Interviews from the Void: Episode #47 – Brenda Drake
Highlights Practice is the best way to improve our craft. Reading is essential for great writing. The important of reading in our writing lives. I always loved to write from a young age. Welcome to the forty-seventh episode of Interviews from the Void, where I interview writers about their writing process, discussing the mechanics and physicality of the craft. In this episode, I chat with young adult writer Brenda Drake. Arthur: Tell me about your writing journey. How did you start in the craft and what was your journey to your first book? Brenda: I’ve always loved to write from a young age, but I didn’t get serious with it until I remarried and stayed home with the kids. That’s when my husband asked (because I must’ve been a little clinging after our wedding) if I had any hobbies. I told him that I liked to write and he said I should do that. So I threw myself into writing and reading up on how to get published. My first book was a mess. I queried it, and it didn’t get a single request. It wasn’t until I started submitting Library Jumpers that I began getting requests for partial and full requests from agents for the manuscript. After a bumpy road, Library Jumpers landed with Liz Pelletier at Entangled Teen, and the rest is history, as they say. Arthur: How have you developed your writing voice and prose? Once your first draft was completed, did you go back and rework[…] [Keep Reading]