My Heart is Booked Blog

During the month of September, I am hosting a series of author interviews to celebrate Self-Published Fantasy Month. For full schedule and more information regarding Self-Pub Fan Month please click here. Today, I am sharing my interview with author Caitlyn E. Lloyd.

I was actually introduced to Caitlyn’s writing when I won a signed copy of her book, The Heart of a Changeling, from a mutual friend on Instagram. We eventually bonded over a shared interest in The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning (a small, but thriving fandom) and have become fast friends (even if we live over a thousand miles apart). I’m so excited to share her with you all!

BTW The Heart of a Changeling is one of the novels featured on my post Top 10 Enemies to Lovers Books You (Probably) Haven’t Read Yet. I’m hoping to do a reread soon, so I can finally write a review that does it justice.

To start, would you please introduce yourself to our readers? Let us know a little about you and your published work.

Hello! I’m Caitlyn E. Lloyd, I’ve been writing since I was seven years old, over twenty years now. This past year I finally took the plunge into the world of publishing and released my first official book, The Heart of a Changeling. While the series is Fantasy, I also have several projects planned from multiple other genres including Romance, Sci-Fi, and Urban Fantasy–but that’s getting ahead of myself! I’ve lived in Texas all my life, consider spaghetti to be the food of the gods, and if I could live anywhere in the world I’d choose Dublin, Ireland.

Who or what prompted you to begin writing fantasy?

Fantasy has been a huge part of my life since I was very little. My mother was an actress when she was younger and did a lot of Shakespeare, I was read Midsummer’s Night’s Dream when most kiddos were hearing Disney bedtime stories. One of my earliest memories with my father was him reading Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion the Witch, and the Wardrobe to me. My grandmother is a European Historian; I know more about European history than I do American at this point, and the fantastical, the mythology and folklore, in Europe is a big part of its history. I was a very imaginative kid, always thinking up new worlds, new stories, reenacting movies like Lord of the Rings with my brother. All of these things culminated in me writing my first ‘book’ when I was nine or ten. It was horrible, I still have it somewhere. No indentions with new paragraphs and the grammar shoddy. But the story is there, and that was what was important.

What books or authors inspire your own writing?

There are so many! It just depends on whatever project I am currently writing (which are numerous.) For example, if I’m working on a Fairytale Retelling, I would say Rosamund Hodge is a massive inspiration for me, while Jenn Bennett inspires me when I’m working on a Contemporary Romance piece. For The Heart of a Changeling, Julie Kagawa has remained one of the most influential authors in my life all these years. Her Iron Fey series was my first introduction into YA Fantasy that involved the Fae. Her work inspired and shaped a lot of my worldbuilding in The Changeling Saga. Overall, I am constantly in awe with authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Penelope Douglas, Ilona Andrews, and Karen M. Moning–just to name a few.

Plotter or Pantser?

I’m a bit of both! I think having the bones of a plan for a story is necessary, but I also believe spontaneity is important when it comes to believability. If you outline every single second, a decision that might have sounded good for a character at first, might not be the right thing in the end because of the character’s development. You have to give yourself room while writing; things shift, plots change course, characters straight-up punch out of the computer screen, hit you in the face, and tell you “No, I’m not doing that!” It’s a grand thing when your characters end up leading your writing, even if they can be stubborn children sometimes.

Everything I write usually begins with music. I’m very sensitive to music when it comes to my creativity. I have three playlists for each of my projects, one full of classical songs/scores that fit the story, one with a bunch of regular songs, and one with the songs that inspired each scene or chapter. It’s like having a soundtrack to the book and it helps me write fluidly and emotionally. When I hear a song, or get inspired by a piece of art, quote, anything at all, I jot the scene down in my phone. Just the bare bones; the dialogue and minimal action. Then, later, when I feel a need to work on that particular project and I get to the scene I had imagined, I write it with the guidance of my notes. Most of the time this works for me, the spontaneity of having to come up with material to link the plotted scenes is super fun. But sometimes scenes and dialogue I outlined have to be tweaked to fit what is currently happening in the story. It’s an ebb-and-flow for me.

What part of the writing process do you find most challenging?

The hardest thing I’ve ever done while writing was designing the world map for The Heart of a Changeling. I do all the graphic design and formatting for my books, including cover art, chapter headings, and illustrations. The map was the most tedious, arduous task I had ever had to do. Other than that, telling myself that a draft is FINISHED is a huge challenge for me. Even now, if I opened up THOAC, I would find things to tweak, change, add to the first paragraph! Nothing is ever good enough in my eyes when it comes to my work. It takes a lot for me to force myself to call it, to say “This is completed, let it be.”

