Where are you from?
The UK, specifically, Brighton!
What do you do with yourself beside writing?
I am a teacher and I’m studying a MSc by Research in Reptile Behaviour and Welfare!
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? Since I was younger, I used to have Wattpad, and accumulated over 1 million reads, now I’m just hoping for the same luck!
What is your favourite book? Ooh, hard one. I don’t have books, but I have series! The Witcher, Song of Ice and Fire and of course Lord of The Rings. I just love fantasy, and as I’ve gotten older, dark and grimdark fantasy are what I’ve really taken a liking too!
What is the first book that made you cry? Paperhouses, by John Greene! Still gets me today!
Does writing energize or exhaust you? Ooh, this is a good one. Writing, energizes me, editing exhaust me haha!
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Not realising how much work goes into writing! I thought writing the book was all the work, I was wrong. Writing is 35% editing, formatting ect 45% and then marketing is another 20%!
Where are you from?
The UK, specifically, Brighton!
What do you do with yourself beside writing?
I am a teacher and I’m studying a MSc by Research in Reptile Behaviour and Welfare!
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? Since I was younger, I used to have Wattpad, and accumulated over 1 million reads, now I’m just hoping for the same luck!
What is your favourite book? Ooh, hard one. I don’t have books, but I have series! The Witcher, Song of Ice and Fire and of course Lord of The Rings. I just love fantasy, and as I’ve gotten older, dark and grimdark fantasy are what I’ve really taken a liking too!
What is the first book that made you cry? Paperhouses, by John Greene! Still gets me today!
Does writing energize or exhaust you? Ooh, this is a good one. Writing, energizes me, editing exhaust me haha!
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Not realising how much work goes into writing! I thought writing the book was all the work, I was wrong. Writing is 35% editing, formatting ect 45% and then marketing is another 20%!
Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? Yes, I think so. I am not an emotional person. I find romance and sadness very hard to write. That’s why I’ve swapped to writing dark fantasy writing, you don’t need to worry about it as much there. It’s all about the descriptions and the shock factor! I don’t want my writers to fall in love, I want them to grimace and have an amazing adventure!
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Lois Jackman, my best friend, is also an author and she helps me so much with editing and writers block. I honestly believe my stories would not be as good if it wasn’t for her!
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? Network! In fantasy, world building is EVERYTHING! So I don’t want to world build just for a stand alone book!
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? It made me swap genres, tenses, improved my spelling and grammar. I was thinking about this the other day. Now, I don’t dislike my first book and series, but I am not in love with it anymore because it is just not me now!
What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?
Tolkien! As a young adult, I could never ever understand the hype, but now he is one of my biggest inspirations.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I actually will research little things, but with world building not so much. So, for example I got into a wormhole the other day on 1600’s houses in the UK. I also research a lot about the dos and don’t of world building, religion building so on so forth, but I don’t overly get caught up in things like ‘when was this invented’ because I’m in a fantasy world it doesn’t matter! I can bend the rules a bit!
How do you select the names of your characters? Now, this is an interesting trick. As I write about fantasy creatures, I just make the names up by looking around the room and combining objects, some of my favourite are Cofice (Coffee and ice) and Dackett (Deodorant and Jacket).
Happy Reading!
Laurelle Lewis