March 29, 2025 • 52 mins
What if you could transform stress-filled corporate days into successful storytelling? Our guest, Jill Tu, did just that. We talk about her inspiring journey from high-demand corporate jobs to becoming the debut author of "The Dividing Sky," a cozy dystopian romance set in a hyper-capitalist future. Jill's story begins with a pivotal moment of inspiration after watching the movie Divergent, reigniting her passion for storytelling and setting her on a relentless writing journey even while caring for a newborn.
Uncover the creative process behind "The Dividing Sky" and the personal inspirations that shaped its unique premise. Jill contrasts its rapid creation with her first book, which took years to write. She also shares her experience across genres, including her upcoming middle-grade contemporary novel, "Kaya Morgan's Crowning Achievement," which celebrates Black joy and resilience. This episode shines a light on the importance of representation in sci-fi and fantasy spaces and the dynamic world of querying and securing a literary agent.
From winning a contest that provided crucial editorial guidance to the excitement of receiving an offer from her dream agent, Jill’s narrative is filled with perseverance and triumph. We'll walk you through the steps leading up to her book launch, the significance of community recognition, and the excitement of planning for launch events. Jill shares practical tips for crafting compelling characters, managing expectations, and creating resonant endings that leave a lasting impact on readers. Join us for an episode brimming with insights and inspiration for aspiring writers.
Keywords:
afronauts, podcast, debut author, Bestselling Author Tips, Historical Fiction, Crafting Bestsellers, Publishing Industry Insights, Writing Strategies, Author Success Stories, Writing Career Transition, Writing Craft, Narrative Development, Book Marketing Strategies, Creative Writing Techniques, NY Times Bestselling Process, Author Interviews, Book Promotion, Literary Agents, Real Life Experiences, Publishing, Writing Tips
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast
for tips on craftingbest-selling fiction.
Here at Craft Chat Chronicles,we bring you expert interviews,
insights and tips on writing,publishing and marketing.
For workshops, show notes andmore information, visit jdmyall.
(00:25):
com.
J.D. Myall (00:35):
On episode five of Craft Chat Chronicles, we have
debut author Jill Tew.
Jill is host of the Afro Knotspodcast that talks about all
things writing and publishingfrom a Black perspective, and
she is the debut author of thenovel the Dividing Sky.
(00:56):
Again, J jill Tew is host thedebut author of the novel the
Dividing Sky and co-host of .
The Dividing Sky is availablewherever books are sold.
Welcome, jill.
So tell me about yourpublishing journey.
Jill Tew (01:14):
Yeah, let's see.
So I started writing, you know,with a view towards like
finishing a novel at some point,um, uh, I guess about 10 years
ago now.
Wow, yeah, 10 years ago now.
Um, yeah, I, um I loved rightwhen I was in school and I was a
(01:34):
kid and my parents were likegreat, you know, but, um, that's
not gonna pay the bills.
Like, you're good at otherthings that will make money, so
go ahead and do those thingsinstead.
Um, so I went to school and, um,you know, did a lot of like
very like corporate high demand,like startup-y type jobs, um,
but I always felt like there wassomething calling me back to
storytelling, um, and so Iremember, like walking out, I
(01:58):
loved like sci-fi and like thosekinds of stories when I was a
kid and uh, kind of just grewaway from it and didn't have
time and was focused on mycareer, and some coworkers
decided to go see Divergent whenit came out and I was like
great, like sure, like I'll goahead and read the books yet,
but like sounds good, and I wentand like, walking out of that
theater, I was like this is howI want to feel.
(02:19):
Like for the rest of my lifeI've been missing this feeling
for so long.
I want to feel this way again,um, and that night I went home
and I started working on thebook that eventually got me my
agent, like seven or eight yearslater.
So, so, yeah, so I got my agentand then, um, uh, about a year
later, started working on thestory that ended up being my
debut and um, and yeah, and herewe are.
(02:42):
So, yeah, it's been kind of acrazy journey, lots of weird um
turns.
You know, I queried for you knowa couple of years, that book.
Uh, the government agent, um,got a lot of, like full requests
but it wasn't quite hitting onthe promise of the premise and I
ended up being very lucky toget, uh, to win a contest to
have my that manuscript editedby um foe, who's a, I think,
(03:05):
hugo award-winning, now umeditor, who was a tour for a
while and now is at um air one,and um, I worked with her for a
year, I think, on thatmanuscript, um, and ended up
getting an agent.
But, um, yeah, it was a lot of,a lot of um me knowing what I
wanted my story, my writing, tobe and not quite knowing how to
get there and finding people whowere lucky, or I was lucky
(03:27):
enough, um, to take the time totell me everything that was
wrong with what I was doing.
J.D. Myall (03:31):
So, yeah, now um the contest.
Was that a twitter contest orsome other contest?
Jill Tew (03:37):
it was.
It was announced on twitter.
I found it on twitter, um, andbasically you had to.
It wasn't like a pitch contest,so you had to submit your
entire manuscript.
So I was lucky, that was, Ithink it was announced in the
summer of 2020.
I was lucky that I, you know,had the manuscript ready to go,
so by then I probably had likethe last act of my book ready,
(03:58):
like almost finished, when myyoungest was born.
So she was born in October 2019.
And I was like you know what.
I have quit this story so manytimes like I'm not quitting
again, I'm gonna finish it.
And so she was born and I was.
I'm writing every day.
I don't care, like I know, likefourth trimester, like horrible
, like so tired, so exhausted,um, but I would commit to
(04:20):
writing a page every day, 250words every day, like on my
phone under my blanket while shewas like self-soothing or like
I was feeding her.
Um, and I finished, I finally Ityped like the end in, like May
, I want to say 2020.
Um, and it was trash.
It was so bad, I was so tired,um, I was like who wrote the
(04:40):
last few chapters of this book?
It's like, it's like barelylegible, um, but it was finished
and so I was able to at leasthave something to submit when it
came time to submit to thatcontest and I scrambled to kind
of finish revising and like justcleaning up, like literally
just the prose and like just thegobbledygook of that last act,
um, in time for the submissiondeadline.
And I made it.
But I knew, you know still,that it wasn't quite where I
(05:01):
wanted it to be as far as likethe quality of that of that
story.
So I kept revising, you know,as time went on and some friends
of mine had also submitted tothat contest and they, you know,
around like September they gotnotifications of like oh, you
were the third prize, secondplace, second place winner.
You know, here's your kind oflike.
Second prize is like a query,something like that was like oh,
(05:22):
I guess I didn't get it, Ihaven't heard anything, so it's
not on the list at all, um, andthen I got an email from diana
in october.
It was like you won, and I waslike I won like one one um.
And now it's incredible, um,and like you know, it's what I
wanted, right, I I am.
I actually had gotten an offer,um from a very, very, very
junior agent for that manuscriptmanuscript about a month prior
(05:45):
to that.
Who?
was just like you know story'sready to go, like let's, let's
like pick some typos, we'reready to submit it, and I was
like no, we're not, like I cantell you right now that story is
not where I want it to be, andthat difference in vision and a
difference in like standards,honestly was enough for me to
say like thanks but no thanks.
Was enough for me to say likethanks but no thanks.
I don't want to work with you,um, because I was looking for
someone like Diana who was goingto take my manuscript and tear
(06:07):
it apart and say like here'swhere, here's what it could be,
and like give me permission.
I think in some ways, to toreally push myself and and to
take it to, um, a differentplace.
J.D. Myall (06:19):
I love that.
Um, tell me a little bit aboutyour novel, the Divid divided
sky yeah, so this, yeah, thisstory, um, it's funny.
Jill Tew (06:26):
My first book, um, died on submission.
I think I might revisit it.
I've been kind of thinkingabout it a lot lately, but my
first book took me seven oreight years to write.
Uh, the dividing sky took me 90days.
Um, this book was kind of likepoured out of me, um, and
essentially it is, uh, peoplecall it like a cozy dystopian,
which that's impossible, but itis kind of like a cozy,
(06:46):
heartwarming, uh dystopianromance about a girl who uses
her neurochip to illegally dealhappy memories and a handsome
rookie who's determined toarrest her.
Um, and it's set in this worldthat I kind of refer to as um
Jeff Bezos's fever dream.
So you know the founder ofAmazon, um, because it's very
hyper-capitalist.
It's a world in the near future, 24th century, where everybody
(07:11):
works super aggressive hours forthis company that really
controls everything, and youhave the wealthy white-collar
upper-management workers who arejust so busy working that they
don't have time to live life forthemselves, and so what this
company has done to keep themhappy and productive is to have
the lower class people in thissociety become proxies, and so
(07:33):
proxies live different aspectsof the upper class people's
lives for them.
You know they'll raise theirkids, they'll deliver their
groceries and, you know, runerrands for them.
They'll also go on dates ontheir behalf and they will um
look at the sunrise for them,they'll read books for them,
they'll see movies for them, um,and all these things they
upload via neurochip to theirupper clients um brains so that
(07:55):
they will kind of feel like theyhave those experiences
themselves.
And you know, I wrote this at atime when I was doing those kind
of very high um I was.
I thought of this idea when Iwas kind of in those really high
stress, high demand jobs whereI was outsourcing a lot of my
life.
I was outsourcing dog care andlaundry and food delivery and
(08:17):
all the stuff that we thinkabout, and I was never filling
the time that I gained back fromthat outsourcing with
fulfilling things for myself.
I was filling with more workall the time that I gained back
from that outsourcing withfulfilling things for myself.
I was also dealing with morework all the time.
And so I was like, well, likeyou know, let's think about a
future where technology catchesup to that idea.
You could outsource pretty muchanything.
You know at what point wouldsomebody say, like actually, you
(08:37):
know, I'm done with likestriving for efficiency, like I
want to live like a fulfilled,like truly joyful life.
Um, that kind of like was wherethe idea for the story was born
.
J.D. Myall (08:47):
I love that.
I also like that you're asci-fi fantasy nerd, because I
am too.
Yeah, there's not a lot of usyou know it's weird.
Jill Tew (08:54):
I my, um, my middle grade, coming out in April, is
not sci-fi or fantasy, it'scontemporary.
But it is about a girl who, um,loves her local Renaissance
festival.
And I feel like growing up likeblack and like being into that
kind of stuff it was.
It was not common to see uslike represented in those kinds
of spaces.
So it's amazing, you know, tomake it to this point where we
(09:17):
find our community, we find eachother and like realize we've
been here the whole time, maybea little bit more isolated than
we realized.
J.D. Myall (09:23):
So Now, was it your plan to write across genres, or
is that something, that kind ofpublishing?
Jill Tew (09:29):
it really wasn't.
It's so funny because so I, um,my middle grade Kaya Morgan's
crowning achievement wasactually originally a short
story.
There was an anthology calledum Karen Strong, who, um, is an
amazing author.
She had an anthology come outlast January called called cool,
awkward black and it was justabout like looking for stories
um, you know, there were a lotof like published established
authors that were part of that,but they also had an open call
(09:51):
for unagented, um kind of freshvoices, um, just stories of like
awkward blackness of all kinds,whether you know, across genres
, and I came up with this, uh,this renaissance festival story
as a ya story originally.
Just really like thinking aboutback to like my days of growing
up.
My dad was a huge likeRenaissance Festival nerd and
(10:12):
you know how strange it felt tobe like into those things but
also have your blacknessquestioned and like all these
kinds of things kind of bubblingup and having to prove yourself
in all directions, kind of likethe complicated nature of that.
So the YA short story I did notmake it into that anthology and
so I kind of like thecomplicated nature of that.
This is a YA short story, um,and did not make it into that
anthology, um, and so I kind ofjust like put it on the back
burner because, like YAcontemporary short stories, like
there aren't a ton of marketsfor that, like it's like where
(10:33):
do you put that after that?
Um, so it's kind of like liketable.
That is.
I love the story but, like youknow, it is what it is.
Um, and then, uh, in likeNovember of last year 2023, no,
2022, excuse me my agent got anemail from Disney Hyperion,
which was starting a new imprintcalled Freedom Fire, led by
(10:56):
Kwame Mbalia, who wrote theTristan Strong Punches a Hole in
the Sky series, and that wasthey were looking for proposals
and that was they were lookingfor proposals and you know they
were looking for middle gradeprimarily, maybe lower YA,
looking for proposals of, youknow, stories of black joy and
resilience, and I was like Imight have something actually.
So I took that YA short storyand I aged it down.
(11:17):
I was like this actually feelslike it might make more sense as
middle grade, and so I aged itdown and wrote, you know, a
couple of chapters and thesynopsis, you know, because I
had the story in my head soclearly.
