%20(2).jpg)
Craft Chat Chronicles
Craft Chat Chronicles
Season 2 Episode 2: From Script Editor to Six-figure Book Deals: Holly Race Discusses Feminist Fantasy, Tudor Queens, and Writing Craft
How did a script editor in the UK television and film industry transform into a best-selling author? Join us on Craft Chat Chronicles as we sit down with Holly Race, the remarkable mind behind the debut adult fantasy novel "Six of Crowns." Holly takes us on her riveting journey, candidly discussing her tumultuous transition from script editing to writing, including the challenges she faced launching her YA trilogy during lockdown. Discover how her passion for Tudor history and a fiercely feminist reimagining of Henry VIII's wives led to her securing a significant book deal.
Holly shares the emotional rollercoaster of securing a literary agent and selling her book. Feel the highs and lows as she recounts her first offer of representation, the nerve-wracking moments reaching out to her top-choice agent, and the exhilarating overnight read that culminated in a pivotal meeting in London. Dive into the nuts and bolts of crafting compelling retellings, capturing iconic moments with a modern twist, and keeping readers hooked from start to finish.
From the excitement of seeing her book cover for the first time to the essential support network of fellow writers, Holly’s story is packed with inspiration for aspiring authors. Learn about the delicate balance between passion and marketability, and pick up creative social media strategies to promote your work. Plus, get a glimpse into Holly's unique life living in a historical Bridgeton era house and her future writing projects, including a glimpse into her next big ideas in both adult and YA fantasy novels.
Keywords: script editor, writing tips, publishing, UK television, film industry, best-selling author, Craft Chat Chronicles, Holly Race, debut adult fantasy, Six of Crowns, writing challenges, YA trilogy, lockdown launch, Tudor history, feminist reimagining, Henry VIII's wives, book deal, literary agent, representation offer, retellings, modern twist, writer support network, passion vs. marketability, social media strategies, historical fiction, future writing projects, adult fantasy, YA fantasy novels.
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast for tips on crafting best-selling fiction. Here at Craft Chat Chronicles, we bring you expert interviews, insights and tips on writing, publishing and marketing. Join the conversation and embark on a new chapter in your writing journey. For workshops, show notes and more information, visit jdmyallcom. That's jdmyallcom. Here's.
J.D. Myall:Holly Race. Holly writes fantasy with a political edge. Orbit has recently preempted her Tudor Queens fantasy in a six-figure three-book deal. This is her adult novel debut. It's called Six of Crowns. It's a fantasy reimagining of Henry VIII's wives. That's fiercely feminist. Today, holly's going to talk about writing, publishing, what it's like to debut in the adult world of writing now and much, much more. So if you want to learn a little about writing craft from somebody who just recently sold a book in a six-figure three-book deal, here's the place. So listen and learn, and Holly will talk to you all about publishing, her debut process and so much more. Enjoy Season two, episode two of Craft Chat Chronicles.
Holly Race:Hello, hello, how are you? I'm all right, how are you Doing?
J.D. Myall:well, very good, very good, so you're in the UK.
Holly Race:Yes, yes, indeed, yeah. How is it over where you were about to you? I forget what we're about to. Est time zone is.
J.D. Myall:Georgia. It's like New York time.
Holly Race:Okay, okay, cool. Never been to Georgia. I've been to New York, but never Georgia.
Holly Race:so tell me about your life before books uh, I, I spent about 10-15 years working in kind of TV and film as a script editor. So like I don't think there's really a strong equivalent over in the US in kind of Hollywood, but, um, script editors and development executives in the UK sort of come up with ideas for TV things, um, and find writers and talent and kind of pitch to broadcasters and channels, so I guess it would be a producer over in the US. But yeah, it's like development executive script editors over here. So I spent about a decade doing that for various companies like Aardman Animations, who do the Wallace and Gromit films, and Sean Sheep and working title films, and then Red Planet Pictures, uh, who produce a crime drama called Death in Paradise, which I think has made it over to the US.
Holly Race:Um, but yeah, so that's what I was doing before before becoming an author. Um got made redundant back in 2017 and a couple of weeks later found out I was pregnant, was like, oh well, no one's gonna give me a job now, so I may as well focus on writing this book. I've had this idea for um and then kind of never went back that's awesome.
J.D. Myall:Um, how tell me the story behind the story? How did your current novel come to be?
