Monday, August 13, 2012


Today I’m pleased to host Holly Hunt, author of The Devil’s Wife and Scale and Feather from Champagne Books. Holly is a delightful personal with a devious and subversive mind. Her books are great reads. Welcome, Holly!

Tell us about Scale and Feather. How did it come about?

Scale and Feather was a book that's gone through about 7 different drafts, and ended up being the combination of 2 different stories. I love reading dragon books, and wanted to try my hand at it. Somehow, though, it ended up being a bit fairytale, with a princess, a rescue and a civil war. But, hey, what can you do?

I love genre mash-ups, especially when they work as well as yours. What/who influenced or inspired your writing?

Generally, my books come out of reading something, and not liking where it ends. So I reconstruct it, put my ending in, then go back and make it my own. It's the simplest way to do it. The Devil's Wife was my take on the end of Lucifer's fall. Blood Moon my take on all the soppy werewolf stories going around. Scale and Feather is just me goofing around with a book I did like, and it slowly evolving into its own world.

I haven’t gotten to Blood Moon yet. I’m looking forward to it. Do you have a regular writing routine? I know you have a busy schedule with your job and school; how do you fit writing in?

Regular writing routine? What's that? I write as much as I can Mon + Tues (my days off), and research every odd evening after work. And when that's done, I get to work on my school stuff. Sometimes I write a lot, sometimes I find myself spending 4 hours on Facebook instead of doing what I should have.

Ah, social media. The great time drain.  What do you like best about writing? The least?

The best bit? Finishing a story. The worst? Finishing a story. Finishing a story, you're ending everything you've done. You've spent years (or weeks) writing this thing, and all the characters are there, and you don't have anything to o with them anymore. I always feel like I'm losing family when I finish a story. And I can't usually bring myself to start a new one. Who needs the pressure of sticking to the rules you've already created?

Finishing a book is like empty nest syndrome. You’ve done your best with these characters and now it’s time to turn them loose in the world. It’s a bittersweet moment. Tell us about your favorite non-writing activities.

Wait, there's something other than writing? Well, I watch a lot of cartoons (Batman, Spiderman, Young Justice, the newer stuff), movies (Batman, Spiderman, Avengers, Prometheus, all that) and looooove wandering through the pages of history. Working on a time-travel, fossil-filled book at the moment. But I don't want to say any more, or I'll jinx myself!

Any advice for newbies?

I'll pass on the best advice I ever got - "You can't edit a blank page." Also, once you have that contract, promote your butt off.

Holly, it’s been a pleasure having you here today. The Devil’s Wife is available now from Champagne Books; Scale and Feather, also from Champagne, is due out in October. Blood Moon is available from Amazon Kindle.

3 comments:

  1. Another cartoon lover? Awesome! Your book sounds great, I'm impressed you were able to seam two manuscripts together. Impressive and intriguing!

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  2. Love how you put your books together, Holly! Yes, you cannot edit a blank page is entirely correct. Best, January

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  3. Hi J.A. and Jan. Thanks for stopping in to say hi. I love working with Holly and can't wait to see her next manuscript.

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