Taking inspiration from Vanity Fair's recurrent interviews with Billie Eilish, we're giving our authors the same questions once a year to see how their answers change.
Aerin has just recently joined SmashBear. Her high fantasy debut is due for release in 2023!
How many books have you written?
Ten–three Middle Grade and seven YA Fantasy/Fantasy Romances. One was longlisted in a
competition this year, but this will be my first published novel.
What genre(s) do you write in?
YA Fantasy, YA Fantasy Romance and MG Fantasy. I love the fact you can do pretty much what you
want in a fantasy and no one can tell you you’ve got it wrong, after all, it’s your world and you make
the rules!
Where does your inspiration come from?
I’m a bit of a history fan, so quite often from documentaries and articles/books about the past,
anywhere from Roman to Medieval times, but also books and TV/Film in general. Places quite often
inspire me to write about them too, and I slip them into my stories.
How many followers do you have?
347 on Twitter at the last count. 18 on Instagram, but my account is quite literally days old.
What’s your advice to future writers?
Keep learning and be persistent. Don’t give up, and if you really want to get published take courses
(I’ve taken some great courses with WriteMentor) to keep honing your craft. Sign up to webinars
from agents and publishing companies–a lot of these are free, so that’s an added bonus, and you
can really learn a lot about the craft and the whole publishing process from them.
If you were a creature from one of your books, what would it be and why?
I only really have two creatures in my first book, and they’re both monsters, so I don’t think I’d
choose either of those. Dryads, however, make an appearance in my second book, so I think I’d like
to be one of them–they’re very in tune with nature and particularly with their trees, which I really
love too.
What are you currently reading at the moment?
I’ve been reading Victoria Aveyard’s ‘Realm Break’ books, which are brilliant, and I’ve just started
Garth Nix’s ‘Sabriel’ and I’m loving it (a bit late, but got there in the end!).
Has publishing changed your writing process?
I’m more confident in my writing because I’ve got a wonderful team to work with now who believe
in my novels. I’m also more focused on what I want and need to achieve, and more organised (I hope
the organised bit continues!!).