Author Interview: 'When The Moon Hatched'

Summary
Sarah A Parker, author of 'When the Moon Hatched', discusses her journey as a full-time writer and the inspiration behind her fantasy romance novel. In this conversation, Sarah A Parker discusses her book 'When the Moon Hatched' and shares insights into her writing process and inspirations. She talks about the influence of her grandmother on her characters and the unique magic system in the book. Sarah also discusses the development of her main character and the challenges she faced in writing the fantasy genre. She offers advice for aspiring authors and shares her plans for the future of the series.

Watch this interview on YouTube: Booktrovert Reader

Purchase When the Moon Hatched: HERE

Follow Sarah A Parker:
Facebook: HERE
Instagram: HERE
TikTok: HERE

Takeaways

• The importance of having support as a writer and how it can enable you to pursue your passion
• The decision to include an index at the front of the book and the benefits it provides for readers
• The influence of childhood experiences and family members on a writer's love for a particular genre
• The journey from indie publishing to being picked up by a traditional publisher and the opportunities it brings The influence of personal experiences and loved ones can inspire and shape characters in a story.
• Creating a unique and visually appealing magic system can enhance the reader's experience.
• Developing complex and multi-dimensional characters, like Rave, can make a story more engaging.
• Taking time to nourish oneself and set boundaries is important to prevent burnout and maintain creativity.
• Investing time in the writing process, listening to feedback, and not rushing to publish can lead to a better end result.

Transcript

Charity Booktrovert Reader (00:03.943)
host, Booktrovert Reader. I'm with an amazing guest today, the phenomena, Sarah A Parker. She wrote an amazing book. When the moon hatched, I fell I'm falling in love with it. I'm very excited about this. I've seen it through books to Graham, all over the place. And then I was like, Okay, I got to do it. So so definitely talk, talk about yourself, introduce yourself

Sarah A Parker (00:27.02)
Gotta start the book.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (00:33.811)
talk about when the moon hatched.

Sarah A Parker (00:35.262)
Absolutely. Hello everybody. First of all, I'd like to apologize. I've been at a Polycon all weekend, so my voice is... So hopefully I'm still, you're still able to hear me. But I'm Sarah A. Parker. I am originally from New Zealand and I was, I grew up there when I was about 19. I moved across to Australia, where I now live with my husband and three kids and our big dog and my many potplugs.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (00:40.839)
Hahaha

Charity Booktrovert Reader (01:01.415)
Hahaha

Sarah A Parker (01:03.026)
And yeah, I spend my time, all my time writing words for you all and just all reading one or the other. And I'm so happy to be here today.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (01:18.279)
So you're officially like a full time author now. Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (01:22.562)
I am, yeah, correct. I was up until about this time last year, a full-time mom of three, well, I am still a full-time mom of three, but I was the primary caregiver of our three kids as well. But then after Polycon last year, we got home and my husband decided to leave his career. He was a commercial lawyer, and he was commuting to work and spending a lot of time, you know, either on a train or at work. And...

And I was kind of trying to manage the household as well as full-time writing and quite often plus hours of work a day just to meet deadlines and stuff. So he decided to stop working and support me at home and which has been the most amazing thing and that I guess support is where Moon came from. I had yeah so I yeah I full-time write probably more than full-time actually. I'm the writer.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (01:54.407)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (02:09.105)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (02:15.179)
Yeah

Charity Booktrovert Reader (02:19.939)
I love hearing that journey, you know, the support between your husband and you, because, you know, it's a lot of writers that I come across, they are the full time, they stay at home with their children, things like that. So it's awesome to hear that support as well. Very encouraging, you know. So tell me your journey, how you started writing.

Sarah A Parker (02:35.166)
Yeah. So I've always been a writer since I was really little. It's funny actually, I went back to New Zealand recently. I go back many times a year but on this particular trip, Mum pulled out a box and in it was all these stories I used to write when I was little. And

Sarah A Parker (03:08.828)
It's so

Charity Booktrovert Reader (03:12.435)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (03:28.742)
As a job, I was actually sewing clothes for my little children's clothing business. And I was kind of at a crossroads where I either needed to get stuff manufactured elsewhere or for me to grow because I wasn't managing. I was working too many hours and I'd be working while I was breastfeeding. It was just a lot going on. But I said to my husband at the time, I feel like I actually need to.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (03:46.653)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (03:57.094)
I was feeling that pull to write, to really just pour myself into it completely. And these stories were yanking at me. So I said to him, I said, I want to step away from that for now. And I feel like I need to just give myself to these words in my head. And he said, well, go for it. He said, you've got five years until the kids go back to school, until the kids are all at school. He said, why don't you just spend your spare moments? Because creativity for me, it's like food. I need it to be happy. It's one of those.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (04:23.194)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (04:26.102)
things that I, for me it's like, yeah, you know, I need it. So it's one way or the other, I'm doing something creative every single day. But so he said to me, why don't you just do it? Why don't you treat that as your food for the next five years and just pull yourself specifically into that and see where it gets you. And you know, if by the time all the kids are at school, you know, you have made a career out of it, then you know, brilliant. I'm so sorry if you can hear that we've got we're in the middle of California and there's quite often.

