Our Next Silver Pen — and GOLD Pen: Natalie Crown!!
We’ve got some who not only hit Silver Pen, but has also reached GOLD PEN!! We’re delighted for you all to meet her! Natalie Crown of London, has already written >25,000 words!!
If you want to give Natalie a shout out, you can find her on her Twitter, Instagram, NaNo, or leave her a comment on her Malala Fundraiser page. 🙂
Read below to learn more about how wildly productive and inspiring Natalie is!
What is your favorite book and/or author, and what draws you to them?
One? Ha!
I always have to note Pullman’s His Dark Materials (have you read La Belle Sauvage? Ahhhh!) and Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness Quartet. As a kid I read my dad’s books which were all epic adult fantasy (Raymond E Feist is another fave). Obviously, I loved them, but the majority of the main characters were male, and they were very male oriented (although not enough people know about Mara of the Acoma – LEGEND). When I discovered Alanna and Lyra, it was like a new world opened before me. My favourite kind of stories, but with GIRLS? And they were both flawed, complete characters? HUZZAH.
More recently, I’ve been blown away the V E Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic, Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, and Libba Bray’s Diviners. In terms of setting and plot, they are all very different. I think the unifying feature is that they all juggle incredible casts of characters in well realised worlds. I envy their talent, and aspire to be as good one day. I’m also always on the look-out for well written characters with physical disabilities. Kaz, and Linn give me ALL THE FEELS in this regard.
Is this your first book? If not, what was the first book you ever finished writing?
It sounds cliché, but I really have been writing forever. The first complete novel I finished age 9, and it was called The Land of No Return. The main character, Lara, lived at an Orphanage and was part of a group called the Mischief Makers. Along with her friends, she is whisked away into the Land of no Return because she’s the daughter of two powerful magic users that were basically Mrs Coulter and Lord Asriel. Yes, the His Dark Materials influence was strong in this one.
I actually still have the floppy disk on which this story is saved. It says ‘Nat’s Story’ on it. Sadly, I have no way of loading it up…
What’s the working title of your NaNoWriMo17 project?
If you go onto my profile, it will say The Dying Age. That’s my newest project, and my first few thousand words were written on that one.
On Day 2 however, I suddenly got caught up in inspiration for another WIP – Wind Walker. I’ve been working on this ever since. It’s YA fantasy and I’m incredibly excited about it!
Give us an elevator pitch of your project.
The Witches are dead, and Bleeders face persecution throughout Krystnos. Tannis is the best thief in Celestia, and she cares about nothing more than selling enough on the black market to get out with her sister in tow. But a mysterious Lord makes her an offer; all the money she can imagine, if she just steals in to the Guardian’s Tower…
Share your favorite line/short paragraph from your book so far.
Tannis pointed at her grazed cheek, shooting a dark look at Griffin. ‘This was necessary, you mean?’
Griffin stared back, stone faced.
‘My note might have fallen into the wrong hands,’ said Olinger, ‘and any low life of the Bowels might have turned up here.’
‘I am a lowlife of the Bowels.’
His eyes roved over her face. ‘But that isn’t all you are.’
Tannis’ heart thrummed a warning. Her eyes narrowed.
‘Griffin brought you here on my orders. If we are to welcome you on board, I needed to be certain of your skills. Had I invited you to my townhouse, you would never have come. If you had been warned of a test, you would never have come.’
‘And Griffin attacking me was the test? He won, in case you hadn’t noticed. So I guess that means I failed, and can go now. I’m freezing, and I’ve got work to do.’
Olinger smiled again. He had impeccable teeth.
‘I am assembling a team, and I need you to be part of it.’
How did you hear about the Mighty Pens?
My friend Elizabeth (@E_Davis_Romance) tweeted about it!
What inspired you to join the Mighty Pens?
I wanted to do NaNo, and figured that raising money for the Malala Fund – which is very much a cause I believe in – as part of a team, would really inspire me to keep writing (spoiler: it has!).
I almost didn’t sign up because I’ve just finished a fundraiser (raising awareness of chronic health conditions, and the important of seeing such people represented in fiction) and drained my friends and family dry. But I figured that every little helps, so got on board. Thank you Kat and Susan, for making it happen!
Congratulations again, Natalie!! And keep on SLAYING!!