From the short story I justkind of fleshed out the full
story and we submitted it inNovember and I think by February
we had the offer, um and soyeah.
So for me it was, it was morejust like a story that like came
(11:37):
out of like my lived experience.
I always thought that I wouldjust be a straight like sci-fi
author, like across maybe acrossage categories.
But I didn't ever think aboutwriting in contemporary which
kind of like happened, which iskind of funny, um.
So now we're into the um, intothe phase we're talking about it
like a book two in my Disneycontract and it's like, well, am
I going to stay in contemporary?
(11:57):
I'm trying to go back to myroots as a sci-fi author and
kind of figure out like whatthat looks like.
J.D. Myall (12:01):
So yeah, it's kind of a funny, just series of
events tell me about um yourquarrying process with um well
in general, and yeah, yeah.
Jill Tew (12:13):
So so I finished that story um that uh, adult is like
an adult, um parallel universestory, which I love dearly, um,
and I uh started querying it inlike june 2020.
It was sort of ready.
I was like, you know, you knowtakes a while for it.
Just to get back to you, I'llthrow some, throw some things
out there super high concept.
So I got a lot of nibblesreally fast and just like that
sounds great, I want to.
And I like, uh, pit mad wasstill a thing.
(12:35):
I don't remember pit mad, solike on, like the twitter pitch
contests, it was really hittingbecause, like, the concept was
super high, um, easy tocommunicate and, um, I would
submit my fulls and just getrejected or just like crickets
for a while.
Um, because, like I really likelooking back on it now that the
story did not deliver on thepremise was fire, the manuscript
did not quite deliver on thatpremise, and so I got to a place
(12:58):
where I had a bunch of fullsout because people were kind of
really interested in the story,and I, um, got that offer from
that junior agent and I this islike a cautionary tale for
authors everywhere Got thatoffer from that agent before I
had even spoken to them.
I emailed everyone that had afull out and I was, like I've
got an offer, like yeah, yeah,yeah, so like you've got two
weeks to respond.
Amazing, the more I sat on it,the more I was like you know, I
(13:21):
don't think I'm going to takethis offer.
I actually think that I'm not umvibing with like the you know
the plan for where we go fromhere.
Uh, just don't feel like it'sthe right move for me, and I,
the the rejection started comingin.
So once you, once you say likeyou've got two weeks, everyone's
like, oh, I don't have time, orlike oh, you've landed
somewhere Great, and so I endedup having no agents.
(13:42):
I turned her down, I ended uphaving no more fulls out because
everyone closed my submissionand I got no feedback, because
they were like oh, you've got anagent, so you don't need my
notes.
So I ended up in this placewhere I was like okay, what am I
going to do?
And so I was looking at likedoing a full overhaul on my own.
You know if I hadn't gotteninto this contest with Diana,
but luckily I did.
(14:03):
So I started querying in 2020,june-ish and then took
everything off of submission toagents in October, when we
started working together.
And then it took me about ayear after that to do the
revisions that Diana recommendedfor me and then my business was
ready to go in October 2021.
(14:23):
That's when I got my offer fromJenna Zantian, who's my agent
now, who's fantastic, and so,yeah, it was just kind of one of
those things where you kind ofhave to go slow to go fast,
where, like knowing thatsomething isn't the right fit
for you and like not not beingso eager to jump the gun and say
, like wait, like agent in hand,perfect, let's do it.
Because I think, had I takenthat offer, you know, I wouldn't
(14:49):
have been eligible for Diana'scontest.
I wouldn't have ended up withan agent who really could work
with me, um, over the longtermof my career.
Um that is very likestrategically oriented and very
editorial, which I love, um, andso all those things were a
better fit for me, um, but ifI'd gone for like the bird in
the hand, then I probably Imight still be, you know, having
things languish on sub honestlynow, how was that first call
(15:09):
with the agent?
J.D. Myall (15:10):
how did that go?
Did she email you first?
Did she just call?
Jill Tew (15:13):
so actually it's really okay.
So this is really funny.
So okay, um.
So as part of the contest,there were a handful of agents
that were like I want to firstread of this manuscript when
it's ready to go.
And Jen was one of them and weactually had like a prior
relationship because oh, youfroze, you're still there, sorry
, but you're still okay.
Um, because she was never she'slike never open to queries,
(15:35):
like she's like so busy and likeher, like her, like, um, inbox
is so full, but if you ever havesomething on her manuscript
wish list then she'll, thenshe'll take you.
And months before my manuscriptwas done actually when I was
still in the early queryingstages she tweeted something
that was I had the craziestdream that I could talk to
myself in another universe.
(15:55):
If you have a book like this, Ireally want to read it.
And my friend texted me at 11o'clock and I was just like Jill
, she's got your book, she wantsa book just like yours.
And so I tweeted'clock and Iwas just like Jill, she's got
your book, like, she wants likea book just like yours.
And so I tweeted her and I waslike I have exactly this, like
can I submit it to you and I did.
She didn't get it to me by thetime I got the end of the
contest, and so I was like, well, you know, I'm going to revise
(16:17):
it anyway, like she's part ofthe like the group of agents
that wants to see it Like mybest work.
And so for a year we paused andthen, um, you know, cut to the
next year when the magazine wasready to go and I had, um I had
also submitted to thisadditional agent outside of the
side of the contest who I knewwas really good and also really
fast at like reading reviews.
(16:37):
It's like I I would love towork with him.
I think he's really great, he'slike getting like so snatching
up really good talent.
I want to make sure I get inthere before he's full, and so I
submitted it to him.
I got an offer and I was likeready to go and I was like so
excited, um, but I wanted togive everyone else the two weeks
, and so I reached out to Jenand I was like I know that
you're slammed, you know twoweeks is like crazy, um, but we
(16:59):
have like a history with thismanuscript, so like if you um,
if you know like I would lovefor you to take some time, if
you can get to it, to like readthis manuscript.
I feel like it's you know,we've kind of bonded on this
over the past year, so, okay,I'll try.
And then the deadline gets likecloser and closer.
It's like, well, it's not goingto happen.
I'm like an early morningwriter, so I got up early to
(17:19):
write.
I remember this was sitting inmy kitchen over my laptop and
she's liked like three of mytweets.
And I was like that'sinteresting.
And then I went to my inbox andthen she was like, can we chat?
And I was like oh my gosh, andso that was really cool.
And then, talking with her, Iwas like this is great.
I think it's hard to at thetime, even still, but at the
(17:41):
time this was like two years agothere were not a lot of agents
who were excited about sci-fi.
Sci-fi was a hard sell in anyage category.
Fantasy, you know, still rulesthe day even today, but at the
time, like there really was nota lot of sci-fi out there and so
it was really awesome to talkto an agent who, like loved it
as much as I did and like reallybelieved in the stories.
It was going to go to bat forthem.
(18:03):
So that was great love that.
J.D. Myall (18:05):
When they like your stuff on social media, that's a
good sign oh yeah yeah, I meanthey're curious about you, which
means they probably liked yourwork.
Yeah exactly.
Jill Tew (18:12):
I was like.
I don't want to like presume,but I feel this is a good thing.
The offer was in my in my inbox.
J.D. Myall (18:17):
Yeah, it was great so how was the submission
process for you?
Jill Tew (18:22):
yeah, so that book that I, that I got that Jen and
I started working together on.
You know, at the time it's sofunny, like the trends and like
you know I haven't even been inthe game that long but like you
see, the trends kind of come andgo.
So at the time, adult sci-fi Ithink it was either super
literary or very like commercialzippy, almost like military
sci-fi, and my book was none ofthose things, and so you know,
(18:46):
we got a lot of feedback.
That was, like you know, jill'sa great writer.
The story felt a little bitfamiliar, or you know, just like
didn't know where to place it.
And so, you know, we were, wewere on top on that one for, you
know, for a year before it waslike, well, I think this isn't
(19:10):
the better version of the story,like now I'm a stronger writer
for it.
So I, you know, I ignored it.
Like while we were on sub, Iwrote the dividing sky and, um,
we went out on sub with that in.
Um, what was that?
I guess it would have beenAugust of 2022.
So, yeah, we were on sub forlike a full year with another
story.
I was like, well, I have thisother book, let's just do this
instead.
So we went on top of 2022.
And that was August and I haddoings, ends and revisions to it
(19:33):
.
And then, six weeks later, wehad an offer which was amazing
From my dream.
In front of it, I was like, ifthere's anyone that I want to
see the story, it's this one,which is Droid Revolution.
And yeah, we had an offer and Iwas like, great, like let's do
it.
So, yeah, that was you know.
So that takes as long as ittakes.
But I was like I paid my dues,like I'm ready for, I'm ready
(19:55):
for it to go well, so so I gotreally lucky.
And then you know, of course,being on submission for Kai
Morgan was, you know, an evenmore different kind of story,
because it was a proposal andthat worked out.
So so yeah, like I think yougotta go to slow, gotta go slow,
to go fast, and I think inpublishing a lot of times, it
(20:15):
can be a lot of nothing, a lotof waiting and then like
everything happens at once.
So so yeah, and how was theeditorial call?
It was good, I mean, it waslong ago, so I'm trying to think
of like what it was.
Like you know, it's funny.
So when I wrote the DividingSky I knew that it was kind of
like strangely halfway betweenlike a true dystopian adventure
and the romance, and I was like,like you know, depending on who
wants to acquire this, I'mgonna have to change things
(20:36):
around, and so joy revolution isa romance imprint and so most
of their notes were.
You know we have some big notesabout the ending and kind of how
big it is and how we can bringthe scale down and make it focus
on the relationship, and I waslike that makes a ton of sense,
and so I knew going in that itwas going to be a lot of work,
um, to make that work.
And I think you know there was alittle bit of a healthy tension
, a good tension, um, between meand brian the unions on, like,
(20:59):
um, the romances of it, withouttaking the teeth out of the
dystopia, right, because youwanted to feel gritty, you
wanted to feel real and havesomething to say, um, but also
swoony and banter and like allthe fun parts of having a
romance, um, and so, um,combining those two things.
I think you know we had, weboth had a lot of good push and
pull and I feel I love where weended up.
The story, the book as it isnow, is like the book of my
(21:22):
dreams.
I love it so much and, yeah, itwouldn't have happened if we
hadn't had like a really healthy, like ongoing dialogue about
you know exactly how to getthere.
J.D. Myall (21:30):
So love that.
Um so the initial.
Did you have an initial callwith the agent after submission?
Jill Tew (21:40):
or after submission.
No, so we just kind of we likewe've gone back and forth on
edits and like on just revisionsand stuff, and then, uh, and
then it was out, yeah.
So then, um, she called me.
Yeah, so I think, uh, it wasfunny she, she was on vacation
and I saw a tweet from Jen thatwas like all I have to do to go
to get a bunch of offers is goon vacation, I guess, and I was
like, oh man, I wish she wastalking about me.
(22:00):
And then, like two hours latershe calls me and she was like we
have an offer.
That was really exciting.
Like the call, you know, fromthe agent to say that someone
wants your work is always like areally magical moment.
J.D. Myall (22:10):
So yeah, yeah, so walk me through how the debut
process went for you.
You're further along thanmyself and some of the other
debuts I've interviewed.
Some of the people are like youknow just at the beginning.
Yeah, so walk me through.
Jill Tew (22:26):
Like what it looks like yeah, I mean, I don't know.
So let's see, I mean, like it's, it depends on everyone's
different.
You know, for me, um, we signedin like november of 2022 and
then I got my first edit letterin january and spent a few
months on that um and then, um,yeah, like most, 2023 was just
(22:47):
mostly on revisions and stuff,and then, by 20, by like the
fall, we were locked for story,like we were like this is the
story, story it's faked Becausethey had to go to launch.
So they did their internallaunch where the editor
basically gets in front of thedifferent publishers.
But at Random House, the editorgets in front of the teams
marketing, publicity, sales, subrights and does the here's the
(23:11):
book and here's the cover andhere's how we're pitching it.
And they talk about putting theof.
Does the like here's the bookand here's the cover and here's
how we're pitching it.
And um, you know, they kind oftalk about, you know, like,
putting the team together tolike do the marketing, all those
things, pick a sales, pick anon sale date, um, and so once
that began to happen, you know,it kind of felt like things were
like my book had been likeacknowledged into, like the
broader, like machine of thing,random house, as opposed to just
like a secret that my editorand I were keeping.
(23:33):
And yeah and like even then,you know you have some like
things are happening behind.
There's like more bustle andhustle and like you're hearing
from people in differentdepartments like random emails
here and there, but it's notlike oh my gosh, this is
happening.
I think you know it happensstep by step.
At that point we're like you'relooking at, this is real, this
(23:54):
is real.
