She’s the creator of YA Bound, a promotional site for the Young Adult genre. Also a member of the SCWW and The Apocalypsies. Check out her website for more on her books and bonus material. Follow her on Twitter @TrishWolfe
Guest Post:
Hi, all! Thanks so much to Amanda for inviting me on to her wonderful site, and to her readers for welcoming me here! I’m really excited to talk a little bit about the research and heartache that went into my Historical/Supernatural NA, Astarte’s Wrath. I have to admit, this novel was the hardest story I have ever written, and it’s the one I’m most proud of for accomplishing. Thanks for letting me blast my brain all over the page lol Enjoy!
The idea for Astarte’s Wrath came to me while writing Destiny’s Fire, my YA Steampunk novel. During DF, I had to do a lot of research to make sure I was on the right path, that I had the backstory well sorted—even though most of that research didn’t end up in the book. Then, once DF was out in the world, I had all this backstory information and research notes and a burning desire to tell a story from one of the Ancient Egyptian Kythan.
But, I quickly talked myself out of this crazy idea, because really, the book was impossible. With all the novels I had to focus on, contracted books and side projects with slated release dates, there was no way I could find the time to really focus on the research and story to do it justice. It just couldn’t be done.
Long(er) story short, I’m stubborn.
I just didn’t want to tell this story…I needed to. There was a part of me that had to write this novel, and no matter what book I was working on, in the back of my mind the characters from AW were talking to and poking me. So I did what any writer does to hush her characters: writes their story.
Only, when I first started, I immediately stopped. For every line I wrote, I would spend two hours researching. Again, it felt like I was writing the impossible novel; I wasn’t smart enough to write it, I wasn’t good enough at research to pull it off believably, I was just a YA fiction writer who made shit up—there was no way in hell that I could write a whole novel based on a real history and real people and spin it into something of mine. I just couldn’t do it. I cried. A lot.
I felt like a failure at around 10k words in. I had a good premise going, but the research was burying me. Trying to write a book about the oldest civilization known to man—well, let’s just say you could lose your life to research and never find your way out. It keeps going and going, it’s never-ending. But the moment I knew I could complete this impossible task was when the love story between Star and Xarion started developing. While these characters were falling hard for each other, I was falling hard for them. That burning desire resurfaced, the passion between them forcing me to overcome my fears of not being smart enough, good enough, and I hunkered down and forced myself to get over my fears.
I contacted professional historians, authors of historical novels who knew their shit, and filled two whole pink journals with research notes. Then I set to work layering the world and history around Star and Xarion’s story. By the time I got to “The End” I couldn’t see the screen to type. The tears wouldn’t stop. This was the most emotional story I’d ever written, the hardest story I’d ever tried to write, and the impossible book I once believed I’d never finish. I know not everyone will enjoy Star and Xarion’s story, but I am honored to have found the courage to tell it. It was pure heartache and struggle—theirs and mine—and a battle that cost me a lot of hair (no lie!). In short, it’s the greatest accomplishment of my author career thus far. I couldn’t be more proud of the end result.
Thank you guys for your time! I’d love to hear about a story you’ve either struggled with in the past, or that you’re battling with now. What is the hardest thing you’ve had to force yourself to accomplish?
The Giveaway:
Trisha is giving away signed bookmarks and an ebook of ASTARTE'S WRATH.
Two thousand years before Dez Harkly developed her secret powers, Guardian Astarte was vowed to protect by the binds enslaving her to the Egyptian pharaohs. Discover the prophecy that originated from a very different time, and spans generations to link two very different girls.
This is the beginning.
Set against the backdrop of the Battle of Actium, in the city of Alexandria, Star struggles with her guardian duties as her feelings for the newly named pharaoh of Egypt grow deeper. Not only is Caesarion her duty, he’s the son of Cleopatra, and he’s human. All of which makes their love forbidden.
But when a conspiracy linked to Caesar creeps into Alexandria, Star must choose between helping her fellow Kythan free themselves of their servitude, and protecting her charge—the last pharaoh—while Egypt burns around her.
New Adult/Mature YA: sexual content, drinking, drugs, violence, language, death, and other mature content intended for readers 17 and older. Astarte's Wrath is a companion novel to Destiny's Fire, but can be read as a standalone novel.
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