A Widow in Waiting is Anne B. Walsh’s first novel, and opens her historical fantasy series Chronicles of Glenscar. Read how she made the leap from fanfiction author to self-publishing original fiction in our exclusive interview!
The time seems ripe for fanfiction authors to make the transition to original, published fiction; both E.L. James and Cassandra Clare have found mainstream success with their books after being known online for their Twilight and Harry Potter works respectively.
And Anne B. Walsh is another author who started in the Harry Potter fanfiction realm before releasing her first original novel. Her Dangerverse series has garnered her a substantial online following, and with 52 stories published on FanFiction.Net, she certainly has experience writing.
Now, she has embarked on another series, this one within a universe of her own creation. The first novel in the Chronicles of Glenscar saga is entitled A Widow in Waiting, and it lets the reader in to the world of the newly widowed Eleanor, who struggles both with her feelings for another man and her long-hidden magic.
Q: Tell us about A Widow in Waiting.
A: A Widow in Waiting is a historical fantasy, set in 1786 in England and Ireland. It’s what is often called a Regency romance, though (nerd alert) strictly speaking, the Regency covers only 1811-1820. You’ll want to read it if you enjoy mystery, romance, music, magic, humor, or suspense; if you like getting to know a large cast of characters and feeling that there are more stories about them just waiting to be told; if you like to read at a leisurely pace but not feel that the story is dragging or padded; and most of all, if you prefer your endings happy without being sappy.
Q: What made you decide to go the self-publishing route?
A: Time and money. I’m an impatient sort of person and didn’t feel like waiting six months only to get a rejection letter, then three more for another one, then four more for another one after that — and since most publishers frown on simultaneous submissions, that’s exactly what I’d be doing. My self-publishing venues pay me between 65% and 75% of the sale price for each copy I sell.
Q: Being published on the e-book platform, how do you find your audience online?
A: At the moment, the audience is finding itself. My awesome fanfic readers are a big part of it, of course, because they already know they like my style and now there’s something they can buy and tell their friends about.
As for convincing people this is more than fanfic… I have to let my writing speak for itself on that one. It helps that A Widow in Waiting and the other books in the Glenscar series are not related to the Dangerverse. People are going to have their opinions no matter what, and the worst thing I think I could do would be to try to deny that I also write fanfic, because not only would that be a lie, it would imply that I’m ashamed of my fanfic, and I’m not. On the contrary, I’m immensely grateful for the chance to play in Jo Rowling’s sandbox before I move on to building towers of my own.
Q: There seems to be a generation of writers who spent their teen years writing fanfiction and are now seeing their original fiction published. Do you think you would have become an author irregardless of your fanfic background, or did it help shape your writing technique?
A: Given that I’ve been telling stories since I, or my parents, can remember, it’s pretty clear that some form of writing was always in the cards for me, but fan fiction definitely trained and shaped me. If you read the entirety of the Dangerverse, you can literally watch me grow up as a writer, and I truly don’t know where I would be today if I hadn’t started it. Fun fact: I spent almost exactly seven years — the traditional period of an apprenticeship — working on the DV before I started A Widow in Waiting. Neat, huh?
Q: Did your Dangerverse fanfics inspire your book series in any way?
A: Not this set, no. A Widow in Waiting and the other books of the Chronicles of Glenscar were inspired by a musical DVD production, Celtic Thunder: Storm. It’s a charming little fairy tale without any names, locations, or spoken words, just fifteen songs and the movements of the singers to tell a series of intertwined, loosely delineated stories. When it ended, the roommate and I were left saying, “Wait, that’s it? That can’t be it! They didn’t finish anything!”
So I sat down and started playing with it, seeing where I would take it if it were mine. By the time I finished, I had added so much and taken it so far from its beginnings in Storm that, in the opinion of the very nice lawyer I contacted through the local chapter of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, it was mine.
I do have plenty of story ideas which are based around, or inspired by, the Dangerverse, but that’s a story for another day. Though I can tell you the first one is very likely going to be called Homecoming, and could be released as soon as next year…
Q: As A Widow in Waiting is the first in a four-book series, what can we expect from the other three books?
A: Book two, Playing with Fire, is the story of John’s sister Grace and her love-hate relationship with Thunder, the king of the travelers. It takes place at the same time as Widow, but will mostly deal with events we didn’t see in the first book, or only saw in passing or in part. A lot of people have told me they enjoy Grace and Thunder, so I’m glad to be able to give them the full spotlight for a while.
Book three, Shadow’s Dancing, is about Thunder’s sister Shadow and John’s best friend Kieran. He’s the noble-born highwayman looking to clear his name and keep his nasty cousin from inheriting a stolen title; she’s the beautiful dancing girl who makes her way into society to win his heart. Stock characters? Maybe to start with, but not when I get done with them. (I hope!) It takes place partly at the same time as Widow and Playing, but in different places, and again shows another side of events.
Book four, The Highwayman’s Apprentice, deals with Kieran’s apprentice/annoyance Nevan and Eleanor’s former sister-in-law, Lady Isabel. He’s a farmboy, although an educated one, and she’s the daughter of a Marquis, although an enlightened one — is even love enough to bridge that wide a gap? It will also bring together the stories of the other three books and contain the climax of the entire story arc.
Q: What are your favourite books?
A: 1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Only Jo Rowling could make you hate Sirius for two-thirds of the book, then reverse your entire opinion of him in twenty pages and have you biting your nails for him to get away in the last third.
2. The Horse and his Boy. I love that it’s completely set in Narnia and that it fleshes out the world of Narnia without losing the wonderful light allegory of it all.
Q: Can you offer any advice for aspiring authors?
A: Practice, practice, practice. Write all the time, write every day, write about anything and everything. Pay attention to what you hear people saying, but take it your own way. Criticism hurts. The pain never goes away, but you learn to deal with it after a while. Take what’s useful from it and discard what isn’t.
Do your research, keep good notes, but if you get a spur-of-the-moment idea, explore it. It’s your world. Nobody can tell you that you’re wrong. On the other hand, if the idea is grinding, don’t be afraid to set it aside and try something else. Grinding can mean this is a dry well. Of course, it can also mean you just have to push through. How do you know? By doing it wrong a couple times…
To borrow a phrase, the first million words are the hardest. Except for the million after that, and the million after that… no, really, I’m kidding. It will probably never be easy, but you do learn your own tricks and twists after a while. Just remember that you’re never done learning, you’re never done growing, and you’re never too old to try something new.
And seriously, folks, invest in dictation software. Carpal tunnel is not fun.
Anne B. Walsh’s novel A Widow in Waiting is available to purchase for your Kindle or in paperback form on Amazon in the U.K. and the U.S.!
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