What are you working on?
Until very recently, I have
been working diligently on two writing projects! I just finished a novel titled
Healing Rain, and I am also in the
middle of the sequel to my debut novel, The
Visitors. Though they are both young adult fiction novels, they are very
different. Healing Rain is a
realistic contemporary piece about a teen girl starting over in a new town
after a devastating event changed her family and shook her Christian faith. She
is trying to keep her dark past a secret while juggling new friends (and
enemies), new love interest(s), therapy, and fitting in at her new high school.
I actually just received a contract on this story, which I am VERY excited
about, so look for it in the near future! The sequel to the The Visitors (which debuted in
September) is a science fiction piece with romance and action mixed in, but I
can’t give too many details just yet – I wouldn’t want to spoil the end of The Visitors! I’m hoping to have it
finished by the end of this month.
How does your work differ from others in your genre?
I will focus on The Visitors, as this is my debut novel and it’s currently on the
market. I think it will be easier to answer this question if you already know a
little bit about the story, so here is a little blurb about the novel:
Seventeen-year-old Noah
awakes one day to find that dangerous, irrational, self-serving, and
destructive visitors called “humans” are coming to visit his beautiful, perfect
planet. All citizens are ordered to have limited contact and share little
information with these visitors.
Sixteen-year-old Jady
is thrilled to accompany her father and his crew on a trip to a
recently-discovered planet, Verdant. The United States’ crew is hopeful that
they can learn from this advanced yet similar species.
Despite their greatest
efforts to fight it, it doesn’t take long for Jady and Noah to fall in love and
begin a secret affair. But when their relationship is revealed, danger is
created for everyone involved...
Some of the concepts in the
novel – teen romance, forbidden love, and futuristic space travel – are universal,
which people can relate to. The storyline, however, has several unique
features: I have created my own planet, with a dystopian society of people who
look like humans but are very, very different in the way they think and live.
My main characters, Noah and Jady, are young and get swept away in love, but
they’re both incredibly intelligent, brave, and strong in their own ways. I
hope that my readers will fall in love with them the way I have.
How does your writing process work?
I wouldn’t say I have one
magical formula for writing a novel. Writing BC – Before Child – was much
easier! I get an idea, and then create a rough outline for a story in my head.
I develop my main characters, picturing them as I imagine what their
personalities will become. Then, I just start writing. Some days I write more
than others, but I would guess that I average about ten pages a day, on good
days. Of course, with a full-time job and a family, there are many days that I
don’t reach that goal! I have to do most of my writing when my little man is
asleep. You will often find us in my recliner – him sprawled across my lap
asleep, me leaning over him and typing away on my computer. Once I complete a
novel, I usually step away from it for a few weeks. I then go back and read it
again, editing for any mistakes and changing any scenes that feel weak.
Sometimes this means cutting out entire chapters and rewriting them, so the
editing process can take a few weeks as well.
Book &
Author Details:
The Visitors by Katy Newton Naas
Publication date: September 16th 2014
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Publication date: September 16th 2014
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Sometimes soul mates find each
other in unlikely places. But is love worth it if it risks your life?
Seventeen-year-old Noah is
startled when he awakes one day to find that dangerous, irrational,
self-serving, and destructive visitors called “humans” are coming to visit his
beautiful, perfect society. All citizens are ordered to have limited contact
and share minimal information with these visitors.
Sixteen-year-old Jady is
thrilled to accompany her father and his crew on a trip to a
recently-discovered planet, Verdant. The United States’ crew is hopeful that
they can learn from this ad-vanced yet similar species.
Despite their greatest efforts
to fight it, it doesn’t take long for Jady and Noah to fall in love and begin a
secret affair. But when their relationship is revealed, danger is created for
everyone in-volved…
Purchase:
AUTHOR BIO
Katy Newton Naas wears many hats: wife; mother to
her young son, Aven, and her four-legged sons, Shakespeare and Poe; teacher of
middle school reading and high school English; children’s church teacher;
and now – her lifelong dream realized – author. Her debut novel, THE VISITORS,
was released September 16, 2014. She graduated from Southern Illinois
University-Carbondale with a bachelor’s degree in English Education and a
master’s degree in Reading and Language Studies. She resides and teaches
in a small town in southern Illinois.
From a young age, Katy was always an avid reader and writer with a big imagination. She spent much of her childhood searching for ghosts and UFOs to no avail – but she hasn’t given up her hunt just yet. Though she continues to grow older, her true literature love is and has always been young adult fiction. She loves creating both futuristic and realistic stories about teenagers, and feels so fortunate to get to work with them every day as a teacher.
From a young age, Katy was always an avid reader and writer with a big imagination. She spent much of her childhood searching for ghosts and UFOs to no avail – but she hasn’t given up her hunt just yet. Though she continues to grow older, her true literature love is and has always been young adult fiction. She loves creating both futuristic and realistic stories about teenagers, and feels so fortunate to get to work with them every day as a teacher.
Author links:
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