TY Emma!

a cartoon girl is standing on a wooden floor and saying thank you . ALT: a cartoon girl is standing on a wooden floor and saying thank you .

Huge thank you to @melliver.bsky.social for a great #ukteenchat! Can't wait to hunt up a copy! And of course to our host-mistress extraordinaire @finlaysonpalmer.bsky.social ☺️

Yes!

#ukteenchat thank you, that was so fun! Always here if anyone has any writing questions 😊

#ukteenchat it’s remembering that everyone is entitled to their opinion and knowing I don’t have to interject into that space, in fact it’s better not to!

#ukteenchat hahaha what an image!

Great advice over on #ukteenchat tonight!

bsky.app/profile/mell...

#ukteenchat something I had to relearn recently: 1. Find the writing joy and 2. Don’t let go of it when you get negative feedback/reviews. You can’t please everyone, and you shouldn’t want to. Make sure you’re writing what YOU love and you’ll find your people! Reviews are for readers, not authors!

bsky.app/profile/mell...

#ukteenchat I just handed in line edits on TO THE DEATH 2, so that’s almost wrapped up now! And I’m just putting the finishing touches on my first ever adult speculative time-travel portal fantasy with a dash of dark academia, coming soon to editors’ inboxes 👀

Yes, I don’t write everyday but I do write for hours once I’m set up! #ukteenchat

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#ukteenchat I am SO BORING I write at my desk, with my dual screens and fancy chair, in silence. I can’t do cafes but sometimes can do a library. If I get stuck I like to listen to movie themes from scenes with a similar vibe to help set the mood!

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#ukteenchat my first draft is all about nailing the plot, so I don’t have major rewrites later. The second draft is fleshing out characters - usually what their needs are, versus what their wants are. Then I work on the world building. Kinda like layering up a lasagna! The more layers the better!

#ukteenchat now in really life Emma I am the least fussy of eaters, I’ll eat anything. And while these guys prefer blood? They’ll chomp down on some tasty flesh and organs if needs be!

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#ukteenchat well 👀 for anyone lucky enough to have got their hands on an early copy, they might find this page in the back of the book…

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#ukteenchat my Pyres are a hybrid of vampires and zombies. They burn in sunlight but are otherwise lean mean fast killing machines that can only be taken down with a bullseye to the head or the heart. So yes I would be dead minutes after the first wave hit thanks for asking 😂

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#ukteenchat grief and survivor’s guilt is a HUGE part of the story and something readers can relate to in an otherwise fantastical world. I dedicate the book to all our Inner Monsters, aka learning to love the parts of ourselves that sometimes we lie awake at night just regretting we ever let out.

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#ukteenchat when I pitched this book to my agent her exact words were “you always have wanted to write a zombie book”, which is so true! I’m a die hard zombie fan, and while writing I was hooked on the traitors, so I think the two things meshed in my head! But zombies first, they’re so fun to write!