Ask the Author: Sofiya Pasternack
Answered Questions (15)
Sofiya Pasternack
Thank you so much, Catalina! I'm really glad you liked my books. <3 There isn't a third Anya book at this moment, but I have a book about a different girl coming out this September. No dragons in that one, but there are other fantasy creatures that you might like!
Sofiya Pasternack
Hi Mary! I'm so glad you liked Anya's stories! Right now there isn't a third one, but... never say never!
Sofiya Pasternack
Hey Ishya! I have contact information on my website that your parents can help you find. But please don't send me your book! I won't have time to read it for quite a while, and I think you'd have way more luck letting your parents or a trusted teacher read it instead!
Sofiya Pasternack
Hi Ishya! When you're 10 years old and you want to write, the best piece of advice I have for you is to read a ton and write a ton! The more you read, the better you'll understand story structure. When you're reading, ask yourself why you like or don't like a story, a character, or even a specific line! And then write write write. Just keep on writing! Writing is the same as music or sports. If you want to get better at it, you have to practice! Good luck with your writing!
Sofiya Pasternack
ANYA AND THE DRAGON is my favorite fairy tale from childhood, retold to include real history and Jewish elements. But I've gotten book ideas from song lyrics, textbooks, TV shows, and those "what's your YA novel title based on your birthday" twitter games. Ideas can come from anywhere if you've got your peepers peeled!
Sofiya Pasternack
My current WIP is a project called AXIOM which I'm about halfway done with. It's a hefty fantasy with library criminals, magical alchemy, and first-generation antipsychotics. I'm live-tweeting my drafting, so if you're into that sort of thing, hop over to twitter, or you can see more details (like character descriptions, aesthetics, etc) on my website's forum!
Sofiya Pasternack
Get up, get moving!
My particular brand of writer's block is my brain's way of telling me "this ain't it." So when I just.cannot.keep.writing, it's usually because the story, the plot, the characters, SOMETHING isn't right.
So I'll get away from my story for a while and just think. Read something else. Play some BotW (gotta get that motorcycle). Go to the gym.
Then I'll come back to my outline and I'll examine what's going on. It takes some work to break through, but once I do, I can get back to jammin' out those words!
My particular brand of writer's block is my brain's way of telling me "this ain't it." So when I just.cannot.keep.writing, it's usually because the story, the plot, the characters, SOMETHING isn't right.
So I'll get away from my story for a while and just think. Read something else. Play some BotW (gotta get that motorcycle). Go to the gym.
Then I'll come back to my outline and I'll examine what's going on. It takes some work to break through, but once I do, I can get back to jammin' out those words!
Sofiya Pasternack
READ! Read everything you can get your grabby hands on, especially in the genre you write in. In my medical job, I have a certain number of hours every year that I have to do in continuing education (CE) to make sure I stay up-to-date on the latest in my field. Reading is CE for writers!
Make writer friends. There's something about that shared experience with other writers that you just don't get with non-writers. Also, other writers are just as weird as you are, and enjoying that shared weirdness is very liberating.
Develop a writing habit. I get up every day at 4:45, get a cup of coffee, and sit at my computer by 5. I write until 6. Every day. Few exceptions (sometimes I have to be at work by 6 and I am NOT getting up earlier than 4:45). Just that quiet hour in the morning has increased my productivity by a ton.
Take care of yourself, mentally and physically. I set my alarm for 50 minutes, and when it goes off, I force myself to get up and move around for 10 minutes. Stretch, pet a doggo, get some water, etc. Getting away from your computer for a few minutes can help with writers block, too!
Be nice! I mean, this kind of applies in any part of life. So yeah, be nice. This includes being unapologetically loud about things and people you love. Including yourself. Give yourself a hug. Pat yourself on the back. Celebrate your own small victories!
Make writer friends. There's something about that shared experience with other writers that you just don't get with non-writers. Also, other writers are just as weird as you are, and enjoying that shared weirdness is very liberating.
Develop a writing habit. I get up every day at 4:45, get a cup of coffee, and sit at my computer by 5. I write until 6. Every day. Few exceptions (sometimes I have to be at work by 6 and I am NOT getting up earlier than 4:45). Just that quiet hour in the morning has increased my productivity by a ton.
Take care of yourself, mentally and physically. I set my alarm for 50 minutes, and when it goes off, I force myself to get up and move around for 10 minutes. Stretch, pet a doggo, get some water, etc. Getting away from your computer for a few minutes can help with writers block, too!
Be nice! I mean, this kind of applies in any part of life. So yeah, be nice. This includes being unapologetically loud about things and people you love. Including yourself. Give yourself a hug. Pat yourself on the back. Celebrate your own small victories!
Sofiya Pasternack
Yay, I'm so happy that you liked it! Yes, there's a sequel. ^_^ It's called ANYA AND THE NIGHTINGALE, and it will be released in Fall 2020!
Sofiya Pasternack
I love taking inspiration from history! But put a twist on it. And add magic. Wheee!
Sofiya Pasternack
All the weird stuff you pack into your brain. Seriously, what other job needs to be able to reconcile goat husbandry, pharmacokinetics, and Medieval breadmaking techniques??
Sofiya Pasternack
I've always wanted to be able to draw well, so it would totally be drawing! I 100% believe that you can do anything well if you just practice at it, so one of these days I'm just going to sit myself down and start drawing things! The first thing is going to be a goat. Obviously.
Sofiya Pasternack
(Technically it's the 10th Century but shhh)
I started with my source material: the byliny (oral epic poems) that are the basis for some of my characters. Once I figured out the approximate time period, I looked into significant events of the time, fashion, farming practices, whether candles existed yet, blacksmithing, how to build a Russian oven, and food glorious food.
The strangest thing? I don't even know. I lost track. Probably the strangest thing to develop was the names for all of Ivan's brothers. I would ask my Russian friends their opinions and clarify with, "But they're *supposed* to sound stupid."
I started with my source material: the byliny (oral epic poems) that are the basis for some of my characters. Once I figured out the approximate time period, I looked into significant events of the time, fashion, farming practices, whether candles existed yet, blacksmithing, how to build a Russian oven, and food glorious food.
The strangest thing? I don't even know. I lost track. Probably the strangest thing to develop was the names for all of Ivan's brothers. I would ask my Russian friends their opinions and clarify with, "But they're *supposed* to sound stupid."
Sofiya Pasternack
I'm a morning person so when I write in the morning I'm generally thinking more clearly. Grab me some coffee and get going before anyone else wakes up. Ah! Perfection!
Sofiya Pasternack
Thank you! The setting was a ton of fun to create, but also pretty challenging. I wanted to stay true to the folkloric piece of the story, so the research was largely centered on the folklore and the byliny (oral epic poems) used as the basis for the story. The byliny span a couple (seven??) centuries, so picking a single time period was tough.
I went with the earliest setting because of the mythic heroes' relationship with Vladimir I of Kiev (ruled in the late 10th-early 11th Centuries), as well as Sviatoslav I (Vladimir's dad) and his conquest of Khazaria (mid-10th Century).
For culture, I patterned the Russian and Jewish cultures after modern cultures of each. I didn't want to take this to too much of a historical place, so I kept the dialogue relatively modern, too.
I went with the earliest setting because of the mythic heroes' relationship with Vladimir I of Kiev (ruled in the late 10th-early 11th Centuries), as well as Sviatoslav I (Vladimir's dad) and his conquest of Khazaria (mid-10th Century).
For culture, I patterned the Russian and Jewish cultures after modern cultures of each. I didn't want to take this to too much of a historical place, so I kept the dialogue relatively modern, too.
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