Ask the Author: Sarah Arthur
Answered Questions (9)
Sarah Arthur
Hooray! THANK YOU. I'm so glad you love it. Book 2 releases in Jan. 2025, so definitely stay tuned around this time next summer for more info from the publisher. :) If you're interested in being on the launch team for the series, I'll be rolling out more info soon via saraharthur.com and on all my socials: @HolyDreaming. Can't wait to get this story to the world!
Sarah Arthur
Right now I'd travel to Ternival, the fairytale world I've invented for my debut YA novel "Once a Queen"--which feels like a country I'm exploring for the first time. I can't decide which I'd do first: visit the Hall of Tapestries in Caristor or sail a cutter to Islagard. But after I've visited Ternival, probably Bag End for elevensies. :)
Sarah Arthur
Oh, gosh, Katie! Thank you for reading my book and taking the time to connect. To answer your questions: Early on I had a beta reader who told me--bluntly but lovingly--"You've got to make this story stand on its own two feet." She meant that I couldn't rely on old fairytales to provide the backstory. Then, my publisher confirmed it. So over the course of about 2 weeks I sat down and drafted nearly all of the fairytale "excerpts" that you see between chapters, written in the spirit of all the stories I already loved but adding my own flair. It was SO FUN--and I'm so glad you think it works!
Sarah Arthur
(1) Get honest feedback on your writing from a writers group that doesn't include your mom or boyfriend or people who only tell you what you want to hear. (2) Learn as much as you can about the publishing world by attending conferences, webinars, classes, joining guilds/groups, etc. For real: if you wanted to be an EMT you would need to get trained, wouldn't you? Good writing & getting published & speaking hope to a hurting world don't just happen.
Sarah Arthur
I'm currently in my pajamas. At home. Drinking coffee. Any questions?
Sarah Arthur
Clean all the things. Seriously: sometimes mindless drudgery unlocks a part of my brain that freezes up if I keep forcing it to do something meaningful.
Sarah Arthur
It's a toss-up between Elizabeth Bennett / Fitzwilliam Darcy and Lord Peter Wimsey / Harriet Vane. Both involve two people with sharp intellects who find in the other a worthy match (well, Elizabeth might be smarter than Darcy), and who also find in the other a loyal companion for life.
Sarah Arthur
I can't remember a time when I DIDN'T want to write books: it's been my entire posture toward the world since the time I was small. Storytelling is just how I roll. But I was definitely inspired by all the authors I read; I would memorize their names just like you memorize book titles: Scott O'Dell, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Barbara Willard--I even memorized the names of illustrators (Pauline Baynes, Michael Hague, the list goes on). Early on I recognized that I was part of a guild, that these were my people, these were folks that spoke my mother tongue. Why would I not want to do what they do?
Sarah Arthur
My latest book (releasing Jan 31, 2017--book party, yay!) is called "The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us," with Brazos Press. Co-authored with my friend & colleague, Erin Wasinger, it's for anyone who wants to help make the world a better place but feels overwhelmed by big obstacles--debt, kids in diapers, health issues, fear, doubt, you name it. How can we live more faithfully in the small things so that the world can be changed in the big things? While that book is launching, I'm working on my next project, which is (drum roll) a YA fantasy novel (!). Yep, stay tuned for more fun info down the road.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more