things zooming past. So yeah, I, so I poured myself into it and here we are five years later and all the kids are now in school and I feel like I've been very, very lucky that I found a fantastic readership for my stories and I found my people and yeah, people seem interested in reading and reading what I have to say, which is absolutely like amazing. So yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (05:25.143)
Yeah, the first thing that I came across is the, and a lot of people comment on about this is your index, which is your glossary, your pronunciations, your who is who and everything. And people are either intimidated by it or they just like, you know what, I've just, I'll refer back to it and I need it. And I chose that method because it's a lot. I am very immersed in your story and how you're telling these characters and everything. What

made you decide to do that, because I usually put it in the back.

Sarah A Parker (05:55.658)
Yes, so I actually put an Instagram story up and I asked people if they wanted it at the front or if they wanted it at the back. And it was quite overwhelming. There was 80% of people wanted it at the front. But my main reason was because at the back there is a family tree and it is a huge spoiler. And no, do not go to the back. Do not go to the back. And I know how much readers and me being one of them, I hate spoilers. I hate to...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (06:11.763)
Mm-hmm. Oh, I'm glad I didn't look, then.

Sarah A Parker (06:23.734)
have a story and that is the biggest secret of the story is spoiled if you look at that family tree before you read the story. So I was like, well, if I have this at the back, even though I think it's a very helpful thing to have, and if I mention it at the front and then people flip through to the back, they're likely gonna see the family tree and the whole story is gonna be ruined for them. And I thought to myself, well, it could be quite intimidating at the front, but.

I would much rather have an intimidating index that people can read if they want to, or they can skim past and just dive straight into the story. I don't hold people's hands through the story, but I don't, you know, I'm not, how do I explain it? I feel like when something new comes along, I do try to introduce the reader to it so that we're following along. And then the index is just there in case, you know, you want a reminder of what that thing is or what that means or what that creature looks like.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (06:54.426)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (07:09.604)
Right.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (07:17.82)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (07:18.722)
to be like, you have to read this before you read the story. But I just figured it's better to have that at the front than have it at the back and have people go to the back to read the index and be like, well, now the whole story's ruined.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (07:31.971)
You're right. It's the accidentless spoil and that would be upsetting. Yeah. Cause I think that's what I was so drawn to when I was getting into this is that there was a time where you would take the time to describe something, but there's times where you just set it and you just continued and let it flow in the story. And I was like, Oh, I remember that XYZ. Let me go to the index. And then you gave a description of that. And I was like, Oh, you know, that's so much less heavy world building. If.

Sarah A Parker (07:36.299)
Thanks. Bye.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (08:01.807)
you know, info dumping, because that could be so intimidating, you know.

Sarah A Parker (08:06.921)
It's really like a reader, I think, especially when as fantasy readers we're constantly immersing ourselves into different worlds and different terms.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (08:14.407)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (08:15.578)
is there's a whole bunch that we're trying to remember constantly. And I think especially when readers go into book two, they'll have to have that refresher of what different things mean. Like they'll have that index there. And yeah, I mean, I'm all about the different reader, you know, just help it out, the different helps for us to enjoy a story and to really... Otherwise it can be quite overwhelming, especially when... I feel like this world is quite immersive. There is a lot of...

I've gone out of my way to make it feel like its own world. And that's very removed from ours. So I wanted to make it as easy as possible as I could for people that wanted that index.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (08:49.887)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (09:01.319)
So are you planning on taking that over in book two and adding to the index? Okay. So readers, just FYI, if you hit the book two, don't skip it, or at least refer to it.

Sarah A Parker (09:05.45)
Yes, I will. I will. Absolutely. Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (09:14.366)
Yeah, yeah, it's there, you know, you can tab it, you can do whatever, but it's there in case, just in case.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (09:21.652)
So to get kind of into the genre per se, have you always been into fantasy or have you always been a fantasy reader? What's the background in you deciding the genre of fantasy?

Sarah A Parker (09:34.743)
I love fantasy. I feel like fantasy is a great escape and I think we all need an escape sometimes. Growing up, my Nana had this pile of fairy books sitting on her coffee table and she lived on our farm with us in a flat.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (09:44.182)
Hehehehe

Sarah A Parker (10:01.814)
just spent hours over there reading her fairy books. And I talk about this too much, I'll get teary. So I'm not gonna go too in depth with it, but. But she really, I guess, injected me into this fantasy realm from a very young age. And I've now got those fairy books at home. And they're a constant reminder of where I've come from. And I guess what makes me me. And I guess she taught me to believe in magic from a very young age.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (10:09.794)
Aww.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (10:17.117)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (10:31.325)
Mm.

