Ask the Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Answered Questions (94)
Alwyn Hamilton
Hi Shalini! Thanks so much for the kind message! So so glad you loved the books! It would probably take me a whole essay to go into detail about all these things, and I'm pretty sure Goodreads has a word limit on these things. But I'll try to give a short version.
First, my biggest tip for any young writer: Finish the book. It doesn't matter if you feel like it's bad, or messy or whatever. Just finish it. You'll learn SO MUCH MORE from writing a full imperfect book, to writing a perfect first 10 chapters. Among other things you'll learn is that you are capable of finishing, which I think is important to know. And then you'll also, gradually, learn what your own unique process looks like. Because everyone's is different. You need to know what works for you!
So in terms of what I've learned about my process/planning: I always start a book with a rought idea. Usually a beginning and an end and then some big pillars in between. It's important for me to spend several months daydreaming about a book, and letting it take shape in my mind, so that when I go in to start writing, I'm going in with at least a roadmap, and the landscape of the book takes shape around me. And then the process for me is usually to finish a really ugly "scaffolding" draft. Where many things are imperfect but at least every scene and character is somewhat sketched out on the page. And then my next pass through is going through it and fleshing it out, or smoothing it out, or whatever that part of the book requires.
Research is something that continues throughout, and can be very helpful in unsticking you. For instance, in TRAITOR, I knew I wanted a scene where Amani confronts the Sultima and gets certain info. But that scene kept not working, and moving around, happening in a garden, in a bedroom, in the palace, in the rain, on a train...ok those last 2 are from Green Eggs and Ham. But no matter what I did the scene lacked tension. And then I found a passage in one of my research books about daily life in the harems and how they got so bored they'd play games of retrieving jewels from the bottom of the pools there. And this action became the backdrop to the conversation and added an active backdrop and an element of tension that wasn't otherwise there.
Now names, these are tricky, sometimes they don't fit right and you do have to change them. Something I use a lot is Behind the Name.com, where you can search names by meaning and I often like to add this in as a little easter egg. For instance Amani means "wishes" which is an allusion to who her father is. And Ahmed means "praiseworthy" referring to him being a good dude. And then Shahzad, is a reference to the 1001 nights, while also being a typically male construction of a name, to refer to the fact that she's adopting a more masculine role. The Notorious Virtues meanwhile was pretty easy to name characters for becasue they all have...Virtue names. So I basically went through lists of virtue names that are the most commonplace in the real world (e.g Grace, Constance, Clemency, Felicity...) and assigned them to the character they fit the best. Another thing that you can do on Behindthename.com is filter names by origin or nationality, and just scroll down the list until you see a name that jumps out at you. It's very useful when you're stuck. But also don't feel weird if you get halfway through a book and realize that a name needs to be changed. When I pitched The Notorious Virtues, a main character was named Lucas. But then it wasn't sticking and there were too many L names in the story so it's now Theo. (incidentally these are both names of guys I went to High School with).
And then finally I guess the thing I would say is, you don't need to show the book to anyone else until you're ready to. It can be your messy little sandbox with constantly changing names and still developing research etc. for as long as you need it to be. Write with yourself in mind first, and it will naturally grow from messy sandbox to beautiful polished thing that you want to share.
First, my biggest tip for any young writer: Finish the book. It doesn't matter if you feel like it's bad, or messy or whatever. Just finish it. You'll learn SO MUCH MORE from writing a full imperfect book, to writing a perfect first 10 chapters. Among other things you'll learn is that you are capable of finishing, which I think is important to know. And then you'll also, gradually, learn what your own unique process looks like. Because everyone's is different. You need to know what works for you!
So in terms of what I've learned about my process/planning: I always start a book with a rought idea. Usually a beginning and an end and then some big pillars in between. It's important for me to spend several months daydreaming about a book, and letting it take shape in my mind, so that when I go in to start writing, I'm going in with at least a roadmap, and the landscape of the book takes shape around me. And then the process for me is usually to finish a really ugly "scaffolding" draft. Where many things are imperfect but at least every scene and character is somewhat sketched out on the page. And then my next pass through is going through it and fleshing it out, or smoothing it out, or whatever that part of the book requires.
