Amy’s Comments (group member since May 31, 2013)

Amy’s comments from the Totally Random Tour group.

My book might be the only one with its own official carpet ;)

Aww, gutted! So much fun though, and I hope it was enjoyable for everyone watching.

Thanks Emma, thanks Karen, for being awesome tour-mates. And THANK YOU Random House for organizing such a brilliant tour!!

Would love to hear from you if you want to know more about anything we've discussed... I'm on twitter as @amymcculloch, FB at http://www.facebook.com/amymccullochbooks or on my website: http://amymcculloch.wordpress.com. Feel free to say hi!!

See you soon!

I guess that's 25k words more than you had before - it's a great idea to get some butt-in-chair writing time.

There are so many great lesser known fairy tales! Some of the best books have sprung from those... like The Snow Child and (I think) Shadow and Bone. (Or maybe I read a short story by Leigh Bardugo that was inspired by a lesser known fairy tale). Plus, of course, Pullman's latest book about Grimm's Fairy Tales was amazing.

Such great story fodder!

I've often tried to do NaNo but never succeeded. Completely admire anyone who manages it!!

Heck, I'm writing a duology, and the thought of wrapping THAT up is terrifying enough, let alone three books worth of plotlines.

I had no idea about your anxiety while reading through the trilogy, and in fact, I thought everything came together in a completely satisfying way. So bravo! That being said, I still hunger for more in that world... the alchemists, fae, wood elves and demons just don't seem to be living happily ever after quite yet. *hint hint*

Well, Random House pay for me to buy a plane ride somewhere far away and then I...

I wish!

For The Oathbreaker's Shadow, the actual inspiration was the desert. Some of my favourite books are where the setting becomes almost like a character in itself. Obviously, deserts are a very specific kind of environment: harsh, isolating, vast, unforgiving. It was the perfect setting in which to push a character to his or her limits. Obviously, stories of exile into the desert are as old as stories are... that famous Christian figure being the most obvious one!

After that, I was inspired by my travels and my background. My mum is Chinese, my dad is English and they own their own oriental carpet store, so I got used to travelling to farflung destinations from an early age. Carpets and carpet weaving societies have always interested me - and they are most often nomadic societies. I started reading about nomads, and realized that there was such rich fantasy novel material there.

Otherwise, I just look for places that are cool! Like Petra. I had the pleasure of visiting Petra last year, but I hadn't been before I wrote about Lazar, my own city cut into the rock. I had seen pictures though, and it awed me enough to deserve its own place in my book.

Ooh, sending actual shivers down my spine! The CCTV camera situation is very insane. It's that balance between freedom and safety, privacy and public knowledge... when it goes wrong, as it does in ACID, it's absolutely terrifying, but you can't imagine a modern society without some sort of state-enforced protection.

I haven't read BROTHER IN THE LAND but maybe I'll look it up!

The only time I've written 10k in a day is when I had completely forgotten about my *cough* main *cough* creative writing assignment for the one creative writing class I've taken in my life (p.s. if I had the chance to do it again... I probably wouldn't. Other than to meet other like-minded people). I had to write this 10k short story in that night or risk losing my entire grade.

I did it, non-stop and without sleep... and got an A. Oh yeah.

Never done it with my novels, though!

And now, Karen, this one is for you! I've been dying to ask you this!

Both Emma and I are debut authors, so won't be able to answer this question... but what does it feel like to end your trilogy? Were there any challenge or surprises along the way?

Em, a question about your book...

When I was reading ACID, I was swept away in your terrifying vision of a future Britain. It also got me thinking about how ACID fits in to the long tradition of British dystopian fiction... including the great 1984. Did you read much dystopian fiction before you started, or is it all the product of your own twisted mind? Any real world events or books or films you would cite as influences?

That's what I always find - it is worth the wait. Every minute I spent on my book, I'm so glad for now that it's almost out.

Oh yes, Karen's right! Here it is:
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com.a...

Um no, Karen, I hadn't heard of Coffivity but that sounds AMAZING! I'm going to have to check that out when I get home.

A total mix.

For the first draft of The Oathbreaker's Shadow, it was really organic. I knew the middle point and end point, but the rest kind of grew around that.

For book two, I've had to outline a bit more. I once read an article by another author (I'll try to find it) who said that if you outline - even a little bit - you can gain a much bigger word count (I think she said 10,000 words a day!!). Now that I'm under deadline, I've found the need to think ahead, so that when I do have the time to write, it's really focused and productive. Still not quite 10K a day though (I wish!)

It's taken 7 years for The Oathbreaker's Shadow, from first draft to publication.

But Oathbreaker wasn't the first book I ever queried agents about. I'm not sure my agent even knows that! The first book I tried querying when I was 18... and I was so not ready. It was about imaginary friends and a girl who could see them. So I suppose that was a low point - but, looking back, it wasn't the right book, nor the right time.

The Oathbreaker's Shadow was actually roundly rejected by agents - back when it was called Spirts and Scars. I basically hit 'The End' on the first draft and immediately started querying. Writers: DO NOT DO THIS!

It turned out, that story needed marinating for another... oh... two years, before it went out again, completely revised, turned inside out, polished up and beautified. At that point, it was ready. I landed Juliet Mushens as my agent in early 2011 (I was her first ever client!) and then we revised again.

Once it finally went out to editors, it wasn't long (but it felt like AN AGE) until Lauren (in her infinite wisdom ;)) picked it up and made an offer.

It's then been 18 months from offer to publication! Phew, and I still have a few days to go. It could all go horrifically wrong before then!! (Well, I hope not).

I used to hate reading, too! Man, I was a weird child.

But what solved that for me was Nancy Drew. My parents persisted in reading me Nancy Drew every night, and those cliffhanger endings on every chapter... they were a killer! Eventually I decided I couldn't wait for another night to find out what happened to Nancy, and before I knew it, I was a bonafide reader. Never looked back!

So, I have another question, because this is always something that intrigues me... where do you guys write?

As I'm currently sitting in a cafe, I definitely slot in to that old writer cliche! But something about the ambient noise (and coffee) really helps me sink into my writing headspace. I used to write best when I was supposed to be listening to lectures at uni (parents, look away!). Apparently, engaging my brain in creative work when I'm supposed to be concentrating on something else is what works for me!

I actually HATED writing when I was a kid.

I have a distinct memory of being 9 years old, in the back of the car, screaming and crying at my mum (what a pleasant child I was!) because we'd been given a homework assignment to write a creative story. Oops!

I guess I started writing properly when I was in high school when - quite frankly - I found it easier to write stories than to fit in. I wrote my first 'novel' when I was 15... although I have to say, I thought I'd never get published (I thought all authors were old, actually!). It wasn't until I heard about Christopher Paolini that I realized this might actually be something I could do for a living, before I reached retirement age!

Just posted my first question as a new discussion topic! :)