Writing Updates

I’ve been writing the third book in the Vermin series by hand, which has honestly been cathartic. I don’t know why I stopped drafting novels this way? I think it had to do with tracking my word count for NaNoWriMo honestly…

Back when I was working on the draft for the first book in the series, I had written everything by hand in a binder. After completing it, and transferring the draft onto my computer for editing, and the querying, I wrote the majority of book two’s draft on my computer, only writing the odd scene by hand here and there. The other writing projects I was working on around the time that I was editing book two were also written on my computer versus in a binder or notebook like I’d done previously. I’ve found that writing on my computer for my first drafts restricting. I constantly go back and edit scenes over and over, while I’m drafting when I should be writing, and allowing the story to unfold naturally. Writing the initial draft by hand allows for more freedom. If I make a mistake, I move on, especially since for the first time I’m drafting in pen.

I normally use pencil, but I have so many nice pens, and love the feel of pen on paper, so I went for it.

The other reason I decided to draft book three by hand is because for years I kept telling myself I needed a break from screens, and the pandemic didn’t really help the situation. I check my phone so often throughout the day that I just started leaving it in my room, and trying to only check it a couple times a day for emails from work. I found that outside of reading, I was spending way too much time on my phone just scrolling, and wasting time. Even with my computer, I’d get distracted while working on a scene and go off on a random Google search that would consume so much of my time. If you find yourself getting distracted by such things, I recommend going into your phone settings and using the wellness features that allow you to turn off any distracting apps for a period of time. You can set this as a daily thing, or simply choose one day a week. I have mine set do occur once a week, and I use that time to read and write. It was especially helpful while editing book two because it took away the temptation to play on my phone and watch tiktoks for three hours. Instead I was using those three hours to do the things I actually wanted to do.

I know most newer phones have this feature (my old one didn’t) and I’m honestly thankful for it. I’ve been making an effort to spend less and less time scrolling aimlessly. I recommend not checking your phone first thing in the morning either. If you’re like me and use it as an alarm clock (my alarm clock broke in university), then this can be difficult. What I do is, I simply turn off my alarm and walk away. I focus on getting ready or go eat my breakfast and then, I’ll come back and actually unlock my phone. Being bombarded with all kinds of notifications right when you wake up, can be super distracting. I know that in the past I’ve opened my phone to check an email from my agent, and then ended up going through all my socials, and an hour would pass. An hour that I could’ve spent getting ready for the day. After a while this can get a bit overwhelming, so instead I don’t bother checking my phone until an hour after I’ve woken up. I don’t know why, but I guess it just sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Since making this change I’ve found that book three is coming along nicely. The entire process has been lovely. I’m fully focused, and don’t need to constantly reread sentences because I was distracted by YouTube or a sale somewhere or what’s trending on Twitter. I’ve just been writing, and having fun. My mind isn’t wandering. I’m super excited about book three, but that is all I’m going to say as I don’t want to accidentally spoil the events of book two before anyone can get their hands on it. I still don’t know they release date for the second book in the series, but I will let you know as soon as I get word on that. I had a lot of fun writing it, but I just really needed a break from constantly being on the computer, after three years of it. I have nothing against technology or anything, but damn…social media is so distracting. It’s sad how many hours are wasted just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. I’d rather read or draw or go lay in my hammock and stare at clouds for an hour.

Now outside of book three news, if you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that I’m doing an in-person book signing! I’m absolutely thrilled about this. I was a little nervous to do one alone since I didn’t get an opportunity to do one when my book initially released because of the pandemic, but thankfully the fantastic author Lindsey-Anne Pontes, whose book I reviewed a while back here on the blog, asked if I’d join her for a signing. She’s done plenty, so I’m glad to have her there with me. Initially I was very nervous but as the date approaches, I’m feeling less nervous and more excited.

As a little kid I always imagined doing a book signing. I wanted to have my books all laid out nicely in a cute display on the table, and write nice messages to readers, and talk with them about my work. I’ve been to a handful of signings in my life, and the authors were always so great. I’m hoping I give off that same vibe to people who come and say hi. I’d love to recreate that feeling for someone else. Meeting and talking to someone about their book is so much fun!

