DEAR AUTHOR DEAREST:
Do your stories grow organically or do you know the
certain capstone events and develop stories around them? OR Do you write more character-centric or plot/event-centric?
I consider
myself an organic/character-centric writer for sure. Story usually starts with
a ‘what if’ for me. Pretty Dark Nothing, for example, started with the question
– What if a teenage girl’s inner demons came to life and nobody else could
see them? From there, I move on to character. Everything grows from there as I
ask question after question. What would this girl be like? What is her
personality? What kind of friends would she have? What kind of
background/family/house would they live in? What are her flaws? What does she
want out of life? Why is she being haunted by demons nobody else can see? How
does this affect her decision making, her relationships, her life? The story develops
from these answers as the answers spark ideas for scenes. I do this for all the
characters, even minor ones, and use a character interview and personality
tests to help me make them real to me. I consider all of this pre-work. Some
writers outline as pre-work, but I prefer this kind of brainstorming to a hard
outline. I love discovering what happens along with my characters. It’s
exciting to me and tends to create more chances for the unexpected to happen. That
being said, before I ever put words to page, I usually have at least some idea
of the ending and maybe one or two high moments, but not much. The story flows
out of action and reaction for me. Throw my character in a situation and see
what happens.
DEAR AUTHOR DEAREST,
Any chance you would be willing to share
your winning query with readers?
Yes! Here is the
query that got me several full requests, and ultimately, a two book deal for Pretty Dark Nothing. Best advice I can
give is to try to get the maximum impact
possible out of every sentence. Find the absolute best words to communicate the
essence of your story without going into too much detail. It’s a hard balance,
but focusing on what happens rather than who it happens to, helps. Also, don’t
put in info about sub plots or secondary characters. Another thing that really
helps is to tailor each and every query you send
out. It’s a lot of work, but I promise it’s worth it in the end. And without
further ado, here’s my example.
Dear
X,
Your wish
list states you are currently looking for paranormal romance in a high-school
setting with something other than vampires or demon love interests. My
completed 60,000 word YA paranormal romance, Touched by Darkness, does have demons in it, but not the sexy bad
boy kind. Quinn’s demons are shadowy beasts and not the least bit loveable.
Seventeen-year-old
Quinn hasn’t slept in twenty three days. Not since the demons killed her
Sentinel. Without his protection they freely enter her dreams, whisper of her
death and feed on her fears and self-doubt. Now, she’s on academic probation,
benched from cheerleading, and popping caffeine pills to keep them away. The
demons are ruining her life until Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability,
accidentally enters her thoughts. He’s the light in her darkness and she’s the
key to his past, but the last thing the demons want is for them to be together.
If Aaron remembers his life as Kaemon, Quinn’s dead Sentinel now living inside
the stolen body of the boy known as Aaron Collier, their combined power could
tip the scales for good. To keep them apart, the demons must convince Quinn
that Aaron will turn his back on her, that he’ll confirm her worst fear; that
she’s crazy. Quinn must learn to trust her heart before the demons lead her to
her death. In the end, it’s her choice: Love or lies, faith or fear, darkness
or destiny.
I’m
a member of SCBWI and a graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature.
I’ve been a guest blogger for the award winning Writer Unboxed website, am
founder of the newly launched Hugs and Chocolate blog for YA writers. I also frequent
twitter @HeatherLReid, Facebook
and my own website.
I
hope you enjoy Touched by Darkness. I would be happy to send partials or the completed manuscript if you
should like to see them. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours
sincerely,
Heather
L. Reid
DEAR AUTHOR DEAREST,
What has been the most challenging part
of getting your book from draft zero to published for you?
Great question!
There were so many challenges getting from draft zero to published writer,
including throwing out half the novel and starting over, that it’s hard to pick
one in particular. I guess, looking back, the hardest thing was deciding when
to start querying. On one hand, I worried I would query before the book was
perfect, on the other; I feared I was holding on so tight that I would squeeze
all the heart from my story. There had been so many revisions already. So many
tweaks, input, critiques, ideas, and changes had gone into the quest to make it
publishing perfect, that I wasn’t sure if the story was better or worse for it.
But at some point you have to let go, take a leap of faith, and see what
happens, right? For me, that moment came when I realized I was playing with
sentences and word choice and no longer working on the big picture. The major
issues, as far as I could see, had been dealt with. Now I was nit-picking my
novel to death to make it perfect and I couldn’t see any significant changes. At
this point, I had done all I could do with the skills I had. It was time to
take a deep breath, and leap. I got a lot of rejections, and made a few more
little tweaks before I got the deal, but in the end, I’m glad I listened to my
gut and took that chance.
Thank you to all of my followers who took the time to
ask me your burning questions. It was hard choosing three, but I’m happy to
respond to any other questions here in the comments, so ask away! If you have
something you don’t want to ask on a public forum. You can also find me online
on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or My Website. Feel free to private message me and I’ll do my best to
answer your question.
Heather L. Reid is both American and
British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home.
Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might
find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted
castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites.
When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting
lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story.
For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with
her Scottish husband and working on the sequel to her Young Adult paranormal
debut, PRETTY DARK NOTHING.
