Beautiful Books is a linkup hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In.

It’s aimed at writers so we can answer the questions about our characters and our books. It’s designed to help you get to know your book better! (And also give your followers a sneak peek of your works-in-progresses.)

Beautiful BOOKS

Cait and Sky say: “Just like every year, we’re giving our monthly link up “Beautiful People” a small rest so we can focus on “Beautiful Books”.”

The Book

My WIP is called Winter’s Wrath and it’s the sequel to 2014’s Winter Witch (I missed 2015 due to personal reasons).

The Questions

1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

I’m feeling confident. I’m not entirely sure where this novel is heading because I plantsed it (I plotted about half and knew that inspiration would hit while I was writing for the other half – of which I am yet to write).

2. What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?

A hand gripped my shoulder as I swayed and nearly face-planted on the shimmering ballroom floor.

3. Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?

My favourite character is Dover, who is a hulking, softly-spoken barbarian warrior with a heart of gold who teaches Tally self-defence and protects her like a valued little sister.

Maybe because in my head I’ve cast him to be played by 6’3″ WWE heavyweight champ Roman Reigns? His finishing move is called the Superman Punch.

Yum.

4. What do you love about your novel so far?

I love that I’m exploring the difference between romantic love and sexual love, and I have a situation where a couple are forced to get married to keep up appearances but aren’t allowed to be a real married couple, if you know what I mean.

I also love that it is racially diverse. Almost every character is a person of colour. The main enemy are called Highlanders and they’re a re-imagined amalgamation and appropriation of the Scots and Celts. The main ‘race’ is based on Indian/Middle Eastern appearances because that’s part of my family heritage. But I’m still writing it from the point of view of a ‘white’ girl, albeit a girl whose whiteness is significantly different to whiteness in the real world.

5. Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

I haven’t made any hilarious typos but my fingernails are somewhat long this month so I do keep making small typos.

6. What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

I like to write the middle parts. This is a sequel, so I have to be careful in what I’m recapping by giving a new audience enough to entice them and leave them wanting more and not so much that I’m boring people who have read the first book and already know everything.

7. What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!

I have a day job and I have sleep apnea, so I’m not one of those people who can get up early and dash off my words before work. In fact, by the time I come home, eat dinner and unwind a little bit, I barely have time to write my words before I need to spend quality time with my husband and relax before bed so I can hopefully get enough sleep to be functional the next day.

My power food is chocolate.

Normally I do have playlists but this time I’m going with silence.

I actually write my best between 11pm and 3am, but I’m normally asleep then because as I said, I have a day job.

8. How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?

I don’t mind talking about my novel but I won’t let anyone watch my while I write it. I find the creative process very private and I don’t want anyone seeing the way my mind works, especially since I like to write quite violent things. I don’t need a cheer squad although it sure would be nice to have a team of beta readers eager to get their paws on my next manuscript.

9. What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?

In NaNoWriMo it’s the idea of having that 50K at the end of the month, and that there are a heap of other people doing it as well, but that not many of them will actually finish. I want to be a finisher. I normally hit a wall around 10-15K but I timed it this time to have some scenes I was really eager to write happening then,

10. What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?

Just do it. Opening the vein means the words will flow.

It’s OK not to write every single day but try not to fall too far behind. For me, three thousand instead of 1667 isn’t that big a deal: it’s just 2000 (which is nearly 1667 anyway) plus another one thousand.

When you’re finishing for the day, leave a reminder about the next scene you want to write so you’re not sitting there staring at a blank screen when you come back the next day. You know exactly what you have to write and you’re keen to do it.

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