*All questions taken from Christine Smith's Know the Novel blog post.* What first sparked the idea for this novel? I came up with the concept of a flower seller who fought these poisonous thorns as a flash fiction concept (while listening to an epic version of Clair de Lune) and wrote it for Inktober on the Young Writer’s Workshop community. Several people commented that they enjoyed it and would be interested in seeing more. And I didn’t do any more for years. Believe me, I tried. But the plot WOULD NOT fall into place. But once it finally did, it really did. The plot to this one came very naturally, I didn’t have any parts I had to majorly change in my content edit (unlike The Romanov Scheme). In the original concept, Fleur was going to accidentally steal Aster’s memory somehow when she healed him. The version I have now doesn’t have this anywhere, their relationship has drastically changed, and the setting is a lot more rich. Share a blurb. TBA Where does the story take place? What are your favorite aspects of the setting? It happens in 1889 Paris, France, as the World’s Fair is going on. The only thing that’s changed is the culture is steeped in petalemagie—this ability to control plants. Training is required to legally use it (since untrained users caused the French Revolution), but training is usually only available to the wealthy elite. Developing the magic system as it wove into French history was so much fun. Tell us about your protagonist. There are, once again, two. Fleur LeBlanc is a sixteen-year-old flower seller who never seems to let much get to her. Her family fell on hard times, so she was never able to get training, despite having unusually strong petalemagie powers. She has a little bit of a rougher edge to her that I’m hoping to lean into in my final draft. She also compares herself a lot to the people around her and even to her past, worrying that people think she is weak. Aster DeRose has changed so much from the first concept. He was originally supposed to be Fleur’s seventeen-year-old best friend, a nerdy gardener who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He now is part of the wealthy elite that have access to training, but his petalemagie is one of the few cases that is actually fading as he gets older. This is a huge deal, because his verbally abusive father was a petalemagie legend. He struggles a lot with anger. Who or what is the antagonist? How do I explain this without spoilers? I mean, obviously, there are these poisonous thorns that are a pretty big deal. There’s Aster’s dad. There’s someone else that I shall not name that ends up stabbing them in the back. But the characters also wrestle very deeply with the evil inside of them. And that’s all I can say. What excites you most about this novel? The chance to represent a very underrepresented struggle. Aster’s side of the story deals heavily with verbal abuse, a reality that is often ignored because it doesn’t leave physical wounds. It also deals with the resulting anger of feeling unable to speak or defend oneself, and where that anger might rage if left unchecked. Is this going to be a series? A standalone? Something else? A standalone. I do have a spin-off book planned, but as of now, most of the original cast will not be returning for that one. Although by the time all is said and done, they will probably cameo. Are you plotting? Pantsing? Plantsing? Plotting. This is the first novel I plotted using Three Act Structure from the get-go. As I said, it took a while, but it did finally fall into place very naturally. Name a few unique elements of this story. I honestly haven’t found many books about the Paris World’s Fair. I’ve been trying to find comparative titles and it took a fair bit of googling. Maybe I’m just not looking in the right place. Historical fantasy isn’t really a thing in Christian YA right now (aside from Nadine Brandes), so I’m excited to possibly develop that aspect more. It also deals heavily with verbal and emotional abuse, which is a topic not often discussed.
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*all questions from Christine Smith's Know the Novel blog series*
What first sparked the idea for this novel? Reading Romanov by Nadine Brandes. It is a gorgeous book and if you haven’t read it, you totally should. I was immediately intrigued with all things Anastasia, so the summer after I read it, I wrote a short story about a girl pretending to be Anastasia, which really did happen in the years that followed the Romanovs’ exile and deaths. It won first place in the contest I’d submitted it to—my first win ever. I developed it into a novel from there. This is the first novel that had really strong plot structure or character arcs. I love looking at how Zakhar changed from my original concept to the book. He started out as this kind of dark moody orphan who lived at the boys’ orphanage near Aleksandra and was constantly escaping. Now . . . yeah, there’s nothing dark about him, he’s basically this sunshine inventor boy who everyone wants to adopt. Share a blurb. TBA Where does the story take place? What are your favorite aspects of the setting? *points to Europe* Right here, right here, right here, right here, everywhere! Not really. Significant parts of the story happen in Ekaterinburg, Russia; Paris, France; and London, England. It all happens during 1919, so I’m dealing with the Bolshevik Revolution and the aftereffects of World War I. I loved digging into the Russian culture and the lore of Anastasia. I kind of want to try out some of these Russian words now. I doubt they will sound as cool if I try to say them. Tell us about your protagonist. There are two, actually, Riley. (If you got that reference, let me know in the comments.) Zakhar Gavrilov is the side character who stole half the story. His voice came so naturally to me and I had such fun writing him. He’s a sixteen-year-old gearhead with a passion for creating. A passion that often gets him into trouble, but that’s a long story. He struggles to trust people sometimes, but he’s also just so bright and positive even when things hurt. Aleksandra Shatalova is the actual main character. She’s a seventeen-year-old orphan who knows a good trade when she sees one. She’s very caring and thoughtful, but desperately wants to be loved so that she’s willing to do anything to get it from anywhere. Who or what is the antagonist? Again, there are two. Sasha Zhabina is a twenty-something thief with a grand plan to pass Aleksandra off as Anastasia and also conveniently make money from it. She has an eye for color and design (not that she lets anyone see it) and notoriously clashes with Zakhar in many humorous ways. Evgenii Arefyev is the real antagonist though. He was the best friend of Zakhar’s father and became Zakhar’s guardian. Now he works as a general in the Red Army. While he does genuinely care for Zakhar and wants to protect him in uncertain times, he allows his desire to make the White Army pay override all of that. What excites you most about this novel? Zakhar, honestly. He was so easy to write and came so naturally and vibrantly. Readers connected with him as much as I did and I’d love to see his story out there in the world. Is this going to be a series? A standalone? Something else? A standalone with the potential for a sequel, although I think I could write about Zakhar for a very long time. Are you plotting? Pantsing? Plantsing? I plotted this novel. But as I was content editing it, I learned about Three Act Structure, which explained why a lot of the pacing was off in my story. I overhauled it using a new outline (which left the beginning and ending largely unchanged, but everything in the middle changed. Seriously. I don’t think any of the middle was in the original draft.) Name a few unique elements of this story. Is Russian culture not unique enough? While Russia may not be everybody’s favorite right now, they do have a very unique culture. I think Zakhar’s scientific leanings also give it a unique vibe—I was way out of my ballpark on that one and had to do quite a bit of research. And there’s always the nostalgic Anastasia feel. |
Fiction
Hello there! Rachel again, with some of the short stories and flash fiction I've written. Enjoy! Archives
May 2023
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