Hello my lovely readers!
We have an exciting guest on A Writer’s Life today!
She’s a writer friend I made a few months ago here on Substack and who I had the absolutely wonderful privilege of Beta reading her STEM romance novel Love Below Zero which is coming out today!
Big congratulations to
Blake on the release day of her debut novel! I wish your book and your author journey all the best going forward!We did a small interview together and we had a lot of fun chatting about her book, her experience with publishing and a wonderful piece of advice for all writers that are also working on releasing their very first book.
(This interview has a few spoilers, so beware!)
Now, without further ado, let’s dive right into it!
Nika - Welcome to the interview for your debut book! Just imagine we're in a dramatic interview setting.
Bianca - Of course! Maybe like we’re on set of a TV show or something.
Nika - Exactly! First question of the day: Love Below Zero is your debut novel. How do you feel about having your first novel released soon?
Bianca - I am both nervous and excited. Love Below Zero feels like my book baby, and I’m so happy with the story. I’m trying to have low expectations for this because I’m a new author and no one even knows about me, but I feel like Love Below Zero could be special.
Nika - I feel so too! You're also promoting it really well in my opinion, so I'm sure there will be lots of people finding it. What made you decide to work with an authors pr platform?
Bianca - Well, I knew I needed a little bit of a boost with getting the word out about ARCs, and working with PR companies who already have a solid mailing list really helps. I don’t think I would have gotten even half the ARC signups I did if I just posted about it myself.
Nika - Was it always your dream to become an author?
Bianca - Yes and no. I’ve been writing stories since forever (and subjecting my mother to my terrible stories and grammar) but dreams come and go a little bit. At one point I though I would just never be able to do it. And I had sorta given up. In 2023 I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and had to take some extreme steps to get better. I guess it gave me some perspective, and I just sat down and started writing again.
Nika - That's so beautiful! I'm sorry you had to go through so much struggle, but I'm glad you were able to get closer to your dreams as a result.
Bianca - That’s why I’ll always be grateful to Becky (the FMC of Love Below Zero). She really took my hand and said “let’s work through these issues”.
Nika - I love that! I've loved writing stories since I was young too, then got pretty sick in 2021and had to quit my studies which also brought me back to writing and fulfilling my author dreams. It's insane how things work out.
Bianca - Right? Life changing illness be life changing.
Nika - You say it. It sucks in the moment, but sometimes it leads to wonderful things in the long run. Speaking of wonderful things, you have lots of amazing and fun characters in your book. What was the most fun scene and/or character to write?
Bianca - Ooh good question. There are a couple of scenes I really liked writing. The scene where Becky has to drag James through a snowstorm is one of my favorites.
Nika - Oohh! I remember that one! It was super dramatic and I was literally hunching over like a shrimp in my seat because of the tension.
Bianca - Also the scene in the beginning where she throws up on his shoes. As for characters, Becky was fun to write because she’s sarcastic and snarky, and I found I could just channel my own sarcasm and snark when writing her.
Nika - I love that! There's always a part of the writer in the book and I love how we can move through the story with the characters and work our own personality and thoughts into them.
Bianca - Honestly the whole book was just so damn fun to write.
Nika - That's what makes it a great experience! While we're talking about the most fun thing to write, what was the most difficult thing for you to write in the book? Scene or character wise.
Bianca - The hardest scene for me to write was the scene where Becky and James blow up the kitchen. I knew they were going to blow it up, but the how escaped me. It’s a big scene because it’s the catalyst for their first kiss, and I needed them to really get angry at each other. I was stuck on that scene for over two weeks.
I finally got unstuck when I watched a Tiktok from Dylan Hollis where he baked a war time chocolate cake. The recipe had a lot of shelf stable ingredients, which means it’s realistically things astronauts could take to Mars. And the recipe was also gluten free, which made it perfect for Becky. So after finally having a recipe, I built the scene around that recipe. And the fight and ensuing kiss came naturally.
I remember I was writing and I had just gotten to the build up for the kiss when my aunt and uncle came to pick me up for dinner. Never had I been less excited to go to dinner.
Nika - Such a bummer! Having to wait for them to kiss after you're back must have been really hard.
Bianca - It was the worst.
Nika - Tell me about the dynamic between Rebecca and James. How would you describe their journey to coming together? What trope would you give them?
Bianca - It was a bumpy ride for them. And I’ve seen people say they’re opposites attract, but I think they’re the same. They both care deeply about their work, they’re both a little insecure. They have literally the same character arc. Both of them believed that they were not good enough, and the other person showed them that they are.
Nika - That's so sweet! The isolated setting was one of the best parts of their story. I was so invested when they slowly started getting closer! But why did you pick the Antarctica?
Bianca - Well I’ve always been a little obsessed with Antarctica. I love watching crazy alien conspiracy shows. When I started researching the Mars Analog missions more I found out a lot of them happened in Antarctica. I was also reading a book at the time (Ink Blood Sister Scribe) where one of the main characters was working in Antarctica, so I thought it was fate.
