Hi angels, it is Olivia Pontton and welcome to Booked and Busy
This is my podcast for the girlies that love to read
I'm implementing a new dynamic today which is having authors on and this has genuinely been a dream of mine since I came up with the idea of Booked and Busy and I'm honestly shocked that so many authors are so receptive to coming on
So today we are having my first author on and her name is Alex Aster
You may know her from two of her very popular book and series
This is the Light Lark series by Alex Aster and this is Summer in the City by her
Both of these books are completely different and I'm really excited to deep dive both of them on the episode today. [Music] Alex Aster, welcome to Booked and Busy. >> Thank you
I'm so excited
I was so honored to be here, >> too
You're my first author, so I'm really excited to deep dive your books together
Thank you so much. >> I do a beverage of the episode
It's a thought that counts in this situation because we got a lavender latte to kind of showcase like the night aisle a little bit >> and it was supposed to be purple and coffee and then it showed up and it's not purple and coffee. >> I feel like that is almost so night shade because grim can turn invisible so it's probably just invisible. >> Yeah
And you know, we're just going to go with that
Honestly, obviously you're on TikTok
You understand? You're for the book talk girlies
How did you react to other people's I guess just thoughts about lightark when it was first kind of coming about? >> It was just a surprise that the world was moving that direction that everyone was suddenly on their phones that much and everyone was suddenly turning to this app that really people hadn't heard of and then all of a sudden it was the biggest app
And so I think it was just shocking in general and it was amazing to find a community on there that loved to read as much as I do because I I know that you love to read too and maybe you feel this way
For a lot of my life, I was the only person I knew who loved to read like young adult books
Like no one else in my English major was reading YA
No one else so much
I sometimes even in a conversation I was having last night at dinner like kind of people make me feel bad for it
Like wait, why do I why am I >> so obsessed with like fantasy and romance? And so I just didn't know anyone else who loved that
So to see just my entire for you page full of people saying, "Oh, you loved this book
Tried this one." and so passionately speaking about books
I had honestly just never seen that because it's not like there's TV shows about people recommending books
So, it was amazing
And so, just for book talk to exist made me so happy
And you just feel like that connection
Someone is handing you a recommendation saying, "I think that you would love this." And you read it and you're like, "I do love this." And you go back for more
And so, that was really cool
Then to have people talking about my books was so surreal because just like I had been reading for a really long time, I'd also been writing since I was a kid, like since I was 12 years old
And writing is so isolating
You're writing for yourself for a really long time
I wrote many books that no one beyond the agents I queried will ever read
And then to see people actually care about my writing was really surprising
And it felt the same way
Just you're alone writing this book in front of a blank page and it is very isolating
You're the only one who's feeling all of these feelings
And then to have someone say, "I felt this too or this moved me." It just feels like you're reaching a hand into the void and a bunch of hands are reaching back
And so it just makes life feel so much less lonely
And so it was really a gift but also a surprise
No author goes into this thinking that they're going to be on social media
And so I didn't know when I was 12 years old, 16, 18, 22 quering agents that this would be part of my job
But it is such a rewarding part if only to be able to actually connect with the readers that connect with your work
Which that's what I think social media that's my favorite part of social media is that I've been able to connect with authors like growing up reading
I didn't think about authors because that just you didn't you didn't see their faces
You didn't understand them as human beings
And I think you do a really good job at showcasing your personality on social media
And that's how I feel like similar to me and what I do
Like people feel like they know me and they can relate to me
And you know I'm reading Lightark and I know you and I'm like wait I can see her saying yes
No, I think it's really cool and I I I take it as such a compliment when people say like, "I can see you in your work because it really is when you're writing, you're sharing little pieces of your soul and you're just kind of printing it out for people to read and examine and it doesn't belong to you anymore." And so I think it's just the ultimate connection
The same way you would tell someone, you know, can you listen to the song I thought about you? Um, and it feels so personal
That's how it feels whenever I'm giving a reader a book
It's like I this was something that was in my head and that really took a lot out of me for years. here you go
I hope you like it." And it just feels like you're handing someone a little piece of your soul and then it's theirs
And so I think that that's really magical, but it's it's cool to hear you say that, too, because I don't know what your response to this is
I feel like we put so much of our life online and sometimes it feels like, oh, well, this isn't really me
Like you don't know me as a whole person, but then I see your content like I know what I content I share
It is me
And so you are allowing people into your heart, your soul, but how do you kind of gauge that of, you know, sharing all of yourself versus just pieces of yourself? >> I was literally just talking about this on a panel at Harvard because >> I saw it
Congratulations. >> I saw that was a question that a lot of people were asking me
Truly, I feel like it's finding a balance
I hope that you have developed those balances in your life and having the boundaries of like, okay, I'm going to share this part of my life, but these three or four things in my life, these are for me
I'm going to keep you and I'm going to share with anyone else in my immediate life
And I guess that kind of goes into my second question for you. >> You're coming out with four books in one year
Every interview I watch of you, I'm just like, does this girl sleep? Like genuinely, >> no. >> That's the answer
No, I don't sleep
And I mean, I wish that was a joke
I understood what I was signing up for
And I knew, okay, the next two years of my life, I'm not going to sleep
I'm going to work seven days a week. are not going to have a break because there is no way to speed up the fact that you have to sit in front of a blank page and you have to fill a page over and over and over every single day
And can you like I'm I'm so interested as a person like how that is something I think about when I'm reading books all the time
I'm like a a person just does this like on a random Tuesday and you know it takes you whether it's 6 months or a year and that's what I'm curious about is how long does it take for you to like crown tide. >> Yeah. >> How long did that take for you to write? So the light arc books are different because it's a series and it's a series that has come out every single year and that used to be quick
