Author Interview with Gillian Bronte Adams

Today I have with me an author interview with Gillian Bronte Adams, author of The Songkeeper Chronicles and the Fireborn Epics.

Having the opportunity to do this was a dream come true, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

---

What first got you inspired to write?

I grew up on stories. My mom and dad did a lot of read alouds. My older sister would set up the most incredible stories for our backyard games of make believe, and I only realized later that many of those stories were populated with characters from the books she had been reading. Later, she took up writing, and I kind of just followed suit at first. But the more I read and the more I wrote, the more I realized how impactful stories could be and how much I loved trying to write stories that resonated with others the way my favorite books resonated with me.

How long have you been writing for?

I have been writing ever since I was a kid, starting with some very bad Lord of the Rings fanficas a preteen. But it wasn’t until I was in high school and a friend invited me to join her in a NaNoWriMo sort of challenge, where we each tried to write 50,000 words in a month, that I realized just how much I loved writing! I’ve stuck with it ever since.

Where is your favorite place to sit down and write?

I have a lovely desk set up with maps and a LOTR quote on the wall, candles on the hutch, and books stacked everywhere, and I do get a fair amount of writing work done there. But I think my absolute favorite place to write is outside. There’s just something about setting up to work on a blanket out on the lawn with my pup for company and the wind for music that unlocks my imagination. 

When do you like to write? Morning or evening?

I am a late night writer. There’s just something about those quiet, dark hours where there are no other demands on my time and no other possible distractions (because everyone in their right mind is already asleep) that makes it so easy for me to sink fully into the story. Theoretically, the same should apply to the early morning hours, so I have also tried the whole 5 AM writer thing, and unfortunately my brain just doesn’t kick into gear right away. Not until I’ve had a fair amount of coffee.

Who are some of your favorite authors and why?

My favorite author of all time is J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings was my first introduction to the fantasy genre and I fell in love with his storytelling, worldbuilding, and characters. Growing up, I wanted to be courageous like Frodo and Sam, humble and strong like Aragorn, noble like Faramir, valiant like Eowyn, and wise like Galadriel. Knowing just how much of an impact a story can have hugely shaped me as I began to pursue writing myself. These days, I read fairly broadly and my favorite authors include a wide variety of authors who model excellence in different aspects of storytelling that I want to learn. I love Brandon Sanderson for the emotional resonance of his storytelling, Pierce Brown for the raw (and gritty) intensity of his books, and Maggie Stiefvator because she writes such beautiful and surprising prose. 

What do you enjoy writing about the most? What are some of your favorite themes?

I love writing stories that break your heart with both beauty and sorrow and mend it with hope. I love writing about the relationships between characters, about strong friendships and rivals who become friends and the people we misunderstand at first. About sibling relationships and people who fall in love where it’s less about what’s said and more about the little things they do to show each other they care. I love writing about both heroes and heroines who are up against overwhelming odds and keep on going, keep on enduring, keep on choosing hope.

What is your favorite type of character to write?

I, apparently, have a thing for grumpy mentor characters. I didn’t quite put it together until I was talking about it with a friend, but with Amos McElhenny in The Songkeeper Chronicles and Markham in The Fireborn Epic, I’m two for two on having grumpy old mentors in my projects! I love those types of characters because they can say things that nobody else would, which just always adds a fun and surprising element to scenes. Half the time I don’t know what they’re going to do or say until they do it, and it’s such a blast to write that way. Also … I might just secretly be a grumpy old mentor inside. Who can say?

What advice would you give to a writer just beginning their writing/publishing journey?

Don’t rush. I know it can feel like there is so much pressure to move quickly, to finish projects and move on, to get an agent or to self-publish fast. But sometimes it takes time to find your unique writing voice and to understand the types of stories that you feel drawn to tell and to offer others. And if you are serious about becoming an author, then taking the time to focus on growing your craft, building your skills, evaluating your options, and learning how to write a new book over and over again, is so valuable. It’s not wasted time, even if it feels like it is taking forever!

What are some of the hardest parts of writing? How do you work through them?

There comes a point in my writing process for just about every project where the entire thing feels like a mess and I’m convinced that it’s probably not worth saving. In fact, sometimes I want to toss the whole thing in the trash and start over from scratch. I start second guessing every decision I’ve made about the story, and my brain starts working overtime to come up with alternate ways to retell the entire thing. If I’m not careful, it can spiral really far really fast. But over the years, it’s happened often enough that I’ve been able to start identifying the places in the process where those feelings typically set in for me. A lot of times, I start to feel this somewhere during Act 2, and there also specific types of scenes or emotional beats in a story that are just more challenging and draining to write that can also trigger those feelings. Knowing that helps me to push on past it and keep writing through the discouragement … and not throw my manuscript in the trash. Nine times out of ten, after I finish the project and look back over it, it’s so much better than my fears would have led me to believe.

What was your favorite book to write so far? What was the hardest?

Of Fire and Ash was one of my favorite books to write! I absolutely love this storyworld so much—I would live in it in a heartbeat—so getting to write in it every day was a gift. I also loved writing Of Sea and Smoke, but for a number of reasons, it was one of the hardest books I’ve ever written. Logistically, it was particularly challenging to bring all of the elements of the story together, and I didn’t want to write a book two that felt like it was just “biding time” until book three, so to create a really impactful and satisfying story while also paving the way for the third book took a lot of work. But I’m really happy with how it turned out!

I was also writing Of Sea and Smoke through a really intense season of creative burnout, which had nothing to do with the book itself, and everything to do with where I was personally, so that made sitting down to write every day such a challenge. It was a trial to show up with courage and trust in the Lord and ask for help and support when I needed it, and because of that, I’m beyond grateful to get to hold this book in my hands now.

Where there any parts of Of Sea and Smoke or your other books that came as a complete surprise? 

Interestingly enough, both Of Sea and Smoke and the second book in my other series, The Songkeeper Chronicles, ended in a different place than I originally thought, and a portion of the story that I had planned for book two wound up being moved to book three instead. At this point, it’s so hard for me to imagine Of Sea and Smoke ending in any other way than it did, and I truly believe that the way the ending came together was exactly how it needed to be, but it was a surprise for me during the drafting process! The best sort of surprise, I think. 

What is your favorite aspect of the Fireborn Epics?

Oh, my gosh, everything? I love the magical warhorses, the stone-eye tigers, the very different cultures of Soldonia and the Que tribes, the wild Mah jungle, and the intensity of the action, and all of the characters. I would happily keep writing books in this world forever, so working on the final book in this series now is both so exciting and so heartbreaking at the same time, because I just don’t want to leave it behind!

If the main characters of your current story all decided to turn evil on you, what would you do?

I would probably cry. I’m not typically a crier, but the idea of these characters I love turning evilwould be positively heartbreaking! Also an evil Ceridwen would be absolutely terrifying. So we would all probably just have to run for our lives if that happened. 

If a Riveren and Seablood somehow got into a fight, who would win?

That’s a great question! It honestly depends on whether they’re closer to a freshwater source or a saltwater source, because their abilities are going to give them different advantages in those different settings. Personally, I think a seablood might win? Just because they tend to be a little bit wilder and fiercer (and more mischievous) than riveren, who tend to be a little more docile and dependable. But I could be wrong!

---