Holly Race:um, current novel. Basically, I had a ya trilogy that got uh published in the uk, basically over lockdown. So the first one came out during what was the first lockdown here in 2020, and then second, the next two books in 2021, 2022 and kind of dead on arrival. Basically, um, thanks to lockdown, and, uh, it was a bit disheartening having spent so long writing them. And so I kind of sat down and thought, right, think about what stories you you love, um and the, the kind of topics you love, and think about what might be actually commercial and stand a chance of kind of getting a bigger deal.
Holly Race:And I've always been a massive Tudor nerd and so I was like, oh, I wonder if there's a way of kind of doing some kind of fantasy feminist retelling of Six Wives of Henry VIII. And given the number of retellings of kind of Greek myths out there, I was like, oh, I wonder whether this could be kind of the next thing, a step beyond that. And so, yeah, that was kind of how the idea was born. It was very much born out of a very dark place where I thought that my career was completely over. I'd just been dumped by an agent after three weeks after signing with them, and so I was like, oh, looking quite bleak right now, but maybe, yeah, think about what could kind of rejuvenate your career.
J.D. Myall:Love that. How did you get your first agent?
Holly Race:First agent was through a thing called the Faber Academy, which I don't know if it's that well known over in the US, but Faber books publisher over here and they run lots of writing courses, 12-month writing course in London and at the end of it they kind of throw you into a room with a load of agents and you have to read a scene out of your work in progress and off the back of that I had a couple of agents email me and ask to see the whole manuscript. So when I finished it I sent it to them and kind of only them and got a couple of offers and went with one of them. And got a couple of offers and went with one of them. Essentially so very, very smooth process that did not repeat itself over the coming years.
J.D. Myall:And with your second agent. How did you get to your current agent?
Holly Race:My current agent is not my second agent. So my first agent ended up moving to set up his own agency and I ended up staying with his assistant because I really liked her and I yeah, I kind of she had been the one sort of taking care of me most, so I stayed with her. Then she ended up being made redundant from her role and leaving and I kind of got handed over to a third agent at that agency who didn't pick me. I didn't pick them. It was like, yeah, this is fine, but not long-term.
Holly Race:And then, when I was out of contract with my YA trilogy, I sort of got back in touch with the second agent and she had landed at a new agency. But it kind of didn't have the vibe that I was looking for. It sort of represented very different books from the kind of books I wanted to write. So I sort of said I wasn't going to move in the end. So I then approached an agent who I knew had read my first YA book and seemed to be doing really exciting things and had a meeting with them and they said that they'd love to represent me. So I signed with them and then three weeks later, before we'd even really worked together at all. They phoned me up and were like actually I've had second thoughts, I'm really sorry it's not gonna work.
Holly Race:Um, and that was when I uh had the idea for Six Wild Crowns my my Tudor fantasy and just went kind of did the querying the proper way. I suppose um sent it out to about 15 agents, I think. Um, when, when I kind of got it to a place I was happy with it and got I think it was something like 12 full manuscript requests and then eight offers of representation in the end. So yeah, it was um nice to have that sort of like little ego boost after being dumped.
J.D. Myall:Basically do you remember any of your um query of the pitch part yeah, I do, I've got my.
Holly Race:I do have my query letter here actually. Um, where is it? Here we go. So I I pitched it as a feminist fantasy retelling at the six wives of henry the eighth, set on an island ruled by a king who must marry six queens in order to protect his kingdom. When queen boleyn realizes that something is amiss with the magic of the island, she and the other queens must overcome their differences and the manipulations of the king and his and his advisors to take back their power.
Holly Race:Um, so that was kind of my elevator pitch for it. Um, and then I talked um a bit about my childhood obsession with the tudor period and um, the fact that when I was 17 I like wrote a play called Berlin and made all my friends act in it so deep Tudor nerd, uh and um. And then, yeah, talked a little bit about my background. Didn't mention getting dumped by my agent of three weeks, just said that I had sort of parted ways amicably. Um, after my trip, my YA trilogy, and I was kind of looking to restart my career in adult and crossover rather than YA.
J.D. Myall:Love it, love it, love it, love it. How did you get the news that the book had sold actually first?
Holly Race:tell me about the call.
J.D. Myall:What was your call with your agent like when she loved that wonderful pitch and wanted to represent?
