Jan is Jan Fields, moderator of this interview/workshop with Terie Garrison, and Web Editor of the ICL Web Site. Green shows names or usernames of people and the questions they asked Terri.

Jan: WELCOME to GUEST SPEAKER CHAT with Terie Garrison. I'm your host, moderator, and resident pontificator -- Jan Fields. I'm looking forward to learning a lot about writing young adult novels in Writing YA in the UK. Welcome Terie and thanks for joining us tonight!

Terie: Thanks for having me!

Jan: Everyone has to be really nice to Terie, 'cause it's the middle of the night at her house. So if she nods off and starts drooling, no one laugh. Well, 'cept me.

Terie: it's all right....laughter is good for the soul.

Jan: So, Terie, the last book in your series has just come out, right?

Terie: -Yyes, it was formally released on 1 Sept, although it started shipping in early August.

Jan: So, is that kind of bittersweet? Glad to move on to something new, but still...endings make me sad.

Terie: Well, I'd worked on the series so long (about 4 years), including writing the last two books in 9 months, that I was sick of it, to be honest! by the end, I was ready to write 'then an explosion occurred and they all died. the end.' but I persevered and managed it in the end.

Jan: So...at the risk of having an explosion...tell us some about the series -- it's young adult fantasy I know, with Flux...tell us more.

Terie: The main character is Donavah, and 15-year-old girl, who's brother get hold of an illegal dragon egg. The dragon hatches, but only the king is allowed to have dragons, so they have to get rid of it. But her brother is caught and sentenced to death. so Donavah goes on a journey to rescue him. Along the way, she hooks up with the dragon, Xyla, and together, they accomplish the task. But Donavah also finds out she has a special form of magic, called 'maejic', and there's a prophecy about her and her place in the world.

Jan: So, definitely adventure...any romance?

Terie: Romance comes in starting in book 2, WinterMaejic.

Jan: Oh, good, I like romance with adventure and dragons.

Terie: It's always a subplot, though.

Jan: Well, yeah...subtle romance....with the occassional smoochie.

Terie: Yes, maybe some smoochies. and (hopefully) a surprise twist at the end on the romance front. :-)

Jan: Oh great...okay, now I have to find all the books...thankfully, now I can read them all in a marathon.

Terie: True. I was SO lucky that my publisher brought them out in a single year. so no one had to wait long.

Jan: So, are you working on a new fantasy or is it time for something completely different?

Terie: I'm currently working on a middle-grade fantasy with a male protagonist. this will hopefully have boy appeal.

Jan: Oh, cool...I like middle grade fantasy too.

Terie: No smoochies in this one.

Jan: Goodness...a middle grade boy would be mortified by smoochies.

Terie: EXACTLY!!!! :-D

Terie: It varies. I have a full-time job, so sometimes I don't write at all, but I try to devote at least 1/2 hour per day. Sometimes I might get in 2 hours in a night. And more on weekends, of course. I'm actually a 'word counter' and try to average about 2,500 words per week.

Terie: DragonSpawn was conceived as a series....that's how it came into my head. It started one night when I was soaking in the tub (a place of inspiration for me!). This voice said, 'When my brother told me it was a dragon egg, of course I didn't believe him.' I was immediately curious and asked for more. By the time I got out of the tub, I knew the VERY basic story arc, that it was a 4-book series based on the seasons, and the first title was AutumnQuest.

Jan: Okay, I get to ask a question...how did you go about getting a series with Flux -- did you get pulled out of slush or do you have an agent? How much of it was written when you signed the deal? Inquiring minds wanna know.

Terie: I submitted AQ (AutumnQuest) when it was ready. I sent it to seven publishers after poring over the list at CBC (childrens' book council). One of the publishers was Llewellyn. They bought AQ as part of the launch of their new YA imprint, Flux.

Terie: I did pitch it as a 4-book series, but they only bought AQ at first. When the editor read WM (WinterMaejic), he immediately sent a contract for the other three books. Again, I was SUPER lucky to get that break.

Jan: Okay, the titles of the four books are very cool...where did each come from?

Terie: AQ and WM were natural titles that fit the story perfectly. I had some concerns about WM, because 'maejic' is a made-up word and people looking for it might not spell it right. but my editor said not to worry and it was perfect. SpringFire was harder. it had SO many working titles. in the end, I came up with three that both my editor and i liked, but we couldn't decided which one we liked best. so, since that book was going to be dedicated to my best friend (she didn't know it at the time), I asked her which one she liked best, and she said SpringFire. Voila! SummerDanse was also simple, because danse--another special form of magic in the story--is key in the big finale of the story.

Jan: Now, I know you live in the UK now...but you sold to Flux, did you consider UK publishers or not really, I know the CBC list is pretty much US publishers, isn't it?

