New interview with YA fantasy author Andrew McDowell

Young adult author Andrew McDowell is back with a new interview! Today we’re chatting about his new YA high fantasy, Beneath the Deep Wave. It’s the second book in his In the One with Nature series.

You can read the last interview about the first book in this series here.

Bio:
Andrew McDowell is the author of the fantasy novels Mystical Greenwood and Beneath the Deep Wave, the former of which was a finalist in the 2019 American Fiction Awards, won the 2021 Maryland Writers’ Association Novel Contest, and was an honorable mention in the 2021 Top Shelf Magazine contest. He studied at St. Mary’s College and the University of Maryland, College Park. Andrew has had poetry, short stories, and essays featured in anthologies and literary journals. He has Asperger Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, which he was diagnosed with at age 15 (not 14).

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Andrew! Please tell us about your newest release.
Beneath the Deep Wave continues the story of my characters in Mystical Greenwood. The stakes have been raised, now that the evil sorcerer Taranis has openly begun his war on Denú. Dermot and his friends find themselves trying to bring together allies as well as uphold morale. They continue to learn about the ways of Nature and the magic within it, especially with aquatic life. There’s action, romance, and heartbreak, and secrets are revealed.

What inspired you to write this book?
I set out from the beginning to write a trilogy once I chose fantasy. It seemed the natural thing to do. And I knew from the beginning that I wanted this book to have a lot of action, introduce some romance, and end on a dark note. It allowed me to further explore the connections we have with Nature. I went in wanting a sea-related title because I want the three books to have titles that tie in with the three realms of Nature—land, sea, and sky.

What’s the next writing project?
I’m trying to finish the final book in the One with Nature trilogy (it will have a sky-themed title, which I am keeping under wraps). I’m also experimenting with the possibility of compiling all my short works (poetry, short stories, essays) into a collection.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)
The challenge with Beneath the Deep Wave was that it was my second book. I had already written one book, but now I was facing the mental challenge of telling myself to do it all over again. Plus, I had to deal with readers and fans constantly asking when the next book was coming out, as they wanted to find out what happened next with Dermot and the other characters. Well, now it’s all happening all over again with the final book, too.

If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?
I’d say it happens while I’m writing, mainly. There is some research that occurs beforehand, but with Beneath the Deep Wave, writing and researching was much like assembling a jigsaw puzzle (or Frankenstein’s monster for those horror fans), whereas writing Mystical Greenwood had been more coherent (written from start to finish, I mean). I came up with the beginning, and I knew how I wanted it to end. Connecting them was the tricky part. Finally, it all came together when I got to the climactic battle, which was the last part to be finished. The third book is going through a similar process.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.
Sometimes with a laptop desk on the sofa, sometimes on the coffee table. It varies between those two spots right now. Though maybe someday I might create a different writing space, one that’s a little more defined.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?
I try to read fellow indie and local authors to help promote their works. To list all of them would take too long, so I would recommend a browse through the books I’ve read on Goodreads. But within the fantasy genre, a few good ones include Disenchanted by Leigh Goff, Divinity Falling by Nour Zikra, and Awakenings by Edward Swing. Outside of fantasy, I’ve enjoyed the Lark Chadwick mystery/thriller series by John DeDakis, and Holding up the Sky by Rebecca Alasdair was an exceptional story about a boy discovering and coming to terms with his sexuality and himself.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?
For anyone who wants advice on becoming a writer, I have two pieces. The first came from my dad: the important thing is to tell a story and tell it well. Secondly, be patient. With writing, editing, getting published, it’s best not to rush.

Links:
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