Q: Please describe your journey to becoming published by HarperCollinsPublishers and ultimately distinguishing yourself as a New York Times best-selling author.
A: Magical, terrifying, long, arduous, fast, overwhelming, wonderful -- all the adjectives! Publishing is such an odd little process. I knew I always wanted to be traditionally published, which is through one of the Big Five publishing houses, so I first sought out a literary agent to represent me and my work. She was able to sell my first book, SNOW LIKE ASHES, in January 2013 (well, it was my "first book" in that it was my debut, but that draft was my seventh completed novel by that point, and the third one we'd taken out to editors without getting any interest). SNOW LIKE ASHES came out in October 2014, and it's been a whirlwind ever since. Every author hopes their books will find readers, and I'm still honored by the reception SLA gets. When it hit the New York Times list, I was eight months pregnant, and I just sobbed. Hitting the list has nothing to do with how hard an author works, but it still felt like the best kind of validation.
Q: How do you, the author, describe the "Snow Like Ashes" series, "These Rebel Waves," and "These Divided Shores"? What inspired you to write them? Are they available worldwide? Do you hear from fans?
A: SNOW LIKE ASHES is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Meira who is one of the last surviving refugees from the Kingdom of Winter. She, along with the other surviving refugees, is trying to free their enslaved people from the Kingdom of Spring.
THESE REBEL WAVES (and its sequel, THESE DIVIDED SHORES) is about three characters -- Lu, a former soldier; Vex, a pirate; and Ben, a prince -- who are recovering from a war between the country Ben will one day rule and the island nation that Lu helped free. It's based loosely on a mash-up of the Spanish Inquisition and the Golden Age of Piracy.
I'm very lucky in the fact that all of my books are available in multiple languages, and yes, I hear from readers all the time! I have the best fans who make the most incredible art and send the sweetest notes. Their talent inspires me!