I actually have a list of authors that I would love to meet someday, and now that signings are finally happening again I’ve got my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to.

I am planning on doing another signing when book two releases, and am looking forward to sharing my other writing project with everyone soon. I’m also just very excited to talk about my novel in person.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Vermin, you can get it from Amazon or Indigo.

If you’ve already read the first book, don’t forget to leave a review and stay tuned for book two announcements!

Read More about Vermin

Songs from Vermin

As promised, yesterday the EP Songs from Vermin released onto streaming platforms, along with the single Loneliness. I had so much fun recording all of…

by Ardin Patterson March 27, 2023

My First Book Signing

I finally did my first book signing this past weekend, and it was so much fun. Releasing a novel during the pandemic was weird. I’m…

by Ardin Patterson July 26, 2022

“Fantasy based stories aren’t usually my forte – BUT BOY! Am I sure glad I took a chance on this book!”

Vermin has received another wonderful review! Fantasy based stories aren’t usually my forte, especially ones that are part of series which are still unwritten/ released…

by Ardin Patterson May 1, 2022

Editing Update

I’m currently doing a read through of my manuscript trying to watch out for crutch words. While drafting my manuscript I kept a list of these words, words that I tend to overuse, and going through the list I’m actually pleased with how just keeping track of them has helped me reduce them a fair amount. Now that I know what the results are for each of these words, I’ve set a minimum and maximum usage amount, followed by alternative words so that I can focus on finding appropriate substitutes. I base the usage amount of the overall word count for my manuscript.

Of course, I’m sure my editor will find other words that I may not have picked up on myself, but many of these words are ones that they pointed out with my first book, so I’m hoping to reduce them before passing my manuscript along to her.

Crutch words aside, I’ve also created a checklist outside of my draft notes on any corrections, additions or areas that I think need fluffing or cutting down. I’ve also included a list of things to keep in mind while I’m reading.

I like to do these types of full edits before I pass my manuscripts along, because I find that the cleaner my draft is, the easier time we’ll have going over it.

For this edit, I’ve been making great use of my thesaurus, and am challenging myself to step away from my comfort zones a little bit. Anything that seems off or feels like it needs to be reworked or cut, I’ve been tackling immediately. My goal is to complete this edit by the end of the day, and so far I’ve been making great progress. With that said, it’s back to work for me. I’ll be treating myself to some ice cream once I complete everything on my list.

Books

The Vermin Series Book 2: What You Need to Know

If you have yet to read book one in the series, I will do my best not to spoil anything with this post, and of…

by Ardin Patterson March 22, 2023March 9, 2023

music

Quick Update

It’s officially December, which means that NaNoWriMo22 has come to an end. I still have a lot to do for this novel, however it’s been…

by Ardin Patterson December 3, 2022

Book Talk

NaNoWriMo 2022

For those participating, how is NaNoWriMo going so far? We’re now 17 days in, and I’m fairly satisfied with my progress so far. I like…

by Ardin Patterson November 17, 2022February 28, 2023

Writing Goals 2022

Every year I like to try and set writing goals, and track my progress. Unfortunately, last year I wasn’t able to meet all of my goals, however I did make excellent progress during NaNoWriMo, and I’m pleased with work I was able to do during the year despite having some set backs.

This year, I’m fully prepared to meet each of the writing goals I’ve set, and am excited to do so. Last year, I made an effort to write by hand, which is something I’ll be doing this year with new manuscripts. It’s calming, and allows me to really let an idea sink in as I work. I also really like the fact that I can read from my page as I type, and make edits and changes as I transfer what I’ve written onto my computer.

During the early part of this year, I’d like to complete my current projects. The one I’m hoping to complete fairly soon, so that I can have it prepped for my editor. The other, I’ve been putting on hold on an off, since I’ve had other projects to finish, but I’m excited about it, and would love to complete it. I’ve been building mood boards and playlists for it in the meantime. I find doing this keeps me excited about my projects.

One of my other writing goals, is to complete the script for a project I’ve been working on. I had issues with my computer, and wasn’t about to work on it as much as I wanted in 2021…but I’m hyped about this project, and I really want to see it come to life.

