Ask the Author: Gillian Bronte Adams
Answered Questions (6)
Gillian Bronte Adams
Yes, I do have an agent. I met my agent at a writer's conference, and while I wasn't able to get an official pitching session with her, I met and spoke with her, and she invited me to send her my query letter. So I did ... and we wound up working together!
Pitching your book is hard and it's something that takes a lot of practice! I can't go into all the tips and tricks here - you can find lots of good articles and posts online - but the most important thing that folks told me was to remember that the person I'm pitching to doesn't want me to fail. They're not an evil monster out to get me or to prove the ridiculousness of my idea. They're listening to pitches because they're honestly looking for the next good book. It helped calm my nerves a bit.
Pitching your book is hard and it's something that takes a lot of practice! I can't go into all the tips and tricks here - you can find lots of good articles and posts online - but the most important thing that folks told me was to remember that the person I'm pitching to doesn't want me to fail. They're not an evil monster out to get me or to prove the ridiculousness of my idea. They're listening to pitches because they're honestly looking for the next good book. It helped calm my nerves a bit.
Gillian Bronte Adams
Honestly, I am a slow writer. I can agonize for an hour over the order of words in a single sentence. So if I had my druthers, I would write an entire series, take as long as necessary to get it just right, and then see about getting the series published. Without all the delays that readers hate so much. (And as a reader, I can totally commiserate.) But unfortunately, that's rarely the way it works out ...
Gillian Bronte Adams
Book Two is coming Spring 2016! It's currently in the editing and cover design stages, so expect some exciting updates to be coming down the pipeline soon. :) If you want to stay informed, you can sign up for my newsletter to get said lovely updates in your inbox: http://gillianbronteadams.com/welcome/.
Gillian Bronte Adams
I think it's important to remember that the purpose of a sermon is to preach, but the purpose of a novel is to tell a story. It's natural that your beliefs will seep into the story, but it's less likely to come across as preachy when they provide supporting themes rather than major plot points.
Gillian Bronte Adams
I'm working on the next book in the Songkeeper Chronicles! Can't tell y'all too much about it yet, but I can say that a lot happens in this book, so I'm scrambling to keep up with it all.
Gillian Bronte Adams
I rarely base characters off people I know. Occasionally there are aspects of a character that remind me of someone or of a certain situation or circumstance someone I know has gone through, but that's generally as far as it goes.
When I’m brainstorming, characters hop into my head in a variety of stages of composition. Some arrive almost fully formed complete with a name, personality, mode of speech, etc. Others I can see but not hear. And still others reveal their thoughts and emotions while I still don’t know who they are, what they look like, or even what they are called. With such characters, I have to dig deep to uncover their true selves … and often, they end up being the best ones of all!
When I’m brainstorming, characters hop into my head in a variety of stages of composition. Some arrive almost fully formed complete with a name, personality, mode of speech, etc. Others I can see but not hear. And still others reveal their thoughts and emotions while I still don’t know who they are, what they look like, or even what they are called. With such characters, I have to dig deep to uncover their true selves … and often, they end up being the best ones of all!
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