September 2019 – Fi Phillips

30th September 2019

Haven Wakes is almost here

It’s Monday morning – the last day before my debut novel Haven Wakes is published – and I’m preparing for the big launch tomorrow.

To say, I’m excited has to be the understatement of my life, but I’m also incredibly grateful for this chance to share my stories.

I’m grateful to my publishers, Burning Chair for setting me off on this brilliant, new career path.

I’m grateful to my family for never giving up on my dream, even when I sometimes doubted it.

I’m grateful to all the beta and ARC readers, bloggers and reviewers who have helped me to hone and promote my novel.

I’m grateful to the friends who have been my cheerleaders over the last few months.

And I’m grateful to every reader who joins Steve on his journey into magic.

I’ve always been a writer, but tomorrow I become a published author. I still get a bit giddy when I think of that (I really should drink less coffee at the moment) and I haven’t stopped smiling for days.

Tuesday is a brand new start for me, and Haven Wakes, and all of the novels I have lined up to write.

Bring it on.

23rd September 201923rd September 2019

The inspiration behind Haven Wakes

If you ask what inspired me to write Haven Wakes, I’d have to say…

Hang on, let me think for a moment. Hm. This could take a while.

Well, I suppose the first thing was:

Magic

Ever since I read my first fairytale, I’ve been fascinated by magic – magic witches, magic beasties, magic wands and books – and just how a world rich in magic would operate.

In Haven Wakes, magic is hidden from the non magical world, kept in protected areas where magic-users can live with a level of freedom and acceptance. It’s part of their DNA but it comes at a cost.

So that’s the first – magic. What else inspired me?

Colourful folk

My childhood was spent ricocheting between Leeds, where my mum came from, the homes of various family members in Scotland (my father’s birth-country), and York where we lived.

In Leeds, I would meet the people of my mother’s past. There was the little old lady who lived in one room with her grown-up son and a gathering of cats, having filled the rest of her large terrace house with junk shop finds.

There were the elderly couple whose narrow home squeezed into a gap in a terrace of houses. She was tall with rosy cheeks, big arms and a warm, overflowing sense of humour. He was small, quiet, and a man of the earth, always happiest in his garden.

The Scots were just as colourful. There was the auntie who would send me home after each visit with a gift of dolls or jewellery, the uncle who would catch crabs in the harbour to the music of his portable radio, and the other auntie who would tell me tales of Nessy the monster and how to call her.

All of them were magical to me.

The travelling salesman and the dark fairy

I wrote a story called The Crystal Prince many years ago and where I might have left the story gathering dust on a shelf, two characters from that tale always called to me to re-write them.

One was a travelling salesman called Hartley Keg. He’s the kind of person who makes you smile, even when you don’t want to, who always has the right gadget to hand for any dilemma, and who carries a force of personality that speaks of authority and trust.

The other was a dark assassin, dangerous and intent on her mission. Even though she was a villain in the original story, she was always one of my favourite characters. I pulled her out of my writerly filing system, re-writing her for Haven Wakes as a dark fairy reluctantly on the side of our hero.

What will the future bring?

I live in a house of technology-fiends with gadgets galore, and that’s before you even think of computers.

My teens are the generation that has grown up with computers and mobile phones and VR just there. Whereas it was something new, at some point, to me and their Dad, they just accept all of that tech as a normal part of life.

During my lifetime, there have been so many technological changes in a relatively short period of time. Computers have gone from room-sized, to possible to fit on a desk, to small enough to sit in your palm. Phones used to be big, clunky, resin monstrosities. Nowadays everyone, including me, seems lost without their hand-held, fit it in a pocket, mobile phone.

Cars talk to us and soon self-driving cars may be the norm.

My inspiration for the futuristic world of Haven Wakes came from the thought of where these technological advances will take us. Robots? Fabrics that change colour at the flick of a switch or the brush of a hand? 3D printed food outlets? You’ll find all of that in my book.

So there you have it, all the things that inspired Haven Wakes. I’m sure there are others too, but these are the main ones.

Magic

Colourful folk

Hartley and the darkling

Thoughts of future tech

And now Haven Wakes will serve as inspiration itself for book two in the series. But that’s another story, quite literally.

21st September 2019

7 facts about how I write

When my publisher asked me to create a blog post to explain how I write, I thought, ‘that’ll be simple to answer, I just…’

And then it struck me. There’s no just about it. The act of writing, in fact, the whole process of writing, isn’t just anything. It’s complicated, and meandering, and sometimes a complete mystery.

So instead of discussing the whole mysterious and mystical machination that is writing, I broke it down into 7 facts about how I write.

I think

Or is that daydream? What I mean is that before, during and after the act of writing, I do a lot of thinking about my story. I have this whole internal conversation going on most of the time.

It might be

snippets of conversation,
or where the story is going next,
or changes I need to make to a chapter,
honing a description,
or even the name of a character.

Long before I put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, the action of writing begins with a thought.