Sarah A Parker (10:33.55)
I guess it's kind of now, it's ingrained in me. I can't look at trees without seeing little fairy homes somewhere in there. I can't look at flowers without seeing little fairy skirts or something or little fairy homes and I can't look at, I guess, mushroom rings without seeing a portal to somewhere spectacular and different. So yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (10:38.035)
You're right.

Sarah A Parker (11:02.578)
I think that's probably what's mostly drawn me to fantasy.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (11:07.147)
So your grandmother was very heavily involved with that, just introducing you to the fantasy world. Oh, that's sweet. You're tearing up my heart. No, it's so important because everyone has a background story as to who introduced them to their very first fantasy novel.

Sarah A Parker (11:13.518)
Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (11:22.414)
Sorry, I didn't mean to get emotional there.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (11:34.279)
For me, it's my dad. He was the one who supplied my addiction, I mean my hobby. And I'd never forget that, just being able to get access to that. It's very highly influential in our lives. And it's... So you started in the indie publishing, correct? And then you got picked up and I know...

Sarah A Parker (11:38.674)
Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (11:54.148)
Magic. Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (12:00.939)
Yes. Absolutely. So I was actually with my Crystal Bloom series, which is my other series. I'm still halfway through that series, but I.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (12:04.039)
that it has to be a world in itself, you know, just to have that happen. Tell me about that process and that journey and that experience of getting picked up by a traditional publisher such as HarperCollins and Avon Books.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (12:26.291)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (12:27.202)
to write Moon because it needed to be told. It was really just talking very loud and I needed to move to that, take a breath with it. And with writing the story, I felt something get within me. I just knew that it was, I guess, I think I had faith in myself with this one, like I haven't before. And so I poured a lot into it. I was getting a lot of response, good response from my

Charity Booktrovert Reader (12:35.29)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (12:56.746)
my better team and my alpha readers. And so I ran a huge campaign with this story, like I haven't done with my others. And I really just poured a lot into it. I gave it all the time that I possibly could. I didn't tell readers about it until I had it been run through by my second editor. So it was almost ready to publish, ready to go out to art by the time I actually let everyone know that I was working on this different story. And it was interesting. So I ran this big campaign. I sent out lots of physical arts and whatnot.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (12:59.112)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (13:20.987)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (13:27.174)
And then when it actually went live, we were coming back from a family trip in Japan. And I was talking to my agent and she had pre-read the story. And she had said to me, we'll have a chat after you get back, maybe a week after you've settled in. And then I got on the plane and of course, as we're getting on the plane, it was shooting up the ranks on Amazon. And you know.

It was kind of blowing our minds. And then we got off the plane and I had an email there from Caitlin saying, Sarah, we need to talk right away. So, so I had emails from, from different publishing houses and stuff. So it was all a very big whirlwind within the first couple of weeks after I got back. Basically we'd, we'd gone through the process of, you know, I was also having distribution issues with it because so many people wanted physical book and I couldn't, I still couldn't write up until we had the switch over. I still couldn't get it into Canada. I couldn't get into Australia where I live.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (14:14.409)
Mm.

Sarah A Parker (14:22.166)
I couldn't get into where my family lives. You know, if they wanted to get it, they would have to pay these exponential prices to kind of pull it in from somewhere else. And really quite frustrating. So I think I knew that it was meant to be traditionally published and that extra weight behind it and that extra oomph. So yeah, I went into these meetings and the amazing thing is that

Charity Booktrovert Reader (14:23.012)
Oh.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (14:31.161)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (14:38.289)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (14:49.982)
I found my people so quickly and I found people that were just as passionate about my story as I am and people that had the same, I guess, creative vision for it moving forward. And I found a home for the story within Harper Boyard. And it was just the most surreal and amazing experience. Within two weeks, I just felt so right. I knew that this was all where it was meant to be. So it was a whirlwind.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (15:04.416)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (15:18.296)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (15:19.934)
you know, took us by storm. And, but I am so, so thankful that, you know, that both publishing houses have, you know, have the same faith in my story that I do. And, and that I've got now, I've got that support as well to get this book into more readers' hands because it really is a sort of story that I think a lot of readers want to hold in their hands and to be able to flick through the index if they want to and, and all that sort of stuff. So, yeah, just...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (15:40.879)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (15:48.702)
It's been wild. They moved very, very fast. Both publishing houses moved so quickly to get into Rita's hands. So once we made the announcement, you know, we're now only a week away from time of us recording this. We're only a week away from publishing, going live everywhere with a physical copy. So, yeah, it's been incredible. And having that extra team behind me is just, you know, everyone I've dealt with, it's been amazing and I couldn't be more thankful.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (16:19.019)
So International Peeps, this will be available for purchase on May 9. So definitely go to your available bookstore like Amazon or however you decide to purchase your book and definitely look at buying this one because it's a beautiful big book. It's beautiful, you know. So I'm so glad I didn't know that could be an issue to get it to Canada or even Australia or anything to for that.

