Ships, Secrets, And Survivors Blog Tour // Author Interview with Sarah and Helena

Ships, Secrets, and Survivors comes out today! Find it at your local sea dragon website!

What were your favorite and least favorite parts of the publishing journey?

Sarah: My favorite part is having someone to fangirl with along the way. It’s so motivating when the inevitable slump hits because there’s always someone there to give you that extra push. In between writing sessions, we’d text each other or leave comments in the document about our favorite parts. We had two brains rather than one, which helped us figure out any sticky parts. All in all,it was nice to have someone who was just as emotionally invested in the story as I was.

My least favorite is keeping track of all the little details that come with publishing. Remembering all the graphics, the social media promotion, and all that good stuff. While I’m pretty good at all that, it requires making sure we have a place to write down everything so we don’t forget (thank you, Google Docs!).

Helena: Gonna be honest, I’ve been loving almost all of this publishing journey - brainstorming with Sarah, getting a cover, seeing everything come together. Honestly, the least favorite part so far is basically the fact that I feel super rushed about it all, since I’m so busy and sometimes just have time to “whip something up and get by” whether that’s doing a social media post, part of the website, or doing story edits.

Who is your favorite character?

S: I love all of the characters, but I think I have to go with Ravin and Adi. They both have so much at stake in the story. I just loved getting to know them over our time writing this book (and I can’t wait to see how their story unfolds in the future!).

H: ALL OF THEM. (Okay, so you probably want something more than that, haha. Like… Ravin, all the way. After all, I’ve spent so much time in his head, and I know him the most. But I also love Adi, and her determination and rough kindness. And Jay, my dear Jay Hill himself, the original main character, way back when I started this vague “pirate story” plot. And Justin...man, I would love to sit back and drink a cup of tea with him. And dear, stabby Ash, who could probably use a nice chat and maybe some time spent relaxing on the farm or something. And there are some more characters in the following books and I just LOVE THEM ALL.)

Do you prefer to listen to music while you write or write in pure, focused silence?

S: I almost always have to have something playing while writing in order to block out distractions. Between my thoughts and my family members, things can get crazy at my house, so I always need something to focus my mind while I’m working.

H: If I’m drafting, or doing piddly things like blog posts or emails, I usually can listen to music, though I still avoid songs with lyrics. Mostly soundtracks, I guess. But when I’m editing, I need that pure, focused silence.

Do you have a specific writing playlist for the story or a general writing playlist? Do you both listen to the same playlist?

S: I never really have any writing playlists, either for the specific story or for writing in general. I just listen to whatever works for blocking out the distractions that day. Sometimes it’s loud lyrical music and other days it’s ambiance videos on YouTube.

H: I personally create story playlists for all my series, but I rarely listen to them while actually writing the story. The playlists basically contain soundtracks that I think fit with the story...basically I create a soundtrack for the book. I then listen to it while at work or driving or doing farm work so it gets me “in the mood” for writing or editing or whatever needs be done.

You're co-authoring this series, but beyond this series do you plan to write and publish books individually, or will you only continue as a dynamic duo that brought us the amazing gem that is Ships, Secrets, and Survivors?

S: Yes.

LOL, but really, I plan on both. Aside from the rest of the Pirate Hunter Chronicles and whatever other books we decide to write together, I have a number of books that I’m planning on publishing individually. We have loads of plans for publishing!

H: Ohhhhh boy have we got ideas!!! I’ve got a number of books that I’m working on myself (not co-writing) and we already have plans for another potential series to co-write together as well. That being said, The Pirate Hunter Chronicles is our main focus at the moment.

Now that you've written the first book in your series (and rumor has it that the second book is in progress!), what do you think will be harder: Writing the first book or writing the sequel?

S: Well, writing the first book was definitely harder in my opinion. We had to learn how to cowrite and figure out who the main characters were and all that good stuff. By the time we reached the second book, we’d figured out a lot of those things and were able to smash out the first draft in three weeks. That and we loved the story of book 2 even more (seriously, we’re going to make y’all cry) and had a blast writing it.

H: Logistically, Book 1 was harder to write because we were figuring things out as we went along: how to work with each other without stepping on toes, how to get the back-and-forth right, how many google docs do we really need, and so on… But Book 2 HURT. I cried three times while writing the first draft. THREE TIMES. But other than that, the writing went smoothly.

For interested readers, where can they find more information about this book and the coming series?

S: You can go to our website, piratehunterchronicles.com, where you can buy signed copies, plus sign up for our newsletter. Also, for quick updates on little things, you can follow us on our personal instagrams/blogs*, plus our series Instagram and Facebook, @piratehunterchronicles.

H: Yah, what Sarah said. Website, instagram, facebook, the usual. :) Thanks for the questions!

Sarah's Instagram

Helena's Instagram

Sarah's Blog: Pen of a Ready Writer

Helena's Blog: Saver of Memories