Today's special guest is author Helen Scheuerer to chat about two of her YA fantasy novels, Heart of Mist + Reign
of Mist.
Bio:
Helen Scheuerer is a YA
fantasy author from Sydney, Australia. Heart of Mist is the first book in
her high fantasy trilogy, The Oremere Chronicles. Helen is also the
Founding Editor of Writer’s Edit, an online literary magazine and
learning platform for emerging writers. It’s now one of the largest writers’
platforms in the world.
Helen’s love of writing
and books led her to pursue a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in Creative
Writing at the University of Wollongong and a Masters of Publishing at the
University of Sydney.
Helen is now a
full-time author living by the beach.
Please
tell us about your current release.
Heart of Mist has
been out for over 6 months now and has surpassed all my expectations! It became
a bestselling title in under 24 hours of publication and has remained in the
top 20 on Amazon since its release last year.
It’s the first installment in my YA fantasy
trilogy, The Oremere Chronicles and is full of action, girl power and
secrets.
In a realm where toxic mist sweeps the lands and
magic is forbidden, all Bleak wants is a cure for her power.
Still grieving the death of her guardian and
dangerously self-medicating with alcohol, Bleak is snatched from her home by
the Commander of the King’s Army, and summoned to the capital. But the king
isn’t the only one interested in Bleak's powers.
The leader of an infamous society of warriors,
the Valia Kindred, lays claim to her as well, and Bleak finds herself in the
middle of a much bigger battle than she anticipated.
The second book, Reign of Mist
will be released on September 13, 2018!
What
inspired you to write this series?
A few years ago I was working on another book, a
work of literary fiction. I was doing some incredibly hard edits when I had a
bit of a ‘light bulb’ moment.
I wasn’t enjoying what I was writing any more,
and what I was writing wasn’t what I was reading.
I decided then and there to give writing YA
fantasy a go, and I haven’t looked back since!
What
exciting story are you working on next?
I’ve just started work on the third and final
book in The Oremere Chronicles, which will be out in 2019.
The, I’ve got lots of exciting projects on the
horizon. In fact, at the moment, my publication schedule takes me all the way
into 2021!
When
did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve always considered myself a writer to be
honest. I know there’s a lot of talk about being a writer vs an ‘aspiring
writer’, but to me, if you write, you’re a writer and that’s that. It shouldn’t
matter if you’re aspiring, emerging or bestselling.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work
day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to
write?
Just recently I made the transition to being a
full-time author, which has been an incredibly rewarding, albeit, challenging
process.
I try to stay really disciplined with my time,
as working for yourself means it’s far easier to slip into sleep-ins and
procrastination.
I wake early, about 6am, and it’s straight to my
desk with a cuppa to get started on my emails, social media or my writing,
depending what’s the most urgent.
I give myself a lunch break to take a walk on
the beach and eat, and then I sit back down at my desk until dinner time.
Depending on the time of year (towards the end of the year gets more chaotic) I
may go back to work after dinner for a few hours as well. Though I’m trying to
find more of a work-life balance this year!
What
would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Hmmm… That’s an interesting question! I’m not
sure if it’s a quirk, but I tend to always need a fresh cup of tea before
diving into my writing for the day. I’ve been known to drink several cups
before 8am!
As a
child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I’ve wanted to be an author since I was about
seven, but I’ve been told that before that, it was my heart’s desire to be a
clown…
Anything
additional you want to share with the readers?
Don’t forget to check out Heart of Mist
and Reign of Mist, especially if you’re a fan of Sarah J Maas or Emily R
King!
Thanks so much for
having me, Lisa!
Links:
Thanks for joining me today, Helen.
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