Q&A with Maria Kuzniar

The Ship of Shadows was published to much fanfare and the sequel is within sights of readers this month. Publishing next week, Secrets of the Stars, features the same crew with a new adventure. We asked Maria a few questions about the upcoming sequel.

 How does it feel to be back with the crew from The Ship of Shadows?

It feels great! One of the things I love the most about The Ship of Shadows series is that it follows an ensemble cast of characters and in Secrets of the Stars, I really enjoyed spending some time writing more about some of the pirates that didn’t appear as much in the first book. I also consider the ship itself one of the main characters and in this book, we explore more of the ship and its magical rooms that pop in and out of existence. And there are several new characters that appear in this book, one of which I suspect will be a total scene-stealer!

Have any of the characters evolved or changed from book one to book two?

In Book One, Aleja and Frances meet for the first time and become fast friends. In Book Two, they’ve more comfortable as best friends and have got to know each other really well during the time they’ve been living aboard the pirate ship together. . . including the little quirks and annoying habits each one has! I had a lot of fun delving deeper into their relationship and exploring these growing pains as their friendship evolves and becomes greater than ever.

What are your essentials for a successful day of writing?

All I need is my laptop, a comfortable place to write without being disturbed, and plenty of coffee on hand! A lot of authors like to write in cafes but I’m a home bunny and I need lots of silence so that I can concentrate. I also prefer having access to all my notebooks and stationery. Ultimately though, it’s hard to predict if you’re going to have a successful day of writing or not – some days the words flow as if by magic, other days feel like a drudgery. I try to make the most of the former and not to worry if I end up struggling – I find it all evens out eventually. Your best looks different day to day and once I accepted that, I was a lot happier.

How do you sort those random ideas or characters that pop up during your writing?  Do you have an ideas folder?

My author friends know that I’m an ideas person! I constantly have ideas popping up and my head is always in the clouds. I have a cupboard filled with lovely notebooks where I like to explore my ideas further, and more notes on my phone and laptop than I can count, when I’ve quickly jotted a thought down before it dances out of my head. I always always write my ideas down – even if I think there’s no possible way I could forget one, somehow, I always do!

You are also writing for an older audience with Midnight in Everwood.  Do you find writing for adults more or less challenging than for middle grade readers?

A lot of people seem to think that writing for younger readers is easier but it isn’t. What it is, is different. If a child gets bored reading, they’re not going to stick it out to see if it gets better, they’re going to put that book down and go and find something better! When writing for children, you have to constantly keep that in mind and write at a fast and exciting pace. Every page has to be interesting. Writing for adults has a different set of challenges – one of those is the length. My adult books are at least 30,000 words longer than the Ship of Shadows books, which takes more time to draft and slows my productivity down. But overall, I would consider the hardest part to be shifting quickly between adult and middle-grade projects and slipping back into the right voice for each book.

Can you share any details of a current work in progress?

I have just finished the first draft of my second adult book, which is a standalone story that I can’t wait to share more about! For now, I will tell you that it is coming out in October 2022 with HQ Stories/Harper Collins, and is very much in the same vein as Midnight in Everwood. You can expect lots of magic, snow and ballet!

Over the last few years I have also been slowly working on a middle-grade book that I’m very excited about and hope that I might be able to tell you about one day. It’s very cosy, with oodles of hot chocolates, quite spooky, and follows a group of four girls that I’ve grown very attached to.

Do you have any favourite words?

I have a lot of favourite words. Pretty ones like gossamer, bewitching and tangled. Edible ones like frosting and sugarplums and gingerbread. I have entire notebooks filled with words I love to speak and write, and which words might suit which of my projects. Haunted and kraken-nibbled and seeping shadows could only describe The Ship of Shadows!

What are you currently reading?

I’m terribly behind on my reading at the moment (one of the perils of being on deadline) but I have an entire stack of gorgeously exciting middle-grade books I’ve already started diving into. I just finished reading a proof of Stephanie Burgis’ The Raven Heir, out this August, which is a beautifully epic tale of triplets and shape-shifting. Next up on my towering stack is Louie Stowell’s Otherland, which promises to be brilliant, and Good News by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, which we could all use a dose of!

Thank you so much for having me on the blog, I’ve enjoyed this interview immensely and hope that you enjoy being back onboard Secrets of the Stars for your second voyage.

Many thanks to Maria for answering our questions so openly and honestly!

Secrets of the Stars is published on 8 July and will be available from book retailers for £7.99.