Terie: I sent it to one publisher...the editor who said something at an SCBWI conference in Greece that helped spark the idea. she rejected it, because there's just SO much fantasy flooding the market over here in the wake of harry potter. that's why i decided to take it to the US in the end. It was very hard to get an editor to look at fantasy right then. (this would've been 2004.)

Terie: Because I haven't tried much here, I can't speak to that very much. I can say that one problem is that UK editors want the fantasy to sound British, and Americans mostly can't quite catch it correctly. I've lived here for 7 years now, but i still sound very American in my writing. It comes down to word choice. there are so many small differences that are hard to detect. it's not a matter of just inserting Britishims. one example is that Americans say 'I guess' while Brits say 'I suppose'. all those little differences are hard to keep consistent. But the book i'm working on now is directed to a UK audience, so we'll have to see whether I succeed. Oh, I should add that american books get picked up here all the time. the problem is trying to get a UK publisher to be the one to publish it.

Terie: I think Harry Potter has changed all the rules. AQ AND WM are each 42,000, whilee SF and SD are 58,000. (that wasn't planned, just an eerie coincidence.) i think you need to tell the story in as many words as it takes, no more, no fewer.

Terie: I personally have a dislike of using 'English' names in fantasy that's not based in this world, so I try to come up with interesting sounding names. it can be hard! sometimes. I'll think of a friend and twist their name. Like Donavah comes from the name of my best friend when I was quite small. we'd just got back in touch after 25 or 30 years. Her name is Donna. Donavah isn't based on Donna, just the name. Some just come out. Anazian and Zhantar are ones that I played around with...liking unusual letters...and I really like those names, if I do say so myself.

Jan: They are very cool. Now, it seems like having a US book while living in the UK could be a promo challenge...what promotional things have you done for the series?

Terie: It IS a challenge! first of all, of course, is having a web site. I also have a separate site dedicated to the series. I'm active in a lot of newsgroups, particularly on Yahoo and on sff.net. I also have a livejournal blog and a myspace. Then I got lucky, and have to travel to the US for work. My boss let me take some extra time, so I'm in the process of arranging stock signings, where you go into the story and sign stock. That's a lot easier to arrange than formal signings, especially when you're a new author that almost no one has heard of yet. and you can hit a couples store in a single day. I've been on the phone all evening with bookshops in the Philly area and in New Jersey.

Jan: Sounds exciting...so you'll be busy dashing from bookstore to bookstore.

Terie: on a few days. I'll be doing less than I originally hoped, but that will give me more time to write, so that's all right, too.

Jan: I actually have a question about the online stuff. I never know what to do on myspace...do you spend a lot of time on that?

Terie: No, not really. there's just so much to do. I keep meaning to copy my livejournal blog there, but I never do. And really, I don't have many teen friends there yet. if I get more, I'll probably feel more incentive to keep up with it better.

Jan: Now, you said you were active in newsgroups and yahoogroups...what do you see at the benefit of that? Are you on any where you connect with readers or mostly other writers? Though, we're readers too of course.

Terie: the biggest benefit is community. writing is such a solitary thing, and having a place to go where there are other folks who know what it's like is great. I've also made some good e-friends there, and a few of those have turned into proper friendships. I met a woman from one of the sff.net newsgroups at WorldCon in Glasgo 2005, and we became very good friends. When frustrating things happen, it's nice to have a place to whine, where people really do understand. :-)

Jan: So, tell me...how much world building did you do in DragonSpawn? I ask because I'm sorta sucky at the whole "making new worlds" thing.

Terie: Gosh, It's hard to remember. I wrote lots of notes, in the sense of sitting down with a notebook and, really, just chatting with myself. I have a VERY lame map. I also talked a lot of things through with my best friend. She's not a writer but reads a lot of fantasy and was a great sounding board. I have an adult fantasy on the back-burner for which I think I've done more world-building....charts and lists and such. But in DragonSpawn, the focus is on character, and I tried to keep the world-building subtle and in the background. I don't know why, honestly.

Terie: yes, my best friend, Sally. she's great for helping me find holes in my ideas and also for asking pertinent questions. that's why book 3 was dedicated to her. I also have a weekly critique group. they're indespensible. We meet at a local church hall, have a coffee break half-way through, then repair to the pub. (this IS England, after all!) the people in the group are some of my best friends.

Terie: Yes, getting out into nature is very important to me. I take day trips on weekends, or week-long writing retreats. I love setting up my folding chair in the woods somewhere and writing or sitting with my back against stones. Anything out in nature. or, if it's raining, in a comfy pub with a pretty view out the window.

Jan: If I tried writing in the woods, I'd be thinking...eeek, bug...awk, spider...what the heck is that...oh, no, the sun the sun...no I'm melting. But I admire nature people. From a distance.