In order to complete each of these projects, I’ve decided to take time and track my progress, taking note of things such as chapters, scenes, word count etc. and scheduling in more time to write during the week.

For example, I may set aside a specific day of the week to work, or I’ll work my writing schedule into my other work schedules (which is what I’ve done previously). Finding a consistent time to write isn’t always easy, so instead I try to find the right time to write, depending on my current situation. That’s actually why I loved writing by hand before university, because I could carry notebooks and binders around with me wherever I was, and work from anywhere without worrying about charging my laptop and having memory sticks handy. All I needed was paper and a good pen.

I’ve mentioned this before on my blog, but I highly, highly, highly, recommend investing in a decent pen. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should write well, and personally it should spark joy in you. For example, my sparkly blue pen, it’s pretty, it lasted me a long time, and every time I use it, it makes me feel like whatever I’m writing is of great importance…even if its just a grocery list. I got a bunch of nice pens for Christmas, one from my friend, which is Sakura’s wand from Card Captor, and a whole pile of cute animal/food ones from my little sister. I also got three beautiful journals, which I can’t wait to use! I’ve already decided which manuscripts as going in each, and I’m just so, so, so excited to write.

My computer stopped working properly after NaNoWriMo, so I was writing deprived for nearly all of December! It was torture….or at least it felt that way. Writing by hand on random notepads and loose papers kept me from going stir crazy. Instead I took that time to read, and do novel scene studies and also study some of the scripts I’d previously recorded. Usually scene studies, at least what I do, is just looking over a text and picking out things that I enjoy. I do this with a range of different books in different genres, for different age groups, and I find it motivates me to learn new writing techniques, but also opens me up to the idea of trying out new genres, or playing around more with language.

I’m really hoping that this year, I’ll meet all of my project deadlines, and will be able to share more about what I’ve been working on. I’d also love to post more of my scene practices I’ve done, because I have fun writing them, and I think it’d be nice to share. I like reading snippets like that on other peoples blogs, and I haven’t shared one myself in a while.

I wish you all the best with your goals this year, and I hope you have a lovely year ahead of you,

–Ardin.

I Recieved My First Royalties

I’m still getting used to the idea that there are people out there that have read my novel, even to the point that after receiving my first royalties I kept thinking, “Is this real?”

The same thing happened after I booked my first show. It didn’t feel real until I saw the animation.

Holding my novel in my hands for the first time, gave me the same feeling as hearing my voice coming from a character on screen. It was the same feeling I had years ago when I heard myself recorded on a cassette as a little girl, singing along with my piano teacher. The final product, is always satisfying.

A friend of mine wrote me the sweetest card, congratulating me on my publication. I almost cried reading it at work. It was so thoughtful! I keep it safe in my “office” where I write…which isn’t exactly an office, but it’s where I keep my notes, supplies, and tend to hunker down and get to work. Everything in my writing space, is stuff that makes me happy like my figurines, and plush, and collection of fun pens.

Speaking of pens, I got a bunch of cute stationary for Christmas! Notepads, journals, washi tape, adorable pens…and new stickers and pencil cases! The pens write beautifully! I’m going to make sure to take good care of them all…but I also really want to show them off.

I’m happy to say that this year I managed to exceed my reading goals. I definitely would’ve liked to finish the books I’m currently reading but my goal for the new year is to still read lots of great books, and to finish each book I own that is still currently on my TBR. I’ve decided not to let myself buy anything new until I’ve made my way through that list. I think that’ll save me some money, and it’ll keep me occupied while I’m working on my manuscripts.

Speaking of writing, I plan on spending as much time as possible on my manuscripts throughout January. I’ve got a lot of editing to do, and I’d like to complete it as soon as possible, so that I can finally start discussing these projects, as well as Vermin’s sequel! I’m so excited about this next book, and I’m really happy that people are enjoying it.

I’ll also of course, start sharing updates on my other projects once I’ve reached the final editing stages. I’m really excited about them, and I’ve fallen in love with these casts of characters. I may even steal some fashion inspiration from a few of them.

NaNoWriMO rEFLECTIONS

I thought I’d do a NaNoWriMo reflection post, to break down what I accomplished this year, my feelings about my project, and other stats.