It's like now it's very real.
You know we had the cover revealin February.
That was like a big thing whereit was like okay, like you can
buy it, now it's on sale placesand as a broader, like a bookish
community kind of like becomesmore aware of the book and the
cover is gorgeous.
I mean you can see it there.
But the um love it.
But the cover, I think likethat was a big thing, was like
oh damn, like we're, we're doingthis, like we're releasing a
(24:15):
book.
Um, and you know I was luckyenough to have a lot of like
other debut friends.
We would be like be like Sarahdoesn't mean it.
Like we read other stories alot and a lot of them were like
this book is amazing and I waslike, wow, now everyone else
thinks so too.
Um and um, the coolest thing tome has been having it up on
NetGalley.
So to me I think, going intothis, obviously you think, well,
(24:40):
my pub date is October 8th.
October 8th is when the book'sout in the world.
I think what I wasn't expectingwas how important the
acknowledgement of the bookishcommunity was going to be to me,
such that my book going up onnet galley felt much more like
the book being out in the worldthan like the actual on sale
date.
And so when the book went up onnet galley, that was what, like
(25:02):
a month ago, month and a halfago, um, that was like whoa,
like it's really out there, likeany like people that, like
people that I you know, peoplethat I like identify as like I'm
a bookish person, I havebookish people looking like and
like there's a lot of like umlove for books and storytelling
in the story, like in the book,and so it's like, wow, they
don't like this, like no one'sgonna like this um, and so that
(25:26):
felt really real to me of justlike um, you know, now it can be
like totally and trulyperceived and I do feel like you
know, october 8th is going tobe huge and I and I, um, I and
so when you can pay money forthe book, that's always great um
, so I can keep doing this um.
But in some ways I feel likeit's out there now and it can be
like enjoyed and shared andlike reach people that it needs
(25:48):
to reach um and like find itspeople.
In some way that feels likelike the tangible with the real,
like release to me love that.
J.D. Myall (25:57):
Do you have any plans around launch like?
Jill Tew (26:01):
things are coming together.
I mean, I we're lucky to have areally amazing, um, like YA book
community here in Atlanta luckyto have, um, you know, people
here in bookstores here thatreally support the community,
and so I have a friend who worksat um Brave and Kind in Decatur
, and so we're probably going todo like some sort of event with
them.
Um, you know, it's interesting.
Like I think debuts like and Ilike I will say this, and I mean
(26:22):
, like you know, it's easierstuff than believed, I guess.
But, like you know, I thinkdebuts as a business major, like
I can see how, in the broaderscheme of like publishing being
a business, a debut author islike a hard sell, right.
Like you don't know that thebook's gonna hit, you don't know
anything about this person,like they're not a tried and
(26:43):
like, true, um, like a knownquantity, and so, yes, I know
that, like with my intellectualpart of my brain and also, like
I wrote this book, that is likemy whole heart and I want like
the biggest splash for it.
And, like you know, I thinkdebuts put a lot of pressure on
that.
Like debut month of like oh,I'm gonna travel here, I'm gonna
do this event and I'm gonna gotalk on panels and it's like
well, like maybe not, you know,if anybody wants me, that'd be
(27:06):
great, but I'm trying more andmore as things get closer to
temper expectations and to saylike it's just the first book
and hopefully a long career andyou know it's a great like
introduction to like myself andyou know what I believe and what
I like to say with my stories.
But I'm not, you know, I'm nolonger hoping to be like flown
(27:27):
out, to like to do differentconferences and stuff in that
first month, but I'm going to dosomething here with my
community people that I careabout that have supported me.
And you do something here withmy community um people that I
care about that have supportedme.
And you know I'll probably goto um y'all fest and Charles, I
love y'all fest.
This is so fun in Charleston.
I just go every year for funjust to like see friends, um.
But other than that, like I'llprobably just like chill out and
(27:48):
yeah, like not do too much.
I I do love like what I amlooking forward to and what I've
always loved is like connectingwith people that love the book.
So I want to do like bookstoreevents or like virtual book
clubs and that kind of thing.
I just love talking to peopleabout the book and the ideas and
like I like that about.
Like you know, I love thatabout book books that I love
Right.
So I want to do a lot of that,not to like generate sales, but
(28:09):
just to like connect with people, and so I'm looking forward to
that.
You know, when the books likeofficially out, there'll be more
of that, I hope.
Um, but other than that, yeah,like it's not gonna be a big
like you know, yeah, I think too, you know it's funny like even
that even five or four and ahalf months out now, um, there's
(28:29):
still a lot like in play.
Like I think like publishingstill is very much thinking
about like summer releases rightnow, um, and so a lot could
change.
You know, I think publishingstill is very much thinking
about summer releases right now.
A lot could change.
I think a lot is still comingtogether for the fall and
different panels are puttingtogether, different conferences
are putting together panels.
Who knows where I'll be, whereI'll be asked to go?
For now I'm planning on tryingreally hard to maybe do a big
(28:51):
push on the levers I can movethis summer, but then once
September comes, it's like it'slike studying for the SATs like
the night before.
It's like you either got it oryou don't.
So I'm gonna try to like justrelax, as like October comes
closer, um, and you know, try tojust see what happens for you
(29:11):
have you been to the AAMBCAwards in Atlanta?
J.D. Myall (29:15):
No.
Jill Tew (29:15):
I haven't, but I am going to the Black Writers
Weekend in August.
J.D. Myall (29:22):
Yeah, yeah, okay, the awards is like the last, the
Sunday Okay, of that event andit's kind of like like the
finale of that weekend, okay,and they like last year they
gave, was it, last year theyhonored, was it yeah?
Jill Tew (29:40):
that's right, I saw the pictures.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Are you going to come?
J.D. Myall (29:44):
up.
I usually go when I'm inGeorgia.
Okay, I usually come every year.
I know Tamika, the founder ofthe awards.
Jill Tew (29:52):
Oh cool.
Okay, yeah maybe we can meet up.
J.D. Myall (29:57):
Yeah, definitely Okay.
How about social media?
Do you have any social mediaplans?
Jill Tew (30:04):
So I so I, um, I have found and I do, I do think it's
true.
So I think, you know, peopleput a lot of pressure on
themselves to do TikTok.
I think TikTok is really funny,like I love like making memes
and stuff, like I really justenjoy it, just making an idiot
of myself on social media, andso when I have the energy and
I'm not on deadline, I like todo it and I did, you know,
(30:25):
thought about my deadlines for,you know, future books coming up
and other contracts, kind offront load as much of my writing
as possible this year so that Iwould have like July and August
, let's say, to ramp up onsocial media stuff.
Um, I'm still planning on doingthat.
I think, um, again, it's mostlyfor fun.
I do know that you know TikTokand it's true that, like TikTok
is very much about like instantgratification.
(30:46):
So they're not a big likepre-order crowd, they like to
buy things that are already outwhich is fine.
I'm just gonna have fun with it,um, and maybe raise awareness
for the book.
I think too, with my marketinghat on, I can say that I feel
like TikTok, unlike any othersocial media platform that I've
seen, is the best for what youthink of as top of the funnel.
So reaching people that have noidea who you are.
(31:08):
It can be hard to find thosepeople.
I think you know Instagram andespecially Twitter are like such
echo chambers that can be hardto find people that have like
that might be like totallyoblivious to like your book or
even just you know your genre.
In general, tiktok's reallygood at that, and so I do think
that you know, while it isexhausting and you can burn
yourself out, you know, tryingto like optimize for stuff.
(31:30):
I don't plan on doing that much, but it is.
It is unique in that sense that, like you're trying to find
people that have no idea who youare and introduce you for the
first time, like it's it's it'sa pretty good medium for that.
J.D. Myall (31:46):
Love that, love that .
What do you think was yourbiggest learning experience
throughout this debut year?
Jill Tew (31:54):
Huh, I mean, I'm still having them.
So to date, I don't know, todate I probably would say I
think, like I mean I knew thiswith my head, I think, going in,
but I think I like feel it morewith my heart now, which is
(32:15):
like how important it is like toyour like mental sanity and
just like being able topersevere in this, to just be a
realist, I think like it isgreat to hope and like we're all
here writing books becausewe're a little bit delusional
and that's great, like we needthat to create more stories.
But you know, like the odds arelike 99 to one that you're not
(32:37):
going to be a breakout, right,like it's just like it doesn't,
it doesn't, it doesn't, itdoesn't happen that way.
And the reason we love thosestories is because they are so
rare and it's amazing, I think,to think of.
Like you know, but what if it'sme?
And that's great.
The closer things get, I think,the most, the more important it
is to think of like the mostlikely good scenario.
(32:57):
Right, like most likely goodscenario is like you will
connect with readers and maybebooksellers that love what you
do and, excited for your nextthing, you will build a
readership.
You will, you know, love whatyou do and excited for your next
thing.
You will build a readership.
You will, you know, brick bybrick, build this like really
stable, um, enthusiasticreadership and fan base.
Like that sounds great.
Um, and I am like trying moreand more to ground myself in
(33:18):
that right that I want this bookto find its people.
Not that I want to be likechosen for some crazy book club
or whatever.
Um you know, because like thatdoesn't, like I can't control
that and I can't, I can'tcontrol like most of it, but
like the odds are that that'snot going to happen, like for a
debut, just like the slim, likethe odds are just slim to none.
Um, so I'd rather spend my timethinking about like reaching
those people and like writingthe next book for those people
(33:41):
than like waiting for somerandom, like dream come true one
in a million email to hit myinbox because the driver's a
little crazy very true, verytrue.
J.D. Myall (33:49):
That's a good outlook to have.
Okay, let's move on to a fewcraft tips.
Writers, who'd love to be inyour shoes.
Um, how do you master voice andmaking each character's voice
distinct?
Jill Tew (34:05):
master voice.
Yeah, I, I don't know if I'vemastered voice.
I, I love you know it's funny.
I'm a big um audiobook listenerand sometimes I'm getting into
a new age category.
Let's switch in betweenprojects, right?
So I'm going from whitedystopia to middle grade
contemporary, where she's like ablack girl's urban atlanta very
different book.
Um, I will listen to like a fewchapters of an audiobook.
(34:26):
Like, in that space, to be likethis is what it literally sounds
like, to like have thecharacter and I, you know, I
usually write first person, soit's easy for me to be like, you
know, I, et cetera, et cetera,like put myself in the
character's actual shoes andheadspace, and so that's a
really helpful tip for me tojust like quickly get back in
the zone.
And, yeah, when I'm writing, Ithink I do, you know, feel like
(34:48):
somebody's talking to me, right,I do feel that I'm having a
conversation with this personabout what's going on and the
you know, the jokes and the likereferences to like things that
happened earlier in the book.
It feels like, you know, it wassomeone's lived experience and
so it kind of helps me to feelgrounded in this sense of
reality.
Right, I think you know yourvoice and your world building
(35:09):
really go hand in hand, right?
The jokes, the asides, thethings your character notices
that they all have to be part ofyour world, and so they kind of
inform each other.
You know, for the Binding Sky,that book is dual POV and so you
have two different voices thatare kind of going back and forth
and they're kind of fromdifferent kind of experiences in
this world, and so, you know,changing what they notice,
(35:31):
changing what's important tothem, changing you know how they
think that their friends orco-workers would react if they
were, if they knew what wasgoing on with their heads, right
?
Um, all those things had to bedifferent and distinct and, um,
you know, it's always fun whenyou have dual pov in a romance
because you know they're neveron the same page until the very
end, and so you can play a lotwith that, like what one person
knows and feels and what theother person knows and feels,
(35:52):
and creates a really fun tensionthat way too.
So, yeah, I think you know, forme it's just keeping it
conversational, you know,keeping it, keeping it like
relevant to like that realperson, right, and really trying
to like put myself in theirshoes and think about, um, you
know, a real person in front ofme telling me what, what is
(36:14):
happening to them in the momentlove that.
J.D. Myall (36:18):
How do you hook a reader in the early pages of the
book?
Jill Tew (36:22):
um, yeah, I think I've gotten better at this.
I think, think you know, I Inever had the issue of, like she
woke up one day and the skyoutside was gray, I just like I
always look, I think what's thewhat's the?
What is the most importantthing I want you to know about
my character?
Maybe, maybe the three mostimportant things, right, Whether
(36:51):
it's the world or like's goingon in there, like for the plot,
right, whatever those threethings are for, like that
opening chapter, my goal is toprove it to you.
So if I say that, like, I wantyou to know that my character is
, uh, you know, compassionate,or like you know, hunger games,
right, so, like they want you to, like suzanne collins wants you
to know that, like katnisscares about her sister, um, she
doesn't say, like my name isKatniss and I care a lot about
my sister, um, she shows you,right the first thing she does
when Katniss wakes up and shereaches for Prim, right, um, she
(37:13):
thinks about Prim all the time.
