1 what inspired the idea of your story?
I was reading a book one day that had a contract marriage trope in them (just a side plot, not main), and I didn't like how it was executed, so my brain unconsciously started working on the ways I would write about it. But it was a long time since then till I decided to write a whole story around it. I needed some side writing project to get my mind of editing, and that's how it started.
2 what is something you struggled constructing with your story?
The hardest for me was writing characters' change of heart in a way that is believable. It's essential if you have two people starting from very antagonistic positions to make it right. I saw so many enemies-to-lovers stories that went poorly like the change was too abrupt, and I was not too fond of it, so I put a lot of effort into making the actual change seems sensible and natural.
3 what did you enjoy writing most of your story?
I love epic battle scenes and endings, so the last couple of chapters were the ones I enjoyed writing the most. It's like when I'm writing this kind of sequence, I'm so completely into it, I tend to ignore the outside world.
4 what's the overall response of your story from your readers?
It was shockingly positive. When I wrote it, I didn't have many hopes for it, as it's a pretty light read and not overly complex, but many readers binged it in a very short time, so that's the best kind of praise for me. Also, many readers are reacting very emotionally to the characters, either loving or hating them, so that's amazing too.
5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series ?
I was writing it as stand-alone, but as I'm not a massive fan of 'and they lived happily ever after' endings, so I ended things in a way that I can pick it up again. And after a few months of consideration, I decided to write a sequel. But this one will be the last book in the series, so it's duology.
6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story?
If there were just one thing, I'd like it to be the attitude that you can't let others (and society especially) dictate who you are and how are you're supposed to act. Everyone is a master of their own life, and there is no use in pretending to be someone else to satisfy others.
7 what advice would you provide to fellow writers, when it comes to focusing on their own story?
Write a story you would love to read. There are so many stories out there, and certain types are more popular than others, so it's tempting to write for the genre and use well-loved tropes. But if you personally don't like them, you won't have the motivation to go on with the story, and the lack of love will show in your writing too. I'm not saying it's not worth following the trends and ignoring them altogether. Just makes sure you put your own twist there and make sure you love it. It's the best motivation to finish.
8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself?
I think all the characters we create have at least a piece of our personality in them. What I share with Skylar is a relatively quick irritation with pointless customs and rituals that people tend to follow blindly. While with Gawyn, it's a very logical and factual approach to everything that often might seem like a cold and unfeeling personality for people who don't know me.
9 what is something about your story you believe would draw in new readers?
It's a pretty light read that is action-driven mainly. It is heavy on dialogues, so it reads very quickly, and the interactions between the main characters are entertaining (or at least I hope so ).
10 do you have any future projects?
I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, and I will be writing the sequel to Till Death Do Us Part there. The aim is to reach 50k words in a month, so I suspect it would be around ¾ of the whole story. If all goes well, I will start posting it on WP in the first quarter of next year.
In the meantime, I will be posting my project from last year's NaNo, which is YA fantasy The Light in the Dark, unconnected to TDDUP, but hopefully just as good.