Hello all,
I'm really excited to share an author interview today with Shayne Leighton. She has a really interesting sounding series out, starting with the book Of Light and Darkness. In the interview, she gives great insight into how she writes and what works for her, so I hope you enjoy the interview and the links below!
Where to find Shayne:
Thank you for being on Writtled, Shayne. I loved having you! Let me know what you all think below, and have fun reading and writing! <3
I'm really excited to share an author interview today with Shayne Leighton. She has a really interesting sounding series out, starting with the book Of Light and Darkness. In the interview, she gives great insight into how she writes and what works for her, so I hope you enjoy the interview and the links below!
- What made you start writing?I started writing at the ripe, old age of seven! I figure that's about the 4th grade, right? Our teacher assigned the class a short story about what it would be like to live in a bubble. And as I wrote, the more in love with storytelling I became. My teacher returned my story to me with a sticker and "never stop writing" scrawled across the top of the page. To this day, obviously, I have never stopped!
- Do you listen to music while you write? Or do you have to
complete quiet? OR something in between? It really depends on which
scene I'm writing and what my surroundings are. If no one is home, and
I'm writing all alone, I like to turn on the music and listen to Clint
Mansell and his beautiful score for the movie REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, as
well as some MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, and other vampy, angsty things. But if
there is a lot of ruckus around and my husband is home, or if I'm
writing a battle or a high-intensity action scene, I like it silent as
the grave!
- What has been your favorite moment so far since you’ve been
published? (or that led up to you being published) My favorite moment
was probably the release day! Finally seeing my dream come to fruition
and seeing my debut novel released to the public. The prospect of others
reading and enjoying my story is really cool. And then when I get
emails and reactions from my readers telling me how much they've fallen
in love with my characters too - it's just really a cool feeling. It
makes all of this worth while and makes me want to keep going.
- What’s the best piece of writing advice you’d give to a
newbie YA writer? My best piece of advice would be to stow that
negative, little voice in your mind that tells you you can't or you
shouldn't. We all get that sometimes. Suddenly, we start questioning our
validity as a writer, and how good our concept or our style is. You
just have to let that go, make the voice shut up, and just write. The
more words you put down on paper, the greater chance there is of going
back and correcting it until it is something amazing and something you
are happy with. And don't let those rejection letters from agents and
publishers deter you, either. Everyone has their own journey to success.
You just have to keep going. If you give up, it will certainly never
happen.
- If you had to choose a song to go with Of Light and Darkness, what would it be? Haha, well probably the song I wrote for the film in development called OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS! :) (I've listed the link to the music video below.) But also something really unconventional that inspired the character of Charlotte. It's a folk song called "Bloodlust" and its by Lauren Shera.
Great cover, right?
The Book Trailer:
Where to find Shayne:
And here's the song Shayne chose as our Song to Write by!
Thank you for being on Writtled, Shayne. I loved having you! Let me know what you all think below, and have fun reading and writing! <3
