DREAMFEVER is the second book in The Dream Walker Trilogy, and we’re delighted to have Kit Alloway here to chat about it.

Kit, what scene was really hard for you to write and why, and is that the one of which you are most proud? Or is there another scene you particularly love?

The nightmares in which Josh and Feodor interacted were very difficult because I had to write Feodor through Josh’s eyes. Her feelings toward him are complicated—one the one hand, she loathes him for what he did to her and her friends, but she also admires his genius and feels compassion for what he’s been through. That’s a lot to juggle. I am proud of those chapters.

How long did you work on DREAMFEVER?

I worked on Dreamfever for about three years. It wasn’t the easiest book to write.

What did this book teach you about writing or about yourself?

The big thing I learned was to stop obsessing over plotting and just write. I was so worried about making everything fit together perfectly that I’d convince myself I had to have the next ten chapters plotted out before I could begin writing. It turns out I don’t work that way, but I’d written most of the book before I figured that out. The last five chapters I finally just sat down and wrote with no idea where I was going.

How long or hard was your road to publication? How many books did you write before this one, and how many never got published?

It took me sixteen years to sign my first contract, and nineteen years before my first novel came out. I think I wrote . . . nine unpublished novels? And probably a hundred short stories, none of which I’ve published. But I don’t regret a page. There’s no better way to learn to write than to do it.

Was there an AHA! moment along your road to publication where something suddenly sank in and you felt you had the key to writing a novel? What was it?

I think that learning to edit was a huge moment for me. I had to realize that a first draft is nothing like a final draft, and that the bulk of the work comes in between.

What’s your writing ritual like? Do you listen to music? Work at home or at a coffee shop or the library, etc?

Over time I’ve become more and more flexible about how I write. In an ideal world, I’d write in my office, with a couple of candles burning and familiar music playing. But I’ve learned to write on the couch, in the kitchen, on planes, in cars, at coffee shops, pretty much anywhere. As long as I have my noise-cancelling headphones and my laptop, I’m good.

What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?

Learn to edit. Your first draft is 20% of the work. The other 80% is editing.

What are you working on now?

I am editing the third novel in the Dream Walker trilogy. It’s bittersweet; I’ve been writing these characters for so long. But I’m looking forward to trying something new as well.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Dreamfever
by Kit Alloway
Hardcover
St. Martin’s Griffin
Released 2/23/2016

Finding out that she is the True Dream Walker hasn’t gone at all the Joshlyn Weaver would have expected it to. The only special gift she seems to have is an ability to create archways, which really isn’t that special. In addition to her inability to connect with the Dream, she has also started having nightmares that are so terrible she can’t tell anyone about them. Not even Will.

Just when Josh thought her life couldn’t get any more complicated, the lost dream walker princess returns to claim her parents’ right to the throne, right as the Lodestone party threatens to take control of the government during the upcoming Accordance Conclave.

With the clock running down, Josh must rely on not only her friends, but also her enemies, to stop the radicals from taking power and controlling the Dream. But how can she expect to save everyone else when she’s struggling to pick up the pieces of her own shattered life?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kit Alloway writes primarily for young adults, having always had an affection for teenagers. In addition to writing, she plays various musical instruments, decorates cakes, mixes essential oils, and studies East European languages. She lives in Louisville, KY with her family and four very tiny dogs. Dreamfire is her debut novel.

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