I know nowadays people are used to people releasing books every 3 months or six months
A year used to be so quick for Lightark
I started writing that book actually and I don't know if I've ever shared this
I started writing it when I was still in college
So I was 21 and that was a very early version of Lightark
The characters are still the same
The the title is still the same but the story is very different
I I probably still have that manuscript somewhere
And I wrote that book and then I queried it and no one wanted it
So then I wrote another book and that became my first published book
And then I went back to it and I just kept rewriting it for 2 years and then finally I rewrote it for the final time and that took six months
So that draft took six months to rewrite it. >> Like a process like three years maybe a little bit more probably because lightark in its final version came out when I was 26 and so I started writing it when I was 21
So about 5 years from the beginning, but it's not 5 years of every single day I was reading it
So that first draft of the lightark that people can read now
It it took me 6 months and then I edited it for 3 months and then I signed with an agent and we together did edits for a few more months and then you sell it to a publisher and then you edit it for you know six months
And so that was the longest period of time I wrote a book in that series because the second it's out that's your date
And so actually Nightbane was delayed
Light came out in August of 2022 and Nightbe was supposed to come out in August, but it came out in November
And so that's kind of like a look behind the curtain is I just needed more time
I wasn't used to anyone wanting to read what I had to write, but also I wasn't used to that publishing schedule of the fact that you're really supposed to have the book done before Light even comes out
And that's what's like, >> yeah, insane to me about doing a series book is similarly with social media. and a bad thing
The bad thing is that you're right, you don't know what people are connecting with
You don't even know if they like it
So, you're putting a big risk of actually writing the whole series before the first one comes out
The bad part about waiting is it's out there and now you know what everyone thinks about it and it's really hard for that not to influence your book. >> I'm curious, you know, obviously when Lightark came out, >> you're getting all these opinions thrown at you
Did you change Nightbane at all based on comments that people were telling you? >> So the thing that ch really impacted me for Nightbane was it was the first time that anyone was reading my work and not only just reading it, it sold more copies than I could have ever expected
And so when you go from, you know, having books that no one really reads or having many years of agents telling you like you're not going to sell any books, it's really jarring in an amazing way, but also kind of paralyzes you because you're like, "Oh my gosh, I don't know how to keep doing this with an audience." And so I was for a very long time I just couldn't start
I couldn't write
So like I had a lot of Nightbane written before Lightler came out, but it was actually parts that ended up becoming the Grimoro book like from his perspective
So, I had a lot written, but I knew that I had to rewrite it and I just couldn't start
It really felt like I just had a block
It was also interesting, and I'm sure you know this with social media
That is another job
I'm the only one who records the videos, thinks of the videos, edits the videos
No one has ever helped me with that
And so, that at some point, you know, it's a full job
And so, me promoting the series, like keeping it um selling was another hurdle
And so it was a lot easier for me to sink into that part of my job because at least for me like it's quicker and you get immediate satisfaction, right? Or at least results right away, right? Like if it's going to do well, if it doesn't like the videos at least, you know
Um and so it was really hard and honestly I didn't have like the breaking point moment until I met my first reader after the light tour
Like they had read light and they had like connected with it and they told me like this book really got me through a hard time in my life
And at that moment I was like okay that's it. like that's I'm only going to think about this one person not you know a bunch of people who are waiting for the book there just this one person who I had a very human connection with and it unlocked something and so Nightbane was 6 months of I did not have a life and it like swallowed my whole life but in a in a good way but I just couldn't stop writing and that I think is the purest way for me to write is it felt just like when I was 12 years old and I was just writing and writing and writing and not for a result but just because I couldn't stop and so that nightbane experience is something that I've tried to replicate and you can't control it, right? But that is my favorite book in the series until Crown Tide
Um because it just came from me writing exactly what I wanted to read
Like I didn't listen to the opinion
So I didn't listen to what people wanted
And Nightbane is a very different book than Lightark
And I think that's probably people's favorite book in the series is Nightbane
So yeah, the only thing I changed was I did not write for a period of time
And I added more of Cleo because people really liked Cleo and I was like, why would you like her? I I feel that when I was reading Light Lark, I hate Cleo
Like she I every part of it I was like she just seems like the evil like godmother that kind of aesthetd her
So just that that's the only thing it's impacted
But I have known the end of the series since before I started writing light
So that has never changed. >> Do you have a wall that you write this all on or is this all in your brain? So, just like L and Summer in the City, I make a plot what I call a plot monster. >> I want to ask you about that because we were talking about how you didn't write for a while and then all of a sudden it started flowing
I was like, that sounds like a character that you were talking about actually. >> Yeah
No, everything about El's writing process is my writing process
I think for me the hardest part is starting to write, but once I really sink my teeth into a project, I can't stop
I mean, this year and the last year, I haven't had that issue because I have no break
So that it's almost the good part about it is I do not have that part for me to get too comfortable in just doing promotion >> and then it being really hard
I have not stopped
So the second I turn in a project the same day I'm working on the other one
Yeah. >> Okay
Well, this has all been book related stuff
I want to know what is something that fans or readers would be shocked to know about you in your day-to-day life? I think that they would be shocked to know that I am pretty shy and maybe that would lead really I mean I I'm shy because I spend 99% of my time alone
I'm just me in the page and it's it's literally just me talking to myself like laughing at my computer like you know that is most of my life and so I'm really shy and it takes a lot out of me to like meet readers like in a good way
Um, but I could not do that
Like I don't know how you you meet people every day
Like I could not do that
I could not
Um, also something maybe hopefully shocking is that I wear sweatpants every single day
I never do my hair
