Ask the Author: Margot D'Archer
Answered Questions (8)
Margot D'Archer
This might sound weird, but I love trawling through premade book cover sites and I quite often get inspired by a cover. A good cover is evocative and it does the trick for me!
Margot D'Archer
Ideas for stories or characters are EVERYWHERE.
Margot D'Archer
I am putting the final touches on book #5 in the Squirrel & Swan series written under my other penname (M. D. Archer). As Margot D'Archer, I have recently started work on a new series of novellas - murder mysteries set in a place called Darkwater Lake. I've also been inspired to start setting out the basics for another book/short series. An action thriller.
I often have a few projects on the go at the same time - in different stages. One I am actively writing and another I am developing (the premise, the characters, the plot).
I often have a few projects on the go at the same time - in different stages. One I am actively writing and another I am developing (the premise, the characters, the plot).
Margot D'Archer
Everyone says this but it's true. READ READ READ and WRITE WRITE WRITE.
Writing is a craft and you have to work at it.
And - this might be bad news for some - if you're writing just for the sake of having 'written a book' - it will be a rough ride.
Writing is a craft and you have to work at it.
And - this might be bad news for some - if you're writing just for the sake of having 'written a book' - it will be a rough ride.
Margot D'Archer
I really love the combination of creativity (building worlds and characters) as well as problem solving (the structure of the book and fixing plot holes).
I also adore how I fall in love with my characters and my story. :)
I also adore how I fall in love with my characters and my story. :)
Margot D'Archer
If I'm feeling stymied by a story or a scene (creatively), I switch focus for a while and do something a little less demanding. I either go back and edit a previous scene or I bullet point the scenes that I need in the act or move ahead and delete bits I might have written earlier than I no longer need - things like that.
Interestingly, with every project, I always reach a point - usually in act two - where I feel a bit unmotivated /reluctant / blocked. I just have to push through and let myself write patchy scenes until the momentum returns.
Interestingly, with every project, I always reach a point - usually in act two - where I feel a bit unmotivated /reluctant / blocked. I just have to push through and let myself write patchy scenes until the momentum returns.
Margot D'Archer
We (NZ) are currently in lockdown and the shops and libraries are closed so my 'request' list has grown rather long! Here it is:
The Box in the Woods / Maureen Johnson.
The Thursday Murder Club [large print] / Richard Osman.
Blood on vines / Madeleine Eskedahl.
Billy Summers / Stephen King.
A slow fire burning [large print] / Paula Hawkins.
Rock Paper Scissors / Alice Feeney
The Thursday Murder Club / Richard Osman.
Life after life / Kate Atkinson.
For your own good / Samantha Downing.
Such a quiet place / Megan Miranda.
Finlay Donovan is killing it / Elle Cosimano.
The final girl support group / Grady Hendrix.
Never Saw Me Coming / Vera Kurian
Nice girls : a novel / Catherine Dang.
Last Girl Ghosted / Lisa Unger
The house of ashes / Stuart Neville.
The less dead / Denise Mina.
Friends like these : a novel / Kimberly McCreight.
Gone by midnight [large print] / Candice Fox.
Falling / T. J. Newman.
The wonder test : a novel / MIchelle Richmond.
Bullet train / Kōtarō Isaka. Translated from the Japanese by Sam Malissa.
Dead soon enough / Steph Cha.
A good girl's guide to murder / Holly Jackson.
One of us is next / Karen M. McManus.
The Box in the Woods / Maureen Johnson.
The Thursday Murder Club [large print] / Richard Osman.
Blood on vines / Madeleine Eskedahl.
Billy Summers / Stephen King.
A slow fire burning [large print] / Paula Hawkins.
Rock Paper Scissors / Alice Feeney
The Thursday Murder Club / Richard Osman.
Life after life / Kate Atkinson.
For your own good / Samantha Downing.
Such a quiet place / Megan Miranda.
Finlay Donovan is killing it / Elle Cosimano.
The final girl support group / Grady Hendrix.
Never Saw Me Coming / Vera Kurian
Nice girls : a novel / Catherine Dang.
Last Girl Ghosted / Lisa Unger
The house of ashes / Stuart Neville.
The less dead / Denise Mina.
Friends like these : a novel / Kimberly McCreight.
Gone by midnight [large print] / Candice Fox.
Falling / T. J. Newman.
The wonder test : a novel / MIchelle Richmond.
Bullet train / Kōtarō Isaka. Translated from the Japanese by Sam Malissa.
Dead soon enough / Steph Cha.
A good girl's guide to murder / Holly Jackson.
One of us is next / Karen M. McManus.
Margot D'Archer
Apart from the mystery of what on earth my upstairs could be doing to make *that* noise (I live in an apartment building/condo), the mystery that springs to mind is... I grew up in a small town and there was a girl who went to my school who looked so much like me that people always thought we must be sisters - twins even! We're not - AT LEAST AS FAR AS I KNOW. I always thought that could be a cool premise for a book. (And yes, it is in my 'ideas' folder).
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