Nika - That makes total sense! In the dome where they stay, there are obviously also other people and I loved all of them. Who is your favourite side character in the book?
Bianca - I think mine is everyone else’s favorite too, Eli. The man has a lot of hidden depth that obviously only I know about, but he was the most fun to write. Jojo and Frances are special to me too, but Eli is the one who keeps nagging me to write him. Maybe someday.
Nika - Absolutely! I would love to read a book about him, so if you ever decide to make one, count me in as a reader.
Bianca - Of course.
Nika - Now I'd love to know about a few more technical things! How was your first experience with editing and marketing and figuring out this side of being an author?
Bianca - Well before this job I actually was a marketing professional, so I wouldn’t call myself an expert but there were a lot of things I already knew how to do. Plus I’ve been in the Bookstagram community since 2018, so I know how things work around here. And for editing I knew I needed to find a professional, so I shopped around until I found one that fit.
Nika - I'm glad that your marketing degree has come in handy! I feel like it really isn't easy to stay on top of everything, so I'm glad you were able to implement your knowledge so well.
Bianca - It’s hard for sure. I try to make things easier for myself by batch creating content, but it’s still a lot of work.
Nika - I try to do that but my focus is only enough to make about two posts at once. Is there any advice in that regard that you'd like to give newer authors or writers who are working on/ planning their own debut?
Bianca - Yes, it’s to do what works for you. Burn out is very real, and being everywhere all at once is not helping anyone. Focus on one platform, the one where your readers most likely is, and put your all into that.
Nika - That's a great piece of advice. I also only have my substack and Instagram and even that's at times a lot to manage with work and energy reserves. It's always good to know your limits and not beat yourself up when you're not as fast as other writers. Also: don't compare your writing journey to someone else's. We're all individual and different in nature, so it's normal not to have the same path to fulfil our dreams.
Bianca - Yes, everyone goes at things at their own pace.
Nika - Exactly! Okay, two more questions and we're done for this interview. I jumped over this one earlier: Love Below Zero is a STEM romance that speaks a lot about the topic of space. Have you been interested in space before?
Bianca - Yes I love space. I am the space nerd. In another life I would have loved to be a physicist, but 16 year old me didn’t think that far ahead.
Nika - I figured. At least you now had the chance to explore it together with your characters in your book.
Bianca - I definitely have more sci-fi works in the pipeline soon, hopefully.
Nika - Alright, on to the last question. Do you have anything else you'd like to mention?
Bianca - Just want to thank you for this interview and your support from the very beginning. It means so much to me.
Nika - Of course! Thank you again for taking the time to chat. I'm glad we found each other and I hope we can find many more amazing writer friends and do more interviews, or beta readings together.
Bianca - Of course. But first we have to stop procrastinating and start writing.
Nika - True!
Second Novel Preview?
Nika - Btw, I'm so curious about your second book already! Do you already know the main premises?
Bianca - It’s vampires! That’s all I can say for now. I’m still tinkering on the plot.
Nika - I'm looking forward to hearing more from it in the future!
You can now get Love Below Zero as a paperback, e-book and on KU on Amazon!
Book Blurb:
As an astronomer, James likes debunking the “science” in science fiction books. As a romance author, Rebecca is more concerned with happy endings than string theory. After a video he made criticising her best selling sci-fi romance book sparked an online feud, the two of them can’t stand to be in the same room together. Still reeling from the writer’s block (and emotional damage) James’ review caused her, she works out her feelings by writing elaborate death scenes for him and vows to never speak to him again.
That is until they’re both selected for an analog Mars mission in Antarctica. They’ll be spending four months locked in a small dome, pretending they’re on another planet. Unfortunately, avoiding someone is extra difficult when you’re stuck on a barren continent and can’t stop daydreaming about kissing them.
These two are about to find out just how quickly hate can defrost into love…
Love Below Zero is an enemies to lovers STEM rom com with forced proximity, banter, lots of nerdy references, no third act break up, and a happily ever after.
This book is for you if you like:
Slow Burn
Dislike to Love
STEM Romance
Forced Proximity
They were dorm-mates
Plus Size FMC
Neurodivergent and Demisexual MMC
Thank you for reading today’s post!
→ If you know someone, or you are also an indie romance author yourself, who is releasing your first (or second, or third) book this year and you’d like to do an interview, leave a comment in the comment section with a short description of your book and your Substack or Instagram page and I’ll get in touch with you!^^
I wish you all a wonderful rest of your week!
Love,
-Nika.^^
 | A guest post by
|
Thank you for chatting with me🥺🥺
As someone who has struggled with multiple autoimmune diseases, I can relate to being drawn back to writing during this time. writing has always provided an escape during those trying times. I’m excited to check out your book! Sounds right up my alley.