Sarah A Parker (16:44.074)
Yeah, I just couldn't get Amazon to distribute it over there and over here in Australia. They would distribute it, but it was very, very expensive. It was with me having my margins as low as they could possibly get. I think it's an export country and same with New Zealand. So New Zealanders got out with it in there. I had so many people messaging me and it was just impossible for them to get their hands on. So I now know that people can get it. People are going to be able to actually get their hands on the story. Yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (16:47.816)
Mm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (16:52.583)
Yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (17:00.016)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (17:05.838)
Right?

Charity Booktrovert Reader (17:11.835)
You're right. It's very exciting.

Sarah A Parker (17:14.13)
And I'm really grateful for the packages as well. I mean, the covers themselves are just, they've really knelt into the cover art and I guess paid homage to Aubrey's beautiful art, which I'm thankful for.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (17:25.701)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, um, yeah, because I- did you keep the same cover art from your indie published? Yeah, I thought so. I was like, this looks similar, but they usually change it so that they kept it.

Sarah A Parker (17:38.226)
Yeah, they kept it, but they just gave it some beautiful upgrades so that it's, you know, different options. So so that's got the beautiful it's on like the shiny, as you'll see there, it's got the sun, this shiny sort of paper. So it just allows that everything to pop so beautifully. So yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (17:42.918)
Uh huh.

Right.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (17:50.253)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (17:55.415)
Yeah, it's a very gorgeous cover, I will say, and it has a beautiful flop. You know, if you're wondering if it's been a big book, it has a beautiful flop. So...

Sarah A Parker (17:57.963)
Yes.

Sarah A Parker (18:07.526)
Yes. Yeah. That didn't have with the indie copy. I think a lot of people had to break the spine to open it. Yeah. With the, with the, with the, with Avon's one, it's, you know, it just flops beautifully. Doesn't it?

Charity Booktrovert Reader (18:12.643)
Ooh, ouch.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (18:21.443)
Yes, it does. That's the book that's coming out. Because you can hurt your hand with a big book if you're not careful, if it doesn't have a good flop. So let's talk about When the Moon Hatched. What inspired you to write this book? Just tell me it was a dream or how did it come about? Because I think that's a lot of people wondering how it comes up the story.

Sarah A Parker (18:24.646)
Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (18:29.01)
Oh, yeah.

Sarah A Parker (18:49.368)
So what first came to me was actually the world. So to begin with, I saw the world. I saw the sun only hitting that top. I saw the fade in the middle where it's always dusky, sort of dawny sort of vibe. I saw the shade down the bottom. I saw these dragons balled up in the sky as moons and the potential to fall. So

Initially for me it was the world and I spent, like I say, like three years walking the streets of this world and just getting to know the world, getting to know the creatures, getting to know, you know, just getting like that whole wall as well, walking down the round of the wall and just all of that for me was what came first. I think part of the reason why I didn't write a story for it when it first came to me, when I first saw the world was because I hadn't got the right...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (19:18.022)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (19:39.344)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (19:41.43)
Like the story itself hadn't been speaking to me yet. I think I needed to spend my time in that world for the story to speak to me. And, but when it did speak to me, it struck me like a moonfall. And it really just, it just hit me with its full force and I was away. I was away and I couldn't pull myself out. So yeah, I think it came to me in the right order. I feel like I had time to really immerse myself. And I think that's why the world building is so immersive in the stories because I did really take my time with it.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (20:00.856)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (20:11.39)
And yeah, so, but with the story itself, yeah, I can't even, you know, it's literally like the characters just suddenly one day, I woke up and they were speaking to me. And I can't even put words to it. I feel like, I've said to my husband a few times, I sometimes feel like my Nana was speaking over my shoulder, you know, telling me that.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (20:11.452)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (20:37.154)
telling me this story that needed to be told in this beautiful world that I'd been living in for the past three years. I had this moment actually, after I finished writing the first draft, and I remember us just sitting in the shower. And again, I felt like almost like somebody else was moving my fingers for me. And so I was writing the story, the easiest story I've ever written. And I was sitting in the shower afterwards and I just actually started crying. I couldn't stop. I was crying for like 45 minutes just sitting in the shower because I knew that.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (20:43.699)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (21:06.359)
I felt like she had some sort of role to play with this and I was just so sad that she wasn't going to be able to read it. So, oh I'm sorry.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (21:13.422)
Mm-hmm.

You're fine.

Sarah A Parker (21:20.028)
So, yeah, I can't tell you where it came from because I felt like it was just whispered into my ear.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (21:28.227)
Right? I love how you're like tapping into that creative energy and you did it at the right time when you were ready for it and you didn't force it and it came out so strong and so beautiful when you were finally was able to tap into it. And I was going to ask if there's anybody in your characters that were inspired by your grandmother.

