’t write unless listening to the same two-hour loop of music over and over again, or couldn’t start without a cup of tea. At the moment it’s no music, and writing time is dependent on the day and the mood of my Doom Child, so I’ve learned to just sit down and start right away and work for as long or short as required with breaks only to get tea. Having kids has taught me to be far more efficient in almost every aspect of my life. When writing first drafts, I also add in daily walks for working through plot problems. It works a treat!