In total, I reached 55,453 words during the month of November. Although I didn’t complete my manuscript, I am glad that I was able to reach the word count goal of the month.

When it comes to the importance of word counts I can only speak for myself, but I find that focusing too heavily on trying to have a specific number of words isn’t helpful. It might be because of how much pressure it was to have specific word counts for essays in university, as I never understood why in some of my courses being 200 under or 500 over was so strict? I mean, I get if someone is handing you 10 pages when the assignment required a minimum of 4, but there were some professors (many of which I luckily avoided thanks to my amazing upperclassmen), who would deduct marks for every 10 words you were over. I think this definitely has effected how I approach the 50k words. Like, I want to reach the minimum word count, but if I’m over I’m not going to go through a cut 30% of my book just so I can have exactly 50k words. To me that seems silly. Instead, I treat NaNoWriMo as though I’m trying to reach a writing milestone. Do I wish I could’ve reached this milestone and completed my manuscript in a months time, absolutely. Am I disappointed that I was unable to? No, because I’m happy with what I was able to get done, and at this rate, I should be ready to send my manuscript off to my editor by my deadline as planned.

According to my NaNoWriMo stats, on average I was writing anywhere between 2000 and 7000 words a day. It seems that on the weeks where I missed days I was spending more time writing on my days off to make up for it. Apparently I was also writing a lot between 4 and 5pm, which is a little surprising to me because there were many times that I was up till the wee hours of the night typing away…however, based on my work/recording schedules this month I’d say that it would make perfect sense for me to be writing around 4pm every day.

I also consistently had the “happy” emoji throughout the month, which means that while writing I was feeling great!

I’d say this is 100% accurate. This entire month I was I zoned in, and couldn’t wait to get back to my manuscript. It got to the point where I was dreaming about it, and waking up in the middle of the night itching to get back to it. I tried my best to get enough sleep, because I find when I’m tired a I make more silly errors like spelling a word using American versus Canadian English (like center and centre).

I try to have spellcheck set to British/UK English and or Canadian so that it doesn’t underline words that are spelled correctly here, but most programs don’t correct the American spelling, regardless of whether you change your settings or not. If I had to give feedback for editing software’s and writing programs, I’d say this is something that often gets overlooked.

English is a weird language. You can go your whole life spelling pajama as pajama only to realize that it’s actually pyjama…and that’s why it makes no sense when you look at the word because when you speak you pronounce the word as “pyjama” not “pajama” but you write it as pajama because a lot of the books you read as a kid were printed in the US, versus Canada. Also Canadian’s aren’t consistent with the spelling of this word and we tend to flip between the two versions…but pyjama’s is technically right…and is still the preferred spelling. So neither version of it is considered wrong.

I know that might be a random example…it but this is something that has frustrated me since I was 13 and I read The Boy in the Stripped Pyjama’s. I think that was when I realized the difference.

It’s like, you’re technically not spelling it wrong but you’re also not spelling it right. People lose marks on their essays for something as small as that! So, keep this in mind if you’re taking English Literature in University like I did.

Sorry, I got a bit off topic there…back to NaNoWriMo21.

I had an absolute blast this year, and I really liked seeing how supportive everyone was. I know some people had a bit of a rough time here and there, and it was nice to see other writers coming in to cheer them on and give them a little boost. I think we all need a bit of encouragement sometimes, and the overall vibe this year that I got from the community was really lovely.

I’ll be continuing to work on my manuscript everyday until it’s complete. I’m mainly excited about peoples reactions to certain characters and scenes. I know there are a few spots here and there that I need to go over, but overall I feel extremely good about this book. I love it.

Author Discussions and The End Of NanOWriMO

I’ve got so many novels and writing related projects to finish, and the urge to bounce back and forth between them is strong. Obviously I know that multitask writing won’t help me produce anything faster–that it’s best to stick to one project at a time–but I can’t help but want to jump into everything all at once.

Working on The Vermin Series is lots of fun. I’ve had the time to really bond with these characters, and watch them grow, learn and explore the world around them. It’s just that I’ve also got like 10 other projects that I’ve started, that I really, really want to get back into. Usually what I’ll do is work on another book or writing project while my novel is off with my editor. I find this allows me to build up the foundation of my other work, and develop my setting and characters while I’m waiting for feedback and corrections.