Research is something that continues throughout, and can be very helpful in unsticking you. For instance, in TRAITOR, I knew I wanted a scene where Amani confronts the Sultima and gets certain info. But that scene kept not working, and moving around, happening in a garden, in a bedroom, in the palace, in the rain, on a train...ok those last 2 are from Green Eggs and Ham. But no matter what I did the scene lacked tension. And then I found a passage in one of my research books about daily life in the harems and how they got so bored they'd play games of retrieving jewels from the bottom of the pools there. And this action became the backdrop to the conversation and added an active backdrop and an element of tension that wasn't otherwise there.
Now names, these are tricky, sometimes they don't fit right and you do have to change them. Something I use a lot is Behind the Name.com, where you can search names by meaning and I often like to add this in as a little easter egg. For instance Amani means "wishes" which is an allusion to who her father is. And Ahmed means "praiseworthy" referring to him being a good dude. And then Shahzad, is a reference to the 1001 nights, while also being a typically male construction of a name, to refer to the fact that she's adopting a more masculine role. The Notorious Virtues meanwhile was pretty easy to name characters for becasue they all have...Virtue names. So I basically went through lists of virtue names that are the most commonplace in the real world (e.g Grace, Constance, Clemency, Felicity...) and assigned them to the character they fit the best. Another thing that you can do on Behindthename.com is filter names by origin or nationality, and just scroll down the list until you see a name that jumps out at you. It's very useful when you're stuck. But also don't feel weird if you get halfway through a book and realize that a name needs to be changed. When I pitched The Notorious Virtues, a main character was named Lucas. But then it wasn't sticking and there were too many L names in the story so it's now Theo. (incidentally these are both names of guys I went to High School with).
And then finally I guess the thing I would say is, you don't need to show the book to anyone else until you're ready to. It can be your messy little sandbox with constantly changing names and still developing research etc. for as long as you need it to be. Write with yourself in mind first, and it will naturally grow from messy sandbox to beautiful polished thing that you want to share.
Alwyn Hamilton
Hi Bri! So the cover you're refering to is the UK created cover, which the US used for the 1st book hardback only. So unfortunately it's impossible to find the matching covers in hardback, but you can get them all matching in this design in paperback from the UK! (Try Book Depository maybe?)
Alwyn Hamilton
Hi Caitlin! Thanks so much for such a kind message! So glad to hear it was REBEL that brought you back into the books fold. And a re-read is the highest compliment ever! Thank you! Currently I'm working on THE NOTORIOUS VIRTUES which will be released May 2020 in the UK and US and I'm so so excited to share it! It's set in the same world as REBEL but very different. I pitched it as Grimm Fairytales meet 1920s New York Heiresses.
Alwyn Hamilton
Haha, sure.
Do you have a spouse? Nope.
Where were you born? Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Any pets? A Dog growing up and I'd love another one but I don't have the backyard for it!
What college(s) did you attend? King's College, University of Cambridge.
Title of the first book you've ever had published? REBEL OF THE SANDS
Date of publications? 8 March 2016
Any awards? Goodreads Choice for Best Debut is the first one that comes to mind :-)
and any 13 additional facts:
1) I live in London
2) Older Sister to a younger brother
3) Used to Work in an Auction House
4) A very wealthy client once threatened to buy the company I worked for just to fire me
5) Grew up in France
6) Favourite City in the World is Venice
7) Still can't Drive, because...London
8) I can pretty seriously swim
9) Once had Jimmy from the band Slade as a landlord
10) Used to work in a shop in France that sold Wine Glasses downstairs and Kids Books upstairs
11) Trained in Stage Fighting for a while
12) Played the role of Mrs. Robinson from The Graduate on Stage when I was a teenager
13) 13 and 6 are my lucky numbers
Do you have a spouse? Nope.
Where were you born? Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Any pets? A Dog growing up and I'd love another one but I don't have the backyard for it!
What college(s) did you attend? King's College, University of Cambridge.
Title of the first book you've ever had published? REBEL OF THE SANDS
Date of publications? 8 March 2016
Any awards? Goodreads Choice for Best Debut is the first one that comes to mind :-)
and any 13 additional facts:
1) I live in London
2) Older Sister to a younger brother
3) Used to Work in an Auction House
4) A very wealthy client once threatened to buy the company I worked for just to fire me
5) Grew up in France
6) Favourite City in the World is Venice
7) Still can't Drive, because...London
8) I can pretty seriously swim
9) Once had Jimmy from the band Slade as a landlord
10) Used to work in a shop in France that sold Wine Glasses downstairs and Kids Books upstairs
11) Trained in Stage Fighting for a while
12) Played the role of Mrs. Robinson from The Graduate on Stage when I was a teenager
13) 13 and 6 are my lucky numbers
Alwyn Hamilton
Thanks so much! I'm so glad you loved it so much! If you mean write a sequel to the book REBEL OF THE SANDS, they're out, it's TRAITOR TO THE THRONE and HERO AT THE FALL. But if you mean a sequel to the series...not exactly. But the Book I'm currently writing (THE NOTORIOUS VIRTUES) is set in the same world, about 40 years later, and one of the main characters is a descendant of a character you've met in the desert.