Brainstorming

This is probably my favourite bit of the writing process. Before I begin to write, before I work out the plot or what will happen in each chapter, I have a mahoosive brainstorming session where I throw all of my ideas about a story down onto paper.

I use an A3 art pad so there are no lines to limit my scribblings. I write down

the title of the novel, or ideas about what the title might be
conversations between characters in my novel
characters – whether they have a name or not
settings
questions the book should answer
things to include to get the story where it needs to go
plans for future novels in the series so I know what path to follow
if this happens, then what? scenarios
topics I need to research
mythological beasties
spells and other magical details
character descriptions and backgrounds
details about the world my story is set in
problems I need to solve in my story
clues I need to reveal
locations of off-stage characters
character family connections

and anything else I need to know before I can begin to write.

It’s only when I’ve regurgitated all of those details that I can begin to build the story.

Later on, I’ll use my brainstorm chart as a reference tool to return to too.

I’m a devoted plotter

I’d love to be one of those people who can just begin a story with no plan, but I always write myself into dead ends and plot holes.

I make a plan of the different stages in the story (what will happen in the beginning, middle and end) and then carve the middle section up into anywhere from three to five sections.

Then I plot the path of my story in a sequential manner (this happens, then that, then that, and so on until the end).

Now, comes the fun bit, working out exactly how I’ll present my story:

Do I want to start the story-telling at the ‘beginning’ mentioned above, or do I want to start the story later?
Do I want to jump back and forwards a little?
Do I want to reveal everything, or will some scenes be shown through witness statements or clue-solving?
Is the story revealed through one person’s experiences or two simultaneous character paths?
Finally, does my story end with the ‘end’ mentioned above, or does it go on further?

I’m a firm believer, however, that plotting should always carry a level of flexibility. After all, when a character decides that they want to walk rather than take the train, they’re usually right.

Where I write

I generally write at my computer in my study. I say study, it’s actually the dining room and my desk is the dining table. My family have long since given into the fact that my need for a devoted place to write and work is more important than their need to eat around a table. Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to afford a garden office, or at least a shed.

I tend to switch between typing and handwriting my story, depending on my mood. If I’m struggling over a chapter or section, then making that change usually helps.

Very occasionally, I’ll write in the garden or at my local coffee shop, but generally I find those places too distracting to get any work done.

I don’t wait for inspiration

I’ve learned this lesson from working as a playwright and copywriter with client timescales to meet. I can’t just wait to be in the mood to write or have some wonderful idea to write about. If I did that, I’d rarely get any writing completed.

If there’s writing to do – whether it’s for a copywriting client or the next chapter of my work in progress – I have to just park my bum, pop on my glasses and get on with it.

Boring but true.

20 minute bursts

My writerly brain works best if I write for twenty minutes at a time. Why? Well, twenty minutes allows me to get quite a large chunk of writing done but doesn’t allow me to get bored or distracted. I end my twenty minutes still enthusiastic about my writing and wanting to return to it after my break.

I also find that taking a break allows my brain to cool off enough to solve any problem I may be having with my writing and/or plan out how to continue when I get back to it.

Reading back

When I return to a piece of work after a break, I read back over what I wrote during the previous twenty minute burst. This serves a number of purposes:

It reminds me where I left off.
It gets me back into the same tone of voice and pace of writing.
It allows me to check that the last twenty minutes weren’t wasted and that I didn’t get off track.

It might take a little extra time to read back but it always helps me to continue with whatever I’m working on.

So there you have it. This is some of how I write.

Visit my Books page to find out exactly what my novel is about.

13th September 2019

Inspiration: Roald Dahl Day 2019

Around the time I decided that I wanted to be a writer and actively began to write stories, I discovered the books of Roald Dahl.

It began with the wonderful Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The book was bought for me as a gift and although it wasn’t the kind of story I’d read before, the back cover description drew me in:

I was 9 years old, and this book was about chocolate and adventure. What wasn’t there to like?

I finished the book in a matter of days and begged for more. A friend of my father bought me the next instalment of Charlie’s adventure, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

Those two books began a lifetime love of the writings of Roald Dahl. Over the years, I’ve bought and read all of his children’s books and passed most of them on to my own children.

Dahl has a wonderfully dark imagination, mixing scares (evil aunts and murderous witches) with children who are brave and often at odds with their circumstances and lives. There’s fantastical settings (like a giant peach) and real-life relationships (Danny the Champion of the World).

Today is Roald Dahl Day. Whether you’re a child, a parent, a teacher or just a grown-up who likes great writing, there’s all kinds of good stuff to be accessed on the Roald Dahl website. Have a look.

2nd September 2019

Interview with author Suzanna Williams

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing to you not only a wonderful writer but a good friend too, author Suzanna Williams. Suzanna is a YA writer of stories that cover sci fi, action and adventure, with a touch of parkour and romance thrown in too.