Sarah A Parker (21:36.126)
Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (21:52.106)
I feel like there's a little bit of her in every, literally in everything, but specifically, and I don't know if you're at this part yet, but there is a, and I don't wanna give spoilers, but there is a specific, my nanny used to have this ornament, and it was a hatchet, and it was my favorite little ornament, and she had fairies and all sorts all over, and in her little home, like I would go in there, and I was literally like stepping into a fantasy realm, and-

Charity Booktrovert Reader (22:07.356)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (22:14.684)
haha

Charity Booktrovert Reader (22:19.133)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (22:19.87)
Patching Dragon Egg and I feel like, I feel like there's a bit of slarter in that which is which is the trick and that's in the book. So yeah, I think without giving away spoilers for those who haven't read it yet, you can just remember that name and just know that that's kind of where that's come from.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (22:41.695)
I will definitely remember your grandmother if when I get to that part for sure. So so I talked about the glossary and I remember I was reading the magic system you know usually people with elemental magic is kind of a common thing in the fantasy genre right now but you approached it differently where red is for a ignos.

Oh my gosh, I'm going to butcher it. I am so sorry. But you know, it represents water, fire, earth and air. And you gave it all symbolizations of the gods and goddesses in this world. And it gets deeper than that. People have to wear an ornament to symbolize what they can sing to. So that is so unique in itself. What inspired to just think about that, just to put that in the book.

Sarah A Parker (23:36.622)
So for me, that whole symbolism, I feel like it was a really good way for us to visually see this magic system that, again, had kind of been whispered into my ear as well, I feel. So in this world, the creators, they each have their own personalities. They each have their own, and the folk of this world can either hear those songs or not.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (23:58.296)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (24:07.214)
I just loved that each of these different creators had these very rich personalities that really leant into like Claude for instance and being the air and wind and being very playful but also can be very quite squealy and angry and then Rain, she's quite sorrowful and that's all very explained in the prologue of the story. But yeah, I feel like...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (24:29.627)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (24:32.626)
I just had so much fun with that. They came through to me so strongly from the start. And that prologue actually in the story, which explains that whole magic system in its entirety and explains the creators. So usually with my first chapters of my stories, I have to go back and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. Not with this one. That prologue, it's almost exactly the same as my very first draft.

it was just, it came through so clearly, and that whole magic system came through so clearly from my head because I spent my time walking those streets. You know, I spent my time in this world and with the lore and with the whole background of the world and just everything and the characters. So when I actually came down to actually writing it and giving that whole aspect of the story, its structure and its visual for us readers to follow, it came very, very easily.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (25:21.244)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (25:27.115)
So just so readers know, like a lot of times in the book, she might not give as much detail, but it's in the index. It gives a more description if you want it specifically, this is fire, this is earth. And I think that's what I like the most. You just gave enough detail to understand what is happening. And then you got more detail in the book. So you're not overwhelmed a lot. I'm sorry, I'm nerding out on this part, but I think it's such a great way of doing it that I'm just blown away by it. So.

Sarah A Parker (25:48.13)
You're fine.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (25:55.215)
Now tell me, uh, Ravi, if I had to look, I looked this up in the Princeton nation guide, but I have to, might have to visit the, your main character and she's brutal. You know, I always, I always think it's so fun to see like a very kind author. They're really energetic, really nice. And then they have like such a deep character and I'm like, wow, how dark are you inside?

Sarah A Parker (26:05.054)
Yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (26:24.899)
This girl has no mercy. She has a mouth to follow up with it. I love that character. So tell me more about her and what inspired you to write her and all that fun stuff.

Sarah A Parker (26:29.815)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (26:39.074)
So with her, the first scene of hers that actually spoke to me wasn't the start of the book. It was actually the scene, I'm not sure if you're there yet, but she's on trial. For those who have read it, she's on trial and she's getting, you know, she's getting, she's on trial for what she's done, basically. I don't want to give too much away. But that whole dialogue of that particular scene, that came to me first.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (26:58.46)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (27:09.774)
Jack Sparrow-esque kind of like character. That's the, not, but like a sober kind of. And like so gutsy and like, you know, I just, I just, and also a little bit as well. I think I was probably channeling a little bit of, I don't know if you've watched Yellowstone, but there's a main female character in that series and she's so gutsy and she's so just herself and like unapologetically herself.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (27:12.724)
Oh, right.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (27:17.54)
Uh huh.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (27:30.288)
Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (27:36.534)
And I just saw, I saw a rave just in this situation of being on trial and being like, well, just giving it back to them. And she, she just exploded from there.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (27:50.628)
There's more? She's... Oh my gosh.

Sarah A Parker (27:53.654)
I would yeah, I love writing here. I could write here for the rest of my life. Honestly, she is just She's she's constantly surprising me constantly like throwing me like off guard and I just I love it I love her so much and she's so fun But she's also good. I'd you know this tender side as well and I love that too that she's you know, they're a lot of

Charity Booktrovert Reader (28:12.307)
Cheers.

