When his uncle – Rex Haven, founder of the globally successful Haven Robotics Corporation – is murdered, Steve finds himself the new owner of an artefact called the Reactor and the target of dangerous, unknown villains. With his parents unreachable, Steve joins with his new magical friends to discover the truth about his uncle’s death and in a battle to keep the Reactor out of the hands of those who would use it
for their own evil purposes.
I'm pleased to welcome author Fi Phillips to The Writing Desk:
Tell us about your latest book
My debut novel Haven Wakes was published by Burning Chair in October 2019. It’s a futuristic fantasy novel – think magic and robots – where 12 year old Steve Haven finds himself pulled, or maybe more tripped, into a hidden world of magic.
What is your preferred writing routine?
At the moment, during lockdown and in the process of writing a new novel, mornings are for writing and then, if possible, a little time in the evening too. I generally write on my laptop but if I feel at all stuck or uninspired, I move to writing with a pad and pencil instead. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I don’t think about my writing at other times of the day. This is exactly why I have a pad and pen at my bedside for those falling asleep moments of inspiration.
What advice do you have for new writers?
Write. Get the words down. Until you have something written down, you have no idea if the idea is going to work. You can’t edit a blank page.
Write first for you. What kind of book would you like to read? There’s plenty of time for literary agents, publishers and editors to tell you how your writing can be improved for the market.
Don’t waste anything. If you have to delete a character, scene or plot line from one story, copy and paste it into a file. It may well be useful in another story.
What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?
Consistency. For me that means:
• putting something out on social media most days, e.g. book promo, newsletter sign up, how I’m doing with my work in progress, what’s happening in my life, or new blog posts
• sending out a monthly newsletter
• responding to the posts of others on social media, whether those are writers or readers
I’ve also used StoryOrigin to take part in newsletter swaps and have reached out to book bloggers who are interested in my genre.
What has been the most difficult thing as a newly published author?
By far, the most difficult thing has been getting book reviews on sites such as Amazon, Goodreads and other book outlets.
The kindest thing any reader can do for an author, after buying their book, is to post a worded review if they’ve enjoying reading that book.
Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research
I love learning about developing technology. We have such a wonderful body of ingenious, scientific minds out there working on making our world better, but so many of these discoveries remain on the fringe of the public’s consciousness because the funding just isn’t there, or because they don’t serve the big tech companies.
What was the hardest scene you remember writing?
The hardest scene to write in Haven Wakes has to be the big show-down between our heroes and the villain. I wanted it to be exciting, scary, heart-felt and memorable too. There’s a lot of pressure to get the ending right so that readers will want to find out what happens to our characters in their next adventure.
What are you planning to write next?
I’m currently working on the follow-up novel to Haven Wakes, book two in the Haven Chronicles. It doesn’t have a title yet, but it sees Steve and his magical friends face the consequences of what happened in Haven Wakes and we learn much more about the hidden, magical world. Plus there’s plenty more future tech too.
Fi Phillips
Fi Phillips is an author, playwright and copywriter living in North Wales, just over the border from Chester. For years she worked in an office environment until motherhood and her husband’s career moves pulled her onto a new creative path and turned her dream career into a reality. Find out more at Fi's website http://fiphillipswriter.com/ and find her on Facebook and Twitter @FisWritingHaven
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