She tells you that, like, shehates animals and hates cats, um
, but she kept the cat alive forPrim, right, um, those things
are, um, hooking the readerbecause they give you, like, a,
an actual character to root for.
Like you care, like you're like,oh, this character is really
hard, but you're like that'sinteresting to me, but it also
doesn't just like lay everythingout for you.
(37:35):
It has to.
It kind of pulls you in.
You feel you're getting to knowKatniss, or or you know my
character, liv.
Um, by what I'm showing you,just like you would a real
person, as opposed to just like.
This is how I feel about thisthing.
Right, because that's likethat's not interesting.
Like if somebody met you atlike a dinner party and they're
just like here's what I thinkabout.
You know about, I don't know,gardening.
You're like, okay, well, that'skind of interesting.
They're like, oh, I was out inthe garden the other day and I
(37:56):
noticed the way the sun washitting the flowers, etc.
Etc.
You're like, oh, that'sinteresting.
This person really like caresand notices things and has
attention to detail.
Um, that's much more intriguingthan just like on the nose,
like telling you bit by bit youknow about their life.
So, um, so yeah, I think likeit's the same as any
relationship really.
Um, these kind of show facetsthat suggest a hidden depth and
(38:20):
um kind of pull the reader intothe story and how about the
middle?
J.D. Myall (38:26):
how do you avoid the saggy middle?
How do you get?
Oh man, if anybody has?
Jill Tew (38:30):
tips out there.
I'm all like, my, my dms areopen.
Uh, the middle, I think, um,for me, like, I am a plotter and
so I do think in terms of likeoutlines and that kind of stuff,
um and like, for me, you know,each act is characterized by
like a change in goal of somekind, and so, um, the key is
just to make sure that that thatsecond act goal is like really
(38:50):
juicy and worth worth strivingfor, right, um, you know, I've
heard of like try, fail, cycles,right.
So if they have that goal,showing them like, trying to
like achieve it in like two orthree different ways and then,
like, you know, ultimately youknow, getting there, I think all
those things would be reallyhelpful.
Um, I think, like, in some ways,I mean, you know, like,
honestly, like in some ways, youdo have a little bit of room to
(39:11):
be a little bit soggy in themiddle, um, because you're, by
then your character, or yourreaders, invested in your
characters, um, and you can playaround a little bit with like
more banter or more like quietrelationship building moments or
whatever Um, cause, those partsare good too, um, it doesn't
all have to be like, be like, go, go, go as far as the plot is
concerned, um, but it needs tobe.
I think, what I, what I, when Iread a book and I feel like the
(39:31):
middle is dragging, so I feelthe characters have forgotten
what they're doing, like whywe're doing this right, and so I
think the key to that is havinga really compelling goal that
the characters are reallystriving for, um, even in the
midst of whatever else you wantto put in there to kind of um,
to beef up the story now.
J.D. Myall (39:49):
Your story also has a strong romantic subplot.
Can you give any tips or tricksto helping people get a good
romance?
Jill Tew (40:01):
yeah, I mean, I would say that the romance is the plot
.
Everything else is a subplotfor my book.
So I think, um, yeah, I thinkyou know, it's always good to
have some tense dynamic.
You know, I think, um, you know, I feel like you know I'm
cheating a little bit becauseI'm doing it in like a
speculative sense where you canmake up, like you know, the, the
stakes of the world are suchthat like they could never be
together because they're likeyou know, they're like enemies.
(40:22):
Right, like in real, you knowreal situations.
You rarely have that like levelof like tension and dynamic.
So, like, I feel likecontemporary rom-com authors are
really the masters of creatingtension where it's like, oh, is
that really that big of a deal?
But you're like, yes, this is ahuge deal, they cannot possibly
be together.
Um, in my book it's easy to belike their enemies because you
know there's some evil overlordor whatever, whatever, um, but
(40:45):
yeah, I think you know, know, I,I love, um, I love dual POV
romance in particular, becauseyou can get inside of the
character's heads and play withthat.
You know who's falling first,who has all the information, who
maybe doesn't want the otherperson to know how they're
feeling.
Um, you know, put yourcharacters through the ringer
(41:05):
and just like, have it be.
Just like this, like theseultimate moments like push and
pull, like almost on the samepage but not quite.
I love playing with that likedramatic irony of the reader
knowing you know that, like oneperson's keeping a secret from
the other one, the other personbeing like I would trust him,
like over a cliff.
It's like you shouldn't do thatbecause he's lying to you.
Those are, those are alwaysreally fun moments.
And yeah, um and yeah, I don'tknow.
(41:30):
I mean, I think you know likeit's, it's like any, any sort of
relationship dynamic.
You got to prove it.
Um, I am not a fan of likeinsta love as a trope.
Like, don't come for me.
I don't love insta love becauseI like to see the chemistry.
I like to see um.
I like to see, I like to seepeople realize that they're
right for each other.
I like to see um and it's likeI want to see it played out.
I I saw on threads there waslike a thread months ago from a
(41:51):
romance author I don't know ifyou remember who it was but she
was saying you know, she's alsolike a, you know, qualified,
like academic, like in her otherlife, and she was like and I
write romance, right, I'm notyou romance, I am like laying
the groundwork to state a casethat like two people belong
together, right, and so, like,over the course of the book,
(42:13):
what you're doing is you'relaying the groundwork.
You're saying, like this person, you know the way they fit
together, the way they interact,the way that they solve
problems together or don't,makes them the right fit for
each other, and you have to kindof lay out your argument to
your reader to be like thesepeople belong together and at
the end of the day, you eitherbelieve it or you don't.
But I feel like that's, you know, what makes a good romance is
like, I think, one of myfavorite books from last year
(42:35):
last year, yeah, it was lastyear, kate Goldbeck's you.
Again.
It's kind of like a Harrietwhen Harriet and Sally retelling
.
It's a great movie and thecharacters in there are
quote-unquote textbook unlikablecharacters, but they are so
right for each other.
You're like you idiots deserveeach other.
I hate you both, but I cannotdeny that you work together and
(42:57):
I think that's such a goodromance because it's not
inserting myself.
I don't like this but theromance works so well because
they are.
They are like interlockingparts of, like a lock, um, you
know they're, they're like,they're selfish and they're, you
know all like they're, they'reblunt and all these things that
they don't like.
They're not like classicprotagonists but they.
(43:18):
The romance works because theyfit together well, um, and that
is what I think makes a goodromance.
Not that you like want to likedate the boy or whatever it is
like book, boyfriend et cetera,but that like you can see why
those two people make sense foreach other.
J.D. Myall (43:34):
Love that, and how?
About the conclusion?
What tips do you have for asatisfying conclusion?
Jill Tew (43:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's funny.
Like we say, the good storiesresonate, right.
That's a word we hear a lot,like it resonates with me and
like that language and thatmetaphor, I think is is common
for a reason.
Um, you know, I think that, um,you know when, when a story is
done right, especially at theending.
The ending is the hardest part,um, because it has to echo all
(44:03):
those things that camethroughout the story before.
And so you know, I think thatif, if you, if you set up the
right that's what the storyright, the ending should be
inevitable.
If you haven't laid yourgroundwork, then the ending can
feel kind of rushed or like notwell thought out right, but it
should be like, oh, like it'slike a chord resolving right, it
feels like oh yes, of coursethis is the end of this work,
like it just like pullseverything together and like
(44:24):
fits it thematically.
You know, I think the key is toknow what you're trying to say
from the beginning and likeinterweave those parts
throughout and you know the whendone right.
You know, I think the right,the right story, the right
ending will kind of just ringlike a bell, the way that like
things resonate right andhopefully it strikes a chord in
(44:44):
the reader as well.
J.D. Myall (44:48):
Love that.
Um, what would you like to tellus that I haven't already asked
you?
Jill Tew (44:56):
Oh man, I don't know, um, yeah, I think so, I think
it's.
I mean it's trite, but I thinkit's true.
Which is like, yeah, I think so, I think it's, I mean it's
(45:24):
trite, but I think it's true.
Which is like, you know, people, people tend to assume that
like making or like supporting,supporting authors is out here.
You know, um, for like, anylike, what?
Like enduring stretch of time,especially a marginalized debut,
and so I would just say, likeyou know, if you think about the
books that you've loved andread over the past few years, or
even like this past year debuts, especially like, if you could
do us a solid and shout extraloud, it makes a huge difference
(45:45):
because, like, we're fightingupstream, like for all of this
right, like it's, like the, themachine is such, I think more
and more publishing doesn't wantto take risks on new quantities
, that they want to.
They want to back the like,tested, like the like, kind of
like tried and true, likeveteran authors and like, I get
it again, like they're makingmoney.
But don't just assume thatbecause you, you know, because
(46:08):
you like know, because you likeheart a story on instagram or
twitter or whatever, though thatauthor is going to be here
tomorrow.
Um, you really have to show upfor us and we're trying, um, but
it's, but it's really hard,like it's.
It's surprisingly hard behindthe scenes to be able to make a
case, um, for for yourself andyour books, like it.
like we're out here writingstories and you know, you see us
posting all the glamorousmoments, but it is surprisingly
(46:29):
hard to fight against thepublishing status quo, um to
establish a space for ourselvesand our stories.
So, um, help us out, help usout and, uh, you know, really,
really shout, shout loud.
J.D. Myall (46:42):
I love that.
Um, how long did it take you toget your check?
I've heard everywhere from sixto nine months yeah, let's see.
Jill Tew (46:50):
So I, we, we did like the deal number in november.
I think we.
It did take a while.
Um, it was about it was aboutnine months, yeah, well, for
disney.
It was a for penguin randomhouse.
It was about, yeah, sevenmonths, eight months, yeah, yeah
, that's right.
J.D. Myall (47:09):
That's right, yeah, by then, there's no other job
that you work seven months andthen get paid.
Jill Tew (47:17):
Yeah, and I know authors that won't write a word
until they get paid.
And I I get that because it'slike what am I?
supposed to do and it doesn'tmake it go any faster,
unfortunately, but then we'd alldo it, um, but but yeah, like
it is, it is wild to like we'redoing all this for free.
I know people that have likeannounced books with no contract
signed, like it's, like it's Idon't know, it's crazy.
Disney won't pay anything orwon't like they won't announce
(47:40):
anything until the contractsigned either.
So like we barely we like wesigned that deal February 2023.
Yeah, and we just announced it,like in March, so it's been
like 13 months.
J.D. Myall (47:53):
And what's your Disney project?
Ip?
Jill Tew (47:56):
No that was my short story, yeah, so that was just
based on yeah, yeah, okay.
J.D. Myall (48:00):
Yeah, that's awesome .
So how have you been buildingyour writer community in Atlanta
or online?
Yeah, I go to a lot of events,which has been great.
Jill Tew (48:10):
Like there's like the local bookstores who do a bunch
of different, you know, launchevents and things like that.
I we just did the DecaturChildren's Book Festival here a
couple weeks ago and I for that,I, I, you know, my book is not
out yet, so I was like I'm notgoing to be on a panel.
But I emailed the booksellerwho was organizing it and I was
like I can moderate, I'm good atmoderating, I can ask questions
.
And she was like, oh, thank god.
Um, so she put me on for a fewdifferent events, which was
(48:32):
great, um, so I just like makemyself useful.
You know, I liked I love story.
J.D. Myall (48:36):
I can't believe this is my job, um, and so I'll
always I'll always look foropportunity to talk story with
people are there any tools umthat you found useful or that
helped you in the writingprocess or in your marketing
materials or anything?
Jill Tew (48:48):
Uh, Canva, basically you know nothing, nothing super
fancy, Um, and then I useScrivener for writing.
I like Scrivener a lot.
Um, I have never used Scrivener.
Yeah, I like it a lot.
I um, I think, um, I need toleave in a off um, but um, it's
nice that you can rearrangethings.
I'm gonna do it by scene, byscene.
(49:10):
So if I want to rearrangesomething, it's like drag and
drop as opposed to like I'mgonna start at the end of the
scene, like moving it around.
So I like it, have you evertried auto print?
J.D. Myall (49:19):
no, I've heard of it , though I like it.
When I have a scene I can'tfigure out, I paste it in there
and it'll like give you acritique oh, interesting,
interesting, huh, okay, that'scool, I'll look that up.
That's super interesting.
Where can?
Jill Tew (49:35):
people reach out to you.
So I'm on TikTok.
Sorry, I'm on Twitter andInstagram at J2Writes, so
J-T-E-W-Writes, and then I'm onTikTok at Jill2.
