We are getting closer to the release date of Heart of Mist and I can’t be any more excited to get my own physical edition! It’s got such a beautiful cover that I can’t wait to put it on my shelf!
These past few months have been such a treat for me because Helen is such a wonderful person to work with. I’m so glad I took the opportunity to work with her in reading, reviewing, and interviewing her for her debut YA Fantasy Novel! Check out the details below, and if you’d like to know more about it feel free to browse over to my review!
About Heart of Mist
Title: Heart of Mist
Author: Helen Scheuerer
Pub. Date: August 31, 2017
Publisher: Talem Press
Formats: eBook
In a realm where toxic mist sweeps the lands and magic is forbidden, all Bleak wants is a cure for her power.
Still grieving the death of her guardian and dangerously self-medicating with alcohol, Bleak is snatched from her home by the Commander of the King’s Army, and summoned to the capital.
But the king isn’t the only one interested in Bleak’s powers.
The leader of an infamous society of warriors, the Valia Kindred, lays claim to her as well, and Bleak finds herself in the middle of a much bigger battle than she anticipated.
Heart of Mist is the gripping first book in The Oremere Chronicles, a fantasy series of epic proportions.
Interview with Helen Scheuerer
There are so many genres of YA these days, what drew you to writing YA Fantasy?
Not long ago I had a kind of ‘lightbulb’ moment where I realised that I should be writing what I loved reading, and what I loved reading was YA fantasy. I loved the strong female leads, the magic and the intrigue. I had forgotten how much I loved the fast-paced nature of it, and the fandoms that made being a part of the community so much fun. Writing fantasy came quite naturally to me, I love the freedom of it!
We are more likely to see addiction portrayed in YA Contemporaries, what made you decide to explore addiction in writing Heart of Mist?
I never deliberately set out to write about addiction, it sort of came to me as my protagonist developed. However, I did make the conscious choice not to shy away from delving deeper into the issue because I think it’s a challenge that many young adults experience, or are exposed to.
There wasn’t a lot of romance in this first book, will we see some romantic relationships develop as the series progresses?
You’re right, there wasn’t a whole lot of romance, and that was definitely a deliberate choice. Past events and tensions are hinted at, but I wanted the readers to get to know the characters before any relationships started blooming…
Without wanting to spoil anything… There’s certainly room for romance to unfold in the next two books…
I’ve heard that writing second books in a series are more difficult than the first, how has your experience been in writing book two of the Oremere Chronicles?
That’s a really interesting question! The writing of the second book itself hasn’t been more difficult than the first because for me, I feel like I know my characters and world so much better this time round. It’s almost like skipping a step! However, the hard part has been prioritising writing while there’s still so much to be done marketing-wise for Heart of Mist. When I was writing Heart of Mist, I wasn’t having to split my time between books…
Even though Heart of Mist is finished and nearly released, there’s still so much ahead in terms of getting the word out there. Unfortunately I’ve been finding that my writing time gets sacrificed for this. I need to find a better balance!
Self-publishing can be a difficult route in getting a book published, what were some of the obstacles you faced while trying to get Heart of Mist published, and what advice do you have for other authors considering Self-Publishing?
I’m fortunate in that I’ve got previous experience in book production, publishing and marketing, so for me, the learning curve wasn’t too overwhelming.
The main challenge for me personally, is the money. I’m a freelancer living in Sydney, Australia and so it can be quite difficult trying to finance life and publishing a book. If you want to do indie publishing right, you do need to be willing to spend the cash on a brilliant editor and a brilliant cover designer. You get what you pay for.
I’d advise anyone considering self publishing to do their research and do it well. Don’t be tempted to go for a vanity publisher, and don’t be tempted to skimp out on things like design and editing. I’m so so glad I chose this path for myself, but it was definitely a well-informed decision.
About Helen
Helen Scheuerer is a YA fantasy author from Sydney, Australia. ‘Heart of Mist’ is the first book in her high fantasy trilogy, ‘The Oremere Chronicles’. It explores themes of identity, belonging, loyalty, addiction, loss, and responsibility.
After writing literary fiction for a number of years, novels like ‘Throne of Glass’, ‘Elantris’, ‘The Queen’s Poisoner’ and ‘The Queen of the Tearling’ inspired Helen to return to her childhood love of fantasy.
Helen is also the Founding Editor of Writer’s Edit, an online literary magazine and learning platform for emerging writers. In its first year, Writer’s Edit reached thousands of new authors, and soon became its own small press. It’s now one of the largest writers’ platforms in the world.
Helen’s love of writing and books led her to pursue a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong, as well as a Masters of Publishing at the University of Sydney.
Helen now works as a freelance writer and editor, while she works on the second book in ‘The Oremere Chronicles’.
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There are Prequels!!
If you love prequels as much as I do than click HERE for three, THREE, Heart of Mist prequel stories!!
The Clever Reader 
Fantastic interview Sarah!
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Thank you! It was my first one so I’m glad it was a good one!
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Oh yes, a very good one 😉 That’s one of the “job description” parts I love most as a book blogger: interviews!
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It was a lot of fun! I would definitely be up for doing more interviews!!
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Me too especially authors of YA and/or Fantasy but most of the time I have to go through the publishing house and..it’s not easy! I wish I could have such a fantastic bookstore as yours Sarah!
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Ya. I am so lucky to have the YA community and The King’s English. I would never have known it was here without discovering a signing.
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