Author to Author: A Conversation Between Journey Bloomfield and Isabelle Knight

In the last few weeks I’ve been delighted to share reviews by two precocious writers, Journey Bloomfield and Isabelle Knight. I first introduced them to you when Journey reviewed Isabelle’s first book, Guardian’s Heir, in her Enchantria series.

Today, Journey and I celebrate Isabelle‘s completion of this series with the publication of The Last Hope. In this interview, we get to know Isabelle, her thoughts about world-building, and her advice to other young writers.

Interview

Journey: When did you start writing?

Isabelle: I started writing when I was ten and was bored with my summer vacation. I had nothing to do, and I’d always had this idea of a book in the back of my head. I sat down in front of my computer and told my dad, “I’m going to write a book.” 

Journey: How did you reach the point you’re at now?

Isabelle: There were a lot of hurdles to get through and mountains to climb, and I just had to persevere. Some amazing things did happen, but I really do think it was the stars aligning in some odd way — I really didn’t have much control over it. The only thing I could control was not giving up and keeping on writing, even when times got tough.

Journey: How did you decide which creatures to include in Enchantria’s world?

Isabelle: I wanted Enchantria to have a lot of mythical creatures, along with a few fictional creatures. I oftentimes find that these creatures come to me when I need them. It’s my job to try and flesh them out, and I think that’s when their personality comes through.

Journey: How do you handle the different cultures and kingdoms in Enchantria?

Isabelle: I didn’t get the idea for the other kingdoms until I was well into book three. After that, I had to figure out what the kingdoms were. I decided on twelve kingdoms because twelve seems to be that golden number in MG fantasy and in several other areas of life… there are twelve Chinese zodiacs, twelve astrology signs, twelve numbers on the clock, etc.

The hardest part was trying to figure out exactly who would be living in each of the kingdoms, along with the kingdoms’ names. And as for the details about specific cultures – not a lot of it made it into the final books, but those little details came to me as I made up the kingdoms.

Journey: Book Four of Enchantria is coming out soon. How does it feel having written an entire series? Was it hard to leave those characters once you finished?

Isabelle: By the time this interview is out, The Last Hope will have been released! It feels absolutely crazy, and I still don’t believe it.

After writing “The End” in Enchantria, I felt like I was in “the in-between”—a place between projects, where I’m hovering in the void and feeling lost. I bounced around a few ideas and tried to write several of them out, but I felt like none of them were sticking with me. I had the crippling worry that, “What if Enchantria is the only series I’ll ever be able to write?” It isn’t, of course, but it definitely has been hard to leave the characters behind.

Journey: Do you have any advice for young writers?

Isabelle: My advice for young writers or those who are starting out is to just write. The definition of being a writer is someone who writes. Even if you’re scared of the blank page, get something down.

Take every piece of writing advice with a grain of salt as well. Two pieces of writing advice will often contradict each other, and it’s up to you to discover what works for you! At first, I would say focus on honing your voice and your creativity and discovering the story you want to tell. Don’t worry about perfection. We are constantly learning how to write and each book be better than the last. Don’t give up. Writing is hard, and so is publishing! But I genuinely believe that if you keep going and keep writing, you will get there, no matter how long it takes.

My Contributors

Journey Bloomfield is a homeschooled fantasy author who has spent the last eight and a half years exploring all 50 U.S. states with her family. In her spare time, she can be found playing the violin, sword fighting with her brothers, or working her way through her exceptionally long to-be-read list.

Isabelle Knight is the middle-grade fantasy author of the Enchantria series, which she began writing at age ten and published during her middle school years. A lifelong book and cat lover, she now resides somewhere in a book-filled apartment, surrounded by an unimaginable number of stuffed pandas and enough books to start her own bookstore. When she’s not writing about creepy shadows, daring heroines, and magical adventures, she’s talking about books, writing, and other writerly ramblings on her blog or YouTube channel! You can find her at springfallschronicle.com or on YouTube as Isabelle Knight.

Calling New Guest Bloggers!

If you know a young person who loves to read and write and would be interested in reviewing clean YA or MG books on my blog, please leave me a comment and I’ll get in touch with him or her. It’s a great way for them to practice writing and editing skills!

For more middle-grade book reviews, check out Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday blog.

The post Author to Author: A Conversation Between Journey Bloomfield and Isabelle Knight first appeared on Carol Baldwin - Author, Writing Teacher, Speaker.