Author Interview - Eleana Moriarty
Elena Moriarty is a writer and poet grown locally in Brisbane, Australia. She lives to be buried beneath piles of plot ideas and character descriptions. When she isn’t writing, she loves buying glittery things from Etsy, watering her excessive number of house plants and singing karaoke alone in her living room.
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Q1: What is the name of
your latest book and what inspired it?
The Hunt of the Halfling is my debut novel – it’s actually inspired by a collection of novels I read during my teenage years that featured lots of magic, power, and status. It originally had a very different plot, but I really wanted to write something with all the magic realism of many popular books but with my own take on it. I was inspired by great authors like Maggie Stiefvater and Cassandra Clare, and thought if they could write something, why couldn’t I?
Honestly – I’m such a pantser that I usually have no idea where a book is going until I’ve written one. But when I do manage to collect myself enough to get it together and plot, my best idea is to talk and record yourself brainstorming ideas. Sometimes just reading out to yourself what motivates the characters helps you form an idea on what they want to achieve. I also tend to use music to sway my feelings on how a scene will progress, as well as photographic websites like Pinterest to help make a scene mood board.
Q3: What authors, or
books have influenced you?
As I mentioned earlier, I’m super influenced by the works of Maggie Stiefvater and Cassandra Clare. I’m also a fan of Claudia Gray’s works. But other books such as The Sky Is Everywhere, In The After, The Nightshade Series, The Slated Series, and The Fallen Series have all influenced me in one way or another.
Q4: What is your schedule like when
you’re writing a book?
I work a full time job, so whenever I have time around then, I’m probably writing. I aim to write a chapter at a time of whatever work I’m working on, and if I go over, great. But if I don’t, or I switch my time between a few works at once, then I still feel accomplished. I try not to get too caught up in making things be done by certain timeframes as unless I actually have a deadline imposed by external pressures, I want to enjoy my writing.
Q5: Does writing energize or
exhaust you? Or both?
Definitely both. On some days I find myself able to type at the speed of sound, and then others I can’t think of how to continue a scene I was once so passionate about. It really depends on how the work is shaping. I often tend to get stuck in the middle of a scene, leave it, then come back and wonder how to finish it, get unmotivated, and switch WIP’s. But I tend to break out of that at some point, it just takes me a little nudge to get there.
Q6: What is the best writing
advice you have ever heard?
Write for yourself, not for others.
Q7: How do you come up with
character names for your stories?
Nameberry, Pinterest, baby name websites and playing around with other names to make different spellings/pronunciations.
Q8: What do you think is
the best way to improve writing skills?
Just keep writing and reading. If you don’t read you won’t understand structure and pace and tone, and those three can be key to forming a novel (or whatever kind of project you may be working on). Also writing and giving that work to someone else to read, even if it’s just a few pages, means you can get feedback on how that work is shaping. And if that frightens you, just read out loud as you type. Makes you think about things a lot more quickly than reading it back later.
Q9: What are you working
on now?
I usually have around 20 rough works in progress at one stage. Currently I’m focused on a faerie x mortal romance. It’s only at 55,000ish words.
Q10: What are you currently
reading?
I haven’t had time to read much,
but I am reading A Court of Thorns and Roses. I’ve never finished it and
have only gotten about a third of the way through once before, so I’m really
hoping to finish it and move into the following books since everyone raves out
it!
Tabitha is a typical teenager with hopes and dreams who is living an ordinary life. That is, until one fateful Halloween night, she meets two strange young men. And her whole world changes. Everything Tabitha once knew about herself is a lie.
On the hunt for answers about her past, Tabitha must adjust to life amongst 'The Fabled'. Werewolves, faeries, vampires and warlocks - they actually exist! But they live hidden among humans and Tabitha must learn to trust what she has never known.
As if navigating through adolescence isn't enough, Tabitha must manage her warring emotions when dealing with Felix. With his silver eyes and sharp wit, Felix leaves Tabitha with more questions than answers. Should she trust him? Or is he using her to quench his particular thirst?
In Elena Moriarty's debut novel, 'The Hunt of the Halfling', Book 1 in her Crimson Tale series, magic, humour, and teenage angst merge into a story about one girl's quest to discover herself.
But will she like what she finds?
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