Archived- Promotional Q&A's: Q&A with Terra Harmony - CLOSED

[Meagan]

Hi Terra! How did you get started writing and what made you choose New Adult for these books (as opposed to Adult)?

[Julie]

Hi Terra,

I just downloaded Water, and it sounds really interesting! I noticed that you put all four books out fairly quickly, with 8 months being the longest between books (as a reader, thanks for that!!). I was wondering if you had some kind of outline or idea of where the story would go before you started writing to be able to put the books out that quickly?

[Sarah]

Hi Terra,
I've read Water and Air and will read Fire and Earth probably shortly after Earth is released. I'm really enjoying the series so far!
One thing I picked up on was an encouragement for us readers to consider the environment more, although it wasn't at all preachy. Did you have an environmental message in mind that is important to you or do you consider it sort of accidental and secondary to the plot?

Secondly, I hope you don't mind me asking a spoiler question that you can perhaps answer in spoiler tags for those that haven't read Water and Air. (view spoiler)[ How did you make the decision to be so explicit in the scenes of sexual violence? I found it a little shocking ad uncomfortable but entirely appropriate for the character development. Was it a difficult to decision to be so explicit knowing it may cause some readers distress? (hide spoiler)]

Thanks!

[Terra]

Meagan wrote: "Hi Terra! How did you get started writing and what made you choose New Adult for these books (as opposed to Adult)?"

Hi Meagan - first question; yay! Wish there were door prizes. :) When my first book, 'Water', came out - I honestly had no idea there was such a genre as New Adult. My main character is in her late twenties, and there are some pretty adult scenes in the book (including rape). Although this falls sort of in the upper-end of the new adult genre, it seems my readers are mostly young women. The Akasha Series seems to fit well with the new adult genre and I'm glad my books found a place!

[Terra]

Julie wrote: "Hi Terra,

I just downloaded Water, and it sounds really interesting! I noticed that you put all four books out fairly quickly, with 8 months being the longest between books (as a reader, thanks ..."

Hi Julie - what a great question, though the answer may disappoint. No, there was hardly any planning at all that went into the books. I would often sit down to write a chapter, and be surprised myself where it went. Speaking from experience, this is not always the best way to do it. I will 'plan' the hell out of my next series.

There ended up being a lot of loose ends, confusing plots and twists, and scenes that just didn't make sense. In the editing stage, I'd have to cut or rewrite quite a bit. It also made the final book very, very difficult to write. I had to tie everything together...

That said, I've found confidence in my writing throughout the series. I don't experience writer's block and that may have been different if I tried writing from an outline. Hope that helps!

[Terra]

Sarah wrote: "Hi Terra,
I've read Water and Air and will read Fire and Earth probably shortly after Earth is released. I'm really enjoying the series so far!
One thing I picked up on was an encouragement for us ..."

Hi Sarah - I'm so glad you are liking the series! For the first question, yes - I definitely wanted an overall message about protecting the environment. If I'm going to put this much work into writing, I hope to make a difference in the world! My next series (mermaids and werewolves) will also have an 'eco' theme. :)

To answer your spoiler question (view spoiler)[ I really wanted those scenes to leave an impact on the reader. There is a purpose behind it; and hopefully you'll see it by the end of 'Earth'. It has to do with the way humans tend to 'rape' Mother Earth.

Also, sometimes when I read, I feel cheated if the author skips over difficult scenes. As the series go on, I write bold about childbirth, murder, and - well, you'll just have to read to find out!

I think it does cause some readers distress and discomfort, and may not be best for the ratings. :) But hey, I'm here to make a point! (hide spoiler)]

Thanks for your questions! Let me know if you have any more!

[Laura]

Loved all four books including Earth :) I know you are planning a mermaid series but i was wondering if you had any plans for other books? :)

[Nicki]

Congratulations on the new release and the completion of your series, Terra! In follow up to Julie's question, how do you make the time to write your novels in such a short time span - do you have dedicated hours that are sacred to writing or do you squeeze it in whenever you can?

[Ruby]

Hi Terra,

I started reading your first book this week and am loving it. It pulled me in and I haven't stopped reading it since (when I have time in between work & my own writing projects). What a unique series concept! I will purchase the complete series on Monday.

My question is that I noticed you have received some hard criticism about the 'R' word scenes in your first book. I understood it being an element to your series as our beautiful Earth is currently being 'R'd' all the time. I read into it symbolically as a Gaia would understand this quite well.

Would you be willing to speak to this? I realize this may be a very challenging question, so no offense taken if you decline to answer.

Cheers,

Ruby

[Terra]

Laura wrote: "Loved all four books including Earth :) I know you are planning a mermaid series but i was wondering if you had any plans for other books? :)"

Hey Laura - I've been playing with the idea of revisiting Bee from The Akasha Series, but later on in life when she is 20. I think it'd be fun to explore what kind of world they live in - post akasha! In my boxed set, I will have a short story about a 20 yr old Bee just to see how it is received. I'll make sure to send you a copy. :)

[Terra]

Nicki wrote: "Congratulations on the new release and the completion of your series, Terra! In follow up to Julie's question, how do you make the time to write your novels in such a short time span - do you have..."

Thanks, Nicki - what a great question! It is hard to find time; I have a full-time job, three kids, I am a big volunteer for my community and my husband is often deployed for work (about 4 months each year). My secret is I wake up early - about 5 am, to write every day. I can get 1 or 2 hours in before the kids wake up. My goal is a 1,000 words in a day, and it doesn't matter on which project. If by the end of the day, I haven't reached my 1,000 word mark - I stay up late to do it. There are exceptions of course, like when I am doing editing. If I have extra time during the day for book stuff - I do my marketing. Like now! :)

[Terra]

Ruby wrote: "Hi Tara,

I started reading your first book this week and am loving it. It pulled me in and I haven't stopped reading it since (when I have time in between work & my own writing projects). What a u..."

Hi Ruby - thanks for giving me a chance to speak to this! Yes, I have received lots of criticism. To be honest, I have considered re-doing the book and taking that out. It would be more suited to the larger market of the young adult crowd that way, too. But the problem is, I'm not really writing to get the 'larger market'. I'm writing to bring light to very difficult issues. Not to go completely tree-hugger on you, buy maybe if people start looking at the exploitation of the environment as 'rape', they might be inclined to take more action?

Not everyone can see those scenes for what they were meant to be (like you can), and not everyone gets past the first book because of it. But without those scenes, the book just isn't, well - my writing.

Hope that makes sense!

[Ruby]

Terra wrote: "Hi Ruby - thanks for giving me a chance to speak to this! Yes, I have received lots of criticism. To be honest, I have considered re-doing the book and taking that out."

Thanks for speaking to that Terra, I really understand you and you can be as 'tree-hugger' as you want with me. Personally, my two cents is that it's appropriate. Although we write to entertain, we also write with purpose and I very much appreciate that you didn't shy away from a tough aspect of the real world. Some of humanity is, in fact, raping each other and this beautiful Earth all the time. The only way to help solve this plight is by being willing to discuss it and if it needs to be done through creative channels - so be it.

Personally, I commend you. Thank you for writing this series and being strong and courageous enough to dive into the deep.

Cheers,

Ruby