Brendan Reichs and Victoria Aveyard come together to discuss writing, book updates, and more!
What could be better than to have two well-loved YA authors come together to discuss books and writing? Entertainment Weekly brought Victoria Aveyard (author of the popular Red Queen series) and Brendan Reichs (whose book Nemesis is definitely a thrill) together to talk about their writing processes and books, among other things.
In the interview, both Aveyard and Reichs gave away interesting details of their new books (named War Storm and Genesis respectively). Not only that, we get a peek into the day in the life of a writer as well as Reichs’s Genesis book tour information and dates.
In Conversation: Brendan Reichs and Victoria Aveyard
BRENDAN REICHS: Good morning Victoria! I hit send on this email knowing it will land in your inbox well before you’re up, but hey, that’s the advantage of living on the East Coast. I get to see everything first. Or, at least, I get to greet the day first. Sometimes. Actually, I sleep late almost every morning, since my “day job” of writing fiction rarely requires a wake-up call. I sometimes think I’m wired for West Coast time but live in the wrong zone. So maybe you’re already up and about, writing up a storm. A WAR STORM! Get it? That was clever of me. Nevertheless, I shall sit by my keyboard and drink coffee, surf the internet, and scream grunge song requests at Alexa. As one does. Tick tick tick.
VICTORIA AVEYARD: Despite staying out past my bedtime to watch the Celtics crush the Clippers, I am up bright and early per usual (due in no small part to a Labrador Retriever jumping on me around 7am). Despite waking up “early” for a person who works from home, that absolutely does not mean I start my writing day at an early or acceptable time. I start slow, checking my phone to read about the world’s latest tire fire, then have a coffee, chat with my roommates before they leave for work, and watch the Today show until Megyn Kelly comes onscreen and I’m forced to flee. Then I usual walk the dog for an hour or so, before settling in to work around 10/10:30am. Oh, and I’ve taken up bullet journaling, so that gets sprinkled into my morning as well.
Right now, I’m at the tail end of line edits on the War Storm manuscript, which means I can smell the finish line on the final Red Queen book. So I spend most days careening between panic and triumph. The current draft is a whale, and not in a good way, so my goal now is making sure I can trim the fat and get the story into semi-decent shape. It’s an odd feeling, being this close to the end. I’m ecstatic to be able to dive into a new idea and play in a different sandbox, but it’s definitely scary to think about starting all over again on another series, with new characters and a new world to build. Any advice on this? I know you’ve got loads of experience with finishing up a series (and I am JEALOUS). Help a young padawan out.
REICHS: I hear you on the puppy thing. I brought one home a few weeks ago without telling my wife ahead of time, and she was NOT PLEASED. She’s come around on little Flip, though. Except when he wants to go out at 6 every morning. That’s all me, and I have no defense. At least he’s the best puppy on the planet. That helps. I don’t really stick to a strict writing schedule either, though I have adopted the “Sarah Dessen” plan, which is based around four-hour blocks. I try to plan one for each day I need to work, and I do all my writing or revising within that period, no exceptions. The rest of the day can be about emails, social media, websites, newsletters, interviews, whatever, but the writing block has to stay about writing. That’s pretty much as long as I can sustain high-level concentration anyway.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE
Don’t forget to check out the details for Reichs’s Genesis book tour below!
Genesis Book Tour Information
March 5th, 2018 –
Monday, March 5 – Charlotte, NC
Park Road Books with Reée Ahdieh and Carrie Ryan
Tuesday, March 6 – Raleigh, NC
Quail Ridge Books with Maggie Stiefvater
Wednesday, March 7 – Asheville, NC
Malaprop’s with Stephanie Perkins
Monday, March 12 – New York City, NY
Books of Wonder with Danielle Paige
Tuesday, March 13 – Salt Lake City, UT
The King’s English with Ally Condie
Wednesday, March 14 – San Diego, CA
Mysterious Galaxy with Kiersten White
Genesis (Project Nemesis #2) by Brendan Reichs releases on March 6, 2018. Preorder it via Amazon now.
War Storm (Red Queen #4) by Victoria Aveyard releases on May 15, 2018. It’s also available for preorder via Amazon.
