About Saffron Bryant:
Saffron Bryant is a young Australian author with a passion for fantasy and science fiction. She began writing at a very early age and hasn’t stopped since.
She has a degree in Biomedical Science (with honours) and is currently completing her PhD at the University of Sydney.
Her first book, The Fallen Star, was released in 2012 after Saffron was forced to take leave from uni while recovering from a brain tumour.
When she’s not reading or writing, Saffron enjoys visiting the zoo, playing with kittens, and MMORPGs.
What inspires you to write?
I love adventure and everything fantastical that goes with science fiction and fantasy. Writing helps me explore these adventures and also share them with others.
Usually I’m inspired by snippets of conversation, or imagined scenes, or sudden ideas e.g. What if a race of Ancient aliens built Earth?
I am also inspired by other books and movies. I see something cool and think ‘wow, I’d love to do that.’ or ‘wow, but what if they’d done this instead?’
Tell us about your writing process.
I am definitely an outliner. In fact, I love the whole planning process. Up until this year I’ve just written out a sequence of events that take the story from start to finish but recently I’ve been researching even more structured stories. The last few I’ve tried to plan out into a 3-act structure.
I find it so helpful to have a plan to work to, because then you’re basically just filling in details for each dot point in the plot.
I usually write the first draft without going back at all, then once it’s all down I’ll go back and look for holes, or missing scenes and polish it up to make sure everything fits and makes sense.
Then it’s time for serious editing.
I usually have a pretty good idea about my characters, with notes on appearance, habits etc. before I start. I find it’s very helpful to have some kind of short biography to reference while writing.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I like imagining my characters in certain scenes, thinking about how they’d handle different situations, but I can’t say I actually sit down and have conversations with them! (not that I’m willing to admit in writing anyway!).
What advice would you give other writers?
My biggest piece of advice to writers… is to write!
I know I struggled for the first few years – you have a great idea and then part way in it fizzles out and writing can become a real chore. But it’s so important to just work through that phase, and when you come out on the other side you’ll have FINISHED a book!
Then of course you repeat the process with another one…
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I looked into publishing right when the self-publishing revolution was taking off.
I’ll admit I tried ONE agent first… and I waited months for a reply! But when it finally came, it was a rejection letter…. addressed to the wrong person!
I called them up to find out that they’d sent me someone else’s letter (although mine was also supposed to be a rejection). And it just made me think… if that’s the kind of care they put into their business… why on Earth would I want to work with them???
And so I never submitted to an agent again and jumped straight into self-publishing with both feet.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think the patterns we’re seeing now will continue – self-publishing will continue to be a success but maybe the quality will improve as it’s seen as less of a ‘gold-mine’.
I think traditional publishers will become more involved in picking up already successful authors and then handling aspects such as movie deals, foreign rights, and paper/hard backs.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Science Fiction and Fantasy
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Saffron Bryant Home Page Link
Link To Saffron Bryant Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.
