Good Day to you all, wonderful people! Today I have a special treat! I was recently interviewed by a good friend of mine! Elizabeth and I have been friends for over a year now, and she recently interviewed me for her newsletter, Squirrelly News!
Hopefully you enjoy!
Hi, Allison! It is so amazing to have you here on Squirrelly News and to find out more about your novel At Any Cost and your journey as a young author! Thank you so much for being here!
Hey Elizabeth! I’m honored to be here! And I’m really excited to get this started!
- How long have you been writing, and what made you want to invest in this craft?
Hmm well I’ve always loved stories and books, I’ve been telling stories for a long, long time, I wrote some stories for school, but mostly because my mom suggested it, and I remember starting a story when my sister was sick as a way to cheer her up, and
I think that was the first free story that I wrote, (I don’t think I ever finished it) And that was in middle school, I was around 8 or 9 then when I was 11 or 12 I started a book, it was called Travel The Trail and I loved writing it, but I really didn’t know what to do with it, I didn’t have an habits and the plot was all over the place, but I loved it. I loved writing. And I knew that I wanted to do it.
Then I learned more and eventually I started writing At Any Cost. It took a while to get here but I made it!
- Who do you think has encouraged and impacted you the most in your writing journey and what resources have helped you along the way?
My family 100%. I couldn’t do it without them. And I’ve been blessed to have friends that have been with me. And Elizabeth, you have been a huge blessing and encouragement to me throughout the time I have known you. I am blessed to be surrounded by people who are supportive and very helpful!
As for resources, The Young Writer’s Workshop has been so impactful in my journey; I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them. And their free events like CEW and CWW (Crazy Editing Week and Crazy Writing Week) have helped me so very much. And other resources are just authors I know that have pointed me places.
- What does your writing process look like?
Well, I’m only starting out, and it’s been different for each book. But I get an idea, I make a basic plotline (the characters, setting, plot twists), all that, then I start writing. And when the story is written, I edit, and I edit and edit. Editing takes so, so, so much time. LOL. Then after that, I found people who might be willing to edit. Then I got beta readers, then I edited it again, with the beta reader suggestions, then I sent it to my proofreader (which was you, Elizabeth) and edited it again. Then I formatted it, then uploaded it to Amazon.
But through this and in between edits, I wrote a novella called Not as it Seems, and I started another project that takes place during World War 2. So I haven’t just been focused on At Any Cost. And something that it really fun about writing is being able to explore different genres. At Any Cost takes place in the Old West, Not as it Seems is a medieval princess story, and the WW2 one takes place during WW2.
In summary, my process is a bit crazy. But it works. At least for me!
- When did you get the idea for At Any Cost, and what inspired the premise of the novel?
Ohh, I love this question. It was last March. So I had been working on my other book, the Trail one, and I knew that it wasn’t that good LOL, and that I needed to move on to something good. Then my family was at a homeschool conference, and there was an in-person writing class; they signed me up!
There, two of the wonderful people who are now my writing instructors taught us how to come up with a killer book idea. And the idea of At Any Cost was born out of that.
Then, when I got home, I started writing, and here I am now.
- What were some struggles and joys you encountered along the way?
There were a lot of struggles, and sometimes I felt like they outweighed the joys, but it’s all been worth it.
Some of the struggles have been formatting problems, finding a reliable cover designer, and actually having a deadline I need to stick to, knowing when to take edits and feedback and when to lay it aside, and mostly just doubting the worth of the story itself.
And joys: being able to WRITE A BOOK! It’s pretty incredible! Creating a story and world and characters that people like. (at least my readers so far have liked them) And just the joy of finally holding the printed manuscript in your hands. It’s indescribable.
For me, writing is a form of worship; I’m able to serve my Creator by creating a story that brings Him all the glory. And that is a joy in itself.
- What advice would you give to those who are endeavoring to write, or even publish, their own novels?
Read. It’s a classic answer, but it works LOL. And learn; do classes; there are lots of free online conferences; I think that YWW is doing an online one in August. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and to ask questions.
And really, if you want to do this, you will find a way. A way to learn and grow, time to write and edit.
Also, in order to write a book, you need to actually write. I see all these memes and stuff about how writers don’t want to write, and to an extent that is true. But if you want to write, you will find the time a nd the way to do it.
It takes work to reach a dream, and it’s not all going to be pretty and fun, but when you hold that book in your hands, or when someone tells you that they stayed up late reading, it’s all worth it. All the tears, the pain, the late nights- it’s worth it.
- Where can we find you and your writing online?
You can find At Any Cost on Amazon! And you can find my blog at allisonbateswrites.com
Thank you, Elizabeth, for letting me do this! It was so fun! I hope to see ya’ll soon!
It was such fun to do this, and I hope y’all enjoyed reading it, and who knows, you might have learned something about me you didn’t know!
Have a great rest of your day!
In Christ,
Allison Bates
“The question is not, ‘how much does the youth know?’ when he has finished his education, but ‘how much does he care?”
~Charlotte Mason
