In true Victoria fashion, I’m a little late on the welcome to 2025, but better late than never! But before we get into the new year, I thought a little recap was in order:
2024 was a professional rollercoaster in a very good way! I started off the year publishing FATE BREAKER and finishing up the REALM BREAKER trilogy (for now 😉). I was lucky enough to do both a US tour *and* my first UK tour since COVID. Both went off without a hitch and I was so touched to meet you all on the road.
After the FATE BREAKER launch, I went full tilt working on the proposal for new project - my ADULT FANTASY DEBUT. After several months of back and forth with my agent, we went out on submission with the new project in June. After a very exciting (but stressful) few weeks, we went to auction, and my pirate fantasy TEMPEST landed with HarperCollins Voyager! I did a more in depth post about the submission process a few months back, that you can read here.
With TEMPEST sold on proposal, that meant I now had to actually *write* the rest of the novel. That’s currently what I’m working on right now, and my deadline is rapidly approaching! I’m so excited to get the first draft finished (easily the most painful and yet somehow most enjoyable part of the publishing process for me) and be able to talk about the book more with all of you!
I spent the rest of 2024 working on the Tempest draft, along with lots of travel and lovely book events meeting you guys! I even got to go to FIL Guadalajara in Mexico, my very first book event in Latin America! Everyone was so welcoming and I felt lucky to check another country off my list. I never dreamed I’d get to travel the world with my stories, and it means so much to do it!
As for 2025…like I said, I’m careening towards my TEMPEST deadline, and it looks like it’s going to be a bumpy landing. Maybe I should steer away from plane jokes while the current Secretary of Transportation is a reality tv wash-out….
Anyways, I’ve got lots of fun events coming up this spring, as detailed below!
My deadline coincides with a few scheduled events, as you can see, so I’m going to be REALLY entertaining. But strangely, I’ve been able to get great work done while traveling this year. So I’m weirdly optimistic!
I’m especially excited for RomantasyCon here in Los Angeles - it will be my first romance convention since RT many, many moons ago. I’m especially looking forward to meeting new authors and readers I don’t generally get to see on the YA track! Come say hi if you’re attending!
Now for the semi-monthly Q&A - keep an eye out for the question box on my Instagram, and I’ll try to get to yours!
Are you coming to Brazil (or *insert country here*)? - Thanks so much for asking! International tours are very complicated, and usually require organization from my foreign publisher and/or a book festival. Basically, I have to be invited! I was able to visit Brazil in 2018 for Bienal, along with a mini-tour, and it was stunning. I would love to come back one day!
Can you write another book where Maven is alive / can you write another RED QUEEN book? - I will never say never, but at present, I don’t know how much story there is left for me to tell in the RED QUEEN world. I have to be excited about the prospect, and gripped by a new idea, which just hasn’t happened. Of course I deeply love the characters and world, but I don’t see myself returning any time soon. I’m too excited about my new sandboxes!
Do you ever get writer’s block? - Yes! For me, writer’s block means one of two things: either you’re burnt out and need fresh eyes (so I take a break!) or the story has taken a wrong turn somewhere. The latter is much harder, because you need to start cutting back to wherever you took the wrong turn, and essentially remove the dead flesh to get back on track.
How long does the first draft of a novel take? - For me, I usually get a first draft finished in 6-7 months. But that isn’t a steady 6-7 months of work. I accelerate as I write, so I start slow, and by the end, I’m a breakneck pace. I joke that I write the first half of a book in 6 months and the second half in 1 month - but it helps that my third acts are always structured as a landslide. I just have to hold on!
Is there anything you wish you knew before becoming an author? - There’s no knowing how many other parts of the job exist beyond the writing until you’re in the job itself. So I was surprised to learn how much of publicity and marketing is part of our job, as well as maintaining a platform on social media.
Are you excited for any new projects this year? - After finishing the first draft of TEMPEST, I plan to give myself some downtime but not as much as usual. Because T is a standalone novel, I have to get my next project in gear quite quickly. Ideally, I’d love to get together my proposal for my next intended project, a YA duology, while waiting for edits on TEMPEST!
Has your writing process changed during your shift from YA to adult? - Not really. I still have to write in chronological order, and my writing style really hasn’t changed all that much. It’s the characters who are really different, as they are adults who know who they are, versus YA characters on journeys of self-discovery.
Will TEMPEST be first or third person POV? - Like the REALM BREAKER trilogy, TEMPEST is written in third person, but the POV is limited to a single character.
Do you have a favorite character in TEMPEST? - Yes, absolutely. The main character of TEMPEST, Cat Rose, is one of my favorites to date. I just love her pragmatic anger - she’s a woman who puts herself first, always.
Favorite books you read in 2024? - I adored THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SARAFI by S.A. Chakraborty!
And that’s it for February! Hope to see you next month, perhaps with good news about hitting my next deadline!
Cheers,
Victoria