Debut #LoveOZYA author Bonnie Wynne took the time to answer some questions from @SarahSacaKat earlier in the week.
Firstly, thank you Bonnie for taking the time to answer my questions. Just reading the synopsis for The Ninth Sorceress gets me excited and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Q: Where did the inspiration for The Ninth Sorceress come
from?
A: It’s tricky to say
exactly where the seed came from. I’m a bit of a bowerbird when I’m reading or
watching TV or playing games, and when something strikes me as interesting then
I always think ‘ooh, how can I use this in my book?’
So I’d say my inspiration
for The Ninth Sorceress came
from a lot of places over the years. But I definitely credit the authors I
loved while I was growing up, like Robert Jordan and Isobelle Carmody and Frank
Herbert and Anne McCaffrey. They were big influences on my work, and without
them, The Ninth Sorceress probably
never would have been written.
Q: Did much change from the first draft to the final copy
of this book?
A: I wrote The Ninth Sorceress really, really
slowly. There are parts I wrote over 15 years ago! So it’s safe to say a lot
has changed between the first draft and the final copy.
My original concept
skewed a lot more sci-fi (there was at least one scene set in space!) The
characters changed, the world changed, the ending changed… It’s almost
unrecognisable.
I also cut about 60,000
words before submitting to Talem, and trimmed another 20,000 words after that.
It was tough to cut all that material I’d spent so long writing, but ultimately
it was for the best.
Q: If you could go back to when you first started writing
The Ninth Sorceress and give yourself any advice, what would it be?
A: I would advise
myself to make an outline before I started writing! While I was working on this
book, I took a ‘make it up as you go along’ approach, and I ended up wasting a
lot of time pursuing plot threads that ultimately went nowhere and ended up
getting cut.
These days, I try to
leave room to experiment and make changes as I go, but also plan where I want
to end up and what plot points I want to hit along the way. It saves a lot of
stress.
Q: Did you always want to be a writer?
A: Being a writer is
the only thing I can remember ever wanting to be. Even when I was in
kindergarten I used to write ‘books’ (on printer paper, folded and stapled
together) and try to sell them to my neighbours and friends.
Q: What advice do you have for young people who want to
become writers?
A: Critique, critique,
critique. Both giving and receiving. It’s really scary at first to have people
reading your work and looking for problems, but it’s the only way to improve.
You also learn a lot from reading other people and paying attention to what works
and what doesn’t.
I think we’re all
precious about our work at first, which is normal because writing is such a
personal thing and it can be hard to separate a criticism of the work from a
criticism of you as a person. But
ultimately it’s not personal, and the faster you can get used to it, the
better.
Q: Do you have habits/rituals to help you write – be it
background music, a fave snack etc?
A: I don’t really have
habits or rituals, but I do have a few quirks.
For starters, I need
complete silence (I can’t write at all if there’s music playing). Even a
ticking clock can annoy me. I admire all the mums and dads who can write in a
house full of screaming kids! I could never.
I also prefer to write
in really big chunks. I’m not somebody who can sit down and write 1,000 words
and then head off to work. I need a six-hour stretch to write non-stop. There’s
a cabin on the South Coast that I really love, and I try to get down there a
few times a year so I can just get in my ‘zone’ and work without distractions.
Although I’m always kind of weird and spaced-out when I come home from a week
with no human contact!
Q: What are you reading at the moment (or what was the last
book you read)?
A: I just finished Queen
of Nothing by Holly Black – a great finish to the series, with some crazy
twists and turns! I really want to read Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows
duology next. I’ve been avoiding it because I normally hate ‘heist’ stories.
But all her other books are amazing, so it might finally be time to take the
plunge.
Q: The #AusYABloggers are all about promoting and
supporting Aussie and Kiwi Authors. Do you have any favourite #LoveOzYA or
#LoveNzYA books (other than your own of course)?
A: I really can’t give
enough praise to my fellow Talem Press author Bronwyn Eley’s debut novel Relic. I gobbled it up in about two days when it came out last
year, and it was such a fantastic
start to the series. Bron has a real gift for dialogue, and I love that she
gives all her scenes room to breathe. It never feels like she’s just sprinting
from one plot point to the next. She won’t give me any spoilers for future
books, so I have to wait to see what happens next!
Once again, thank you
so much Bonnie for taking the time to answer my questions.
Keep your eyes on the
#AusYABloggers blog on Feb 13, as Jade from @romanceanddragons will be sharing
a review of The Ninth Sorceress.
THE NINTH SORCERESS,
Bonnie Wynne's debut fantasy
novel, is slated for release February 13.
Title: The Ninth Sorceress
Author: Bonnie Wynne
Publisher: Talem Press, Writer's Edit
Release
Date: February
13th, 2020
In the blackest dungeon of the Clockwork City, a prisoner lies bound in silver shackles. Who is she? And why are the wizards so afraid of her?
Seventeen-year-old Gwyn has no family and no past. Apprenticed to a half-mad herbalist, she travels the snow-blasted High Country, hawking potions in a peddler’s wagon. Her guardian hides her from the world like a dark secret, and she knows better than to push for answers.
But when she discovers she is hunted by the goddess Beheret, Gwyn is drawn into a deep and ancient tale: of chained gods and lost magic, of truths long buried and the rising of a war she never could have imagined.
Wizards and their magic-sniffing hounds pursue her – as does a stranger in a smiling mask, who calls her by an unfamiliar name…
But what really terrify her are the dangerous gifts she’s spent her life suppressing. Now, Gwyn must step out of the shadows and take charge of her destiny – even if the price is her own soul.
The Ninth Sorceress is the breathtaking first instalment of The Price of Magic, a sweeping fantasy saga full of rich storytelling and tangible magic.
About the author:
Bonnie Wynne studied Writing and Cultural Studies at UTS, and completed her law degree at the University of Sydney. After a brief stint in legal publishing, she now works for the Australian government, deciphering ancient law tomes.
She lives in Sydney with her cocker spaniel, Percival Hector (Canine Inspector). When she's not reading or writing, she can be found playing video games, booking her next holiday, or elbow-deep in flour.
THE NINTH SORCERESS is her debut novel and the first book in her series, THE PRICE OF MAGIC.
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