Can you explain how your publishing experience differed from the “traditional” publishing process and what led you to choose that particular path?

I am a control freak. That’s what it ultimately came down to. The idea of a publishing company taking my book, changing its title (yes that happens), changing character names (that happens too), making me cut whole chapters, not giving me any say on the cover . . . see a pattern here? I write long books. I always have. Back in film school when I was majoring in Screen Writing, I never ran into the problem a lot of my classmates did, I never had short scripts. I am a very cinematic writer, things are constantly moving, relationships are developing, plots are unfurling, I am constantly foreshadowing things that will come back around two books later . . . I knew a pub house would take my book and that would be it, I’d lose a lot of creative control, which was far more important to me than anything a pub house could give me.

What is your favorite part of seeing your work published?

It actually terrifies me! People and friends send me things all the time, links to pictures on Instagram, reviews on Goodreads. It makes my anxiety have anxiety. It’s a very scary thing having your work out there for anyone in the world to see. In today’s technology age, people are so ruthless online because we’ve lost the aspect of face-to-face communication. People say anything and everything online, things they would never say if they were in the same room with the person they are saying it to. The public is ruthless. Bad reviews are a way of life for an author, yes, but that doesn’t mean I am not terrified of getting one of those scathing reviews . . . I’ve diverted from the question . . . the best part about seeing my work published is randomly scrolling on social media and seeing my book on a bookshelf or seeing messages and reviews asking for more, people saying how much they loved it. Also seeing it compared to other big series I love is beyond mind-blowing.

I believe you are currently working on the sequel to The Heart of a Changeling. Do you have a timeline in mind for its release?

I do! Sort of! There is no direct answer to this, as of now. Unfortunately, there are a lot of components that need to line up for me to have a set date. When I published THOAC last year, I had a whole marketing scheme and timeline set for the sequel. Right before publication, I lost someone very close to me, and everything fell to the wayside, including my mental health. Simply pushing the publish button turned into a chore more than a pleasure and I decided simply having the book out there was enough. I didn’t market it, and then I hit a huge writers’ block wall. Still, I planned on a release date for the sequel to be May 2020. And then . . . COVID hit. I was more than halfway through my draft, and once again, everything kind of fell apart. Printers shut down, editors were furloughed, etc. This strange time in quarantine has been a mix of stress and, weirdly enough, blessings. I was alerted to some people recommending my book on TikTok, of all places, and before I knew it I was having a massive spike in sales, reviews, and a constant stream of messages and emails asking for news on the sequel. There is nothing more inspiring an author to write than having fans begging for more. It’s humbling and feels better than a good therapy session. So, the sequel is coming, I am praying for a December release, but it ultimately comes down to my editor taking on clients again and printers reopening. In the meantime, I have a bunch of fun extras and reveals lined up in the near future!

How do you balance writing with other aspects of your life such as family, employment, leisure?

My writing is the most important thing in my life, even if I’m in a slump and don’t write for a month. Writing grounds me and keeps my head on straight so that I can engage and socialize in the real world. I’m introverted, so getting emotionally exhausted by life is a very real thing for me, which is why it is so important for me to always resort back to writing. I can escape into my stories, pour out everything I am feeling into the pages, and recharge for the next day. Writing is therapeutic and cathartic for me.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Write about what you would like to read. Write about what you love. Don’t try and lie to your readers, they will know if you don’t believe what your characters are doing or saying. Beta readers are a must! Start with a few friends, then progress to writing groups on trusted sites with people you don’t actually know and therefore will not be afraid to tell you the truth. Learn the difference between constructive criticism and criticism. One you ignore, one you listen too but don’t HAVE to act upon. At the end of the day, it’s your book. And for the love of all that is holy, JUST WRITE IT. Stop asking if it’s good enough, it is. Stop asking if you should write it, you should. Just write it.

Thank you so much, Caitlyn, for taking the time to answer these questions.

I know you’re all dying to get your hands on The Heart of a Changeling now. You can find links to purchase on her website!

Connect with Caitlyn E. Lloyd:

Website & Blog: www.CaitlynELloyd.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/Brutal.Reads

Twitter: www.twitter.com/CaitlynELloyd

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/CaitlynELloyd

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrutalReads