Please welcome Julia Knight author of Ilfayne's Bane.
Me: What inspired you to begin writing?
Julia: Two things really. Firstly, CJ Cherryh. I adore her heroes. I always fall for them, hook line and sinker, and I wanted to be able to do that to readers too! Secondly it was all Johnny Depp’s fault lol. I watched a film of his ( The Brave, I don’t think it was released in the States) and it’s one of those films that really makes you think. What it made me think about was the nature of sacrifice, what people would do for their families. Not long after, Ilfayne popped up in my head and refused to shut up until I started to write about him. A daunting prospect – I’d written nothing more than a shopping list since I left school!
Me: For each writer their genre is the one they’re comfortable with. Why did you begin writing within yours?
Julia: Well I read so much fantasy, it only seemed fair to write it. I just love the escapism of it, the fact that anything can, and does, happen. And so it goes writing it – you can make anything happen as long as it has an inherent logic within your world, and you think about the consequences. Or as Terry Pratchett has it ‘You can have flying pigs, provided you make sure that those who live under heavy flown flight paths have very stout umbrellas’. For me it’s the consequences of the fantastical elements that really make the world come alive.
Me: What was your initial reaction when you got that first contract? Have you had anything else contracted and if so what was your reactions? Did you have the same emotions?
Julia: My initial reaction was complete disbelief! I’d only been writing for about 3 years. Surely it must be a spoof e-mail. Right? When it sank in though I was thrilled. I told everybody, even the postman. I’ve just signed a contract for the sequel to Ilfayne’s Bane, Love Is My Sin, and my first thought was ‘phew, it wasn’t a fluke then’ *laughs*
Me: What would be your one piece of advice for anyone interested in getting a book published?
Julia: Perseverance is the key, and never stop learning. Okay that’s two, I cheated. But really it does come down to that. Never think you’ve learnt everything there is to know, keep reading and learning. And never give up, never surrender! If there’s one thing that published writers have in common, it’s that they never gave up.
Me: What sort of goals do you set for yourself with each project?
I tend to have two sets of goals. Daily and long term. So I write every day, and try and get a set number of words in ( 1 thousand is doable for me) If I go over, great. And the long term goals. My current MS, the third in the series, I hope to have the first draft ready at the end of August, tidied up and sent to betas by the end of September and the final draft done by Christmas. I’ll let it rest periodically in between drafts, but I work on other projects then, so I’m always writing. If I miss a day, it’s all too easy to miss the next day, and the next and before you know it life takes over and I haven’t written anything for a month.
And before I go, I’d just like to say a big thanks for the opportunity to talk to you.
Julia: Two things really. Firstly, CJ Cherryh. I adore her heroes. I always fall for them, hook line and sinker, and I wanted to be able to do that to readers too! Secondly it was all Johnny Depp’s fault lol. I watched a film of his ( The Brave, I don’t think it was released in the States) and it’s one of those films that really makes you think. What it made me think about was the nature of sacrifice, what people would do for their families. Not long after, Ilfayne popped up in my head and refused to shut up until I started to write about him. A daunting prospect – I’d written nothing more than a shopping list since I left school!
Me: For each writer their genre is the one they’re comfortable with. Why did you begin writing within yours?
Julia: Well I read so much fantasy, it only seemed fair to write it. I just love the escapism of it, the fact that anything can, and does, happen. And so it goes writing it – you can make anything happen as long as it has an inherent logic within your world, and you think about the consequences. Or as Terry Pratchett has it ‘You can have flying pigs, provided you make sure that those who live under heavy flown flight paths have very stout umbrellas’. For me it’s the consequences of the fantastical elements that really make the world come alive.
Me: What was your initial reaction when you got that first contract? Have you had anything else contracted and if so what was your reactions? Did you have the same emotions?
Julia: My initial reaction was complete disbelief! I’d only been writing for about 3 years. Surely it must be a spoof e-mail. Right? When it sank in though I was thrilled. I told everybody, even the postman. I’ve just signed a contract for the sequel to Ilfayne’s Bane, Love Is My Sin, and my first thought was ‘phew, it wasn’t a fluke then’ *laughs*
Me: What would be your one piece of advice for anyone interested in getting a book published?
Julia: Perseverance is the key, and never stop learning. Okay that’s two, I cheated. But really it does come down to that. Never think you’ve learnt everything there is to know, keep reading and learning. And never give up, never surrender! If there’s one thing that published writers have in common, it’s that they never gave up.
Me: What sort of goals do you set for yourself with each project?
I tend to have two sets of goals. Daily and long term. So I write every day, and try and get a set number of words in ( 1 thousand is doable for me) If I go over, great. And the long term goals. My current MS, the third in the series, I hope to have the first draft ready at the end of August, tidied up and sent to betas by the end of September and the final draft done by Christmas. I’ll let it rest periodically in between drafts, but I work on other projects then, so I’m always writing. If I miss a day, it’s all too easy to miss the next day, and the next and before you know it life takes over and I haven’t written anything for a month.
And before I go, I’d just like to say a big thanks for the opportunity to talk to you.
Me: Thank you so much Julia for stopping in. It was great chatting with you. For anyone whose interested you can find out more about Julia's book and her other writing project at http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/ilfaynes-bane or Julia's blog http://juliazknight.wordpress.com/home-page/blog/.
Comments