Sarah A Parker (28:19.862)
the way that she is, is also hiding the steps of pain. And I think that's important to know because I am a huge advocate for mental health and I feel like myself, I deal with things in life by kind of pushing it all away and laughing through life and sort of just, I guess, bantering my way through it, through the bad. So yeah, I feel like a lot of her comes from that as well.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (28:23.162)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (28:45.679)
Yeah, I was about to ask, do you see yourself? And you just answered that. Yeah, she's, she's an interesting character and I'm just, we're gonna have, I'm gonna see how much more she gets herself into trouble. You know, she does have that soft spot for the people who are consider elemental elementalists, I guess.

Sarah A Parker (28:49.763)
Ha ha!

Sarah A Parker (28:59.535)
Oh yeah. Oh.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (29:09.599)
the best way to describe it, the people that just doesn't have the magic, they don't have their poor and everything and she has a big heart for them. So you can see her having that Justice Warrior into trying to find that with the power that she has, even if it's little, you know. So I found that very, a very good strong character in that. That's why I'm so invested already. And you enter, I just got to a part where you're introducing a new POV. And I'm like, oh boy.

Sarah A Parker (29:34.315)
Yeah. I think that's probably around Chapter 8 is it? I think. Is it? Yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (29:39.279)
Yeah, around there. Yeah, it's just... Yeah, you're messing with me, Sarah.

Sarah A Parker (29:44.991)
You're about to think they're about to get wild. Sorry.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (29:47.663)
Yeah. And I don't know if this is a spoiler, but it's talking about the stone that this, um, the princess is being able to communicate to, and I had to refer to the index, the glossary and like, okay, what is going on here? You know? So, but I think you're going to have a very good way of just bringing it all together.

Sarah A Parker (30:01.759)
Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (30:07.823)
Yeah, hopefully. Gosh, challenges. I think for me, my main problem is that I get quite obsessive, compulsive over my storytelling. I throw myself so deeply into my stories that I forget to live.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (30:10.775)
So, when you're writing this book, what kind of challenges did you face in writing this particular genre and how did you overcome them?

Sarah A Parker (30:35.094)
You know, so I go through stages where I literally don't leave the house for months. And then I finish and I, and I step outside and I feel like an alien. And so I can quite easily get lost amongst it. And I forget to, I guess, nourish myself and all that sort of stuff. Um, and that becomes, I get, I think I mentally as well dump, um, important other important bits and pieces, because to make these big worlds in my head.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (30:44.359)
Hehehe

Charity Booktrovert Reader (31:02.128)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (31:04.51)
So I'm constantly, you know, I feel, sometimes I feel a bit disconnected from the everyday life because I am living in these worlds in my head. So I guess that is a bit of a challenge because, you know, I have to remind myself that, you know, this is the real world. Like I need to, I still need to, you know, I still need to, yeah, exactly. And which is why I think with Moom, particularly, I started a new sort of routine

Charity Booktrovert Reader (31:22.699)
Eat, sleep, you know.

Sarah A Parker (31:34.758)
I would have a certain amount of jobs that I needed to do each day. And once I'd ticked off those, write two chapters, like just the first drafts, and then go through and tidy up one or two chapters as well, that might be my job for the day. Or to mentally escape the next chapter and make sure it's still working well with my previous plan. So I would have those little jobs set aside. And once I've ticked those boxes, I now...

let go, I will take a step off my computer and I will spend time in the real world. And that has been not a challenge, it's been more of a learning that I've learned with this particular story. And I feel like actually me embracing that has allowed me to embrace my creativity even more and unlock a different sort of, I guess, level for myself because I feel like I wasn't treating myself well previously.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (32:15.08)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (32:28.423)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (32:33.858)
I was just, you know, charging and feeling like I needed to go, go. But now like forcing myself to take a step back and forcing myself to disconnect and to reconnect with the real world is actually allowing me to, while I'm in the world, to embrace it even more. So that's definitely been a big learning thing for me because I actually had to let go and that can be hard, you know, it can be hard. I feel like for me, letting go feels like letting go of the reins, but

Charity Booktrovert Reader (32:58.48)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (33:03.346)
No, it hasn't been like that at all. In fact, it's had the opposite effect. So yeah, that's been a big learning for me.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (33:10.611)
Yeah, it sounds like you had to create the what they call like healthy boundaries, you know, for yourself, because you do have a family and you know, things like that and eat, breathe and sleep. So I love that it's like the creative passion you just want to charge ahead but now that you create those boundaries now you have something to constantly look forward to. In New York.

Sarah A Parker (33:14.23)
Yes.

