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Author blog: How I started writing by Frostfire author Jamie Smith

We are delighted to host a guest post by Jamie Smith, author of Frostfire (see our review here).

 

In this blog post, Jamie discusses how he became a published author and how his enjoyment of writing stems back to opportunities given in primary school to write freely and a love of fantasy audio books.

 

How I Started Writing

 

It’s over ten years since I wrote my first book – but much longer since I began writing.

 

I got the bug near the end of primary school, when given the chance in a spare lesson to really cut loose with my creativity. It wasn’t great, and it was derivative of several other things, but it was a start. From there, I never really stopped again, though there were blips along the way.

 

Interestingly, until a few years ago, nothing I wrote was pure fantasy. It was always sci-fi, or superheroes, or action adventure, or some combination of the lot. That sustained me through my teenage years until I had built up an expansive universe of stories, all along a single, long future timeline. One day I may return to that cherished place – but only when I’ve got enough distance to be able to rip out its many flaws without mercy.

 

It was only when I began full time work and needed an audio book for my commute that I fully got into the fantasy genre. I started with the longest series I could find – The Wheel of Time – and moved on from there through all the top-rated books I could get my hands on. I’m still going.

 

I’d gone a few years without writing anything much, but inspired by these tales of strange lands, I drew a crude map of one on my computer. Liking what I saw, I got to work writing my first epic fantasy that ended up rather too long but stuffed full of good ideas. One day I hope you’ll all see that one in some form. Either way, it gave rise to a whole world of other fantasy book ideas, many of them jotted down in a single brainstorming session.

 

It was one of these that would eventually go on to become Frostfire.

 

Since then, I’ve written at least one book a year, and sometimes three. With occasional breaks to avoid burnout, I try to write 1000 words a day, and that methodical pace has helped me build up a library of drafts that I can’t wait to share with the world. I guess all that fantasy book listening really had some kind of effect!

 

FROSTFIRE by Jamie Smith is out now in paperback (£6.99, Chicken House).

Find out more at www.chickenhousebooks.com and follow Jamie @JamieHBSmith and jhbsmith.com

 

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Read our review of Frostfire here.

 

Frostfire is available to order online or from your local bookshop or library.

 
 

Many thanks to Jamie for sharing this guest blog post with us and publicist Laura for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

 

Do check out the other stops on the blog tour too!

 

If you are interested in writing a guest blog post please get in touch here.

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