Thursday 4 August 2011

A Tangle of Magicks Blog Tour

I am really pleased to present Stephanie Burgis, author of the latest adventure with Kat Stephenson 'A Tangle Of Magicks', who is taking part in The Write Way!  If you enjoyed the review yesterday and love getting to know Stephanie, then make sure you enter the giveaway at the end of the post. 

What inspired you to write your Kat Stephenson books?
I’ve always loved Jane Austen’s and Georgette Heyer’s novels, and in several of them there are younger sisters who only pop up long enough to say something snarky and disrespectful to their older sisters, the romantic heroines. I thought it would be fun to make a youngest sister the true heroine, carrying out fabulous magical adventures while her older sisters are distracted by romance.

What are your main forms of inspiration normally?
I love travel, walks in the woods or by water, and reading nonfiction history books.

What kind of research did you need to carry out before writing the second book ‘A Tangle of Magicks’ and how long did it take you?
I visited Bath again and again (which was a sheer pleasure - Bath is one of my favourite cities in the world!), read a bunch of books and articles about Bath during Jane Austen’s (and Kat’s) time period, and best of all devoured several contemporary tourist guides to Bath from around 1800. They were the very best resource of all! It was a continuous process over the course of about 2 years, as I was writing and also after I’d finished the first draft, to aid in my revisions.

Did you plan out both of your books completely before you began writing, or did you just go with the flow?
I very much went with the flow! I started out knowing very little about what would happen and was surprised by a lot of it. ;-)

When you were writing your first draft of ‘A Tangle of Magicks’, how many words did you aim for each day?
Anywhere between 500-1000.

Did you handwrite your book or did you write directly onto the computer?
I handwrote some scenes (especially scenes that I found difficult to write), but typed most of the novel directly onto the computer.

Do you edit your first draft as you go along, or do you wait until it is completed?
I always wait until the end - if I try to edit (or, especially, to get critiques) before the draft is finished, it really paralyses me creatively.


How long did it take you write the first draft?
About eight months.


Please explain your writing process after the first draft was finished?
After I finished the first draft, I gave it to a trusted circle of critiquers. They took a few months to read and critique it, then I rewrote it, retyping the first half of the book from scratch, and sent the result to my editors, who had their own edits to add.

Did you find writing your second book an easier process than writing your first book in the series?
Honestly, I think every book in a series is harder, because you’re having to balance all the back story with the front-action. But it’s totally worth it - I love series as a reader and as a writer.

What are you planning to write next?
I’m still not sure! I only just sent off the edits to Kat Book 3 (not yet titled), and I’m bouncing around ideas for a lot of different projects.

When is your ideal time to write? Morning, afternoon or evening?
Morning, absolutely! As soon as possible after breakfast.

Do you write in silence or do you need music to help you?
I use playlists, different ones for each book or story. For A Tangle of Magicks, my playlist was made up of Adam and the Ants’s “Stand and Deliver!”, the Doctor Who Series 1 & 2 soundtrack, and the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire soundtrack.

Which authors inspired you whilst growing up?
Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and Elizabeth Peters were my three biggest inspirations.

Who is your favourite author now?
Ooh, that’s a hard question to answer! Probably Jane Austen.

Apart from your own books, which other book do you wish you had written?
There are so many! ;-) But I just read The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book One: The Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood, and it made me laugh and laugh and laugh. I don’t think I could have written it, but I adored it!

Thank you for such fantastic answers Stephanie! 
A Tangle of Magicks is available to buy this week. If you would like to know more about Stephanie then please click here to access her website. You can also follow her on Twitter - @stephanieburgis.

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Stephanie Burgis has written a short story that fits in between Book 1 and Book 1 called Duelling Magicks. If you would like to read it, then please click here. 

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If you would like to win a copy of  A Tangle Of  Magicks, then please enter on the form below. 
 This is a UK only competition this time. Sorry to my international readers, there will be an international competition coming up very soon.

5 comments:

  1. Great interview - it's the first time I've read anything about the author.

    This is definitely one of my favourite features! :D

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  2. Nice interview :)
    And I really like that you were inspired by Austen and Heyer, who I just read for the first time this week :D

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  3. Vivienne, I enjoyed reading this terrific interview! I'm also a fan of Adam and the Ants and "ant music".

    Even though I don't live in the UK, I'll post this giveaway in my blog's sidebar.

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  4. I loved her first book and can't wait for the next one! Wish I was in the UK to win! I love that her heroine is the youngest because I am as well - and Adam Ant's Stand and Deliver is perfect for the highwayman! :)

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  5. Oh that is SO true about youngest sisters never being in the spotlight.

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Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.