Holly Race:you, it was, it was an, it was. She was an agent, the agent that I kind of had at the very top of my wishlist. So when I got my first offer of representation, I hadn't heard from her at all, not even a full manuscript request, and so I emailed her. I was like I've had an offer of representation, do you think maybe you might like it? And she got back to me fairly quickly after that and was like oh, yes, do you send me the full um? And then so I sent it to her about 6 pm, um one evening and the following morning at 10 am she emailed me and was like I read this overnight and I love it. Um, can we meet up and talk about it? And I happened to be going into London, which is where she's based, a couple of days later. So we met up then and yeah, she is also a big Tudor nerd, which I think helped us bond.
Holly Race:And I've had a couple of agents sort of say, oh, could this maybe be a standalone Because standalones are easier to sell? And I was a bit like, oh, sort of say, oh, could this maybe be a standalone because standalones are easier to sell? And I was a bit like oh, I guess, but I would really like it to be a trilogy because I want to be able to tell I basically each novel is told from the point of view of two of the queens, so you kind of get all six queens point of view across the trilogy. And she was really, she really liked that idea and and was like, yeah, it might be a harder sell but I think it's got there's justification for it being a trilogy because of that. So let's go for it.
Holly Race:And she didn't. She didn't kind of like do a hard sell at all or promise I think my very first agent. I got a little bit drawn in by the oh, and you know we could do like uh, uh, vr games of your book and put you in touch with this Hollywood actor and stuff like that. And I was a bit like, oh, wow, okay, amazing, and there was none of that with her.
Holly Race:She was just like I'm gonna put you in touch with a couple of my existing clients, um, and you can talk to them, like without me, like in the frame at all, so you can get honest feedback and um, and I think this is really commercial and sellable. But obviously I can't promise anything but yeah, and then when I spoke to her other clients that she put me in touch with, they all said kind of the same thing that she was incredibly loyal and just like, had their back and was in it for the long haul. And those things were all really, really important to me after my previous experiences and I just wanted someone who I could feel really safe with and who, if the book didn't sell well or sell at all on sub, then I wasn't going to feel like I was about to be dropped or become less than basically.
J.D. Myall:And what's your agent's name? Did you say Adam or Paul? If you did, Sorry. What's your current agent's name, did you say?
Holly Race:Adam Zoe Plant at the Bent Agency. Yeah, because the Bent Agency has offices in the UK and the US and that was also quite important to me because I really wanted to break into the US.
J.D. Myall:I love that. What do you think are the essential elements of a good retelling?
Holly Race:Oh, that's a really good question. I think greatest hits of you know. If there are moments that people think they know from the original story you know, like the bits that everyone thinks they know, then being able to put your own spin on those I think makes for really good retelling and I think something that makes it a bit more modern, I suppose think something that makes it a bit more modern, I suppose, um a reason for it to be retold now as opposed to just like same old I love that. What do you think?
J.D. Myall:oh, I don't know, I haven't done a retelling yet I'd have to research. What do you think makes a good opening? How do you hook your readers in the beginning of the story?
Holly Race:um, I think you want to make them ask questions, um, about the world, about the characters, but also to give a kind of indication of tone straight off the bat. So my first sentence for Six Wild Crowns is um, her wedding dress is the colour of the Massacre of Pilgrim. And like that that line came to me before I had any idea what the Massacre of Pilgrim was at all. Um, but once I'd written I was like okay, well, I've got to figure out what this Massacre is now, um, but I feel like that's quite an intriguing opening because it kind of says you're sort of landing in the middle of a story if you're landing at a wedding, but it's not necessarily a traditional wedding because the dress is red and it's already mentioning, kind of like, death and danger and massacres. So hopefully that gives you an indication of what is to come.
J.D. Myall:Definitely would have made me read on. You heard that A great first line. How do you avoid the stagnant middle? How do you keep readers engaged all the way through?
Holly Race:Oh man, I wish I knew. Going through that with book two at the moment'm like oh, it's awful. Um, how do you write again? Uh, I mean, I think raising the stakes as much as you can and making things really difficult for yourself to write, so just like force yourself to write your way out of it, I think is probably a good way, because, I don't know, I'm a bit of a planner, but I really admire the people who plan completely and can still manage that. Because for me, I need to, I think, like tip myself off balance at those points and shake things up a bit and, like I don't't know, kill someone off or have someone introduce a new threat, um, in order to, yeah, just like, keep it, keep it interesting and kind of keep the momentum going.