Terie: But I live in England, where there aren't nearly so many pests...not of the insect variety, anyway. You only have to watch out for midges, but I never write outside in evenings at places that have midges. Now drunks in the pub wondering what you're doing, that's another story. HAHAHA!

Jan: So, now that you have a series in print, have you considered looking for an agent?

Terie: I'm trying to find one. it's been surprisingly difficult. Part of the problem is that I sold a series with only 2 of 4 books written, so I had to write the other two books. since those were sold, no agent would've been interested. now I'm working on some other stuff and hoping to get one, but I haven't got anything submission-ready yet.

Terie: I went straight from book 1 to book 2. once book 2 was written, I rewrote and polished book 1 and started submitting it. I wrote an early draft of book 3 for NaNoWriMo 2004. It took a weird turn though. Then I did some other unrelated work. when I returned to book 3, it took the same wierd turn again, and eventually I went with it. Then I took another break and wrote the first part of a mainstream YA. then I wrote most of book 4 for NaNo 2007. So I've had TWO NaNO books published now!

Terie: I actually like rewriting better than writing. It's where you can really take the rough diamond and make it into a beautiful gem. My editor is wonderful. He never proposed major changes, but enhanced the story to make it better. It was a suggestion of his that inspired me to add the 'interchapter bits' of my books. He wanted more sense of danger and history, which Donavah wouldn't know, so I brought those in as snippets. They really made the books a lot better! And I was lucky to get a copyeditor with a light touch. She found a few continuity errors, but she didn't bollocks up my words. So I count myself very lucky to have worked with the people I did at Flux.

Terie: The books I wrote for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This is a HUGE thing that happens every November, where people take the challenge to write a 50,000 words novel in 30 days. It's intense and crazy and ends up with mostly horrible writing. but it gets you a draft that you can then work with. The weird thing about book 4/ nano 2007 is that my editor accepted it without any major changes. and the copyeditor asked about 10 questions. That was completely SURREAL!

Terie: I have no life! Actually, I'm single, and I don't get out much, other than critique group on tuesdays and gaming (D&D) on Sundays. I'm a loner though, so that helps. It would be a lot harder if I had kids. I really respect anyone who can work, raise a family, and find even five minutes to write!

Terie: No. I'd previously written a YA sports novel which has made the rounds and now is in a bottom drawer. I also wrote a middle-grade adventure with a touch of ghost story. DragonSpawn was the next big thing. I have a variety of other projects in various stages of simmering. right now, as mentioned before, I'm mostly focusing on a new middle-grade fantasy.

Jan: So, tell me some of your favorite books you've read...it's always so revealling to find out books our speakers love.

Terie: well, I'm a HUGE fan of Lord of the Rings. I read that once a year whether I need to or not. I also love the first 6 Pern books by Anne Mccaffrey. There's Robin Hobb's books, especially the Farseer trilogy. and I love Carol Berg and Lynn Flewelling, too. Of course, I enjoy Harry Potter...they're great fun. and I adore Philip Pullman. I also love the classics, especially Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Jan: So, when did you decide you wanted to be a writer...what lured you into this extremely frustrating business?

Terie: I discovered I wanted to be a writer when my 5th-grade teacher taught us how to write limericks. He gave us some time to write one, and I wrote three. He was so impressed, showing them to other teachers, that I knew then that that's what I wanted to do when I grew up. In jr high and high school I took every english and writing class I could: basic journalism, magazine writing, American AND British lit. I was on the newspaper staff. And then I got a job as a tech writer, so I've just always been writing, although for a lot of years I didn't do much about my burning desire to write fiction for teens.

Terie: I only had a few articles published, all about bicycling, which I used to be very much into. I was never very interested in non-fiction, to tell the truth.

Jan: So, the YA sports novel in the drawer...was the sport bicycling?

Terie: Good guess! and my editor at Flux is a cyclist. When HE rejected it, I knew it would never see the light of day again.

Jan: Ah well...we all end up with a plump dead things drawer.

Terie: Yep. it doesn't worry me. I might publish it on lulu.com someday for a lark, but don't intend to try any more traditional publshers for it.

Jan: So, you never considered writing speculative fiction/fantasy for magazines?

Terie: The market for short stories isn't very good, and my stories tend to be novel-scope. I think short-story writing is a different skill from novel-writing. Some writers can do both, but I'm not convinced that ALL writers can. It's not like writing short stories is warm-up for writing novels. They are different art forms, much like water-colours and oil. I did get one short story published, but that was a fluke I think. It's on my website in its entirety. Oh, and for the record, it was about cats, not bicycling! I wrote the story for a creative writing class in college. It was published two years later. I think I was that professor's first student to get a story into a glossy!

Jan: Cool. So, you said you went to an SCBWI conference in Greece, right? Is there a lot happening with SCBWI overseas? Do you get to conferences much?

