Meet Amanda Willimott, who talks about her historical fiction novel Winter of the Wolf, informed by extensive research. Amanda reveals how she got her book deal with Penguin Random House and the power of persistence, planning and mentorship.
00:00 Introduction 03:56 Writing tip: Attend events 07:19 Competition: Win The Dictionary of Terrible Ideas by Dominic Knight 09:25 Word of the week: Riparian 10:48 Interview with Amanda Willimott, author of Winter of the Wolf 25:24 Deciding to write a novel 26:12 Setting goals and overcoming challenges 27:56 The importance of planning and research 29:35 Writing discipline and tracking progress 36:04 Editing and refining the manuscript 37:58 The path to publication 41:19 Celebrating success and future plans 45:11 Final thoughts and advice for aspiring writers 47:13 Fun fact: What is a circadian novel?
Amanda Willimott writes historical fiction centring the experiences of women.
She has always been captivated by history, mythology and folklore, which led to her pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in History and Anthropology with Honours in Anthropology, where she wrote her thesis on witchcraft and paganism.
Her first novel, Winter of the Wolf, is based on a real werewolf trial that took place in eastern France in the winter of 1572-1573.
When she’s not researching, writing or editing, you can find her singing popular show tunes, reading from or adding to her to-read pile of books, or trying to find gluten-free bread that tastes like real bread.
Amanda lives in Melbourne, Australia with a large, co-dependent rescue tabby named Titus.