Still, there are days when it gets a little bit frustrating. I often think about those kid shows where the main character finds a way to clone themselves, and becomes more productive. On the other hand, those episodes always ended badly and the main character tends to realize that it’s not always best to get things done quickly, but rather get things done properly by having good time management skills.

Like a few days ago I spent the majority of my time scrolling through social media, versus reading and writing like I’d initially planned to do. While scrolling through twitter, one of my favourite authors was having a discussion thread, which ultimately lead to them explaining why it’s important to set a scheduled writing time during the day so that your family and friends are respectful of that time. Then they know that say from, 9-11 am you’re writing, and not to disturb you.

I honestly think that’s really smart. It’s important to respect peoples time, and their space…and setting that boundary early on, by creating a routine can not only help you with productivity but it also helps others take you more seriously when it comes to your work.

I’ve been writing for a long time, so my family knows that generally if they don’t hear me listening to music or watching Netflix, I’m most likely working on a manuscript or I’m reading. The same thing happens when I’m recording or auditioning, I always let them know in advance, and now it’s become a routine. They’re aware that I’m working and won’t disturb me during this time.

This practice of setting a schedule in order to create boundaries can be applied to all arts, and I personally feel that this author was correct in stating that these boundaries are often necessary for those in the arts to gain the respect of those closest to them. For as long as I can remember, my Dad would advise my siblings and I to treat certain things like a job. Set a time of day, and it becomes routine. Obviously, I will acknowledge that it isn’t always easy to create on a schedule, but people do it for NaNoWriMo every year, if you think about it?

I’ve learned by keeping track of when I write, that I tend to do a lot of work after lunchtime. Whenever I have a day off, I like to write as much as possible, regardless of the time of day. It’s on those days that the urge to work on one of my other projects grows stronger. I’m sure many people go through this. I just have so much fun creating new things, that I honestly can’t wait until I can jump into the next project. I also used to finish drafting novels within a month no problem, but as I’ve gotten older and had you know…bills and such, I’ve tried to find a good balance between all of these things. It’s not always easy, sometimes I get very busy, which I don’t mind, but it can feel like I’m juggling multiple things at once and occasionally I need to take a breather. I know everyone’s methods are different, and truthfully I’m probably not an expert at this sort of thing, but I do find that making a to-do-list helps when I’ve got a lot on my plate. I can cross things off as I go, and it kind of takes away a bit of the pressure once I’ve laid out everything that I need to complete.

I do this with my novels, and sometimes set deadlines for myself outside of my publishing deadlines. Sometimes I want to reach a certain point before I go back and edit something, or I want to spend a teeny bit of time fleshing out a character. Making a list helps me determine what needs to be done first, in order for me to move onto the next task.

Currently, I’ve been forcing myself to solely focus on Vermin, so that I can then have more time to put into my other writing projects and novels. I’m having lots of fun with it, but I have all these storylines I want to develop and explore…and I think it’s the whole development portion that is making me more eager to jump into these projects. Once I know exactly where I’m going with a project that urge seems to settle, and I feel more at ease. With The Vermin Series, I’m always like, “I gotta write this scene. Ooh! Wait what if I change this line here to this and then do this in here instead.” Which is a different sort of excitement, and I think there’s even more now that it’s being read and I’m hearing back from readers.

It’s exciting to be able to talk about my characters and to see people drawing them, and asking about certain scenes. I have to constantly remind myself that because other people are reading it, I need to zip my lip about certain characters and details, because I know that if I say the wrong thing it could spoil stuff, and I don’t want to do that.

If you follow me on social media, you already know that I reached 50k words a week early. overall I feel good about what I’ve written this month, and i cannot wait to share it.

If you haven’t already, you can grab a copy of Vermin from Amazon, or Indigo. currently the eBook is only available for kindle readers. There is also a dedicated TikTok account for the series @theverminseries, and the first chapter is available to listen to on YouTube!

NANoWriMo Update

I’ve been having a lot of fun with NaNoWriMo this year, despite being on the fence about whether or not I’d partake…however, I’m not really aiming to reach a specific word count but instead to complete the ending of Vermin’s sequel. I’m very far along, and have been making an effort to write everyday.

