Debut You is an interview feature on Our Stories Matter blog. Debut authors, who have released or have upcoming releases in 2021, are given five questions to answer about themselves and their book. Currently, the questions are the same for all authors. We hope you enjoy getting to know Liselle Sambury and can offer your support. Go here for more Debut You features.
Describe yourself in five words, then expound on one of them.
Persistent, independent, creative, family-oriented, and introverted.
I’ll expound upon persistence because that’s the trait that I think has helped me the most in the publishing industry. I’ve always been willing to work towards the goals that I want and stick with them, even if I have to take breaks in between. I’m very single-minded about my pursuits in that way.
Explain your book’s journey—how long did it take—from idea to publication?
I got the idea for Blood Like Magic around the second week of November in 2017, and Blood Like Magic will be published on June 15, 2021. I wrote the first draft in 2017 and continued to do rounds of edits with the help of critique partners, beta readers, and mentors, and finally started querying literary agents in June 2018. After about a month and a half, I happily signed with my agent Kristy Hunter at the Knight Agency, and we did about six months’ worth of additional edits. Finally, we submitted to editors in January 2019 and sold Blood Like Magic in a two-book deal to Sarah McCabe at Simon & Schuster in April of that year. From there, it was just the process of doing my final edits with my publisher.
Balance is the key to successful living. How do you balance the act of writing with other priorities, such as your job, family or fun activities, and self-care?
I often don’t write for the whole day or even for a full workday now that I am a full-time author. I tend to dedicate a few hours of my day to writing and then spend the other time reading or pursuing other passions like creating YouTube videos or time with family. When I wrote while juggling a day job, I would wake up at 5:30 a.m. and do my hour or so of writing before I had to go to work so that after work, I would be free to spend time with friends or family. For me, balance is about not making my entire day about writing so that it’s not so overwhelming. I think if you need to, setting aside breaks can be helpful too. I will often work on a project non-stop for a month and then take a week or two completely off. I know some people take weekends off. Whichever works for you.
Understanding your audience is essential. What do you know for sure about the audience you are writing for?
I don’t know that I do know anything for sure about my audience. I think even when you’re aware of tropes or high concept themes that might appeal to teens, I find it difficult to say that I absolutely know what they want to read. I’m making my best guess between what I experienced when I was that age and the things that I have gleaned teens still deal with today. That being said, I think there are young people who are wanting to see themselves in stories through representation, and I hope that Blood Like Magic and my future novels contribute to that.
Tell us about your book.
Blood Like Magic is about a family of Black witches living in a near-future Toronto, and in particular, sixteen-year-old Voya Thomas, who is given the impossible task of either killing her first love or losing her family’s magic forever.
Blood Like Magic (Blood Like Magic #1)
Liselle Sambury | Margaret K. McElderry | June 15, 2021 | YA | 496 Pages | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Liselle Sambury is a Trinidadian-Canadian author who grew up in Toronto, Ontario, and her brand of writing can be described as “messy Black girls in fantasy situations.” In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to helping demystify the sometimes complicated business of being an author.
Connect with Liselle Sambury
Website | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
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