Hello gentle reader,
I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author! This week it’s Sara Raasch, whose debut SNOW LIKE ASHES is coming out on 14th October 2014. It’s a YA High Fantasy and I was lucky to win an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and to read it early!
A Writer in the Spotlight – 20
Author: Sara Raasch
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy
Website: http://sararaasch.tumblr.com
Book: SNOW LIKE ASHES
Biography: Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, comes out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.
My interview (5th May 2014)
Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
Yes! One of my earliest memories is of making Beanie Baby themed picture books, pasted together and drawn with markers and crayons. I’ve been hooked all my life! Not to Beanie Babies, thankfully.
What do you say to writers who want to be published one day?
It’s worth it! It’ll be hard — really hard — a lot of the time, but persistence is key. If you don’t give up on yourself, things WILL happen! Keep moving forward!
To write SNOW LIKE ASHES, where did you get your inspiration from? How did you come up with the world of Primoria?
A mashup of Pinterest (gotta love Pinterest) and combining some cultural aspects from our world. Pinterest is the best world building tool — it allowed me to throw a bunch of things together that I thought might be cool for a kingdom and see what they looked like side by side. For instance, one of the kingdoms we meet in the next book (Autumn) draws a lot of inspiration from Middle Eastern/Thai cultures. I have a lovely Pinterest board of that kingdom (that is of course secret now, but someday I will get to share it!).
Do you share any similarities with Meira, your main character?
We’re both very stubborn and passionate! Once Meira gets behind a cause, there’s no swaying her away from it, and I’m exactly the same way. Which can be a very useful trait, but is oftentimes detrimental and makes me/her blind to a lot of other things.
One thing you do really well in the book is describing how teenagers feel and act in this moment between childhood and adulthood. Is this why you chose to write for young adults?
Thanks! I love the time between childhood and adulthood — it’s such a time of transition and possibility, and that is mainly why I write YA. Anything can happen, and the characters can become anyone — seeing them grow is amazing!
What are you working on now? (Is it Book 2?!)
It is! Book 2 is currently in edits, and I’m actually already about 100 pages into Book 3. Why yes, I am obsessively early on deadlines, thanks for noticing.
Thanks so much for this interview, Sara!
Thanks for having me, EM! This was fun :D
You can add SNOW LIKE ASHES on Goodreads here and you can follow Sara on Twitter here.
