Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m 19, I live in Scotland, and my first YA mystery novel, The Game Begins, is currently number 1 in its category on Amazon. I’m working on its sequel, and spend my free time interviewing other authors, or buying more books than my shelf space can handle.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called The Game Begins, and it was inspired by my final year of school and the things which happened to me during that time. Writing started to become a coping mechanism for me then, and when I asked myself “what if it had been worse”, the idea for the book followed on from there.
The first draft was far more personal than I intended, so I had to do a lot of cutting and editing to keep it from being a fictionalised autobiography, and I’m more or less happy with the end result.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My strangest writing habit would probably be starting to write a chapter or a scene in my head before I type it up on my laptop. I’ve only recently started keeping a notepad with me so I can scribble the main points down before forgetting them, but I’ve always had a tendency to plan out stories when I should really be concentrating on something else. Like sleeping.
The number of times I’ve had to get out of bed at two in the morning to write an idea down before I forget it is higher than I’d like to admit.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
JK Rowling has been the biggest inspiration for me, because she was unemployed when she started to write the Harry Potter series and although she was rejected by publisher after publisher, she kept writing and trying to get her work out there, and that determination is something I doubt I could manage if I was in her place.
One rejection would have been enough to make me wonder if I could really be a writer for a living.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a sequel to The Game Begins, and promoting the first book since its 1st anniversary is coming up and I didn’t know when I published it just how important a role social media plays in getting your work out there.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t had much luck with Twitter or Facebook, but Instagram has been quite good, and so has my blog on WordPress. It lets me connect with other writers and readers and share advice and struggles, and I have more fun writing blog posts than I do Tweets.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing, and don’t edit your first draft until you’ve finished. Continually going over the first few chapters before you’ve finished makes it harder to get to the end, and wastes time.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Your story is only boring to you because you wrote it, and you’ve read it a 1000 times. A reader who picks it up for the first time won’t have that problem.
What are you reading now?
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, because I wanted to reread it before the Netflix series came out. Needless to say, I failed.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing my second novel, and moving on to a third.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
How to survive being stranded on a desert island, and how to get off said desert island.
Author Websites and Profiles
Rebecca Howie Website
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