All one word.
J.D. Myall (49:48):
Yeah, that's me.
Awesome, awesome.
I'm excited for you and thiscomes out in October.
Do you have a date yet?
October 8th, october 8th Okay,that'd be great.
Jill Tew (49:57):
Thank you so much, jd, I really appreciate it, and
yeah, as you're getting closer,do you have a season yet?
Do you know when your book'scoming out Roughly?
That wraps up today's Craft ChatChronicles with JD Meyer.
Thanks for joining us.
If you liked the episode,please comment, subscribe and
share.
For show notes, writingworkshops and tips, head to
(50:21):
jdmecom.
That's jdmeyercom.
While you're there, join JD''smailing list for updates,
giveaways and more.
J.D. Myall (50:33):
I appreciate your time.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
This is great.
Thank you, bye, bye, thank you.
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast
for tips on craftingbest-selling fiction.
Here at Craft Chat Chronicles,we bring you expert interviews,
insights and tips on writing,publishing and marketing.
For workshops, show notes andmore information, visit jdmyall.
(00:25):
com.
J.D. Myall (00:35):
On episode five of Craft Chat Chronicles, we have
debut author Jill Tew.
Jill is host of the Afro Knotspodcast that talks about all
things writing and publishingfrom a Black perspective, and
she is the debut author of thenovel the Dividing Sky.
(00:56):
Again, J jill Tew is host thedebut author of the novel the
Dividing Sky and co-host of .
The Dividing Sky is availablewherever books are sold.
Welcome, jill.
So tell me about yourpublishing journey.
Jill Tew (01:14):
Yeah, let's see.
So I started writing, you know,with a view towards like
finishing a novel at some point,um, uh, I guess about 10 years
ago now.
Wow, yeah, 10 years ago now.
Um, yeah, I, um I loved rightwhen I was in school and I was a
(01:34):
kid and my parents were likegreat, you know, but, um, that's
not gonna pay the bills.
Like, you're good at otherthings that will make money, so
go ahead and do those thingsinstead.
Um, so I went to school and, um,you know, did a lot of like
very like corporate high demand,like startup-y type jobs, um,
but I always felt like there wassomething calling me back to
storytelling, um, and so Iremember, like walking out, I
(01:58):
loved like sci-fi and like thosekinds of stories when I was a
kid and uh, kind of just grewaway from it and didn't have
time and was focused on mycareer, and some coworkers
decided to go see Divergent whenit came out and I was like
great, like sure, like I'll goahead and read the books yet,
but like sounds good, and I wentand like, walking out of that
theater, I was like this is howI want to feel.
(02:19):
Like for the rest of my lifeI've been missing this feeling
for so long.
I want to feel this way again,um, and that night I went home
and I started working on thebook that eventually got me my
agent, like seven or eight yearslater.
So, so, yeah, so I got my agentand then, um, uh, about a year
later, started working on thestory that ended up being my
debut and um, and yeah, and herewe are.
(02:42):
So, yeah, it's been kind of acrazy journey, lots of weird um
turns.
You know, I queried for you knowa couple of years, that book.
Uh, the government agent, um,got a lot of, like full requests
but it wasn't quite hitting onthe promise of the premise and I
ended up being very lucky toget, uh, to win a contest to
have my that manuscript editedby um foe, who's a, I think,
(03:05):
hugo award-winning, now umeditor, who was a tour for a
while and now is at um air one,and um, I worked with her for a
year, I think, on thatmanuscript, um, and ended up
getting an agent.
But, um, yeah, it was a lot of,a lot of um me knowing what I
wanted my story, my writing, tobe and not quite knowing how to
get there and finding people whowere lucky, or I was lucky
(03:27):
enough, um, to take the time totell me everything that was
wrong with what I was doing.
J.D. Myall (03:31):
So, yeah, now um the contest.
Was that a twitter contest orsome other contest?
Jill Tew (03:37):
it was.
It was announced on twitter.
I found it on twitter, um, andbasically you had to.
It wasn't like a pitch contest,so you had to submit your
entire manuscript.
So I was lucky, that was, Ithink it was announced in the
summer of 2020.
I was lucky that I, you know,had the manuscript ready to go,
so by then I probably had likethe last act of my book ready,
(03:58):
like almost finished, when myyoungest was born.
So she was born in October 2019.
And I was like you know what.
I have quit this story so manytimes like I'm not quitting
again, I'm gonna finish it.
And so she was born and I was.
I'm writing every day.
I don't care, like I know, likefourth trimester, like horrible
, like so tired, so exhausted,um, but I would commit to
(04:20):
writing a page every day, 250words every day, like on my
phone under my blanket while shewas like self-soothing or like
I was feeding her.
Um, and I finished, I finally Ityped like the end in, like May
, I want to say 2020.
Um, and it was trash.
It was so bad, I was so tired,um, I was like who wrote the
(04:40):
last few chapters of this book?
It's like, it's like barelylegible, um, but it was finished
and so I was able to at leasthave something to submit when it
came time to submit to thatcontest and I scrambled to kind
of finish revising and like justcleaning up, like literally
just the prose and like just thegobbledygook of that last act,
um, in time for the submissiondeadline.
And I made it.
But I knew, you know still,that it wasn't quite where I
(05:01):
wanted it to be as far as likethe quality of that of that
story.
So I kept revising, you know,as time went on and some friends
of mine had also submitted tothat contest and they, you know,
around like September they gotnotifications of like oh, you
were the third prize, secondplace, second place winner.
You know, here's your kind oflike.
Second prize is like a query,something like that was like oh,
(05:22):
I guess I didn't get it, Ihaven't heard anything, so it's
not on the list at all, um, andthen I got an email from diana
in october.
It was like you won, and I waslike I won like one one um.
And now it's incredible, um,and like you know, it's what I
wanted, right, I I am.
I actually had gotten an offer,um from a very, very, very
junior agent for that manuscriptmanuscript about a month prior
(05:45):
to that.
Who?
was just like you know story'sready to go, like let's, let's
like pick some typos, we'reready to submit it, and I was
like no, we're not, like I cantell you right now that story is
not where I want it to be, andthat difference in vision and a
difference in like standards,honestly was enough for me to
say like thanks but no thanks.
Was enough for me to say likethanks but no thanks.
I don't want to work with you,um, because I was looking for
someone like Diana who was goingto take my manuscript and tear
(06:07):
it apart and say like here'swhere, here's what it could be,
and like give me permission.
I think in some ways, to toreally push myself and and to
take it to, um, a differentplace.
J.D. Myall (06:19):
I love that.
Um, tell me a little bit aboutyour novel, the Divid divided
sky yeah, so this, yeah, thisstory, um, it's funny.
Jill Tew (06:26):
My first book, um, died on submission.
I think I might revisit it.
I've been kind of thinkingabout it a lot lately, but my
first book took me seven oreight years to write.
Uh, the dividing sky took me 90days.
Um, this book was kind of likepoured out of me, um, and
essentially it is, uh, peoplecall it like a cozy dystopian,
which that's impossible, but itis kind of like a cozy,
(06:46):
heartwarming, uh dystopianromance about a girl who uses
her neurochip to illegally dealhappy memories and a handsome
rookie who's determined toarrest her.
Um, and it's set in this worldthat I kind of refer to as um
Jeff Bezos's fever dream.
So you know the founder ofAmazon, um, because it's very
hyper-capitalist.
It's a world in the near future, 24th century, where everybody
(07:11):
works super aggressive hours forthis company that really
controls everything, and youhave the wealthy white-collar
upper-management workers who arejust so busy working that they
don't have time to live life forthemselves, and so what this
company has done to keep themhappy and productive is to have
the lower class people in thissociety become proxies, and so
(07:33):
proxies live different aspectsof the upper class people's
lives for them.
You know they'll raise theirkids, they'll deliver their
groceries and, you know, runerrands for them.
They'll also go on dates ontheir behalf and they will um
look at the sunrise for them,they'll read books for them,
they'll see movies for them, um,and all these things they
upload via neurochip to theirupper clients um brains so that
(07:55):
they will kind of feel like theyhave those experiences
themselves.
And you know, I wrote this at atime when I was doing those kind
of very high um I was.
I thought of this idea when Iwas kind of in those really high
stress, high demand jobs whereI was outsourcing a lot of my
life.
I was outsourcing dog care andlaundry and food delivery and
(08:17):
all the stuff that we thinkabout, and I was never filling
the time that I gained back fromthat outsourcing with
fulfilling things for myself.
I was filling with more workall the time that I gained back
from that outsourcing withfulfilling things for myself.
I was also dealing with morework all the time.
And so I was like, well, likeyou know, let's think about a
future where technology catchesup to that idea.
You could outsource pretty muchanything.
You know at what point wouldsomebody say, like actually, you
(08:37):
know, I'm done with likestriving for efficiency, like I
want to live like a fulfilled,like truly joyful life.
Um, that kind of like was wherethe idea for the story was born
.
J.D. Myall (08:47):
I love that.
I also like that you're asci-fi fantasy nerd, because I
am too.
Yeah, there's not a lot of usyou know it's weird.
Jill Tew (08:54):
I my, um, my middle grade, coming out in April, is
not sci-fi or fantasy, it'scontemporary.
But it is about a girl who, um,loves her local Renaissance
festival.
And I feel like growing up likeblack and like being into that
kind of stuff it was.
It was not common to see uslike represented in those kinds
of spaces.
So it's amazing, you know, tomake it to this point where we
(09:17):
find our community, we find eachother and like realize we've
been here the whole time, maybea little bit more isolated than
we realized.
J.D. Myall (09:23):
So Now, was it your plan to write across genres, or
is that something, that kind ofpublishing?
Jill Tew (09:29):
it really wasn't.
It's so funny because so I, um,my middle grade Kaya Morgan's
crowning achievement wasactually originally a short
story.
There was an anthology calledum Karen Strong, who, um, is an
amazing author.
She had an anthology come outlast January called called cool,
awkward black and it was justabout like looking for stories
um, you know, there were a lotof like published established
authors that were part of that,but they also had an open call
(09:51):
for unagented, um kind of freshvoices, um, just stories of like
awkward blackness of all kinds,whether you know, across genres
, and I came up with this, uh,this renaissance festival story
as a ya story originally.
Just really like thinking aboutback to like my days of growing
up.
My dad was a huge likeRenaissance Festival nerd and
(10:12):
you know how strange it felt tobe like into those things but
also have your blacknessquestioned and like all these
kinds of things kind of bubblingup and having to prove yourself
in all directions, kind of likethe complicated nature of that.
So the YA short story I did notmake it into that anthology and
so I kind of like thecomplicated nature of that.
This is a YA short story, um,and did not make it into that
anthology, um, and so I kind ofjust like put it on the back
burner because, like YAcontemporary short stories, like
there aren't a ton of marketsfor that, like it's like where
(10:33):
do you put that after that?
Um, so it's kind of like liketable.
That is.
I love the story but, like youknow, it is what it is.
Um, and then, uh, in likeNovember of last year 2023, no,
2022, excuse me my agent got anemail from Disney Hyperion,
which was starting a new imprintcalled Freedom Fire, led by
(10:56):
Kwame Mbalia, who wrote theTristan Strong Punches a Hole in
the Sky series, and that wasthey were looking for proposals
and that was they were lookingfor proposals and you know they
were looking for middle gradeprimarily, maybe lower YA,
looking for proposals of, youknow, stories of black joy and
resilience, and I was like Imight have something actually.
So I took that YA short storyand I aged it down.
(11:17):
I was like this actually feelslike it might make more sense as
middle grade, and so I aged itdown and wrote, you know, a
couple of chapters and thesynopsis, you know, because I
had the story in my head soclearly.
From the short story I justkind of fleshed out the full
story and we submitted it inNovember and I think by February
we had the offer, um and soyeah.
So for me it was, it was morejust like a story that like came
(11:37):
out of like my lived experience.
I always thought that I wouldjust be a straight like sci-fi
author, like across maybe acrossage categories.
But I didn't ever think aboutwriting in contemporary which
kind of like happened, which iskind of funny, um.
So now we're into the um, intothe phase we're talking about it
like a book two in my Disneycontract and it's like, well, am
I going to stay in contemporary?
(11:57):
I'm trying to go back to myroots as a sci-fi author and
kind of figure out like whatthat looks like.
J.D. Myall (12:01):
So yeah, it's kind of a funny, just series of
events tell me about um yourquarrying process with um well
in general, and yeah, yeah.
Jill Tew (12:13):
So so I finished that story um that uh, adult is like
an adult, um parallel universestory, which I love dearly, um,
and I uh started querying it inlike june 2020.