The Vermin Series (along with myself) are now on TikTok, as a large chunk of the readers are use Bookstagram, BookTwitter and BookTok, we thought it would be best to have updates about the series on all three. I’ll try to make the content as fun and engaging as possible.

I just finished writing one of my favourite scenes in book two so far. I’ll try not to give away any spoilers, but the scene follows one of Nicholas’ siblings. For those who haven’t finished or read the first book yet, I won’t say anything more. I’d hate to say something that might spoil it for you.

I’ve also been working on two other projects. One is voice over related, and I have been having an absolute blast recording! What I can tell you, is that it’s for a really cool children’s web series, and that I play two key roles. It also makes me feel like a little kid again, and reminds me of one of my favourite things to do in the summer with my family when I was small.

Well, I’d better get back to writing. Although slightly ambitious, I think I might be able to finish Vermin and start prepping another book that I was hoping to write in December. We’ll see how things go of course.

Here’s a little sneak peek at one of the chapters in book two:

Her image danced before him, bright and colourful like the inside of a kaleidoscope.

Vermin, Ardin Patterson

Reading & Writing

The other day I was able to get a good chunk of writing done, which I’m absolutely thrilled about. Trying to manage several different projects, on top of work can be a bit challenging. I often have to remind myself to take breaks and make time for other things like reading, drawing or playing games with my friends.

I’ve been trying to get through my TBR by multitask reading. I tend to finish my manga and graphic novels within a few hours…usually stretching them out into two nights. Novels I’ve been taking my time with, mainly because I’m really enjoying the stories and want to hang out with the characters a little longer. My manga and graphic novels are series, so I get to see the characters again and again…but all the novels I’ve read recently are one offs and it makes me a little sad when I have to say goodbye to the story.

I have a group of novels that I can’t wait to start, so I made sure to get ahead in my reading goals back in August and September, so that I could have time to enjoy them before the year ends. I love to get to the point where I’m reading books in 1-3 days like I used to, but with work I just don’t have the time and during university reading books that fast really took away from the experience. I like to enjoy the books I read, actually pay attention to the language being used and the way the characters develop throughout the story.

Recently I’ve picked out a handful of 9-12 books to read. I like to jump into them every once in a while because they’re always extremely entertaining and they have the best cover art! I don’t know what it is about children’s literature, but the covers bring me so much joy! They’re always so interesting to look at. The cover artists are so talented! Bravo! These are also my favourite books to do for audiobook narration, so whenever I get auditions for them, I hunt them down and read them (if they’ve already released in stores!).

I was really hoping I’d be posting more art myself this month for #inktober but I haven’t. It’s not even that I haven’t drawn anything or had the desire to do so, I’ve just been more focused on my writing…and much of my free time I’ve wanted to read.

I knew prior to publishing that at a certain point I’d need to become more strict about my writing schedule, so whenever I have a day off I spend it working on my books. I’m glad that this was something I figured out early on, because I like to spend a lot of time on the planning stages and am constantly doing research while I work. One thing that I’ve been doing recently is compiling a list of outfits for certain characters/colour pallets. I notice as I get to know my characters better, that there are certain items of clothing or colours that they tend to wear, for example in Vermin, Rose always has ribbons in her hair. These little details help me connect well with my cast of characters, and I think it adds a little to their personality.

Rose Crispin by @nuggiedraws

Speaking of Vermin, book two has been coming along nicely. I’m extremely pleased with my progress and can’t wait to share more details on it. I know there are many people who are excited about the sequel, and I’m so, so, so incredibly happy to hear that! Thank you so much for letting me know your thoughts on the book.

As for my other projects, I’ve had to hold off on a couple of them temporarily while I work on other things, but I’m still thinking about how to improve them and also how to really build up to key events.

Author Q & A

Today I will be answering some questions about myself and my work! I pulled question prompts from the website: The John Fox.

What is the first book that made you cry?