Alwyn Hamilton
Hi Maya! This is such a lovely message! I'm so sorry it took me so long to see and reply to it! It made my heart swell so much to hear that REBEL is your favourite book! Thank you so so much!
My main tip for any writer would be, finish what you start. Writing is like anything else, playing a musical instrument, or a sport, and you learn by practicing and practicing, until you are finally good enough to do it professionally. So don't put pressure on yourself to be perfect in the beginning, you're still learning! And you will learn way more from finishing a book, even if it's not perfect, than you ever will from writing a perfect first 3 chapters and never finishing the book.
So just finish it, learn, and remember you can always edit it later!
Good luck with your writing, I hope I'll get to see your books on shelves one day :-)
My main tip for any writer would be, finish what you start. Writing is like anything else, playing a musical instrument, or a sport, and you learn by practicing and practicing, until you are finally good enough to do it professionally. So don't put pressure on yourself to be perfect in the beginning, you're still learning! And you will learn way more from finishing a book, even if it's not perfect, than you ever will from writing a perfect first 3 chapters and never finishing the book.
So just finish it, learn, and remember you can always edit it later!
Good luck with your writing, I hope I'll get to see your books on shelves one day :-)
Alwyn Hamilton
2 favourites:
The Moment you CRACK something in the book. Whether it's a chapter opening, a difficult plot point, or even just what a character would do/say in this scenario. When you have been struggling and then figure it out, it's SO satisfying.
And also when it finally goes out to readers.
The Moment you CRACK something in the book. Whether it's a chapter opening, a difficult plot point, or even just what a character would do/say in this scenario. When you have been struggling and then figure it out, it's SO satisfying.
And also when it finally goes out to readers.
Alwyn Hamilton
All I can say right now is stay tuned...I should have something to announce in...pretty much exactly 1 week.
Alwyn Hamilton
This is such a lovely not a question! Thank you Cameron! I'm so glad you found the series and enjoyed it! (Although sorry about the tears! Now I'm so curious to know what the first book was!)
Alwyn Hamilton
Loving books will NEVER sound dorky or lame! Especially to an author! Thanks so much for the lovely words! <3
To answer your questions It probably took...a year an a half-ish to write REBEL before I submitted it to agents, and then another six to eight months of editing it with my agent and then editors, before it became the book you see today. Of that, six months was probaly spent just thinking up the book. I find it much easier to write when I know everything within a book, so I like to spend time daydreaming the plot before I write it. I had initially thought the whole story would be a stand alone, but realized how impossible that was as I started writing, and recalibrated the plot so that REBEL would have its own story line, while maintaining the arc of the series overall. I like to approach things with a plot in mind, but also you need to be flexible, sometimes things don't work out on paper the way you have them in mind.
To answer your questions It probably took...a year an a half-ish to write REBEL before I submitted it to agents, and then another six to eight months of editing it with my agent and then editors, before it became the book you see today. Of that, six months was probaly spent just thinking up the book. I find it much easier to write when I know everything within a book, so I like to spend time daydreaming the plot before I write it. I had initially thought the whole story would be a stand alone, but realized how impossible that was as I started writing, and recalibrated the plot so that REBEL would have its own story line, while maintaining the arc of the series overall. I like to approach things with a plot in mind, but also you need to be flexible, sometimes things don't work out on paper the way you have them in mind.
Alwyn Hamilton
Stay tuned...one week from today, for more on that front (Watch my Twitter and Instagram for a special announcement)
Alwyn Hamilton
So in English Tales from Sand & Sea was an exclusive gift for my London Launch. It has since become available to buy in printed form in Poland, and as a free Download in Brazil. It's currently not available to buy in English, but I'll let everyone know if that changes!
