Interview with Raine Thomas, Author

Raine Thomas, author of the Daughters of Saraqael Trilogy (Estilorian YA fantasy/romance novels), is a self-proclaimed romantic. She has created another world, or plane, of existence in her novels. Raine’s passion for all things literary led to her earn her bachelor’s degree in English with a focus in Creative Writing from Georgia State University, then her master’s degree in Humanities from Central Michigan University. Drawing in part on a former career in the field of children’s mental health, she enjoys creating young protagonists who overcome their own conflicts. Outside of writing, her focus falls on her other career (wedding planning) and-first and foremost-her husband and daughter.
Raine connects regularly with her readers via social networking, and maintains a blog. When she is not busy writing and communing with fans, she enjoys vacations with her family. I was fortunate that Raine graciously took time from her busy schedule to grant me the interview that follows:

Can you identify a moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer? What was that moment like?
What a great question! The first memory I have of something I wrote garnering attention was in the fourth grade. The story was about a dancing spider and it ended up earning an honorable mention. That experience definitely got the wheels in motion for me.

Did anyone encourage you in your writing? Did that encouragement make a difference?
My family has always supported my writing. Probably the single biggest source of encouragement to me as I was growing up was my cousin, Christine. I spent many summers with her, and she insisted that I write every day we were together so that she could read it. The stories were probably all terrible, but she helped me learn how to write in a way that keeps a reader engaged and wanting more, and I’ll always be grateful for that!

Describe the self-discipline required to write a book. Do you have any writing rituals?
Writing full-length books requires in an incredible amount of self-discipline. The more I talk to other writers, the more I realize how much of an obstacle this can be. In truth, I think getting through the first book is the hardest. Once you know you have the ability to see a project through from start to finish, you generally have the confidence to do it again (and again).
As for writing rituals, I don’t have anything really quirky. I start each book with an outline (which I NEVER stick to) so that I assure myself that I have some kind of logical start, middle and end to the book, and goals that I want to achieve within the story. Then I start writing and let the characters take over for me. My writing time typically falls after 10:00 p.m. when everyone else is in bed. Needless to say, I don’t get much sleep!

How would you describe your writing style?
Wow…can you believe I’ve never given that a moment’s thought? Another great question! I’m not 100% sure how to answer that. I will say that I don’t shy away from the use of “big words” in my books. Even though (or perhaps because of) the fact that my books are young adult, I don’t want to avoid writing like I speak. I’ve always had an expansive vocabulary and my five-year-old is much the same. That said, I pay careful attention in dialogue that characters speak as suits them-not my diction or turn of phrase.

Tell us a bit about your trilogy. And how did you come up with the idea for such a complex world?
The Daughters of Saraqael Trilogy follows three sisters (Amber, Olivia and Skye) who live the first eighteen years of their lives as humans. Amber, in particular, has a difficult childhood due to the fact that she and her sisters aren’t completely human. They’re half-Estilorian…a race of beings that evolved alongside humanity for many centuries. When humans began to resent the powers and abilities of the immortal Estilorians, they warred against them, causing the Estilorians to create their own plane of existence. Eventually, the Estilorians became nothing more to humans than myths, legends and biblical figures. Amber, Olivia and Skye are the first half-human Estilorians. The books follow them as they discover their abilities and then use them in a foretold battle to save the Estilorians…finding love along the way.
The concept for the books took a while to develop. What I really wanted to avoid was falling victim to a literary trend. I didn’t want to write about the latest big thing in the YA market. I wanted to create the latest big thing. So I thought, what if instead of writing about things like gods, goddesses, angels (and yes…even vampires), I wrote about the beings those concepts are all based on? Thus, the Estilorians were born.

What considerations went into your decision to become an indie author?
A great many things went into the decision to self-publish. I had never actually considered it until about nine months ago. In my mind, there was only one way to go: traditional publishing. But after six months of querying resulted in little success, and my research on ways to strengthen a query letter and hook an agent got very confusing with different people saying different things, I couldn’t help but think of publishing myself. The arguments to do so are rather compelling: you get control over everything that goes into your book, you typically earn more per sale, your books are published as soon as you’re ready and not a year later…well, those were the highlights for me. I self-published at the end of July and will never regret it.

Are there any authors whose work has influenced you or whose style you particularly admire?
One of my favorite writers of all time is Nora Roberts. I love everything she writes (both under her name and the name J.D. Robb). Her ability to write dialogue and evoke emotion is just amazing. Of any writer out there, she’s the one who would have me stuttering like an idiot if we ever met.

What new books can your readers look forward to?
I’m hard at work on the next Estilorian novels: the Firstborn Trilogy. I’m done with the first book, but I’m waiting until all three books are complete before publishing them, as I did with the Daughters of Saraqael Trilogy. I’ll also begin an Estilorian short story in the near future (to publish as a free download) before starting book two.

Do you have any encouragement or advice for aspiring writers?
Don’t give up! Even if you get stuck in your writing, push through it. Get someone who enjoys your writing to brainstorm with you to get through tough scenes, or join a writer’s group. And shake off any negativity. You’ll never please every person out there. Focus on those who enjoy what you write and you’ll be much happier for it!


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