Like I don't wear makeup every day, but people see me when I do have my makeup on and my hair done
So like I get a lot of like my Q&A like, "Oh, how is your hair?" I'm like, "My hair never looks like this." But do ask me on a Tuesday
Like you will not care about my hair routine. you'll be like, "How do I get my hair not to look like that?" You mostly see the glamorous part about this job
And I'm sure like you you feel the same
You don't see the behind the scenes many hours that it takes like 6 hours to edit one video that might not even do well, right? Like that's people don't see that
They don't see um that part
And so I think that maybe hopefully that's surprising that I don't always have good hair, >> I guess. >> Right
You know what? Amazing
Yeah
Response
I want to know where's like your I guess most common place that you write at
Is it in your apartment? Is it at a cafe? Where's like ideal situation? >> Question
So I wrote lightark in um my old apartment and it was a one-bedroom
It was not a quiet space
Like there was someone in my space who was talking the entire time on a call and so I had to get very comfortable listening to music
It was like no windows like very dark and I wrote lilac that way and I wrote it on an iPad which I don't like
Are you wait >> I know I told >> Wait this p this book is like 400 something pages. >> I told someone that recently
I mean it looks like a it has a keyboard
It's not like I'm writing on my phone
Like I only recently and I haven't set it up yet
Got a desktop
I still have like a MacBook Air
Like I don't know why I would do that to myself and I write that way
And so I that's how I write now
I have an office in my apartment which is very good for my productivity because I close the door but I write like in a desk that still has plastic on it because I never changed it for my move like it's very >> it's not right like it's it's very kind of elf for some reason I never unpacked um and so but having that space where I could close the door and I I write in front of a window which probably is not good for my skin but like really good for my like creativity to just see outside um that has been very helpful because I can close the door and I know for hours I'm just sitting there
I used to um write at coffee shops, but then I got paranoid that not that anyone cares, but that someone could just like take my laptop and have the lightark book
And I'm pretty sure I get sued for not being careful, so I don't do that anymore. >> You need um a boyfriend like going to buy you the cafe. >> Just buy me the coffee shop
Yeah. >> When that book I was like, this is so unrealistic, but the way that I'm like I kind of like >> I know
And it it's modeled after a real coffee shop
Um yeah, it's Yeah
Is the name the real name in >> Oh, no
No
It's um it's I mean I guess everyone will know now, but it's um Devotion or like Devosion
It's um they have two locations
They're both near Madison Square Park and it is my favorite coffee shop
It >> has the scone of >> They don't Okay, so that's not from there
That is from like a little bakery that I found like a few years ago and I just like the scone
But they don't have scones
They have really good croissants though
That's so perfect
Like that this book is like you
Like that's so great
Like hearing you talk about this
I'm like this is you as a real person pouring in like different parts of your life being like this and then it's it's it's like your child basically. >> Real um nuggets of reality mixed with like the most bizarre things that don't exist, right? But I think that that's nice because you want something escapist and glamorous and that's what romcoms were. >> So now we're going to transfer over to you as an author, which I feel like we've been talking about
Sorry, but my first question obviously my first book that I read by you was Summer in the City and then I went into Lightark
They are so different, >> but they both still have sections of you and parts of you
Where were you at in your lives when you were writing I guess I now know Light, but Summer in the City and how do you get into the different mindset for each of the books? >> That's a really good question
So, I started writing Summer in the City in 2021, so before Light even came out
And I've always jumped around genres because I always just write what I read and I read widely
Like I've always, you know, jumped between different age groups, um, genres
And so whenever I start writing a book, I just go to that genre and I I read like five books in that genre just to get myself back
Are >> you a fast reader? >> No, I'm the slowest reader
I'm actually really slow
Yeah, I it takes me days to finish
I >> audio book person. >> No, I I like podcasts, not audiobooks
So, I'm very slow because I think I can't visualize things in my head when I read
So, I don't know if that slows me down, but I really like I'll be reading a sentence multiple times to really get it to sink in
Um, which is awful
Like, I don't know why I picked this career
It's I'm the slowest reader, but I'll go and just um I don't know, entrench myself in that world
The voice that is different and so I'll just go to kind of like have a different sense because fantasy and romcom is so different. um when I'm writing a fantasy in the middle of it though, I won't read that genre
I'll read something totally different and so it's almost a good transitional point
Um but I started writing that because I was reading a lot of romcoms like I was reading a lot of Ali Hazelwood, Emily Henry, but I just write what I like to read, which it wasn't really a thing for writers to be able to jump around genres
I think book talk honestly helped that, but that just didn't exist before
Like publishers would tell you, oh, you have to like write for 10 years in one genre before um switching
And so I think all of these other authors being able to do that really made it possible for me to do it
Um, and so in terms of the writing style, this was my first book in first person
And so it was a lot easier for me to kind of treat it like a stream of consciousness
Just kind of, you know, airing out all my grievances in like the most ridiculous kind of turned up way
Um, so it's like my personality but ridiculous, right? So it's kind of just fun >> and it was a very different experience for writing light because lightark is in third person
It feels like I have a little bit of >> I have just started tiptoeing into books that were written by third person
That's why I have a lot of personal questions with lightark because I was like what is she thinking? What what is he think? What what what's going on? >> Have some distance
And so it's so interesting because publishing moves so quickly now
But when I was writing lightark at 21, third person was the fantasy, you know, kind of recommended
Like first person was a little rare and now it's all first person
So Starside, my new book is in first person
Yeah
It just I got used to it
I was honestly a little nervous because Lightark is written so differently from Summer in the City
So, I knew people would read that and be like, "Oh, well, I either like this or this." I've been very pleasantly surprised that readers have told me when they're like, "I like both." And I think that's amazing cuz people are just reading very widely
It's not like they only read one thing and it's jarring to move. >> Yeah
And I want to praise your like world building. your world building while it being so fast-paced, especially the last like whatever it is chapters at the end