Alwyn Hamilton
Hi there! Thansk so much! Well spotted ;-) So Aurangzeb actually means "Honouring the Throne", which is what the name of the festival is supposed to make reference to, given what the festival is about. So that's why I chose it :-)
Alwyn Hamilton
This is such a tricky topic to research you're right, especially because every single person's experience is different and no matter how much research you do you will never be able to have a depiction of that topic that every person who has gone through it will consider accurate to their experience. What I think you can hope for however is to write something that everyone can at least empathize with and that is thoughtful, even if it doesn't represent a singular "universal" experience.
I think perhaps the best thing you can do with examples like the ones you've used is try to find sensitivity readers for those topics. This is people who are familiar with the experiences you are writing about, and they will be able to pick out anything that they think rings false, or stereotypical and offensive in your depictions. Approaching these sorts of people will of course be very sensitive, so do go about it the right way (e.g maybe start with charities or institutions that work closely with causes like this and get their help directing you).
Hope that helps, and good luck!
I think perhaps the best thing you can do with examples like the ones you've used is try to find sensitivity readers for those topics. This is people who are familiar with the experiences you are writing about, and they will be able to pick out anything that they think rings false, or stereotypical and offensive in your depictions. Approaching these sorts of people will of course be very sensitive, so do go about it the right way (e.g maybe start with charities or institutions that work closely with causes like this and get their help directing you).
Hope that helps, and good luck!
Alwyn Hamilton
Hi there! Thank you so so much, that means the world and I'm so glad that you're loving the series so much! Hearing that means a lot to me!
I maaaay one day return to the desert, I will never rule that out! For now, I'm working on something in a different part of the REBEL world, that maybe features the descendant of a REBEL character ;-)
And yes, I may yet have some short stories in me, but I just would have to find the time to write them in between deadlines for the longer books!
I maaaay one day return to the desert, I will never rule that out! For now, I'm working on something in a different part of the REBEL world, that maybe features the descendant of a REBEL character ;-)
And yes, I may yet have some short stories in me, but I just would have to find the time to write them in between deadlines for the longer books!
Alwyn Hamilton
*Spoiler alert answer* No she didn't! Sorry if things were confused by the "storytelling" vibe in the last chapter. But Ahmed ruled for 10 years, and then there was a new election, one of his brothers, another Sultan's son, won the election, and attempted a coup, and that was who Shazad killed. Hope that clears things up!
Alwyn Hamilton
Hi there! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the books and that you want more!
I will never say never, but for now I think Book 3 ends the story of Amani, Jin and her fellow rebels. This is not to say I will never revisit the desert but I don't think that they would necessarily be the main characters since this completes their arcs. But they might appear.
...And I miiiiiight be working on something set in the same world starring, among others, a descendant of one of the characters for REBEL. So, stay tuned!
I will never say never, but for now I think Book 3 ends the story of Amani, Jin and her fellow rebels. This is not to say I will never revisit the desert but I don't think that they would necessarily be the main characters since this completes their arcs. But they might appear.
...And I miiiiiight be working on something set in the same world starring, among others, a descendant of one of the characters for REBEL. So, stay tuned!
Alwyn Hamilton
Thank you so much Martyna! That means a lot! HERO AT THE FALL is the end of Amani's story...for now. At the moment I'm happy with how her personal arc concluded, with how the rebellion concluded, etc. so I don't feel the need to revisit her and Jin imminently. But I do want to write more in the general world around Miraji and the Desert, so there is a chance Amani may appear again sometime in the future.
As for a movie, just keep your fingers crossed!
As for a movie, just keep your fingers crossed!
Alwyn Hamilton
Thanks so much! So Tales from Sand & Sea was written as an exclusive piece of content for my London Launch, and for pre-orders of the final book in the US. So at the moment it is not available for sale anywhere I'm afraid!
If you speak Portuguese you're in luck because it is available as a free e-book in Brazil!
Other than that the next opportunity to get it will be at YALC in London, where Faber Childrens will have 20 copies to give away.
Sorry about that but I will definitely update if it ever becomes available in any other way!
If you speak Portuguese you're in luck because it is available as a free e-book in Brazil!
Other than that the next opportunity to get it will be at YALC in London, where Faber Childrens will have 20 copies to give away.
Sorry about that but I will definitely update if it ever becomes available in any other way!
Alwyn Hamilton
For now, Tales of Sand & Sea was exclusive to my UK launch and for pre-orders of the US hardback and is not available for sale. But I will advise if that changes!
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more