Ahoy there! This week I had the amazing opportunity to sit down with the wonderful Ashlee McNicol, author of The Unforgiving Truths series on her blog tour to talk about her life and writing. Read the interview and be sure to check out her awesome book too!
This isn’t a game
anymore.
The fall of the Safe
Havens is close. A series of keys have been lost throughout the Four Worlds, causing
our wildest dreams to come to life. As deceptions fuse with the truth, one girl
is chosen to follow her people’s legacy and unlock the secrets that keep the
worlds bound. These secrets are just the beginning, for she unravels a puzzle that
she never could have imagined.
Led by a mysterious
entity and a series of magical objects, she journeys to the unknown to meet the
ones who started it all. However, defying magic comes with some consequences,
as she risks exposing her secret. On this quest, failure is not an option, for
once she starts, she can’t go back. There is nowhere to go. They are coming for
her.
________________________
Berger: Tell me a
little about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do when you aren’t
writing?
McNicol: I am
from a small city in Eastern Washington and very recently moved to Portland,
Oregon. I had been living in the Southwest United States for the past couple of
years, so it is nice to be around snow and trees again. I absolutely love the
Pacific Northwest and am a total winter fanatic. When I am not writing, I love
trying new cooking recipes, making new cosmetic home remedies, and doing
pilates. I love anything and everything relaxing. I even have a meditation
station on my Pandora because the ocean waves put me to sleep!
Berger: What
genre do you write in? Do you tend to stay in that genre or do you explore
other genres? What do you like about this genre?
McNicol: When I first started writing as a second grade student, I was
interested in mysteries and teen books that circulated around animals. I loved
the Magic Tree House books because you could escape into a whole new world by
opening the pages of a single book. Writing is about thriving on the depths of
your imagination and watching it come to life on paper. I became interested in
writing young adult books because I want to inspire kids. I have four younger
siblings and have grown up around children my entire life. I have seen the
potential of the future generations and I always strive to press the limits of
what they understand about the dimensions. Fantasy is a whole new world to me.
I love escaping into another world by whipping out my laptop and opening my mind.
Sometimes, I even do it the old-fashioned way and script my imagination on
paper. YA fantasy is a whole new reality.
Berger: What is
your writing process like on a daily basis?
McNicol: No matter how busy I
may be, I ALWAYS write. If I am absolutely swamped, my writing minimum is about
2,000 words. This almost never happens. I never set a maximum because I like to
just write and write and write. I never want to stop once I get started. My
usual word count is between 6,000 to 9,000 words. I have gotten as much as
12,000 done, but that takes a lot of work, and a lot of quietness. I love
writing in the early mornings, but I am always far more inspired in the late
evenings because I am such a night person. When I am not working, I try to
write up to 16 hours a day. It isn’t a job for me. It is fun, and I like the
challenge. I
Berger: What are
some difficulties you run into while writing?
McNicol: Writing the middle of
the story when there is no action. When I write, I often first complete the
rough draft as more of a template because I hate adding pointless details in a
story to fill a page count. I like quality stories. Therefore, I like
everything to have a meaning. Filling in that page count is definitely not my
number one goal because I want readers to remember what I write or what they
read from others. I love knowing that what I read will have relevance later in
a story. I am working on pulling the pieces together when not so much action
takes place. Straying from the action is the hard part because you don’t care
so much about that part all the time. It takes a different mindset.
Berger: Do you feel the need to outline and plan your story
before writing?
McNicol: I
had a rough idea and just went from there for the first couple of chapters in
this book. I knew where I wanted the story to go, so I wrote it the way it was
in my mind. As the story continued, though, I outlined it in terms of each
chapter, noting three or so main points I wanted to get across in that specific
chapter. I don’t process every detail them. I mildly outlined and then just
wrote. I like having an outline in place, though. It is nice to refer back to
if you forget something and are trying to figure out where you were going with
it.
Berger: How did
you go about the publishing process for your book?
McNicol: First, I
decided that I wanted to be an Indie author after doing an extensive amount of
research on the demand and feasibility in both publishing industries. I decided
on the publisher, paid for a great cover artist, took advantage of some great
editing, and organized some beta readers. I made sure to use a checklist! It
can be quite time consuming.
Berger: Do you
have any advice for creating believable characters?
McNicol: Put your
characters in a unique setting that readers will remember. Let the setting be
their home. Give them characteristics that we can relate to, and remember that
no one is perfect. If perfection is their trait, that’s another thing, but not
everything can be sunshine and rainbows. Give us a reason to remember them. I
suggest writing down 10 facts that readers do not know about the characters.
Let these facts and backstories bleed into your book. Remember: Show. Don’t
tell.
Berger: Do you
have any future plans to publish again soon?
McNicol: The Unforgiving Truths is the first book in
the Secrets of Ghastillanda Series. After making some recent changes, there are
now five total books in the series. I plan to wait to release those titles
periodically due to my marketing strategy. I will more than likely release them
all by the close of 2015. The sequel should be coming between January to
February of 2015.
Berger: How
important is marking for authors?
McNicol: I might be a little biased because I work in and
hold a degree in marketing. However, it is absolutely crucial for writers to
take advantage of marketing if they hope to make a name for themselves in the
industry. Bottom line: if you want to get your book out there, you have to
learn at least a few ways of the industry. I recommend researching your target
audience and connecting with them in the best way that they like to be reached.
Young adult books steered towards young girls, for instance, might have luck in
social media. Learn social media if you haven’t already, but connecting with
readers is most important.
Berger: Any
advice for writers or writers looking to publish?
McNicol: Do
your research. Figure out if you want to do the Indie or traditional route.
Research the advantages and disadvantages of both. Also, realize the time
investment. You need to treat marketing as a top priority. Get some promotional
materials, take some classes and do whatever you need to in order to better
understand the industry. Just remember that every writer is different so just
because something works for one writer does not mean that it will work for
another.
About Ashlee McNicol
Ashlee
spent her childhood bringing imagination to life by writing short stories that
she converted to books with the help of some glue, paper, and staples. By the
time she was nine, she completed hundreds of short stories that soon lined the
shelves in the local Washington state elementary library.
Those
short stories shaped her writing career, which has now launched to include over
fifty full-length young adult novels, waiting to be read. Ashlee holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing
from Eastern New Mexico University and serves as her own publicist. Currently,
she is crafting the Secrets of Ghastillanda Series and hopes to have all five
books released by the end of 2015. You can expect this to happen because if you
know her personally, you know she never backs down from a challenge.
