Welcome to Adriana Marachlian, my critique partner (and partner in really ridiculously silly and LONG emails)! She’s helpful, hilarious, and full of really interesting stories, some of which I’m lucky enough to get to read that you all someday will also (on the shelf in your local bookstore, of course)!
And now, without further ado…
Guest Interview with Adriana
Describe yourself in four words.
Up to no good.
How did your writing adventure begin? (When did you know you wanted to be a writer?)
Well.
So it all began with lies. I was a huge liar when I was younger, which is maybe not the best thing to admit outright. I’m talking spinning up massive stories in my head—I had a digimon! I was a witch! I could see ghosts!—and making people believe them. (Lying, you see. My greatest talent.) I had to write the lies down to keep them all straight, and I guess I just went from there. At some point, the lies stopped being about me and stopped being lies at all. Then I had stories about my characters that could do everything I wanted. Like in the books I read! After that, I couldn’t stop.
What stage of your noveling adventure are you at right now?
In the What The Hell Am I Doing Please Help Me stage, where I write a little and then fret a lot. It’s a fun stage. So much fun.
I mean, I’m in the middle of editing a first draft (that’s exciting) and working on two new projects.
What book or writer has inspired you?
SO many. Just off the top of my head: Diana Wynne Jones had a huge, huge impact on me as a reader, and a lot of that same influence leaked into my writing. She is the absolute queen of whimsical fantasy. Susan Dennard is basically the reason I decided to push through all my writer-ly uncertainty and I cannot ever thank her enough. I wouldn’t be where I am without her advice. And Sarah Rees Brennan will always be one of my biggest inspirations; her books give me life.
What are you working on right now?
All the things! I’m working on editing my dark YA fantasy, Bleeding Black, about a witch cursed with the Luck of a cat. I’m drafting an Asian-inspired Gothic tentatively called Dead in the Mirror, and a Contemp tentatively titled Perfect Square.
As a side note, all of my titles are tentative. Everything is tentative.
What inspired you to write this book?
I have made a mistake. I should have chosen just one.
Well, Bleeding Black was really inspired by a mood. I was feeling like dark, contradictory things, and the story sort of bloomed from there. Dead in the Mirror came from a nightmare involving bathrooms and detached hands (all fun and games, in my world). Perfect Square has been “in progress” for so long and it has changed so much that it’s kind of hard to tell! But I wanted to write a story filled with wrong assumptions and it came from there.
What’s a quick, three-song playlist for your book?
I’M SO BAD AT THIS.
But, ok. For Bleeding Black:
1. Crushcrushcrush by Paramore
2. Fairy Dance from the Peter Pan (2003) Soundtrack
3. The Caster Theme from the Beautiful Creatures (2013) Soundtrack
Are you a Plotter or Pantser?
I’m a Planster. It kind of depends on the story—and, even then, it kind of depends on the scene. I’m known (to myself) for plotting intricate scenes down to the tiniest detail and then just throwing it all away in favor of something else.
What’s your favorite part of writing?
The ideas, for sure! I LOVE catching that small flicker of inspiration and pulling at it until it unravels, all plot and characters and awesome.
What’s one piece of advice you’d like to give to fellow adventurers?
Don’t stop. Even if you’re only writing 500 words a day—or 300 or 100 or just 1, do not dare stop. You won’t get anywhere unless you keep writing.
Adriana Marachlian is a 23 year old cat who loves to write (although the paws make it kind of difficult). She enjoys losing herself in worlds that only exist in her head, drinking coffee, and occasionally making people uncomfortable with her crazy. She does not enjoy writing bios or talking about herself in third person. By day, she’s a med student; by night… she’s basically the same thing. The writing gets squeezed in thanks to the wonders of time-traveling. She pours her cat-soul into stories about witches and ghosts and gorgeous boys, which are all true—just maybe not in this reality. You can follow her shenanigans on Twitter or tumblr.
