A Site for Teen Writers

Jill Williamson's first book, By Darkness HId, released from Marcher Lord Press earlier this year. It was originally intended to be a Young Adult book. She writes at home with her children and husband.

  Teen Inklings: Who do you relate to more, Achan or Vrell?

  Jill Williamson: Vrell, I think. Vrell is more intense than Achan. She likes to do things properly, if she can. She likes learning new things. She likes order and rules and wants everything to be fair and right in the world. She stresses out too much, too. Gee. That sounds kind of depressing. I think we need to see Vrell's fun side in book two, huh?

  TeenInklings: Where are things on book 2? And what can you tell us about the story?

  Jill Williamson: The rough draft for book two is done, but I have been so busy with marketing and life in general that I didn't have enough time to get it ready for the October release. Therefore book two will come out April 1, 2010.

In To Darkness Fled, Achan, Vrell, and the Old Kingsguard knights travel into Darkness to hide from Esek and to free some of Sir Gavin's Old Kingsguard companions from the prison on Ice Island. Achan needs to learn how to use his bloodvoicing gift properly. And Vrell, who is still in her boy disguise, just wants to get home. But Esek's men are chasing them, so they have a lot to contend with.

  TeenInklings: What was it like working with Jeff Gerke and being published by Marcher Lord Press?

  Jill Williamson: It was fun. Jeff is a really smart editor. He really gets story structure and characters and helped tweak the story to make it better. Marcher Lord Press is a great house. The process was much faster than most traditional houses, which was nice. And the book is beautiful, inside and out.

  TeenInklings: How did you come up with all the names?

  Jill Williamson: Many of the names are Hebrew. Some are Greek. I have a Hebrew/Greek concordance, and when I needed a name for a town or river or creature, I would look up an English word that meant whatever I was going for. Lukos is Greek for wolf and is where Sir Gavin Lukos got his last name. Erets is Hebrew for earth. Allown is Hebrew for oak.

Sometimes I used a theme for a town and came up with a list of possible character names that way. For example, Carmine is Vrell's hometown, and it is a vineyard town. So many of the characters from Carmine are named after things having to do with wine: Pinot, Rioja, Loam, Malbec, Verdot. Berland is a tribal village in a deep forest, so I chose Inupiat names for the Berland people: Attu, Kobuk, Shung, Umiat, Koyukuk. Walden's Watch is a fishing town, so I used names related to the sea: Shoal, Riff, Gil, Aljee. Magos is a pagan village, so I chose Gaelic names. Nesos is tropical, so I used Hawaiian names. Tsaftown is in the frozen north, so I chose Scandinavian names. Allowntown is an orchard town, so I used types of apples for many of the names. I had a lot of fun brainstorming names.

  TeenInklings: Any advice for aspiring writers?

  Jill Williamson: Read a lot and write a lot. Write until you finish a whole book. Finishing a first draft is so important. Then read a book like, Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King, and rewrite your book. Join a critique group and learn the craft of writing. Go to a writer's conference and practice talking to editors and agents about your writing. And once you finish a final draft of a book, write another one!