How did you maintain such a fast-paced plot twist while still keeping it very descriptive because when I was listening and reading at the same time, cuz that's what I do, I had like a perfect vision of what was going on and I could see Aurora coming out and I was like, "What is going on?" >> Oh my gosh
Well, first of all, thank you
That's so nice of you to say
Um, I write a very bare bones draft
And so my drafts are always very short when I turn them in, like my first draft, and then they grow because I am very impatient when I'm writing
I need to get to the end
So that's I think the fast pace
Then I have to go back and edits and add all the description
So a lot of times my editor will be like, I don't even know what this person looks like because I didn't put any description, anything
And like I said before, I don't see images in my head when I read or when I write
And I didn't realize that people do until very after I was an author
And I was like, "Oh man, like I'm so jealous." Um, but I think because of that too, I try to make up for it by like I'll go on Pinterest, I'll look at images, I will like go for Summer in the City, I went to a lot of these places because I know >> I saw you talk about that and I was like obviously we follow her along and she's going to all these places
And then I met you and I was like, do you think she went to the do you think she went to these places? And now hearing you I'm like so >> because I know that that's something that I struggle with
Like I don't see it
I can't It's not like I'm seeing something and then I'm writing it
I have to actually see an image of Iceland, you know, the landscape of that was um inspired lightark or I have to go to Central Park and like smell everything and look and touch and really work more
And so I don't know, although I wish I could see images in my head, I think me really trying to compensate for it hopefully has made it more lush in my in my work. >> I think so
Thank you
Thank you
But I I do like a fast-paced book and so I'm very impatient
So I will cut I I will probably never write pages and pages of description because again I write what I want to read and I don't like that when I'm reading
I will just kind of skim it cuz I'm like I can't see it anyway so I don't care
I can't >> I love a fastpaced I need world building but I don't need I don't need too much
I need to be able to understand what's going on and like that's kind of it
So then my next question is, which I feel like you kind of just answered, but do you write from like the beginning of the book to the end of the book when you're doing these first drafts, or is it kind of like you're popping around to the different chapters? Oh, you come up with this idea as kind of time is going on. >> Yeah
So, every book is definitely different
Like writing Starside was a very new experience from other books
But in general, I start with one scene that I'm really excited about
And so for Nightbane, that was a scene that people really like
It was also one of my favorite scenes and it was between Grim and Eelip because I usually have that one scene that I'm like, "Okay, how do I emotionally build to that?" Also, it's like, you know, happens to be one of the scenes I really want to write, which is good because I'm constantly just trying to get myself to the place where I fall into the book
And generally, that's around 10,000 words, 20,000 words
Everything before then truly sometimes feels like pulling teeth
But then you reach that point, you're like, I'm in
And you just fall into it and you I can't stop writing
So, I'm almost like trying to bribe myself of like here, write this scene
You really like this scene
Um, and then so bribing yourself
That's a great way of describing it, though. >> I feel like I I'm reading the book while I'm writing it
And so, I'm writing it for myself, too
Like, I want to know what happens
I want to read these scenes
And so, I'll either write out the scene just so I have it on the page or it'll be scenes in my head or like I wrote down scenes and then I have to do the plot monster
That's the only It feels impossible until I have the plot monster
So, I'll sit on my floor or like at my table with a bunch of sticky notes with a Sharpie and I'll just sit there and I'll be like, I'm not getting up until I have the whole story
And you think like, well, I have two scenes
How am I going to But weirdly, when I force myself to do that, you have one and then another
And once you have something, filling in the gaps is a lot easier once you have something
And physically, just seeing this the shape of the story really helps me
So, when I have the plot monster, it doesn't stay like that
Obviously, I make changes through edits, but I have to know the beginning, the middle, and then the twist and then the end
I have to know that cuz what are you building towards? And then I go to the beginning and I start and then I have my first draft
And that's when I'm really seeing, oh, this is who the character is
This is what I'm trying to say
And then I have to go back and fill in the blanks
I add a lot
I um subtract a lot
And I I have this like other word document where I'll put all of my like trash, like the scenes that I delete cuz I'm I never want to just delete it
It's hard to just delete, but I'm like, "Oh, I'm not deleting
I'm putting it somewhere else." I have never >> I weirdly do that with my work, too, cuz I'm like, "It might not be for this project that I'm working on, but it could work for a project in six months." >> You never want to like close the door, but I found, at least for me, I've never gone back, >> but it's like a safety net
I want to do questions that I while I was reading
My first one, where did like the idea of curses come from? You know, I'm like opening I always make sure I like open the first few pages of books because I'm like you never know what's like spicy and you know as I'm turning I like see this book and I'm like curses and powers and I'm like okay I'm going to like this is my jam
I'm like I'm so >> But was that something that when you were doing the sticky note process that you were like okay this needs to be in it or was that something that you like filled in later? >> So that was not in the original like the one that I was telling you about when I was 21. there weren't curses
But when I was doing the latest draft, like a few years before it was published, it was from the beginning
Um, and it was actually something that I had to sit and be like, "Okay, I have to figure out these curses because obviously they play a huge role in the story." And in developing them, I really wanted to treat every realm like its own culture, right? Like, and I wanted to make the curse the worst possible thing for that culture
Like, just the worst thing
So, I was like, "These are pretty I I know I'm pretty upset if this is happening." Well, some aren't like mats the same as others
And it's true
Some are a lot worse than others
Um, but I really tried to like for example skylings like they fly like that is their their whole culture is in the sky
All their buildings were in the sky and then they can't fly anymore
It doesn't seem as intense as everyone dying after 25
But for them, it's like that's that's their whole life
But um yeah, I I really just wanted to make it the worst possible thing for them because you as a writer, you're always trying to throw obstacles in the character's way and say like, "Okay, good luck." >> Little little spice
My next question is for the plot
