I've been following Fay's writing journey on Instagram for a good portion of the year, and when I decided to start doing Indie author interviews on the blog, I knew I had to see if she would be interested! Not only does her personality shine through her posts, she also shares the highs and lows of writing her first novel. Her energy is contagious, but she's also been nothing but kind, hilarious, and so welcoming in the bookstagram and writergram community. And not to mention, the world she created in Hidden Beneath the Embers already has me impatiently waiting on the sequel.
Let's dive in and get to know a little more about Fay and her debut novel, Hidden Beneath The Embers!
1. To start off, tell us a little about yourself. Outside of being an author, who is Fay?
Well, I am 29 years old and live in Florida. I’ve lived in many places including Germany for a couple years. My husband was military and it’s where we started our family. We now have four children, which I stay home with and homeschool. I absolutely love music, binging tv shows, drawing, writing, and reading!
2. What originally inspired your idea to write HBTE?
I have always wanted to write, but never thought I could. After getting on bookstagram, I got to see other amazing indie authors that inspired me to just write. It all started with just being something for me. And here we are! But major inspiration was a TV show called The Originals and the ACOTAR book series. I had two scenes in my mind for the book, and began plotting around them to create HBTE. I wanted to take a unique spin on the lore everyone knew and loved, and make it my own, to bring the story alive.
3. So, Davyna is a freaking badass, where did your inspiration for her come from?
Davyna was everything I wish I could have been in challenging moments I went through. So, a lot of her development was pulled from personal experience and feelings. But I also wanted to pull from other characters I knew and loved for her strength. I wanted to show how strong she was, but even under that armor, we could see her fear and pain. No one, not even the toughest of characters are without heartbreak, and for her it was what drove her to get the answers she needed.
4. Where did the inspiration for Valyner come from?
So, the name Valyner came from doing a little research online about Fae. I changed the spelling but kept the meaning the same: the lands of the undying fae. I knew I wanted different courts within the land and those were a random idea one night that just stuck. I couldn’t imagine not having the 6 courts be the names they are today.
5. How did you come up with the title?
I knew I wanted embers in the title. And I wish I still had the list of names I was thinking of. But I actually was talking to my best friend, Ali, and she was the one who gave me the idea for Hidden Beneath The Embers. I sat on it for a few days and just knew, it was the name!
6. The HBTE playlist is incredible, I’ve had it on repeat for almost 2 weeks now! Did you develop the playlist as you were writing, or did you already have most of the songs compiled together before you started?
I had many on the playlist when I started, but as I got deeper into the book, I found more songs and added them on. I can’t tell you how many times I had to keep a song on repeat to write a scene or chapter. Or went back to add in something I felt inspired me because of the lyrics. I can’t write without music. It really helps me during the process.
7. What was your favorite part about writing this story and bringing it to life?
Probably all the music and Pinterest images I found. It’s crazy how you can see
something in an image or hear a line in a song, and it just sparks something for a scene. After that it was editing with my editor, Stevi. She was literally the most amazing person to work with! And always helped me see a scene a different way. Whether it was on how to bring more emotion, or making sure the fictive dream stood engaged for the readers. She made me a better writer! Hands down.
8. If HBTE was created into a movie, who would play some of the main characters?
Please, Phoebe Tokin, play Davyna!!! I honestly haven’t given much thought to who else I would want to play other characters LOL. I just have a major girl crush on Phoebe!
Thank you Fay for letting us get to know you little better!
Stay tuned for Pt 2 of this interview in a few weeks, where we go a little deeper into Hidden Beneath The Embers!! (There may or may not be a few spoilers in part 2, so make sure you go read the book first!!!)
And if you're a writer, curious about writing a book and/or the self-publishing process, be sure to head to the Ink to Novel section, where Fay answers a few questions about what the process looked like for her!
And be sure to check out BV's review of Hidden Beneath the Embers, here.
Does Hidden Beneath The Embers sound like your kind of book? Let us know in the comments! And if you've read it, let us know what you thought! (But please no spoilers!!)