Sometimes, though, it's just not ready, especially if I'm working on something stretchy. Once I'm actually at the computer or page, I can go from there. I *had* to write in bursts, because I nearly always had to wait for Caroline to finish her section before I did my next one.Īs for not being able to put words together.normally, my problem is with the sitting down part.

I've done a couple of books that didn't follow my normal process the Kate and Cecy books are a prime example. This is not true for everyone I have a number of friends who are 'burst writers' or sprinters - they work in intense bursts of days or sometimes weeks, and then they need a rest before the next one. Most of the time, I work best when I work every day at least a little, even if that's only a sentence or a paragraph. Do you find that different books you've written have demanded different approaches to the writing, or has your process remained more or less the same throughout? What do you do to help yourself write on days when you sit down and just can't seem to put the words together? You're a great advocate of writing every day, and writing by any method that works. That's why I have an agent because I don't really understand the market and never have.Ģ. I have always written my books for myself, and I am always rather surprised when they sell as YA (though I have finally learned not to say this out loud to editors). What was it like being a children's fantasy author in the 80's and early 90's, and how is it different now? Do you think the changes in the marketplace over the last ten years have been good for the genre? You've been writing professionally since 1980, and much of your work has been for a younger audience. We are happy to be able to present this interview with Patricia C.

Her most recent publication is Thirteenth Child (Scholastic, May 2009), the first book in the Frontier Magic series. She has also co-written a very popular trilogy of historical fantasies set in the Regency period ( Sorcery and Cecelia, The Grand Tour, and The Mislaid Magician) in collaboration with Caroline Stevermer, as well as the tangentially related novels Mairelon the Magician (our featured book for June) and its sequel Magician's Ward. Wrede's best-known series for children is the Enchanted Forest Chronicles ( Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons and Talking to Dragons), which feature the adventures of a determined young princess named Cimorene (plus assorted friends and relatives) in a delightfully quirky fairy-tale setting. With a Wrede novel the reader can always be confident of meeting smart, sensible, and engaging main characters, as well as an intriguing blend of magic and mystery. For many lovers of fantasy literature - especially children's fantasy - Patricia C.

A Matter of Magic by Patricia C. Wrede