Author Crush Friday: Amy McNulty
Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.
We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to Amy McNulty, author of Nobody’s Goddess (April 2015; Month9Books). Thank you for talking to us today, Amy! We’re honored! As an added bonus, Month9Books is offering 3 ebooks internationally so make sure to post in the comments below to enter to win!
GLITTER: In Nobody’s Goddess, what was your favorite chapter/scene to write and why?
AMY: There’s a chess scene (actually, there are a couple, but I’m choosing the first chess scene) about midway through the book. The bare bones of that scene have existed for over a decade and first appeared in a draft that’s very different from what Nobody’s Goddess is today. It’s made it through all of those revisions and now includes completely changed dialogue because I love the sense of tension between Noll, my protagonist, and the lord of the village in that scene. They’re arguing while they play the game, but they’re trying to remain calm, and it gets increasingly difficult for them to do so. I actually played out the game on a board way back when I first choreographed the scene and the game could actually play out that way—except for one little cheat I made toward the end to make the scene work.
GLITTER: If you were given the right to choose your own true love or risk being alone, what would you choose and why?
AMY: If I lived in Noll’s village, I’d hope I fell in love or at least learned to fall in love with the one man who loves me. (He’d be nice because all of the men in her village are nice to their goddesses.) I’d feel guilty if I didn’t because he’d be sent to the commune, a place where unloved men pine away in despair. I wouldn’t mind being alone because the women who choose to reject love get to work in an occupation they enjoy. (However, there wouldn’t have been any fiction writers in her village, so I’d have to find something else to do!) But I’d feel bad about dooming a man to the commune, and falling in love with another man entirely would just be terrible because most of us know how unrequited love feels, and in this village, there’s absolutely no chance of the wrong man returning your affections.
GLITTER: What has been your favorite part of the road to publication?
AMY: There are so many incredible milestones along the way that make me giddy, and they help me feel better about all of the rejections on the road to publication, too. I loved being able to announce the sale of my trilogy, but I really loved sharing the gorgeous cover with everyone as well. My absolute favorite part, though, has been hearing from readers who are excited about the concept of the book or the cover alone. I appreciate their willingness to take a chance on a new author, and I hope they enjoy the book once they read it!
GLITTER: Where’s your favorite place to write?
AMY: I almost always write in my makeshift office, so by default, it’s my favorite place. I write better alone listening to movie, anime and video game soundtracks, so I can’t get much writing done in public. I work on a laptop on an over-the-lap desk on a futon. Not very professional-looking, but it’s very comfortable!
GLITTER: What character do you relate most to?
AMY: In Nobody’s Goddess, it’s definitely Noll. I spent the most time in her head, and although writers try to avoid thinking of characters as themselves, she does share some of my characteristics, including her awkwardness when it comes to romance. I’m not as determined or adventurous as she is, though, and I don’t know if I’d risk as much as she does for love.
GLITTER: If you could’ve penned any novel, what novel would you have penned and would you have changed anything?
AMY: Definitely the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series, not just because they’re massive successes, but also because they really struck a chord with me and millions of other readers. I wish I could write a story that does that. And no, I wouldn’t change a thing. I even appreciate how Mockingjay ends, which I know not all of my friends do.
Reaching back into the classics, I would have liked to have been the one to write Pride and Prejudice, and I’d leave it as is. I love the dynamic of two people having a strong dislike for another and it changing into love almost against their wishes.
GLITTER: What are you working on next?
AMY: I recently finished the first draft of the third and final book in The Never Veil Series, so I’m working on revising that. Once I’ve turned that in to my publisher, I need to write something new. I’m thinking of tackling a manuscript I wrote 50,000 words of a few years ago and had to put aside because I got stuck at the end. I think it needs almost a page-one rewrite, which is daunting, but I still believe in the core of the story. It’s a YA suspense novel told from the point of view of a comics-loving teen boy with prosopagnosia (face blindness) and a still-smoldering flame for his ex-girlfriend.
Thanks for having me in the magazine and for your interest in Nobody’s Goddess! Happy reading!
Editorial Director | Writer | Tweet me @heatherriccio