It was It really just had me on like I was reading and I just was like "What?" >> thing after thing after thing for Celeste with Aurora
That was just like total left field for me
I was not expecting that at all
I thought Celeste was like the one person in her life that like wasn't lying to her and like was very faithful and was just like a best friend
I guess similar to my last question, when you had Aurora come into play, was that decided before or was that kind of like thrown into the mix? So, I knew all the plot twists before and I it was hard to write the scenes with them together and I I always thought about this like the biggest betrayal in this book for me is the friendship betrayal
It's not the love betrayal and that's a I was feeling I was like, "Oh my god." >> Yeah
And so I think like I really wanted I needed to know that from the beginning because I really needed to make the friendship a really big part of the story
And so the friendship betrayal is almost as bad as the romantic. >> I guess that also goes into my other big question is with Grim. >> Yeah. >> Why did he take >> Why did he take her memories away? Why? Why? I guess just why you were in love this whole time and she didn't know
Like I feel so bad for her
I'm like, so what made you add that plot twist in? >> Yeah
So, in this series, Grimm is the villain
Like, whether he ends up with her or not, like he is the villain and obviously he has his own arc and growth, but at this point, he's the villain
And for me, the villain >> does things um that they think that the ends always justify the means
And so, he doesn't really care how he gets there
Like, he he wants them to be together
And it is explained later why he does this, but he's doing it for her ultimately
But he doesn't really consider the fact that the way he does it, even if it's for their love, >> it really matters
And so that's something he learns through the series
I was like, why would you do that, man? I know
I Yeah
Listen, people ask me like if I'm team Grim or team Oro
And >> that was literally Okay
Well, at the end of Light, I'm team Oro like everyone else
At the end of Nightbane, I'm team Grim
And I won't say like what team I am after
You'll have to see
And I think you'll know
All of the characters in the series need to grow, not just Isla
And like Grimm made a huge mistake and he does end up regretting it
But he's the villain
The villain will burn the entire world down just for them to be together
And this whole >> but I think like that is the villain
They don't really care how they get there just that they do and they don't think that you know the collateral is they don't realize that and >> they're not processing. >> Yeah
He in any book that has that the hero if he didn't
So if you not to spoil it for you, but I mean Nightbane, you see their memories
You go between past and present
You see everything
So I think that's why people like Nightbane is it's almost like a prequel and a sequel at the same time because it goes back and forth
And so that's how people I think really get into the love triangle is because they're team Oro when they start and then they're like, "Oh shoot, now I'm seeing everything how she fell in love with Grim, the entire love story." >> I'm curious about I will be reading this
So now I want to go on questions specifically about crown tie
Are there any new characters or themes that are in this book that have not been in the other what four? >> Yeah, cuz um lightark nightbane sky shade and then the Grimoro book which is um a book from their perspective
You see their love story with Isa from their perspective. >> Yeah
I mean you Nightbane is that story but not from Grim's point of view
You get more scenes
So you could you could read the Grim Nora book after Nightbane
I mean, don't read it before cuz it'll like tell you everything that happens
Um, but okay, for Crown Tide, there is a huge new character that you have not met that has been mentioned since book one
He is we know who >> I feel like it would ruin it
So, maybe not
Maybe not. >> It is the villain of this book is someone who you you heard about in book one
And >> wait, I'm going to go
Yeah
Yeah
It was a huge huge uh part of the the future of the series, like especially Crown Tide
But it's more about seeing characters that you saw before a little bit really deepening them and Gmanoro spent a lot of the crown tied together but like fist fighting like >> as friends >> I mean they they were friends and you see that in Gmanoro book like you see from their perspective that they were once friends and then they and you it's mentioned in lightark so you see their friendship and then they become enemies and they have to work together now
Um, and then I've said this, there is the biggest plot twist of the entire series right in the middle of Crown Tide
And I think >> this is like torture
I'm like, I need to read. >> You have to read all of them
And I especially reading them one after the other
You have to message me after you read Kronite because it is the biggest twist and no one has guessed it yet
Is the biggest twist of the entire series
Only the publishing team has read it
It's wrote a no from a reader
Especially because you're reading it right now
Yeah
I guess kind of similar to my questions earlier
Obviously, there's been what four years in between, right? >> Yeah. >> How has your writing process changed from writing this book to now doing Crown Tide? Has there been any like huge shifts? >> The biggest shift is now I start working really early and so I used to just start writing at a normal time, but now I'll start like 6:00 a.m
It's all >> Wait, >> I know
You would think you wake up and do this. >> Yes
You would think that it's like the the perk of being an author is you could just kind of work whatever you want
It used to be like that, but now with all these projects, I like seven days a week, I get up at 5:30 and I start working at 6:00 and I was never a morning person
I'm not a morning person, but I actually really like that now because and and I'm sure you can relate to this
By the time I wake up, I have so many emails
I have so many expectations
I have to be posting on social media
People are asking me for this and this and it's that time in the morning when no one is emailing me
And I can just wake up, put my phone in another room, and just completely be focused on my book. like 6:00 a.m. to noon is my golden time to write because I find that place where it's just me and the page
Nothing else, no distractions
The second I grab my phone and see that first email, I'm now totally different mindset
I can't focus and I really treasure that time because I I feel the joy of writing again because I have that quiet and that space where I'm not thinking about, you know, the fact that millions of people have read these books
I'm not thinking about that
I'm thinking about me and wanting to write something that I want to read
Has there been any specific inspiration for this book that have come specifically from your life with the characters? I think >> Yeah, I think the the biggest one for lightark is like Wraith, which is like the little dragon that you meet in Nightbane
Um that dragon Yeah
Yeah
There's a little a baby dragon that becomes a big dragon. >> Keeps getting better. >> Yeah
And so um that has been from like a pet, right? So like that's the only creature because everything else is just so like I don't know two like 500year-old you know like a villain to like kill everyone in a room just for her like do not know that person
