Tag a Writer

So you know that you have serious brain problems when you prepare a blog post weeks ahead of time and just forget to post it. Wow! Yep that is me J

My dazzling friend Deana Barnhart tagged me last we and since Emily King and I are working on a colab together we thought it would be fun to answer the questions together.

What am I working on?

Emily: Angie and I are currently finishing revisions on our YA fantasy, A SEASON OF BLOOM AND SHADOW, our first collaboration. We’ve also begun conceptualizing another YA fantasy that we hope to start once we’re querying. Writing a collab is so much fun!

I’m also receiving beta feedback on my rewritten (from MG to YA) fantasy, DAGGER ISLAND. Some of you may remember this MS from a year ago. It was received really well by agents, but I was told it would sell better as a YA. After writing another MS, I returned to this one and am now hoping to polish it up to query soon.

Angie: Emily is way more ambitious than me. My only project for the moment is my collab with Em, unless you count throwing Honey Nut Cheerios at my eight-month-old so I can write a project. Some days it is.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Emily: I like worlds with different ethnicities and landscapes, among other diversities. I feel a world isn’t complete until it’s as varied as ours is.

Angie: I think of my work as fantasy with a twist. Maybe it’s an unusual world, or fun magical limitation. Our current MS is about people separated into tribes by the seasons of their birth. Their season is the only time they possess magic.

Why do I write what I do?

Emily: I write fantasy because I enjoy building a world wrought with the same prejudices, government injustices, religions, and various ideologies we find in ours. Then I plunk my characters down in all that turmoil and watch them wither or thrive.

Angie: I second Em’s answer and add that fantasy is an escape from this world. I love the possibilities that open up when I’m not required to stay here, and I don’t have to do much research J.

How does my writing process work?

Emily: Well, I just ask Angie what we should do and go with it. J  Really though, working on a collaboration novel requires a lot of late night emails, early phone calls, and texts the size of the Bible. You do everything you normally do when writing—brainstorming, plotting, drafting, revising, rewriting—except you don’t have to do it alone. Two heads really are better than one.

Angie: I LOVE writing with Emily. It’s by far the most fun I’ve ever had writing. Everything is easier when you have someone to bounce ideas off of and share the stress. And just to set the record straight, any time Em says something feels off and we need to fix it—I listen. Her writing instincts are ALWAYS right.

To get really technical, this is our process: Brainstorm the world, beat out the bones of the plot, draft chapter by chapter in order, let it sit for a few months, revise for character depth and plot holes, send to betas, revise again, polish polish polish, query!

I know I want to tag my favorite Burley Idaho writer Cortney Pearson. We had such a great time at Storymakers. She is so sweet and talented! I also happen to know its her B-day this week, so take your time with the tag Cortney J

Angie