J.D. Myall:I love that. I try to be a planner, I try to plot, but it's never 100%. For me it's like 70% and then the characters take over. Yes, yeah, right.
Holly Race:I have a friend who does a like 30,000 word outline of her book and apparently it makes it incredibly easy and quick to write the full draft. But I just don't know how she does an outline in that much detail and still manages to create a book that is like fresh and peppy. Because if I did that I would just be like I know everything that's happening. I don't know. Yeah, I think you're right. I think sometimes you need to be able to let the characters take over a bit, don't you?
J.D. Myall:what do you think makes a compelling, captivating ending?
Holly Race:a compelling ending. Um, for me, my endings are always bittersweet. Um, so personally, as a writer, I I find it really hard to write endings that are full-on kind of like happy, although I love, love, love reading books that have full-on happy endings. Um, I think you, I think it kind of needs to give the reader what they want and expect in some ways, but then have a little edge to it in others. So it's, it's just got a little bit of a surprise, a little bit of a bite to it that people maybe weren't expecting, but still kind of like feel satisfying in all the rest of the ways.
J.D. Myall:I love that. Um back to your publication journey. Um, can you tell me how you got the call Like, how did that go? So tell me about submission first and then tell me, yeah, okay.
Holly Race:So I did a couple of rounds of edits with Zoe over the course of like two, three months and then we sent out UK and US at the same time and you know, as anyone who's been on Sub knows, it's torturous and you have to kind of like try and distract yourself with lots of things until the torture like lessens a little bit. I'd been fully expecting sort of months and months of waiting, because that's what I had with my first trilogy. In the end we got our first kind of like bites of interest after a week or so and then, about two weeks after going on sub, I was actually in a cafe doing some writing with a friend, um, and we were both like deep into our writing when my when Zoe called on my phone and I literally like looked at it and my friend looked at my phone and she was like is that? I was like oh no, and so I like answered the phone and, um, and Zoe was like we've got this pre-empt. Um, uh, and it's, it's good. Um, I want to talk to my co-agent in the US when she's up, but I just wanted to let you know and gauge your thoughts and stuff.
Holly Race:And it was on those moments where I really wanted to be like, but I was in a cafe, it was really quiet so I couldn't. So I think my reaction was a little bit more muted than maybe she'd expected. But I got off the phone and told my friend we were like like this is really happening, um. So, yeah, that was amazing. We ended up saying no to that preempt um and, uh, asking them to come back to us with a better offer um, and in the meantime we got another preempt um, but then that first publisher came back with um, something even better um, and for uk and us rights rather than world rights, um. And so that's when we said yes to them and no to the other grant um. That was over the course of like about half a week, I think. So it all happened really quickly in the end, which I know is not normal and I will never expect that ever again, quite frankly.
J.D. Myall:And did you have a call with the editor?
Holly Race:no, no, I didn't. Um, I I'd heard really good things about her um, which has been completely like borne out by my experience with her, and also I kind of felt like the book was in a good shape and I wanted, I wanted the publisher, and I wanted a publisher who I knew were going to market it well and had a really strong vision for it, which they did. So I was kind of like I don't really see the need to have a call before we accept. Let's just accept and then we'll chat later. And so we did that and so far that has worked out really well. Um, again, I know I'm very lucky there, but uh, yeah, yeah and what imprint were you with?
J.D. Myall:again? Orbit okay, yeah, awesome, exciting yeah have you done any planning for your launch yet?
Holly Race:not yet. I mean, the launch is May next year, so we've got a little while. We're hopefully going to get um proof boxes out in the next few months, which is exciting, and we've nearly finalized cover. It's like this close, um. So yeah, I I'm having sort of like meetings with my publicist in a month or so, um, so hopefully we'll get more of an idea of what the plans are then. But yeah, awesome, awesome.
J.D. Myall:What has been the most exciting part of the debut experience so far um good question or the biggest learning experience, whichever one, um, I think it's.