It was sort of ready.
I was like, you know, you knowtakes a while for it.
Just to get back to you, I'llthrow some, throw some things
out there super high concept.
So I got a lot of nibblesreally fast and just like that
sounds great, I want to.
And I like, uh, pit mad wasstill a thing.
(12:35):
I don't remember pit mad, solike on, like the twitter pitch
contests, it was really hittingbecause, like, the concept was
super high, um, easy tocommunicate and, um, I would
submit my fulls and just getrejected or just like crickets
for a while.
Um, because, like I really likelooking back on it now that the
story did not deliver on thepremise was fire, the manuscript
did not quite deliver on thatpremise, and so I got to a place
(12:58):
where I had a bunch of fullsout because people were kind of
really interested in the story,and I, um, got that offer from
that junior agent and I this islike a cautionary tale for
authors everywhere Got thatoffer from that agent before I
had even spoken to them.
I emailed everyone that had afull out and I was, like I've
got an offer, like yeah, yeah,yeah, so like you've got two
weeks to respond.
Amazing, the more I sat on it,the more I was like you know, I
(13:21):
don't think I'm going to takethis offer.
I actually think that I'm not umvibing with like the you know
the plan for where we go fromhere.
Uh, just don't feel like it'sthe right move for me, and I,
the the rejection started comingin.
So once you, once you say likeyou've got two weeks, everyone's
like, oh, I don't have time, orlike oh, you've landed
somewhere Great, and so I endedup having no agents.
(13:42):
I turned her down, I ended uphaving no more fulls out because
everyone closed my submissionand I got no feedback, because
they were like oh, you've got anagent, so you don't need my
notes.
So I ended up in this placewhere I was like okay, what am I
going to do?
And so I was looking at likedoing a full overhaul on my own.
You know if I hadn't gotteninto this contest with Diana,
but luckily I did.
(14:03):
So I started querying in 2020,june-ish and then took
everything off of submission toagents in October, when we
started working together.
And then it took me about ayear after that to do the
revisions that Diana recommendedfor me and then my business was
ready to go in October 2021.
(14:23):
That's when I got my offer fromJenna Zantian, who's my agent
now, who's fantastic, and so,yeah, it was just kind of one of
those things where you kind ofhave to go slow to go fast,
where, like knowing thatsomething isn't the right fit
for you and like not not beingso eager to jump the gun and say
, like wait, like agent in hand,perfect, let's do it.
Because I think, had I takenthat offer, you know, I wouldn't
(14:49):
have been eligible for Diana'scontest.
I wouldn't have ended up withan agent who really could work
with me, um, over the longtermof my career.
Um that is very likestrategically oriented and very
editorial, which I love, um, andso all those things were a
better fit for me, um, but ifI'd gone for like the bird in
the hand, then I probably Imight still be, you know, having
things languish on sub honestlynow, how was that first call
(15:09):
with the agent?
J.D. Myall (15:10):
how did that go?
Did she email you first?
Did she just call?
Jill Tew (15:13):
so actually it's really okay.
So this is really funny.
So okay, um.
So as part of the contest,there were a handful of agents
that were like I want to firstread of this manuscript when
it's ready to go.
And Jen was one of them and weactually had like a prior
relationship because oh, youfroze, you're still there, sorry
, but you're still okay.
Um, because she was never she'slike never open to queries,
(15:35):
like she's like so busy and likeher, like her, like, um, inbox
is so full, but if you ever havesomething on her manuscript
wish list then she'll, thenshe'll take you.
And months before my manuscriptwas done actually when I was
still in the early queryingstages she tweeted something
that was I had the craziestdream that I could talk to
myself in another universe.
(15:55):
If you have a book like this, Ireally want to read it.
And my friend texted me at 11o'clock and I was just like Jill
, she's got your book, she wantsa book just like yours.
And so I tweeted'clock and Iwas just like Jill, she's got
your book, like, she wants likea book just like yours.
And so I tweeted her and I waslike I have exactly this, like
can I submit it to you and I did.
She didn't get it to me by thetime I got the end of the
contest, and so I was like, well, you know, I'm going to revise
(16:17):
it anyway, like she's part ofthe like the group of agents
that wants to see it Like mybest work.
And so for a year we paused andthen, um, you know, cut to the
next year when the magazine wasready to go and I had, um I had
also submitted to thisadditional agent outside of the
side of the contest who I knewwas really good and also really
fast at like reading reviews.
(16:37):
It's like I I would love towork with him.
I think he's really great, he'slike getting like so snatching
up really good talent.
I want to make sure I get inthere before he's full, and so I
submitted it to him.
I got an offer and I was likeready to go and I was like so
excited, um, but I wanted togive everyone else the two weeks
, and so I reached out to Jenand I was like I know that
you're slammed, you know twoweeks is like crazy, um, but we
(16:59):
have like a history with thismanuscript, so like if you um,
if you know like I would lovefor you to take some time, if
you can get to it, to like readthis manuscript.
I feel like it's you know,we've kind of bonded on this
over the past year, so, okay,I'll try.
And then the deadline gets likecloser and closer.
It's like, well, it's not goingto happen.
I'm like an early morningwriter, so I got up early to
(17:19):
write.
I remember this was sitting inmy kitchen over my laptop and
she's liked like three of mytweets.
And I was like that'sinteresting.
And then I went to my inbox andthen she was like, can we chat?
And I was like oh my gosh, andso that was really cool.
And then, talking with her, Iwas like this is great.
I think it's hard to at thetime, even still, but at the
(17:41):
time this was like two years agothere were not a lot of agents
who were excited about sci-fi.
Sci-fi was a hard sell in anyage category.
Fantasy, you know, still rulesthe day even today, but at the
time, like there really was nota lot of sci-fi out there and so
it was really awesome to talkto an agent who, like loved it
as much as I did and like reallybelieved in the stories.
It was going to go to bat forthem.
(18:03):
So that was great love that.
J.D. Myall (18:05):
When they like your stuff on social media, that's a
good sign oh yeah yeah, I meanthey're curious about you, which
means they probably liked yourwork.
Yeah exactly.
Jill Tew (18:12):
I was like.
I don't want to like presume,but I feel this is a good thing.
The offer was in my in my inbox.
J.D. Myall (18:17):
Yeah, it was great so how was the submission
process for you?
Jill Tew (18:22):
yeah, so that book that I, that I got that Jen and
I started working together on.
You know, at the time it's sofunny, like the trends and like
you know I haven't even been inthe game that long but like you
see, the trends kind of come andgo.
So at the time, adult sci-fi Ithink it was either super
literary or very like commercialzippy, almost like military
sci-fi, and my book was none ofthose things, and so you know,
(18:46):
we got a lot of feedback.
That was, like you know, jill'sa great writer.
The story felt a little bitfamiliar, or you know, just like
didn't know where to place it.
And so, you know, we were, wewere on top on that one for, you
know, for a year before it waslike, well, I think this isn't
(19:10):
the better version of the story,like now I'm a stronger writer
for it.
So I, you know, I ignored it.
Like while we were on sub, Iwrote the dividing sky and, um,
we went out on sub with that in.
Um, what was that?
I guess it would have beenAugust of 2022.
So, yeah, we were on sub forlike a full year with another
story.
I was like, well, I have thisother book, let's just do this
instead.
So we went on top of 2022.
And that was August and I haddoings, ends and revisions to it
(19:33):
.
And then, six weeks later, wehad an offer which was amazing
From my dream.
In front of it, I was like, ifthere's anyone that I want to
see the story, it's this one,which is Droid Revolution.
And yeah, we had an offer and Iwas like, great, like let's do
it.
So, yeah, that was you know.
So that takes as long as ittakes.
But I was like I paid my dues,like I'm ready for, I'm ready
(19:55):
for it to go well, so so I gotreally lucky.
And then you know, of course,being on submission for Kai
Morgan was, you know, an evenmore different kind of story,
because it was a proposal andthat worked out.
So so yeah, like I think yougotta go to slow, gotta go slow,
to go fast, and I think inpublishing a lot of times, it
(20:15):
can be a lot of nothing, a lotof waiting and then like
everything happens at once.
So so yeah, and how was theeditorial call?
It was good, I mean, it waslong ago, so I'm trying to think
of like what it was.
Like you know, it's funny.
So when I wrote the DividingSky I knew that it was kind of
like strangely halfway betweenlike a true dystopian adventure
and the romance, and I was like,like you know, depending on who
wants to acquire this, I'mgonna have to change things
(20:36):
around, and so joy revolution isa romance imprint and so most
of their notes were.
You know we have some big notesabout the ending and kind of how
big it is and how we can bringthe scale down and make it focus
on the relationship, and I waslike that makes a ton of sense,
and so I knew going in that itwas going to be a lot of work,
um, to make that work.
And I think you know there was alittle bit of a healthy tension
, a good tension, um, between meand brian the unions on, like,
(20:59):
um, the romances of it, withouttaking the teeth out of the
dystopia, right, because youwanted to feel gritty, you
wanted to feel real and havesomething to say, um, but also
swoony and banter and like allthe fun parts of having a
romance, um, and so, um,combining those two things.
I think you know we had, weboth had a lot of good push and
pull and I feel I love where weended up.
The story, the book as it isnow, is like the book of my
(21:22):
dreams.
I love it so much and, yeah, itwouldn't have happened if we
hadn't had like a really healthy, like ongoing dialogue about
you know exactly how to getthere.
J.D. Myall (21:30):
So love that.
Um so the initial.
Did you have an initial callwith the agent after submission?
Jill Tew (21:40):
or after submission.
No, so we just kind of we likewe've gone back and forth on
edits and like on just revisionsand stuff, and then, uh, and
then it was out, yeah.
So then, um, she called me.
Yeah, so I think, uh, it wasfunny she, she was on vacation
and I saw a tweet from Jen thatwas like all I have to do to go
to get a bunch of offers is goon vacation, I guess, and I was
like, oh man, I wish she wastalking about me.
(22:00):
And then, like two hours latershe calls me and she was like we
have an offer.
That was really exciting.
Like the call, you know, fromthe agent to say that someone
wants your work is always like areally magical moment.
J.D. Myall (22:10):
So yeah, yeah, so walk me through how the debut
process went for you.
You're further along thanmyself and some of the other
debuts I've interviewed.
Some of the people are like youknow just at the beginning.
Yeah, so walk me through.
Jill Tew (22:26):
Like what it looks like yeah, I mean, I don't know.
So let's see, I mean, like it's, it depends on everyone's
different.
You know, for me, um, we signedin like november of 2022 and
then I got my first edit letterin january and spent a few
months on that um and then, um,yeah, like most, 2023 was just
(22:47):
mostly on revisions and stuff,and then, by 20, by like the
fall, we were locked for story,like we were like this is the
story, story it's faked Becausethey had to go to launch.
So they did their internallaunch where the editor
basically gets in front of thedifferent publishers.
But at Random House, the editorgets in front of the teams
marketing, publicity, sales, subrights and does the here's the
(23:11):
book and here's the cover andhere's how we're pitching it.
And they talk about putting theof.
Does the like here's the bookand here's the cover and here's
how we're pitching it.
And um, you know, they kind oftalk about, you know, like,
putting the team together tolike do the marketing, all those
things, pick a sales, pick anon sale date, um, and so once
that began to happen, you know,it kind of felt like things were
like my book had been likeacknowledged into, like the
broader, like machine of thing,random house, as opposed to just
like a secret that my editorand I were keeping.
(23:33):
And yeah and like even then,you know you have some like
things are happening behind.
There's like more bustle andhustle and like you're hearing
from people in differentdepartments like random emails
here and there, but it's notlike oh my gosh, this is
happening.
I think you know it happensstep by step.
At that point we're like you'relooking at, this is real, this
(23:54):
is real.
It's like now it's very real.
You know we had the cover revealin February.
That was like a big thing whereit was like okay, like you can
buy it, now it's on sale placesand as a broader, like a bookish
community kind of like becomesmore aware of the book and the
cover is gorgeous.
I mean you can see it there.
But the um love it.
But the cover, I think likethat was a big thing, was like
oh damn, like we're, we're doingthis, like we're releasing a
(24:15):
book.
Um, and you know I was luckyenough to have a lot of like
other debut friends.
We would be like be like Sarahdoesn't mean it.
Like we read other stories alot and a lot of them were like
this book is amazing and I waslike, wow, now everyone else
thinks so too.
Um and um, the coolest thing tome has been having it up on
NetGalley.
So to me I think, going intothis, obviously you think, well,
(24:40):
my pub date is October 8th.
October 8th is when the book'sout in the world.