Um but yeah so I think it's more about general themes of like growth and you know just like having these eras of your life that is more of an inspiration for summer in the city that was more inspired by the city and me living there and my process as a writer. >> Is he inspired by anyone? Oh my gosh. you just like >> No, I mean I He was inspired by like Parker is like a billionaire who works in New York City
He was inspired by the fact I kept seeing all of these like articles and like news things about these really young guys who were suddenly worth billions of dollars
But I just had this question of like how can you possibly date and not think that someone immediately is after your money? And obviously there are like women who are billionaires, but I think that like men are covered in a very different way. like it's like oh eligible like he's called the billionaire bachelor and like his money is the focus and he's like you know praised for it
Um and so I just thought that that was really interesting and I thought like what would that do to someone's relationships? Like would they be untrusting? Would they not you know I think it's the it's the only scenario I've seen where men are kind of like held to the same standard as a woman
Like they're like you know objectified for their money, right? Like so I I just thought that >> but it's not for their bodies
It's for their >> it's for their body
That was what inspired me was just like how would someone like that actually fall in love and what if you he fell in love with someone who actually hates that he has money like what would >> he hates the attention like the things that most people are probably >> hate yeah and so I I think that that I read a lot of books that were amazing books but that really treats that as a good thing but I was like well as someone who has a career that would actually not be great because you know that would be like someone would you know pin all your accomplishments on someone else has nothing to do with it and I loved that aspect of the book where she was accomplishing the most incredible things in her career and you know then there was like the article that he was talking about it was it was him and I was like >> give a girl a break and so I kind of wanted to explore that of like sometimes you actually would not want that for a lot of reasons but I also wanted to explore from her perspective as like you know like women have amazing jobs right and like I know a lot of women who their entire life is their career how would you also go into a relationship like that knowing you have a lot to offer and you actually don't want to be with someone like that
So, that was the inspiration there
But no, I think it would be so much easier if I did actually take inspiration from real people because anyone can write like a conversation
Like if you were thinking about your best friends, you could write a dialogue
You would know exactly what your best friend would say to something
So, I think it would make my life easier, but I've never done that
Maybe in the future I will. >> That's a wrap up on like the serious kind of questions
I loved every single part of that
Now we're going to do like the fun kind of like this or that
Enemies to lovers
Friends to lovers. >> Enemies to lovers
I'm friends to lovers. >> Really in real life or in fiction or both
You don't know if they're good. >> I used to hate enemies to lovers
So honestly when I first started reading I was like I don't get this
Like how do they hate each other? Like stop making them hate each other so much
But I think as I've started reading more I just read The Deal by L
Kennedy and their dynamic is very much like they hate each other and then they're forced to date like forced proximity and then they end up actually falling in love with each other
I think there's been a few books that have slowly kind of turned me into >> a new I like it in fantasy because it's like you have a big reason not to be together
In contemporary it's a little hard to find that reason
You're like, "Okay, wait
You just work for like rival companies
Like you that much like but in I do like the tension." Like I like when you don't, you know, they want to like, you know, be together, but they're acting like they don't. >> Plot twist or cliffhers? >> Plot twist. >> You are a plot twist
I'm a cliffhanger
Really? Wait. >> I mean, listen, these >> You're a plot twist
Maybe not. >> Really? >> I mean, maybe
Yes
I don't know if that made any sense, but >> I mean, the all the light books end in cliffhanger, so you're lucky like all of them are out. >> This one happened. gave you Crown Tide, so you don't have to wait yet. >> So, we're going to do Oralo Grim. >> Oh gosh. >> Currently before Crown Tide. >> Oh, that's a good question
Okay
Before Crown Tide, Grim
And you'll have to see if that changes in Crown Tide. >> I'm going to get a lot of messages about that, but it's okay
I'm ready for it
Hard cover or paperback? >> Uh, paperback for reading and traveling
Hard cover for my shelf. >> Okay
I I actually really relate to that. anidoting like on your paper or clean like not writing anything. >> I I don't really care about like the how it looks
I just care I'm already a slow reader so like just slows me down way too much
Like when I was in my English major I would do it
Um but yeah, I mean I just try to just read it
I do this really weird thing and I would actually be very curious if anyone else does this if this is something that only I do
I'll like make little rips on >> Exactly
No, I do that too because when I want to remember something and look back at it, we I've actually never met someone that's done that >> because I feel bad
I'm like I'm fully ripping this >> too, but I'm also like okay, this is my book
I'm not like going to throw it away
It's going to live on my Is there a difference between >> I don't think I have any of them on here
I've done it quite often because it's like somewhere where I want to like go back
Oh, that's I honestly don't know if any of these. >> I mean, at the end of the day, I don't think I've ever gone back to my little rips, >> but I like when I'm reading, I'm like, "Oh, I'm going to want to remember this at some point in time." >> And I always think it's magical when I do a little rip and I flip the page
And I also wanted to rip that part on another
It's like, oh my gosh
Wow
I can't believe you do that, too
Long chapters or short chapters? I think I know this answer. >> Short. >> Yeah, >> cuz the light chapters, some of them I'm like, wait, this was three pages long. >> I mean, okay
I for Starside I actually went through and would I would count the pages and be like we have to do it because I think psychologically it feels good and like rewarding like you're you're going through and I want people to be like oh my gosh and then flip the page so it means I think about it. >> Yeah, I agree
I would Yeah, I I would say short chapters as well
Owning a star stick >> or getting the $50 million necklace. >> Oh my gosh
Can you >> This me I was like I don't know. >> I don't know. >> Okay, I say star stick
That's so cool. >> Honestly, me too because I travel a lot
I'm sure as you do
And I don't even though I'm better at airports, I'm not I don't love them
And so if I was able to just be on my couch and then suddenly like make the little portal and be like in LA
I would love that
I would
Yeah, it would be the best thing for touring. >> Okay, now I think we're going to go into the would you rather kind of section