Holly Race:It's kind of really hard for me to say this time, because of course I'm not. I'm not strictly a debut, I'm an adult debut um, I would say my, my actual debut. The most exciting part was seeing the cover for the first time, um, and the biggest learning experience was understanding how important having a network of fellow writers around you is, um, which I I didn't really have for my first book and I only cultivated that over the next, over the course of like the next few years, so my second and third books. I would say my most exciting part of this debut experience has been getting the illustrator for the cover. It's all about the cover, isn't it? I don't know if you've done the same thing, but it suddenly feels real when you start to kind of like get a visual on that cover. I haven't got the cover yet, so I don't know. Oh no, okay, well, you've got it to come. What's been your most exciting experience so far?
J.D. Myall:um, I guess, um, finding out that it was gonna sell, yeah, because submission, like you said, is hell and it took mine 12 days to sell and I was really sick the first seven days and then after that I'm like oh it sucks, I'm never gonna sell before I started.
Holly Race:It's hard not to be there, isn't it, when you poured that much of your soul into something the hours, the time, the you know yeah, yeah, I find, um, this time around I I worry that I am a bit of a like grump for orbit, because whenever they kind of come to me with like, oh, we've got this exciting bit of news, I'm just like, yeah, we'll see. Because, like my first experience was so like everything amazing is gonna happen, and then it didn't, and so I'm just like I'm just not gonna get my hopes up until I actually like I'm holding something in my hands that's cool.
J.D. Myall:Um, how about any?
Holly Race:are there any tools that helped you along the way as far as the writing or the editing, or um, I think the shitty first draft and understanding the value of a shitty first draft has been the most important thing, because there have been so many times where I've sort of hit a wall I don't know about you, but like the sort of 20-30,000 word mark that seems to be fairly common for writers. Um, just being like this is awful. I don't know what I'm doing with it, I don't know where I'm going. Is it worth carrying on? Um? And, I think, learning that actually you've just got to get to the end, even if everything else is a total hodgepodge, and then you can.
Holly Race:It's only when you figure out where you're going that you can figure out the rest of the journey properly. But you have to sort of make that journey in a weird route in order to get to the ending, and then you can go back and find yourself a nicer path, I suppose. Um, so yeah, just like forging ahead to the end and being really strict about seeing it as a job as well. I think it's very tempting, especially when most of us have other jobs alongside the writing, to kind of push it and push it and be too tired to do it and be like oh, this is really hard, I've got writer's block, but actually it's a job and we're getting mostly paid for it and like, yeah, treating it as as a profession, and you wouldn't sort of like not do your job on a day when you were supposed to be there and you weren't sick, so just gotta like, yeah, get to the desk so you don't use like.
J.D. Myall:Scrivener or anything like that.
Holly Race:I use Scrivener. I don't think I use about 90% of its tools.
Holly Race:It's okay, I have that.
Holly Race:I use the like little session time timing and, yeah, uh, figuring out how many words a day I'm supposed to write in order to be able to meet my deadline. But that's, that's kind of it, I haven't tried Scrivener yet.
J.D. Myall:so many people talk about it, it's got me curious.
Holly Race:I like it. I like it better than Word, but I think that's quite a low bar to exceed. It's useful for being able to jump between chapters, but yeah, I'm sure there's loads of it that I just like haven't got to grips with at all, and if I did, then I would think it was amazing.
J.D. Myall:How about social media? Do you have any plans for like social media or how you're gonna like present it when this time comes?
Holly Race:uh, I have a few plans I have I recently got a load of I love cooking and baking and I ordered a load of Tudor cookbooks off Amazon and so I was like I wonder if there's sort of like a little TikTok reel to be done about like different Tudor bakes and experimenting with that.
Holly Race:And, yeah, maybe that's a great idea it's a lot of work, though I have a limited amount of like I'm. I'm nearly 40. I don't properly like vibe with TikTok, so we'll see. That's the plan. It might not come to anything. Love it, love it, love it.
J.D. Myall:Are you writing full-time? Are you um working as well?
Holly Race:yeah, I am writing full-time now. I wasn't until I got this deal, but this deal has meant that I've been able to, which has been really nice.
J.D. Myall:That's a good thing. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Holly Race:I feel like all my advice is going to be quite like other people have said it much better but find the sweet spot between writing what you love and writing what will sell.