I think what I wasn't expectingwas how important the
acknowledgement of the bookishcommunity was going to be to me,
such that my book going up onnet galley felt much more like
the book being out in the worldthan like the actual on sale
date.
And so when the book went up onnet galley, that was what, like
(25:02):
a month ago, month and a halfago, um, that was like whoa,
like it's really out there, likeany like people that, like
people that I you know, peoplethat I like identify as like I'm
a bookish person, I havebookish people looking like and
like there's a lot of like umlove for books and storytelling
in the story, like in the book,and so it's like, wow, they
don't like this, like no one'sgonna like this um, and so that
(25:26):
felt really real to me of justlike um, you know, now it can be
like totally and trulyperceived and I do feel like you
know, october 8th is going tobe huge and I and I, um, I and
so when you can pay money forthe book, that's always great um
, so I can keep doing this um.
But in some ways I feel likeit's out there now and it can be
like enjoyed and shared andlike reach people that it needs
(25:48):
to reach um and like find itspeople.
In some way that feels likelike the tangible with the real,
like release to me love that.
J.D. Myall (25:57):
Do you have any plans around launch like?
Jill Tew (26:01):
things are coming together.
I mean, I we're lucky to have areally amazing, um, like YA book
community here in Atlanta luckyto have, um, you know, people
here in bookstores here thatreally support the community,
and so I have a friend who worksat um Brave and Kind in Decatur
, and so we're probably going todo like some sort of event with
them.
Um, you know, it's interesting.
Like I think debuts like and Ilike I will say this, and I mean
(26:22):
, like you know, it's easierstuff than believed, I guess.
But, like you know, I thinkdebuts as a business major, like
I can see how, in the broaderscheme of like publishing being
a business, a debut author islike a hard sell, right.
Like you don't know that thebook's gonna hit, you don't know
anything about this person,like they're not a tried and
(26:43):
like, true, um, like a knownquantity, and so, yes, I know
that, like with my intellectualpart of my brain and also, like
I wrote this book, that is likemy whole heart and I want like
the biggest splash for it.
And, like you know, I thinkdebuts put a lot of pressure on
that.
Like debut month of like oh,I'm gonna travel here, I'm gonna
do this event and I'm gonna gotalk on panels and it's like
well, like maybe not, you know,if anybody wants me, that'd be
(27:06):
great, but I'm trying more andmore as things get closer to
temper expectations and to saylike it's just the first book
and hopefully a long career andyou know it's a great like
introduction to like myself andyou know what I believe and what
I like to say with my stories.
But I'm not, you know, I'm nolonger hoping to be like flown
(27:27):
out, to like to do differentconferences and stuff in that
first month, but I'm going to dosomething here with my
community people that I careabout that have supported me.
And you do something here withmy community um people that I
care about that have supportedme.
And you know I'll probably goto um y'all fest and Charles, I
love y'all fest.
This is so fun in Charleston.
I just go every year for funjust to like see friends, um.
But other than that, like I'llprobably just like chill out and
(27:48):
yeah, like not do too much.
I I do love like what I amlooking forward to and what I've
always loved is like connectingwith people that love the book.
So I want to do like bookstoreevents or like virtual book
clubs and that kind of thing.
I just love talking to peopleabout the book and the ideas and
like I like that about.
Like you know, I love thatabout book books that I love
Right.
So I want to do a lot of that,not to like generate sales, but
(28:09):
just to like connect with people, and so I'm looking forward to
that.
You know, when the books likeofficially out, there'll be more
of that, I hope.
Um, but other than that, yeah,like it's not gonna be a big
like you know, yeah, I think too, you know it's funny like even
that even five or four and ahalf months out now, um, there's
(28:29):
still a lot like in play.
Like I think like publishingstill is very much thinking
about like summer releases rightnow, um, and so a lot could
change.
You know, I think publishingstill is very much thinking
about summer releases right now.
A lot could change.
I think a lot is still comingtogether for the fall and
different panels are puttingtogether, different conferences
are putting together panels.
Who knows where I'll be, whereI'll be asked to go?
For now I'm planning on tryingreally hard to maybe do a big
(28:51):
push on the levers I can movethis summer, but then once
September comes, it's like it'slike studying for the SATs like
the night before.
It's like you either got it oryou don't.
So I'm gonna try to like justrelax, as like October comes
closer, um, and you know, try tojust see what happens for you
(29:11):
have you been to the AAMBCAwards in Atlanta?
J.D. Myall (29:15):
No.
Jill Tew (29:15):
I haven't, but I am going to the Black Writers
Weekend in August.
J.D. Myall (29:22):
Yeah, yeah, okay, the awards is like the last, the
Sunday Okay, of that event andit's kind of like like the
finale of that weekend, okay,and they like last year they
gave, was it, last year theyhonored, was it yeah?
Jill Tew (29:40):
that's right, I saw the pictures.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Are you going to come?
J.D. Myall (29:44):
up.
I usually go when I'm inGeorgia.
Okay, I usually come every year.
I know Tamika, the founder ofthe awards.
Jill Tew (29:52):
Oh cool.
Okay, yeah maybe we can meet up.
J.D. Myall (29:57):
Yeah, definitely Okay.
How about social media?
Do you have any social mediaplans?
Jill Tew (30:04):
So I so I, um, I have found and I do, I do think it's
true.
So I think, you know, peopleput a lot of pressure on
themselves to do TikTok.
I think TikTok is really funny,like I love like making memes
and stuff, like I really justenjoy it, just making an idiot
of myself on social media, andso when I have the energy and
I'm not on deadline, I like todo it and I did, you know,
(30:25):
thought about my deadlines for,you know, future books coming up
and other contracts, kind offront load as much of my writing
as possible this year so that Iwould have like July and August
, let's say, to ramp up onsocial media stuff.
Um, I'm still planning on doingthat.
I think, um, again, it's mostlyfor fun.
I do know that you know TikTokand it's true that, like TikTok
is very much about like instantgratification.
(30:46):
So they're not a big likepre-order crowd, they like to
buy things that are already outwhich is fine.
I'm just gonna have fun with it,um, and maybe raise awareness
for the book.
I think too, with my marketinghat on, I can say that I feel
like TikTok, unlike any othersocial media platform that I've
seen, is the best for what youthink of as top of the funnel.
So reaching people that have noidea who you are.
(31:08):
It can be hard to find thosepeople.
I think you know Instagram andespecially Twitter are like such
echo chambers that can be hardto find people that have like
that might be like totallyoblivious to like your book or
even just you know your genre.
In general, tiktok's reallygood at that, and so I do think
that you know, while it isexhausting and you can burn
yourself out, you know, tryingto like optimize for stuff.
(31:30):
I don't plan on doing that much, but it is.
It is unique in that sense that, like you're trying to find
people that have no idea who youare and introduce you for the
first time, like it's it's it'sa pretty good medium for that.
J.D. Myall (31:46):
Love that, love that .
What do you think was yourbiggest learning experience
throughout this debut year?
Jill Tew (31:54):
Huh, I mean, I'm still having them.
So to date, I don't know, todate I probably would say I
think, like I mean I knew thiswith my head, I think, going in,
but I think I like feel it morewith my heart now, which is
(32:15):
like how important it is like toyour like mental sanity and
just like being able topersevere in this, to just be a
realist, I think like it isgreat to hope and like we're all
here writing books becausewe're a little bit delusional
and that's great, like we needthat to create more stories.
But you know, like the odds arelike 99 to one that you're not
(32:37):
going to be a breakout, right,like it's just like it doesn't,
it doesn't, it doesn't, itdoesn't happen that way.
And the reason we love thosestories is because they are so
rare and it's amazing, I think,to think of.
Like you know, but what if it'sme?
And that's great.
The closer things get, I think,the most, the more important it
is to think of like the mostlikely good scenario.
(32:57):
Right, like most likely goodscenario is like you will
connect with readers and maybebooksellers that love what you
do and, excited for your nextthing, you will build a
readership.
You will, you know, love whatyou do and excited for your next
thing.
You will build a readership.
You will, you know, brick bybrick, build this like really
stable, um, enthusiasticreadership and fan base.
Like that sounds great.
Um, and I am like trying moreand more to ground myself in
(33:18):
that right that I want this bookto find its people.
Not that I want to be likechosen for some crazy book club
or whatever.
Um you know, because like thatdoesn't, like I can't control
that and I can't, I can'tcontrol like most of it, but
like the odds are that that'snot going to happen, like for a
debut, just like the slim, likethe odds are just slim to none.
Um, so I'd rather spend my timethinking about like reaching
those people and like writingthe next book for those people
(33:41):
than like waiting for somerandom, like dream come true one
in a million email to hit myinbox because the driver's a
little crazy very true, verytrue.
J.D. Myall (33:49):
That's a good outlook to have.
Okay, let's move on to a fewcraft tips.
Writers, who'd love to be inyour shoes.
Um, how do you master voice andmaking each character's voice
distinct?
Jill Tew (34:05):
master voice.
Yeah, I, I don't know if I'vemastered voice.
I, I love you know it's funny.
I'm a big um audiobook listenerand sometimes I'm getting into
a new age category.
Let's switch in betweenprojects, right?
So I'm going from whitedystopia to middle grade
contemporary, where she's like ablack girl's urban atlanta very
different book.
Um, I will listen to like a fewchapters of an audiobook.
(34:26):
Like, in that space, to be likethis is what it literally sounds
like, to like have thecharacter and I, you know, I
usually write first person, soit's easy for me to be like, you
know, I, et cetera, et cetera,like put myself in the
character's actual shoes andheadspace, and so that's a
really helpful tip for me tojust like quickly get back in
the zone.
And, yeah, when I'm writing, Ithink I do, you know, feel like
(34:48):
somebody's talking to me, right,I do feel that I'm having a
conversation with this personabout what's going on and the
you know, the jokes and the likereferences to like things that
happened earlier in the book.
It feels like, you know, it wassomeone's lived experience and
so it kind of helps me to feelgrounded in this sense of
reality.
Right, I think you know yourvoice and your world building
(35:09):
really go hand in hand, right?
The jokes, the asides, thethings your character notices
that they all have to be part ofyour world, and so they kind of
inform each other.
You know, for the Binding Sky,that book is dual POV and so you
have two different voices thatare kind of going back and forth
and they're kind of fromdifferent kind of experiences in
this world, and so, you know,changing what they notice,
(35:31):
changing what's important tothem, changing you know how they
think that their friends orco-workers would react if they
were, if they knew what wasgoing on with their heads, right
?
Um, all those things had to bedifferent and distinct and, um,
you know, it's always fun whenyou have dual pov in a romance
because you know they're neveron the same page until the very
end, and so you can play a lotwith that, like what one person
knows and feels and what theother person knows and feels,
(35:52):
and creates a really fun tensionthat way too.
So, yeah, I think you know, forme it's just keeping it
conversational, you know,keeping it, keeping it like
relevant to like that realperson, right, and really trying
to like put myself in theirshoes and think about, um, you
know, a real person in front ofme telling me what, what is
(36:14):
happening to them in the momentlove that.
J.D. Myall (36:18):
How do you hook a reader in the early pages of the
book?
Jill Tew (36:22):
um, yeah, I think I've gotten better at this.
I think, think you know, I Inever had the issue of, like she
woke up one day and the skyoutside was gray, I just like I
always look, I think what's thewhat's the?
What is the most importantthing I want you to know about
my character?
Maybe, maybe the three mostimportant things, right, Whether
(36:51):
it's the world or like's goingon in there, like for the plot,
right, whatever those threethings are for, like that
opening chapter, my goal is toprove it to you.
So if I say that, like, I wantyou to know that my character is
, uh, you know, compassionate,or like you know, hunger games,
right, so, like they want you to, like suzanne collins wants you
to know that, like katnisscares about her sister, um, she
doesn't say, like my name isKatniss and I care a lot about
my sister, um, she shows you,right the first thing she does
when Katniss wakes up and shereaches for Prim, right, um, she
(37:13):
thinks about Prim all the time.
She tells you that, like, shehates animals and hates cats, um
, but she kept the cat alive forPrim, right, um, those things
are, um, hooking the readerbecause they give you, like, a,
an actual character to root for.
Like you care, like you're like,oh, this character is really
hard, but you're like that'sinteresting to me, but it also
doesn't just like lay everythingout for you.
(37:35):
It has to.
It kind of pulls you in.
You feel you're getting to knowKatniss, or or you know my
character, liv.
Um, by what I'm showing you,just like you would a real
person, as opposed to just like.
This is how I feel about thisthing.
Right, because that's likethat's not interesting.
Like if somebody met you atlike a dinner party and they're
just like here's what I thinkabout.