Would you rather write a book in 30 days or edit a book for 6 months? >> Oh my gosh
I mean, if I could write a book in 30 days, that would be amazing
Do you think that's actually like possible? >> I think you can write a first draft in 30 days in at least for me, I could write a really bad first draft, but it would be something to edit
Um, I mean, I do like a long editing period for Starside
Like, it was very, very long because I kept taking breaks
So, like I wrote the book and then I wrote Crown Tide after I wrote Starside >> and you just seamlessly went >> and then Yeah
And so, you were asking before about inspiration
My books inspired themselves because like each other
So, Summer in the City I wrote while I was writing Sky Shade
So, you might if when you're reading Sky Shade, you might weirdly see similarities and when writing Starside before Crown Tide really bled into it a little bit
Um, and so yeah, if I could write a book in 30 days, that would be great
But maybe I would choose 6 months for editing cuz I like as much time as I can as possible. >> Would you rather live in Moon Isle or >> Frog Isle? Maybe Moon Isle
I really like water powers
Like I I loved Avatar the Last Airbender like as a kid
Like >> I did not expect that
I'm like wild out every single day. >> I think that would be if I had the powers and I could make flowers everywhere
Great
If I'm like going to get eaten by a giant animal, probably not. >> Maybe not. >> Not that great. >> Would you rather meet your favorite fictional character or yourself as a young writer? >> Okay, that's really cute
I Okay, I probably would meet myself because I just was so stressed and like also just so full of dreams
And if I could just tell her like it will all be okay
Like all the rejections, don't cry in your room every day after you got a query or after you send a query and get a no because you're 12 and you should be getting nos
Just just >> be crazy if you were getting yeses at 12. >> You I was not getting yeses at 12
So, I think just telling her like keep going and and it'll take way longer than you think, but that doesn't mean that it won't happen
Um, but yeah, like buckle up
It it'll take it'll take um I guess like 15 years for you to have a successful book
Um but it'll it'll be >> it'll happen
So, now we're going to do some rapid fire
We have favorite book you've ever written. >> Starside. >> Really? Yeah. >> Over everything
Over Crown Tide. >> Crown Tide would be my favorite
It it's my favorite of the lightark series, but Star Side just >> I I didn't have to hold back
It's an adult book, so like it just is my favorite thing I've ever written
Crown Tide is also one of my favorites, but it's like almost neck to neck, but Starside wins. >> Character from I guess any of your books that you'd get coffee with? >> Oh, L
Because she loves coffee as much as I do, and I'd be like, "Hey, what's coffee?" We'd go to the table. >> Character that you were writing that gave you the most stress? Oh, Grimm Grimm gives me so much stress because I know everything he says like everyone's going to, you know, like and yeah, I'm like he he's a stressful character. >> He is
Even when I was reading, I just was like, what is going on? >> He's so chaotic and dramatic
Like, oh my god, >> drama queen
They say we are drama queen%
He's giving deep is the drama
Yeah. >> So, now we'll do a trope that you'll never get tired of writing. >> Enemies to lovers
I just think >> you love an enemies to lovers
Specifically fantasy. >> Yes
So, Starside has enemies to lovers
They say that Starside is like Nightbane on like steroids and he is like grim on steroids because they're they're really enemies trying to kill each other
Like >> we'll do one book that you wish you wrote. >> Okay
Um Pride and Prejudice cuz I I mean I obviously love the movies, but the book really reads like a contemporary book
She was so ahead of her time and just it reads exactly the way we speak nowadays in the same themes
And I think that that influence is huge in summer in the city like they have that horrible first meeting but also in all my works that and that's enemies to lovers
So I I wish >> so now we'll do one word for someone who may not be familiar with your work that would describe your writing style. >> Hopefully ethereal um >> that's a great because in one of my other questions I was writing about the etherealness of lightark and just kind of I feel like you write in a very whimsical way if that makes any sense
Thank you
That's really nice. >> And I feel like it's also a little bit girly
I don't I don't know
Like you have different parts of you that I feel like bleed into it and feel very you. >> Oh, thank you
That's so nice. >> Someone was like, "How is she really doing?" Because you're really busy
How are you actually mentally doing? >> Um >> overwhelmed
I I feel overwhelmed
Two days ago, I was crying in the back of my Uber cuz I was overwhelmed and I'm scared and everything is going on at once
So, I'm like, do you feel that on a daily basis or what do you do when that happens? I mean, I've tried to be really honest about this because I do think when people see like, oh, you're publishing like three, four books a year, you are going on like five book tours and and I think if you just say like, "Oh, yeah, it's great." Then people who are struggling feel worse
Um, and so it has been really hard
This has been the hardest year of my life
I have had multiple like burnout moments
I've had multiple times where I'm like on tour just like sobbing on the floor like in the shower
Like it this is my dream come true and I've wanted to do this since I was a little kid
And every single day I wake up so happy and so grateful and also just like mystified that I get to do this
So that's not really like I love my job and it's that love that is allows me to be able to write this much because at the end of the day like I can't force myself to write
It really has to come from a place of passion >> but the schedule gets grueling
So when I have a deadline that has to be turned around in a few days and I'm sleeping two hours a night that's not healthy and it's not sustainable
It's not healthy at all
So the the the thing is I've had these moments where like it really feels like I I can't even talk
I I like I can't feel my hands like I sign a lot that that starts to hurt my back like and so the fact that I'm doing it so much and every day has become a problem
And so there are moments where I'm not doing well but I have turned in most of my stuff and so once I get like a few more hours of sleep I'm fine
Like right now sitting here I'm really happy
I'm really excited
But it if you >> gotten you've gotten a little bit of sleep
Yes, definitely
So like I think you have to do this from a place of passion
That's the only thing that would get you back up after there are have been so many months of this year that it really feels like I go down for a deadline and I peak my head back up and five months have passed and a whole season has passed
Like I don't really have a lot of memories from this year because I've just been writing >> just in the apartment. >> Just there have been weeks where I don't even leave my apartment
So, it's not I'm not saying that to be like that's not aspirational, that's not healthy, and I don't wish that upon someone, but that is the only way to write this many books for me
Like I >> I don't know how else you would like genuinely. >> No, this isn't forever
