Sunya Mara: Listen Only to the Voices Trying to Help You Get Better
Sunya Mara grew up in six different cities across five different states and now calls Los Angeles home. She studied film and business at the University of Southern California and went on to write and illustrate at Kobe Bryant’s Granity Studios.
When not telling stories, she spends her time haunting old movie theaters and staring at museum walls. Follow her on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.
Sunya Mara
In this post, Sunya explains how writing under contract was different than her debut novel, why writers should only listen to constructive voices, and more.
Name: Sunya Mara
Literary agent: Tracey Adams
Book title: The Lightstruck
Publisher: Clarion Books / HarperCollins
Release date: August 28, 2023
Genre/category: Young Adult Fantasy
Previous titles: The Darkening
Elevator pitch for the book: Vesper Vale, once savior to a city plagued by cursed storms, finds herself facing an even more sinister threat when an ominous light summoned by the Great King seizes control of the city.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I knew I wanted to write The Darkening when I figured out the two main characters. Vesper Vale, our heroine, and Prince Dalca, the antagonist, are flip sides of the same coin. Both are kind, intelligent, and reasonably good people, and both driven by love for their family and respect for their traditions—and yet they’re on opposite sides, on a collision course.
The Lightstruck continues their story, and it deals with the fallout of their choices. The power balance between them has tilted in the opposite direction, and they’re both figuring out how to bear the weight of their own legends.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
For The Darkening, it took about five years. I’d never written a book, and the idea I had was far beyond my skills at the time. So my process was: I wrote about 100,000 words, and I threw it out. And I did that seven times. The family dynamics and one moment in the ending have stayed pretty similar, but the rest changed so, so much. It taught me a lot!
The Lightstruck was a different beast altogether. I knew what the story was going to be, I had the tools to write it, and (maybe most importantly) I had a deadline. Strangely, the hardest part was resisting the urge to throw it out and start over, and listening to my editors when they told me all the things they loved about it. I’ve still got a lot to learn!
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
I’m fortunate to have such wonderful teams at Clarion and HarperCollins, and at Hodder in the UK! I couldn’t have asked for better collaborators and shepherds for these stories, as nearly everything was a learning moment.
The Darkening was my debut, and The Lightstruck was my first time both writing a sequel and writing a book under contract. It’s a steep learning curve to write on that timeline and with the new pressure of wanting to do right by folks who loved the first book.
But everyone—from my agent, my editors, the designers, the marketing and publicity teams, and everyone behind the scenes—they all took the best care of this book.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I won’t say it was easy, but I loved writing this book—the world was so interesting to craft, and these characters and their journeys are so compelling to write—that I was a little shocked to be finished, to have to admit it was done and give it over to the team. I had to mourn it a little—at least until a new idea caught my eye!
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
An adventure, and to be transported. And perhaps some readers will find something in this story that they’ll carry on with them. That’s the dream!
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Listen only to the voices who’ll help you get better at what you do. The rest is noise.
While there’s no shortage of writing advice, it’s often scattered around—a piece of advice here, words of wisdom there. And in the moments when you most need writing advice, what you find might not resonate with you or speak to the issue you’re dealing with. In A Year of Writing Advice, the editors of Writer’s Digest have gathered thoughts, musings, and yes, advice from 365 authors in dozens of genres to help you on your writing journey.