Terie: Oh yes! the UK has a writers day every November, and every other year there's usually a weekend writing retreat. I've been to a retreat in France, too. There's a Yahoo group with international SCBWI news. I can dig out the URL and send it to Jan later, so anyone interested can sign up.

Terie: Two: American and British. (grin) I'm going to start learning German soon. The friend I mentioned earlier, whom I met at WorldCon, is German, and I can't read her stuff. but, sadly, I'm truly monolingual.

Terie: Scope. a novel is larger in scope and can accommodate more subplots, more little diversions for colour, more details. short stories are much sharper in focus. I prefer long works to read, so seldom read short stories. I think the shorter a work is, the harder it is to write. Those picture books with 100 words or less? The hardest of all. so maybe I'm lazy, too. but mostly, I think in larger chunks.

Jan: Oh, that's interesting, I adore short story collections...there are some urban fantasy collections I've really liked...and Vivian Vande Velde's collections always make me laugh and spook me, both. I do think it's hard to write short fiction if you don't read it...for so many of my students, they can't wrap their heads around the demands of short fiction because they only read novels...and usually novels for adults.

Terie: I agree. I think you need to read the sort of things you want to write. I mean, you have to read widely, but if you want to write short stories, you have to read them. it's vital to read to master the forms.

Terie: The only one I've read lately is Valiant by Holly Black. I loved that! I actually 'read' Valiant as an audiobook and am waiting for Tithe to be available. And she has also written Ironside.

Jan: If you want to see tons of titles...check out Fangs, Fur & Fey It's a livejournal community for urban fantasy novelists.

Terie: I'm not much of a city person, so I'm not sure I'll be very good with urban fantasy, but it's a planned element of the MG book i'm working on right now.

Jan: Have you read much middle grade fantasy?

Terie: Not much recent stuff, other than the early Harry Potter books. I bought a few books recently and found one of them to be badly written and the other a bit improbable. A friend of mine wrote a brilliant (standard) fantasy for MGs, and I introduced him to the editor who bought the series. The first book comes out in the States early 2008, I believe.

Jan: Hey, way cool...what's it called, we'll watch for it.

Terie: It's Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools, by Philip Caveney.

Jan: OooooOOOO...I like the title and character name.

Terie: He actually included me in the dedication of book two, which made me cry.

Jan: Awww...that's so nice.

Terie: I think that can be a blurry line. I think the main distinctions aree theme and complexity. I know of one writer who's written a YA book that will appeal to boys, and the publisher decided to publish it as adult to draw in teen boys to read it. interesting tack to take. So sometimes, it's the gatekeepers who decide. I personally believe that almost no topic should be taboo for a teen audience, but it's the way the topic is handled that will determine if the book is more YA or adult.

Jan: Sometimes an approach just wouldn't interest teens too. And I recently read a horror book that was self-published and the author meant it as a teen book but it was definitely adult, the teen characters felt like how adults see teens, not like the way teens see teens.

Terie: Yes, that's very true. And there are lots of books about teens that are written for adults. 'She's Come Undone' by Wally Lamb leaps to mind. Plus, the business of writing teens who don't sound like teens is a common flaw.

Jan: Now, tell me about your book covers!! That was such a nifty story.

Terie: well, the first thing to understand is that the writer has virtually no say in the cover. So it's scary when you get it, because if you don't like it, there might not be much you can do about it. My hands were shaking when I opened the e-mail attachment. And I immediately fell in love with it! It's a computer-enhanced photo. Anyway, the stump in the foreground was completely irrelevant to the story, but I loved it so much that I actually incorporated it into book 3. I became an instant hit in my publisher's art department. They're used to authors complaining and wanting to change the cover, and there I was, changing the story! Then, when I was writing book 3, the artist was working on the cover. when they sent me the prototype for that, it was uncanny...it was EXACLTY like the section I was writing WHEN he was designing it. I told the editor that the artist must have been reading my mind, either that or channeling me to write what he wanted to use for art! So, I love my cover artist.

Jan: Ahhh...now everyone will want your good cover luck...we'll all rub your head like a good luck charm :-)

Terie: Or just rub a cover of the actual book. LOL!

Jan: Oh yea, y'all go buy the books and rub the covers for luck!!

Terie: I hope that works...or that you enjoy them at least.

Jan: And here we are at the end of our time. I want to thank Terie Garrison for waking up in the middle of the night to chat with us.

Terie: it's been my pleasure. i'd be happy to correspond further with anyone. my e-mail address is teriegarrison@teriegarrison.com or you can visit my sff.net newsgroup. the link is on my home page at http://www.teriegarrison.com

Jan: And I also want to add my thanks for the audience coming out tonight...thank you, y'all had some interesting questions.

Terie: Thanks again for having me. I've had a blast. Cheers, everyone!

Jan: And to all, a good night.