We chat to best-selling author Jillian Cantor. Jillian shares her experiences with the writing process, and her newest book The Fiction Writer. Discussing her transition from historical to contemporary fiction, how she develops characters, and her writing routine. She also shares her top three tips for aspiring writers. Additionally, Valerie takes a moment to talk about her latest obsession, and the upcoming workshop on writing dual timelines.
00:00 Introduction 01:06 Shoutout to Penelope Janu and her new novel 02:08 Upcoming event: Focus on dual timelines webinar 04:20 Chat with Creative Writing Tutor Nat Newman 09:16 Writing tips and NaNoWriMo aftermath 12:25 Win ‘Leave the World Behind' by Rumaan Alam 14:16 Word of the week segment 15:53 Interview with Jillian Cantor 19:06 The inspiration behind the story 19:34 Transition from historical fiction to contemporary 21:17 The journey of writing a new genre 22:07 The concept of originality in storytelling 23:52 The writer's origin story 27:56 The writing process and discipline 31:21 The evolution of the fiction writer 32:26 The art of characterisation 33:43 The journey from first to twelfth novel 36:48 The adventure of writing young adult fiction 40:16 Top tips for aspiring writers 42:03 Fun fact and conclusion
Jillian Cantor has a BA from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. She is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of 11 novels for teens and adults which have been chosen for Indie Next, Library Reads, Amazon Best of the Month and have been translated into 13 languages, including, most recently Beautiful Little Fools. Born and raised in a suburb of Philadelphia, Cantor currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons. Her 12th novel, The Fiction Writer, will be published in 2023 by Park Row Books.