Sarah A Parker (33:21.6)
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

Sarah A Parker (33:32.915)
Exactly.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (33:34.879)
also creating those boundaries to also to keep yourself from burning out as well because that's a big thing that a lot of authors are feeling right now you know um

Sarah A Parker (33:41.554)
Yeah. And the funny thing is I didn't have that after Moon. It didn't come. I was expecting it because I had burnout after every one of my other stories. But with this, I didn't have it. It didn't come because I had treated myself well throughout the story. I feel like bringing Moon into the world, it was, the entire process was so positive and I just felt like I gave myself the time to love the story and to give it, I guess, you know.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (33:45.789)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (33:55.257)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (34:09.21)
to give it the passion that it deserved and yeah I felt like it was just a really great learning experience for me.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (34:16.487)
Do you think, because I kind of learned this from other authors, do you think that do not rush to publish is kind of a good advice for authors when they're looking to publish their books?

Sarah A Parker (34:26.218)
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, if you don't mind, I'd love to give some advice that I've absolutely spend time loving your story, spend time, spend time walking those streets and exploring different ways to do things. Don't be afraid to let go of something that you might have had in mind that actually isn't working now. Don't be afraid to just let go and then see where this new path takes you because quite often it's actually a better path than the previous one.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (34:31.787)
Oh yeah, go for it.

Sarah A Parker (34:55.946)
Listen to feedback, listen to it and take it on. It doesn't have to be the way you go, but there might be another path that, you know, that feedback leads you to as well. And this is obviously in the early stages, when you're, you know, bettering and outfaring and whatnot. Would also be, you know, just to, yeah, absolutely. Do not rush anything. It's not a race, it's a marathon. And when you do take the time with your story and...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (35:19.379)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (35:22.926)
and give it the love that it deserves. Like it shines through, it really shines through. I've learned that. I've learned in so many different ways. I think as well, another thing, bit of advice that I would have for people that are starting out would be to invest in character art. You know, hire character artists. There is a huge community of artists out there and they're just phenomenal. It's such an amazing community. And you know,

Charity Booktrovert Reader (35:40.741)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (35:51.462)
A lot of people can't visualize, you know, that some people will read a book but they actually can't visualize, so I go out of my way to make sure I've got character art of my characters so that people can see what I'm seeing. And it also goes back to that artist community because they are, you know, they do give a lot to our book community. And yeah, also invest in a really good cover artist, you know, that is also so important because you know, you want a cover that's going to really...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (35:56.572)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (36:21.422)
you know, to, I guess, reflect your story and reflect your story soul, I guess, in a way. But yeah, absolutely, take your time, get it all right. Don't rush any of those stages. Make sure that, you know, you're giving it the love and, you know, taking on feedback and you're not afraid to change things or to scrap a chapter and restart again. Quite often for me, you know, if I've got a chapter that's just not working, I have learnt.

which is something I hadn't learned in the past, just to just completely get rid of it and start fresh. And it always comes out so much better rather than just going through it and trying to rewrite it. So yeah, I hope that is a little bit helpful for people starting out.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (36:59.915)
Mm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (37:08.336)
Yeah, I think that's a great advice because I notice it does reflect if you do take your time and you're not rushing it. That character visualization, wow. I notice even in your book you have obviously the little artwork on each page of your chapter and then every once in a while you do have something to describe something so you just put it right there. There was a part where you introduced a lark.

And at first I didn't understand what you were saying until you presented that little photo at the bottom. And I was like, oh, I know what it is now. And that was a great way to be able to see it, what you're talking about, you know, because it's so easy just to rush and keep going and not understanding exactly what it is. But now I know what it is. And you have it throughout your whole book of these small pictures. And I love that. So I'm not even done and I'm already in love. So

Sarah A Parker (38:03.624)
I hope you still put it at the end.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (38:06.491)
Oh, please don't tell me. So do you have any, if you're able to, or do you have any future projects? Because this first book has been out for a while and a lot of people are probably wondering when book two is going to come out. What's the plans on this series in a whole? Like how many books and all that details?

Sarah A Parker (38:28.738)
So I'm planning to get the story wrapped up in three big books. So this one's big, obviously, the next one will be the same size, if not slightly bigger, and then obviously the third one. So yeah, I'm hoping to get it all wrapped up in a trilogy, which I think it really leans to I guess the whole...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (38:32.348)
Okay.

Sarah A Parker (38:46.734)
the story as a whole, like there's three different dragon breeds, you know, there's three different, like there's the shade, the fade and the burn as well. I feel like it all leans into the story really, really well if I wrap it up in three. But it always spoke to me as a story that would be wrapped up in, you know, in sort of a trio. So yeah, so that's the plan. Obviously, if I do need to stretch it out to four, if the last one is...

taking up more space than I thought it would then I'm not afraid to split it and do it in two. But so far I'm pretty certain that I can wrap it up in three. So at the moment I, because I did take a break from my Crystal Bloom series to write Moon, so at the moment I am first getting my draft down for the second book in the Moonfall series and obviously because I'm now a hybrid I've got my indie series plus my trade pub series.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (39:19.291)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (39:44.414)
So obviously I've got to kneel to those different timelines. So once I've got this draft wrapped up and I can pass things onto my editors there, you know, it's a longer time period for, it takes longer from the time where I get them the final manuscript for it to then go to print and be available everywhere. So with my Bloom series, once I finish a book, I push publish and it's up. So.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (39:44.548)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (40:04.391)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (40:12.818)
So I'm also working on my Bloom series in the background. But it will, so my fourth book in the Bloom series will most likely publish next. But I will finish Moonfall 2 first. But then it'll obviously go through the process of moving through those trade pub hoops and getting to readers. So, yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (40:22.586)
Mm-hmm.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (40:35.959)
Do you have any other stories cooking up in your brain that you...

