A few burning questions for the authors of Hollow Earth, book 2 of The Hallowed Realms Trilogy, Amy Miles and Danielle Bannister.
Firstly, how did this trilogy come together? You both write in different genres. Why did you come together for this?
AMY: I’ve always wanted to co-write a book. Being able to write with my best friend, Danielle was a total bonus. We have completely different writing styles so I knew it would be challenging, but it’s been a great experience.
DANIELLE: Amy’s specialty is blood, guts, gore, and kick-ass heroines. My area is in giving normal, everyday characters all the feels. So why couldn’t a romance writer and a fantasy writer blend their styles? It seemed logical to us, haha.
With one book, Netherworld, under your belts as co-authors, how was this second book to write? Easier? Harder?
AMY: I would say that book 2 was a lot easier to write. We have worked through a lot of the kinks that came up during book 1. Writing long distance isn’t easy. Sure, we can hop onto FB messenger and chat about stuff but being in the same room has proven vital to writing our best work. So our mini-cave writing sessions in Maine are crucial for us to organize the book so that we are both on the same page. We also had a better feel for the characters this time around and how to blend our writing styles together in a (hopefully) cohesive way.
DANIELLE: Yes, this book flowed faster. The major reason for that, I think, is the week we spend together in the same state, in the same room, writing at the same time. Writing online is great and all, but in that one week, we were able to accomplish ¾ of the first draft of the book. There is just something about being in the same physical space that helps focus and drive the plot forward faster.
You recently had a cover reveal but you actually had the cover done long before the reveal, right?
AMY: Danielle loves to make fun of me but I have to have a completed cover before I can start writing a new book. I’m a visual author so I need to be able to see the characters. And sometimes that means having the cover done a year in advance.
DANIELLE: We actually have the idea for book 3 as well, though we need to agree on that last image, but stylistically, we know what we want it to look like, which really makes the cover designing easier all around.
When we last left the characters in Netherworld, they were in some pretty cliffhanger type situations. Does Book 2 pick right up from there or is there time away from it?
AMY: My part of the book begins three months after the end of Netherworld. Poor Taryn has been whisked into the chaos of life as a royal and forced to join Prince Aed’s grand tour of the realm in search of a more “suitable” bride. Needless to say, Taryn hates every minute of it, haha.
DANIELLE: The first chapter is literally seconds after book 1 ends, then we progress to three months later, so hopefully, readers will be all caught up without too much pesky recapping.
What is one thing you want readers to know about Hollow Earth?
AMY: Things are about to get real. There is more danger, more tension, and of course more romantic elements.
DANIELLE: It does what a second novel should. Raises the stakes and furthers the character arcs and the overall story arc. That said, I like that this book gets to dive deeper into character building. My favorite thing! And Amy still gets plenty of time to tear things apart. Win, win!
The third book in the trilogy, Isle of Glass, when do you think that will come out?
AMY: The first two books have released in October so that’s the goal. I can’t wait for everyone to read this epic conclusion. It’s going to be a wild ride!
DANIELLE: When we first started planning this trilogy, the plan was always to release one a year, so life willing, that’s going to be the plan for book 3.
You can catch their first author interview when Netherworld came out by clicking here: https://wp.me/p1Jceq-St
Danielle Bannister, Author 