I think it was the characters to be honest. They’re all complex and well-characterised, with compelling reasons behind what they do, so you care about them. And yet, it’s done in such a way that the plot doesn’t get bogged down with description.

Everybody thinks the best music came out during our teenage years. Truthfully, it’s just that we’re generally not looking in the right places for the good music now (ie. not the popular music), and we’ve conveniently erased the bad music from our memories. There was a lot of crap back then too.

I’d say a year is probably long enough. It’s enough time that unless I’m in an editing spell, I’m more than likely actively working on a different WIP by that point anyway.

The most recent one? Godkiller, by Hannah Kaner. I sat down, zoomed through it in a single sitting, then went to the bookshop the next day to order the next one.

I’ve been waiting for feedback from my first beta-readers, and in the meantime, doing a bit of editing on another piece and taking some time out to read.

I like the humour in that last paragraph 😆

Thank you! 😊

For the witches yes (with the exception of the hybrids, where you get some subtle early foreshadowing by their colours being “wrong” for the world they were born on).
There’s more variability in the supernaturals (like the merfolk scales), but colour still signifies when there’s something unusual.

I don’t think my characters themselves have a specific colour scheme. I play much more with colours as they relate to which world they’re on (Earth=green, Fae=blue), and what sort of magic people have.

Paper books for me. Because of how I write, reading ebooks feels too much like editing for me. However sometimes I get stuck on paper books, and an audiobook is the way to get “unstuck”.

I love this piece. Really cute and sweet, it almost feels like we’re intruding, but they only care for each other.

Then there are the supernatural (humans), and mystic (fae), who were given their powers by witches/wizards/mages. While witches etc. have wide-ranging abilities, supernaturals etc. have very specific ones (eg. Salamanders have powers over fire, but only fire), and often a price to pay for them.

Cassie carries as little as she possibly can. She got tossed into fae with only the clothes on her back (debatable, as those are shredded and charred), and gets well-used to having nothing. On return to Earth, it takes Ben to remind her she can actually have stuff again.

For drafting/editing I use Scrivener, with a template that was built for NaNoWriMo back in the day. Mostly because it’s easier for me to keep my plot notes etc. in sight as I jump around between Chapters.
When time comes to find beta-readers, I export to word/google docs as they prefer.

He’s a grumpy sod, and retiring on December 31st, so there is that.

The joys of being a writer, right? I swear characters take of a life of their own.
I had to re-jig the plot for book 1, and add a whole extra chapter because two minor characters decided somewhere in the first draft of book 2 that they’re VERY IMPORTANT now.

I write *mostly* chronologically, but do tend to have to go back and add/alter bits a) for sake of foreshadowing and b) because my characters decided to completely change the original plan.