Sarah A Parker (40:39.974)
Oh, so many. I've spent years of my life to tell all the stories I wanna tell. I cannot really say that. There are so many, so many, and there is a few that are speaking really loudly, but I'm just tucking them away for now, and every now and again, I'll think about them while I'm in the shower or while I'm going to sleep. But no, I've definitely got other characters and other stories that are wanting to have their voice. So we'll get there, we'll get there.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (41:09.303)
So just because I had this thought earlier and I just want to ask, like, how do you organize your thoughts into all this and keep your details straight?

Sarah A Parker (41:19.43)
So because I am dealing with juggling two different fantasy worlds right now, I really do have to compartmentalize. So I remove my brain from one series completely, and I literally tuck that aside. It's like putting it into a filing system. And now I've got this filing system open of Moonfall 2, and I'm in the world. I'm literally sitting in the world, in my head, in all my spare moments.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (41:32.359)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (41:46.998)
But it's funny because this filing system over here is it's got a little, it draws close to the moment. But then once I pick that up, then I crack that one open. So my brain, it does this really funny thing. Like it will kind of, it kind of protects itself. Otherwise it gets overwhelmed. So it does keep them very, very separate. So it's like, you know, you'd ask me anything about Moonfall series right now in general and it'll be right there. Whereas if you ask me stuff about this one, I need to crack that open again and really, you know.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (42:01.287)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (42:15.782)
for me to really get back into it. But I've also got very extensive documents. I've got like a 40,000 word document on my computer with everything Moonfall in there, with backgrounds of every character, with the lore, with how the creatures all are, how they interact with the world, with the overall story arc of the world and everything. I spent a month building that before I actually sat down and started writing the first word of the story. So, yeah.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (42:20.471)
Okay.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (42:43.279)
Oh, wow. OK. A planner.

Sarah A Parker (42:45.662)
I'm a plain up. Yeah. Very much so.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (42:50.755)
Okay. And, um, all right. So just tell all the readers. Where your book is going to be, where you can think and find it, where they can find you, cause I'm sure like a lot of people want to follow you and keep up with the updates book too, and any future stories that you write.

Sarah A Parker (43:05.546)
Yeah, cool. So the stories are going to be everywhere and bookstores everywhere. They'll be in Target and Costco. They'll be in everywhere and bookstores everywhere, which is amazing. They'll also still be available on Amazon and all your online retailers and digitally as well everywhere, which is the fantastic thing about Drab Pub. Now it's going to be available everywhere. The audio is also coming soon. So

Charity Booktrovert Reader (43:31.283)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (43:33.174)
that's exciting because I've got a lot of audiobook listeners who have been crying out for the story. So I'm very excited because they've done a fantastic job. And yeah, yeah. And there's a hard. So it's initially releasing in paperback and then the hardback is releasing later in the year here and here in the US. Some in the US at the moment. And and yeah, so it should be you're about to get it everywhere. So

Charity Booktrovert Reader (43:38.884)
Yeah.

Oh, that's exciting.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (43:52.156)
Hehehe

Sarah A Parker (43:59.746)
To find me, I spend most of my time on Instagram. I do have a TikTok, I'm not on there a lot, but I spend most of my time on Insta. So in my stories, you'll always see updates and my stories are on my feed. I'm always sharing character art on there. I've quite often got little competitions and stuff when it comes time to release ARCs. I do all sorts of giveaways and bits and pieces and try to interact with everybody on there as much as I possibly can. And...

Charity Booktrovert Reader (44:20.765)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah A Parker (44:29.01)
So yeah, the best place is definitely on Instagram or in my readers group on Facebook.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (44:35.283)
Okay, so I'll definitely be putting all those links below in the show notes or in the description if you're watching this and want to connect with Sarah Parker. And definitely keep track of her updates. And definitely if you haven't picked it up yet, when the moon has hatched, or when the moon hatched, not has hatched, definitely take a look at that. And thank you, Sarah, for sharing your wisdom, sharing the background of this beautiful story. And I can't wait to see what else you do.

Sarah A Parker (45:01.214)
Absolutely my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on today. It was an absolute delight.

Charity Booktrovert Reader (45:06.369)
Thank you.