Like, I I'm really grateful I get to do this now and I definitely cannot keep up this type of schedule, but this has been my year
So, thank you for whoever asked that
I'm fine right now and I'm lucky that I get to pull back when I want to, but I mean, I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it
And it's really hard
I love what I do and so it's hard for me to stop >> set those boundaries but I I get what you're saying like crying in the back of an Uber very real and rights way too. >> Yeah
And sometimes it just >> a lot it's all at once and people are asking you so many things at once and you're like oh my god >> a lot falls on you and I think a lot of people maybe don't know that like we do a lot of this stuff like making the videos like writing everything like editing like it's all sometimes on one person and so if you don't do it it doesn't get done and that is It's like that really bothers me when it doesn't get done
I'm like like I can feel it
This was supposed to be this was supposed to be posted today >> relying on you to do it
And so like other people's jobs rely on you turning it in
But at the end of the day, you're one person and like I cannot this is a boundary I've like I used to be like I would just not sleep and I would just keep going and I would turn it in on time
There are times this year where I'm like I am a person and there's no I can't even form a sentence right now
I need an extra day
I need two days because like I can't and and I would never say that before and I do now
But yeah, thank you. >> That's a good question
What is one genre that you haven't tiptoed into that you could see yourself tiptoeing into or that you would want to? >> Yeah
So, I love thrillers like Gone Girl
Like that genre, that's actually the genre that got me my first agent in that book
Really? Yeah
We submitted it to publishers
No one wanted it so it got shelved
But I love that genre and so one day I hope to write it. just write the most insanely >> Oh yeah, I love plot. >> Have you read any of like Freedom McFaten? >> I haven't
I know
I I know
I need to. >> Are you serious? >> No, I don't read. >> I feel like I wish I could, but I will
I will. >> Insane. >> I I have heard so many great things, scary author
Like I'm reading it
She's like one of the first authors that I have kind of tiptoed into that are like genuinely I'm reading the book and I'm like, >> maybe I'm not going to be able to sleep that well tonight
So, okay
Okay
Maybe I won't it when I'm like alone on a >> Okay, so talk to me about the movie
Obviously, this is going to be a very iconic movie
Uh the producers of Twilight
This is going to be incredible
So, what is anything that you can share or what is something that you're really excited that they're going to be able to bring to life? >> So, I was just in LA and I met with Universal
I met with like the producers of Twilight and all those movies that I've loved
It used to be, but now we've been working on it for a few years now and and truly they really really love the fact that the readers love this series and that they're so involved and they are the reason that this these books are successful
They the readers are the reason these books have sold millions of copies
So they are the ones who tell people word of mouth and tell people I love these books
Please try them
And so I'm just really grateful that they really care about what the readers think
And so I'm lucky enough that everyone involved has been so talented
So like I have read a script like part of a script and it's like everything that everyone has brought to this project is amazing and better than I could have ever done it
So, did the writers like read the book obviously and then kind of like digest >> it? And they've read um things that have not been released like things I've sent them everything
And the amazing part about this process is they really love the the source material and so they're doing it justice but also making it for a movie because a movie is obviously like has a length and so I just have been so so happily surprised with the entire process
I love every single part of it and Summer in the City is also being made into a movie by New Line or Warner Brothers
And they have also been amazing
And weirdly that has progressed very quickly like like Yes
And so I think that I'm going to have a lot to say about the light movie in the new year. >> Things are happening
The the thing that I really care about beyond obviously the normal stuff is eyes dresses
Like I really I love fashion. >> I'm not going to lie to you
The tailor scene in light
Like I just was like that's my dream
I want to go into a tailor and then them just whipped up some dresses for me. >> So I have told Universal I really care and they're like well you know like wicked like we had a great cause too and I'm like >> oh my god you say lasting I Universal has been the best partners
Everyone involved just loves the book and loves the world and loves the readers
And so they have really taken their time to make sure everything is the best possible version, which I'm happy with because there was an avenue where they could have just sped this up and made something that wasn't the best they could do
They're taking their time and I think I'm going to have something to share very soon
Um, and the casting stuff is really interesting because there are a few names that like I know of that I would just it would I think my readers would freak out
But I what's interesting is readers will tag me in their casting choices and I send that to the producers
No way. >> Yeah
Because they care and they should like nowadays really the readers are who are getting people into theaters
So I'm so excited
I'm so excited one day to go with all the readers to like a movie theater to see it and just just have this love of romantic, you know, have a place to go and celebrate that and team Oro and team Grim
So, lots of exciting stuff coming
I probably will have news to share
Very very >> so crazy
Well, I'm looking forward to it because um as someone who has read the book, I'm like give it to me on the screen after this. >> Well, everyone, Crown Tide, December 2nd
Miss Alex Aster, do you have anything else to say for this? >> Well, it is the biggest twist of the series
Now is the time to read all the books to um have five books already
Um so you you don't have to wait and every book starts exactly where the last one ended
So you really can read all like one giant books
Just put them together, read them all
Um you don't want to get spoiled for this twist
So I would read it as soon as it comes out
And Starside, my first adult romantic comes out in March
It's my favorite book I've ever written
We are only printing a hundred arcs
Are you serious? >> 100
And they're numbered
Like it's it's really special the way we're doing it
And I I will give you one if you want. >> Please
No, I'm serious
Please
Because that was one of my questions, but we didn't have time to get to it
I wanted to ask you about it. >> I give you one
Yeah
And it's my favorite book ever
Truly
Like if you love my books, if you love Lightark, it's just this turned up
And I cannot wait
I wish you could read it right now
Like I I can't wait. >> I'm so excited. >> This is amazing
Oh my god
Yes
To wrap up the episode today, I want to let you guys know what the next episode's book will be about
In honor of the movie coming to theaters, we are doing The Housemaid by Freedom McFaten
I can't wait to talk about it with you guys
I love you
Bye. [Music] [Music]
