Posts in Characters
Interview With an Underground Apothecary
Interview With an Underground Apothecary

I blink in the sunlight and glance around. I am standing in the middle of a town, surrounded by tall, brick buildings. The cobblestones beneath my feet remind me of my time in London, but I can tell that this isn't quite London. In fact, I'm fairly certain I'm not anywhere in OUR world. I swish my skirts about, glad that Lillian told me to dress the part. I would have looked very out of place in my normal jeans and t-shirt. The open market bustles with people in similar 1800s type garb. A lady standing at a booth catches my eye with her array of green, leafy herbs and bright red berries.

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Characters, InterFiction Gazette, Interviews and Blog ToursJenelle Schmidt Comment
An Echo of the Fae: Themes and a Sequel Sneak Peek
An Echo of the Fae: Themes and a Sequel Sneak Peek

When writing a book, knowing what themes you want to explore is generally a good idea.

But I almost never start with that. My writing is driven by a weird mixture of world-building, character, and plot. Plot usually comes last. The world and the characters come first… and which one comes first varies from story to story.

An Echo of the Fae was no exception to the rule. As I explained earlier this week, a lot of the story came together after I had figured out who the players were and what the world looked like.

For me, the themes usually stand out to me more after the story is written, and one of my jobs is to pull those themes out and polish them off in the editing stages.

Some of the themes in this story surprised me, but I am quite pleased with how they wove themselves through the plot.

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ideas, Technical Aspects, My Books, Personal, Fairy Tales, CharactersJenelle Schmidt Comments