And Suzanna has a little freebie treat for readers of this blog post. Read on to find out more.

When did you first call yourself a ‘writer’?

I told my primary school teacher I was a writer after I’d filled a whole exercise book with a story for homework. It was called ‘Mr Uncle the Ostrich’, (which I still think is a good title). My teacher must have taken a long time to mark it, because future homework had a limit on the pages we could write. My mum complained about the teacher’s attitude which didn’t make me popular, but it didn’t deter me. I was a writer. I had to write.

Tell me about your books.

I have two YA books out at the moment.

‘ShockWaves’ is a fast-paced YA action-adventure. It’s about a girl who gets kidnapped by an ex-IRA terrorist and the boy who tries to save her, and it involves lots of parkour, some gymnastics and a touch of telepathy.

‘Ninety-five percent Human’ is a YA sci-fi romance in which a sixteen-year-old Welsh hill-farmer, a human-alien hybrid and a robot life-form with a bad sense of humour take on an alien leader set to invade Earth.

There are two short story prequels to go with this series. ‘Jake’, the evolving robotic fighter-pilot-turned-space-pirate, the unexpected hit character from Ninety-five percent Human. And ‘Sarah’, the human/alien hybrid sent to test the viability of life on Earth.

The awesome readers of Fi’s blog can download a copy of ‘Sarah’ for free.

What inspires you to write?

Ideas often come from a story I’ve read or a film I’ve watched. Some characters or situations will spark an imagination explosion of ‘but-what-if’s…’ I keep these in my notebook until one of them morphs into a plotline that keeps me awake at night. I am a very sound sleeper, so, I write down any story that disturbs my eight-hours.

How important is research to you when writing a book?

I like to get facts correct.

How long would it actually take a one-armed pilot with an eyepatch to fly from London to Outer Mongolia in a Cessna during a thunderstorm?
Would it be physically possible for someone to drag themselves ten miles through the burning Amazon rainforest with a broken leg whilst carrying an unconscious wombat suffering from smoke inhalation?
In which country would you find a noxious pink plant that would make you hallucinate asteroids falling from the sky?

For these awkward questions, Google is my friend.

On a more realistic note, I once sailed to Ireland and back on the Ferry at night to experience the atmosphere to write in a book, and a lot of the settings in my stories are places I’ve visited.

(Note: I don’t know the answer to the above questions. Any guesses?)

What is your writing schedule like? Do you aim to complete a set number of pages or words each day?

I wish I could say yes to this question, but amongst the chaos that is my life, I don’t have the luxury of a writing schedule. Setting targets and watching them fly past unmet makes me sad. I prefer the satisfaction of snatching a few unexpected hours whenever I get the chance. This method is not productive, and I would not recommend it. However, it keeps me partly sane until life improves.

Plotter or pantser?

I started off a pantser. Over the years I have set into many a story with nothing more than the whiff of an idea and an overdose of enthusiasm. This has mostly ended badly. My aimless characters would meander around for several hundred pages before being written into a corner from which I could find them no escape. The manuscript then came to rest among the ranks of the undead unfinished.

On the rare occasion I typed ‘the end’, it would take more edits than I care to admit for me to untangle the plot holes and character inconsistencies I inevitably found when I read it back. This had to stop.

Starting off with a solid plot helps me find the problems with my story before I begin. The more detail I can add, the better the expectation that I will finish. Plotting rules!

Putting aside the writing for a minute, what is your favourite genre to read?

Not sure I have a favourite genre. It might be more useful to say what I don’t like.

So, in no particular order:

Erotica. Romance is good but leave the bedroom door shut please.
Historical novels. Especially those featuring sub-servient women with menfolk who abuse them. These are just too irritating. I’d leave them on the shelf.
Thrillers where children get abducted/tortured/murdered. Books are my escape and I don’t need a reminder that people can be horribly cruel. I’m a big believer in the happy-ever-after ending.

Most other books are fair game.

Any advice for writers just starting out?

Read as much as you can, even books you think you won’t like. (This is especially good at combatting ‘writer’s block.’)

Write as much as you can, even things you think are useless. (Yes, some of your words will be absolute trash, but some will be genius; go with those.)

Repeat.

Repeat again.

What books are you working on now or planning for the future?

I’ve had a long period where real life has brought my writing to a standstill, but I’m happy to be finalizing the last edit of AfterShock, which is the sequel to ShockWaves. It’s been a long time coming but I have a tentative release date in December. I’ve had new covers designed for the series which makes me smile every time I look at them.

I’ve also written a new middle grade series and I’m working with an illustrator on them. I’m not putting a release date on this project (see question 5 above) but fingers crossed it will be in the near future.

A big thank you to Fi Phillips for allowing me onto her blog. I’m looking forward to seeing Haven Wakes on the best sellers list very soon.

Thanks, Suzanna. Some great answers there.

You can find Suzanna by visiting:

And once again, you can download her free short story ‘Sarah’ here.