The first book that made me cry was one of the books in the Camp Confidential series. It was when the character Priya got into a fight with her best friend Jordan. I haven’t read this series since the sixth grade, but I remember the scene vividly. The book that made me cry after that was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

When I was in university I stopped reading novels for fun and only read what was on the syllabus…a lot of which was really dry. The entire time, I felt like I was being forced to read, and it was taking the fun out of one of my favourite hobbies.

I managed to rekindle my love of reading by reading more manga and graphic novels during university. These were my “books to read for fun” while the novels I was assigned for my classes continued to be my homework. Doing this prevented me from getting reader’s block, and I’ve been able to discover so many new favourite genres since graduating!

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Yes, and I did for a while with my poetry. I ended up publishing under my real name after I became a voice actress since it made sense to keep my work under the same name.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

I write whatever I want to read. That’s what got me into writing in the first place. When it comes to readers I just try to keep in mind the age group of my target audience, and the genre I’m writing in. Other than that, during the first draft I go wherever the story takes me.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

The majority of my friends who write are poets, song writers and journalists. I love their work and support them whenever I can. Having friends who are into the arts is nice because you can cheer one another on! It’s also great because sometimes they have valuable knowledge to share such as tips, or lessons they’ve learned along their own journey. After graduating however, I’ve gotten to know a lot of amazing authors of a variety of genres, and am always excited to see their work! I’ve also had opportunities to work with some of them whether it was their my voice over work, or by doing editing and beta reading on early drafts of their books.

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

That depends on the book. I have some books that are series, and others that are stand-alone. I mostly do whatever the characters ask for…so if the story requires more room for the characters to grow, I’ll do a series. If the events and character growth take place in a short amount of time then it will usually end up being a single book.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Keep reading! Keep practicing! Keep having fun! But please, please go outside a little more. We need a tan.

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

I’m getting better at meeting the deadlines I set for myself. Prior to publishing I would create really loose deadlines, and would do my best to stick to them, mainly because I knew that eventually I would need to learn to work within that time frame. Now, I try to write every day and keep track of my progress for each project so that I can meet all of my deadlines on time.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

A lot…like…I don’t even know anymore. Years ago I knew the exact number but now I can’t even remember. I can tell you that I’ve got about 3 projects on the go aside from The Vermin Series, that I’m super excited about.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I spend a lot of time researching, mainly because I never stop. Before I begin a book, I’ll research whatever I think I need to know at that introductory point…usually this is just to help form the setting. Afterwards I will continue to research as I go and compile all of that information into notes.

How many hours a day do you write?

It depends on the day. I try to write for an hour minimum whenever I can. If I miss a day, I don’t stress over it and make it up later on.

What did you edit out of this book?

There were a few scenes and some dialogue that was taken out. There was also a bunch of stuff that was added, to help flesh things out more. Most of what was added was from the sequel, which now gives me more room to expand since it was introduced earlier in the series.

How do you select the names of your characters?

I really like names, and depending on the story the names of a character are significant. In The Vermin Series, I picked named based on the time period that the story takes place, however in the case of my characters surnames, I believe I came up with those while glancing around my room. A lot of the time I find that characters end up being named after streets in my neighbourhood, or after plants.

If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?

I’d either be a singer or an artist…which I already do but I’ve missed singing for an audience these past few years. I do get to sing for work though, when I’m voice acting so that’s always fun!

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Some of my books have secret inside jokes that are between my sister and I. Only she’d know what they are an I like that, because the jokes are usually really stupid and corny but they make us laugh.

What was your hardest scene to write?

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but in book one the hardest scene for me to write was the one between Roland and his mother. I cried writing it, I cried editing it and I cry every time I read it.

Do you Google yourself?

Yes. I like to check the release dates of shows I’ve worked on and I find the fastest way is to look up my own name, mainly because it’s not popular.

What is your favorite childhood book?

This might be a long list…but if I had to pick Jerry Spinelli, Gordon Korman, Margaret Peterson Haddix and Judy Blume were my top authors. I also adored the Babysitter’s Club, Princess School and Camp Confidential Series.

Does your family support your career as a writer?

Yes, 100%. I’m extremely grateful and fortunate to have a family that supports all of my creative endeavors. It can make such a huge difference when you have the support of those closest to you.

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Want to learn more about Vermin and where you can grab a copy? Check out the link above!