You know about, I don't know,gardening.
You're like, okay, well, that'skind of interesting.
They're like, oh, I was out inthe garden the other day and I
(37:56):
noticed the way the sun washitting the flowers, etc.
Etc.
You're like, oh, that'sinteresting.
This person really like caresand notices things and has
attention to detail.
Um, that's much more intriguingthan just like on the nose,
like telling you bit by bit youknow about their life.
So, um, so yeah, I think likeit's the same as any
relationship really.
Um, these kind of show facetsthat suggest a hidden depth and
(38:20):
um kind of pull the reader intothe story and how about the
middle?
J.D. Myall (38:26):
how do you avoid the saggy middle?
How do you get?
Oh man, if anybody has?
Jill Tew (38:30):
tips out there.
I'm all like, my, my dms areopen.
Uh, the middle, I think, um,for me, like, I am a plotter and
so I do think in terms of likeoutlines and that kind of stuff,
um and like, for me, you know,each act is characterized by
like a change in goal of somekind, and so, um, the key is
just to make sure that that thatsecond act goal is like really
(38:50):
juicy and worth worth strivingfor, right, um, you know, I've
heard of like try, fail, cycles,right.
So if they have that goal,showing them like, trying to
like achieve it in like two orthree different ways and then,
like, you know, ultimately youknow, getting there, I think all
those things would be reallyhelpful.
Um, I think, like, in some ways,I mean, you know, like,
honestly, like in some ways, youdo have a little bit of room to
(39:11):
be a little bit soggy in themiddle, um, because you're, by
then your character, or yourreaders, invested in your
characters, um, and you can playaround a little bit with like
more banter or more like quietrelationship building moments or
whatever Um, cause, those partsare good too, um, it doesn't
all have to be like, be like, go, go, go as far as the plot is
concerned, um, but it needs tobe.
I think, what I, what I, when Iread a book and I feel like the
(39:31):
middle is dragging, so I feelthe characters have forgotten
what they're doing, like whywe're doing this right, and so I
think the key to that is havinga really compelling goal that
the characters are reallystriving for, um, even in the
midst of whatever else you wantto put in there to kind of um,
to beef up the story now.
J.D. Myall (39:49):
Your story also has a strong romantic subplot.
Can you give any tips or tricksto helping people get a good
romance?
Jill Tew (40:01):
yeah, I mean, I would say that the romance is the plot
.
Everything else is a subplotfor my book.
So I think, um, yeah, I thinkyou know, it's always good to
have some tense dynamic.
You know, I think, um, you know, I feel like you know I'm
cheating a little bit becauseI'm doing it in like a
speculative sense where you canmake up, like you know, the, the
stakes of the world are suchthat like they could never be
together because they're likeyou know, they're like enemies.
(40:22):
Right, like in real, you knowreal situations.
You rarely have that like levelof like tension and dynamic.
So, like, I feel likecontemporary rom-com authors are
really the masters of creatingtension where it's like, oh, is
that really that big of a deal?
But you're like, yes, this is ahuge deal, they cannot possibly
be together.
Um, in my book it's easy to belike their enemies because you
know there's some evil overlordor whatever, whatever, um, but
(40:45):
yeah, I think you know, know, I,I love, um, I love dual POV
romance in particular, becauseyou can get inside of the
character's heads and play withthat.
You know who's falling first,who has all the information, who
maybe doesn't want the otherperson to know how they're
feeling.
Um, you know, put yourcharacters through the ringer
(41:05):
and just like, have it be.
Just like this, like theseultimate moments like push and
pull, like almost on the samepage but not quite.
I love playing with that likedramatic irony of the reader
knowing you know that, like oneperson's keeping a secret from
the other one, the other personbeing like I would trust him,
like over a cliff.
It's like you shouldn't do thatbecause he's lying to you.
Those are, those are alwaysreally fun moments.
And yeah, um and yeah, I don'tknow.
(41:30):
I mean, I think you know likeit's, it's like any, any sort of
relationship dynamic.
You got to prove it.
Um, I am not a fan of likeinsta love as a trope.
Like, don't come for me.
I don't love insta love becauseI like to see the chemistry.
I like to see um.
I like to see, I like to seepeople realize that they're
right for each other.
I like to see um and it's likeI want to see it played out.
I I saw on threads there waslike a thread months ago from a
(41:51):
romance author I don't know ifyou remember who it was but she
was saying you know, she's alsolike a, you know, qualified,
like academic, like in her otherlife, and she was like and I
write romance, right, I'm notyou romance, I am like laying
the groundwork to state a casethat like two people belong
together, right, and so, like,over the course of the book,
(42:13):
what you're doing is you'relaying the groundwork.
You're saying, like this person, you know the way they fit
together, the way they interact,the way that they solve
problems together or don't,makes them the right fit for
each other, and you have to kindof lay out your argument to
your reader to be like thesepeople belong together and at
the end of the day, you eitherbelieve it or you don't.
But I feel like that's, you know, what makes a good romance is
like, I think, one of myfavorite books from last year
(42:35):
last year, yeah, it was lastyear, kate Goldbeck's you.
Again.
It's kind of like a Harrietwhen Harriet and Sally retelling
.
It's a great movie and thecharacters in there are
quote-unquote textbook unlikablecharacters, but they are so
right for each other.
You're like you idiots deserveeach other.
I hate you both, but I cannotdeny that you work together and
(42:57):
I think that's such a goodromance because it's not
inserting myself.
I don't like this but theromance works so well because
they are.
They are like interlockingparts of, like a lock, um, you
know they're, they're like,they're selfish and they're, you
know all like they're, they'reblunt and all these things that
they don't like.
They're not like classicprotagonists but they.
(43:18):
The romance works because theyfit together well, um, and that
is what I think makes a goodromance.
Not that you like want to likedate the boy or whatever it is
like book, boyfriend et cetera,but that like you can see why
those two people make sense foreach other.
J.D. Myall (43:34):
Love that, and how?
About the conclusion?
What tips do you have for asatisfying conclusion?
Jill Tew (43:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's funny.
Like we say, the good storiesresonate, right.
That's a word we hear a lot,like it resonates with me and
like that language and thatmetaphor, I think is is common
for a reason.
Um, you know, I think that, um,you know when, when a story is
done right, especially at theending.
The ending is the hardest part,um, because it has to echo all
(44:03):
those things that camethroughout the story before.
And so you know, I think thatif, if you, if you set up the
right that's what the storyright, the ending should be
inevitable.
If you haven't laid yourgroundwork, then the ending can
feel kind of rushed or like notwell thought out right, but it
should be like, oh, like it'slike a chord resolving right, it
feels like oh yes, of coursethis is the end of this work,
like it just like pullseverything together and like
(44:24):
fits it thematically.
You know, I think the key is toknow what you're trying to say
from the beginning and likeinterweave those parts
throughout and you know the whendone right.
You know, I think the right,the right story, the right
ending will kind of just ringlike a bell, the way that like
things resonate right andhopefully it strikes a chord in
(44:44):
the reader as well.
J.D. Myall (44:48):
Love that.
Um, what would you like to tellus that I haven't already asked
you?
Jill Tew (44:56):
Oh man, I don't know, um, yeah, I think so, I think
it's.
I mean it's trite, but I thinkit's true.
Which is like, yeah, I think so, I think it's, I mean it's
(45:24):
trite, but I think it's true.
Which is like, you know, people, people tend to assume that
like making or like supporting,supporting authors is out here.
You know, um, for like, anylike, what?
Like enduring stretch of time,especially a marginalized debut,
and so I would just say, likeyou know, if you think about the
books that you've loved andread over the past few years, or
even like this past year debuts, especially like, if you could
do us a solid and shout extraloud, it makes a huge difference
(45:45):
because, like, we're fightingupstream, like for all of this
right, like it's, like the, themachine is such, I think more
and more publishing doesn't wantto take risks on new quantities
, that they want to.
They want to back the like,tested, like the like, kind of
like tried and true, likeveteran authors and like, I get
it again, like they're makingmoney.
But don't just assume thatbecause you, you know, because
(46:08):
you like know, because you likeheart a story on instagram or
twitter or whatever, though thatauthor is going to be here
tomorrow.
Um, you really have to show upfor us and we're trying, um, but
it's, but it's really hard,like it's.
It's surprisingly hard behindthe scenes to be able to make a
case, um, for for yourself andyour books, like it.
like we're out here writingstories and you know, you see us
posting all the glamorousmoments, but it is surprisingly
(46:29):
hard to fight against thepublishing status quo, um to
establish a space for ourselvesand our stories.
So, um, help us out, help usout and, uh, you know, really,
really shout, shout loud.
J.D. Myall (46:42):
I love that.
Um, how long did it take you toget your check?
I've heard everywhere from sixto nine months yeah, let's see.
Jill Tew (46:50):
So I, we, we did like the deal number in november.
I think we.
It did take a while.
Um, it was about it was aboutnine months, yeah, well, for
disney.
It was a for penguin randomhouse.
It was about, yeah, sevenmonths, eight months, yeah, yeah
, that's right.
J.D. Myall (47:09):
That's right, yeah, by then, there's no other job
that you work seven months andthen get paid.
Jill Tew (47:17):
Yeah, and I know authors that won't write a word
until they get paid.
And I I get that because it'slike what am I?
supposed to do and it doesn'tmake it go any faster,
unfortunately, but then we'd alldo it, um, but but yeah, like
it is, it is wild to like we'redoing all this for free.
I know people that have likeannounced books with no contract
signed, like it's, like it's Idon't know, it's crazy.
Disney won't pay anything orwon't like they won't announce
(47:40):
anything until the contractsigned either.
So like we barely we like wesigned that deal February 2023.
Yeah, and we just announced it,like in March, so it's been
like 13 months.
J.D. Myall (47:53):
And what's your Disney project?
Ip?
Jill Tew (47:56):
No that was my short story, yeah, so that was just
based on yeah, yeah, okay.
J.D. Myall (48:00):
Yeah, that's awesome .
So how have you been buildingyour writer community in Atlanta
or online?
Yeah, I go to a lot of events,which has been great.
Jill Tew (48:10):
Like there's like the local bookstores who do a bunch
of different, you know, launchevents and things like that.
I we just did the DecaturChildren's Book Festival here a
couple weeks ago and I for that,I, I, you know, my book is not
out yet, so I was like I'm notgoing to be on a panel.
But I emailed the booksellerwho was organizing it and I was
like I can moderate, I'm good atmoderating, I can ask questions
.
And she was like, oh, thank god.
Um, so she put me on for a fewdifferent events, which was
(48:32):
great, um, so I just like makemyself useful.
You know, I liked I love story.
J.D. Myall (48:36):
I can't believe this is my job, um, and so I'll
always I'll always look foropportunity to talk story with
people are there any tools umthat you found useful or that
helped you in the writingprocess or in your marketing
materials or anything?
Jill Tew (48:48):
Uh, Canva, basically you know nothing, nothing super
fancy, Um, and then I useScrivener for writing.
I like Scrivener a lot.
Um, I have never used Scrivener.
Yeah, I like it a lot.
I um, I think, um, I need toleave in a off um, but um, it's
nice that you can rearrangethings.
I'm gonna do it by scene, byscene.
(49:10):
So if I want to rearrangesomething, it's like drag and
drop as opposed to like I'mgonna start at the end of the
scene, like moving it around.
So I like it, have you evertried auto print?
J.D. Myall (49:19):
no, I've heard of it , though I like it.
When I have a scene I can'tfigure out, I paste it in there
and it'll like give you acritique oh, interesting,
interesting, huh, okay, that'scool, I'll look that up.
That's super interesting.
Where can?
Jill Tew (49:35):
people reach out to you.
So I'm on TikTok.
Sorry, I'm on Twitter andInstagram at J2Writes, so
J-T-E-W-Writes, and then I'm onTikTok at Jill2.
All one word.
J.D. Myall (49:48):
Yeah, that's me.
Awesome, awesome.
I'm excited for you and thiscomes out in October.
Do you have a date yet?
October 8th, october 8th Okay,that'd be great.
Jill Tew (49:57):
Thank you so much, jd, I really appreciate it, and
yeah, as you're getting closer,do you have a season yet?
Do you know when your book'scoming out Roughly?
That wraps up today's Craft ChatChronicles with JD Meyer.
Thanks for joining us.
If you liked the episode,please comment, subscribe and
share.
For show notes, writingworkshops and tips, head to
(50:21):
jdmecom.
That's jdmeyercom.
While you're there, join JD''smailing list for updates,
giveaways and more.
J.D. Myall (50:33):
I appreciate your time.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
This is great.
Thank you, bye, bye, thank you.
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