Holly Race:I think that's that's quite a tricky thing and it sounds really cynical, but I think if you want to be traditionally published and in a way that doesn't feel kind of soul destroying because you put it out there and it, you know, if it doesn't sell well, it's gonna mostly sell well because your publisher invests a lot in it, and so in order to make that happen, you've got to create a book that is worth investing a lot in it because they think that it's commercial enough. So I would never, ever, advise anyone to write to a trend because that's just going to be soulless but everyone involved. But if you, if you can find a way through a story that you love or a kind of era or a character that you adore, but make it super commercial, then do that because that's, I think, going to be the way that gives you the best experience of a traditional publishing journey. I would say.
J.D. Myall:I love that. With both of your publishing experience, both of your debut experiences, what was the biggest hurdle you had to get over?
Holly Race:second book syndrome. It's so real and it never goes away. I thought, having written one trilogy, that the second trilogy would be a piece of cake, but no, the second book syndrome is still, is still there for this one as well. Um, yeah, I think that's. That's been one of the biggest hurdles. The other one is is is the realization of what I just said, of that it's a that publishing, traditional publishing is a business, and they want to sell and make money, understandably, and so you, you are making a product, not just something that is born of your soul, basically.
J.D. Myall:I love that. What's the writing community like in England?
Holly Race:It's really nice, really nice. I'm based in Cambridge and it's mostly kind of like science and tech bros over here, but there's a small group of writers based in Cambridge and we're really supportive of each other and kind of turn up for our launches and our events and things and have like little writings and cafes and then London obviously, there's a huge number of authors. Cambridge isn't so far from London, so it's yeah, my experience of it so far has been just incredibly incredibly supportive and welcoming and open, and writers who I was like kind of like scared to approach because they were so big have been incredibly, uh, friendly. So it's yeah, it's really nice and I guess, because the UK is relatively small, you kind of feel that sense of community quite quite well around the country.
J.D. Myall:I love that. Um, tell me something else about you that we haven't covered or that you think readers would be excited to find out.
Holly Race:Um something we haven't covered. Well, that reads I have no idea what reads a bit excited to find out. Um, I live in a Bridgeton era house. Um, it was built in 1819, we moved in last year and it's a total. Well, it's a bit of a wreck, basically, but we're slowly doing it up and kind of like reintroducing all of the old Georgian and Regency, uh like, yeah things, you can see, you've got a little fireplace behind me, I think that's it's sort of like victoria in this one.
Holly Race:We need to find a georgian one to go in there instead. But uh, yeah, I'm. When I'm not writing. I'm plastering walls with old lime plaster filled with horse hair and stuff.
J.D. Myall:Exciting. What's up next for you? What are you working on after?
Holly Race:the series. Have you thought about it yet or are you still? I have lots of ideas, as I think a lot of us come up. You know you're sort of like oh I'm in this contracted book but shiny, shiny new idea over there. Yeah, I've got a few ideas but I'm um waiting to pitch them to orbit once Six Wild Crowns comes out. Um, because obviously with the three book deal it's going to be a while before I'm able to get to that basically. But yeah, I've got quite a lot of ideas for more fantasy and speculative fiction adult or YA or book adult.
Holly Race:I have an idea for a YA crime that I would quite like to write, but I don't know when I would get around to it. But yeah, I think probably mainly adult now exciting.
J.D. Myall:You said that your book launches when. Again.
Holly Race:May next year.
J.D. Myall:May next year. I know mine comes out in fall next year, but I haven't been given like an exact month.
Holly Race:I only found out because I saw it on Amazon. I was like, oh okay, that's good, I'll put that in the diary.
J.D. Myall:So how have you been liking the experience of being in the 2025 Daily Brew? So how?
Holly Race:have you been liking the experience of being in the 2025 Daily Brew Nice? It's a lot. It's a lot, a lot of new messages every day that I'm struggling to keep up with a bit.
J.D. Myall:But yeah no it seems like a really nice bunch. How about you? Same, it's a lot. Sometimes I get overwhelmed because I'm like one of those weird antisocials, like most of us, but I try to force myself to read them and try to catch up, even though it is a lot, because it's a lot of good information in there. Yeah, yeah, they can turn helpful in that way. Yeah, have you met anybody from the group in person?
Holly Race:Yeah, so I met Maudupe Ayinde, who's another Orbit author who I think is in that group, met her for an Orbit party last week. We went to have dinner together. That was really really nice. And then Georgina Stewart, who's a crime author and she's based near Cambridge. So we've met up a couple of times as well.
J.D. Myall:That's awesome.
Holly Race:How about you? I'm?
J.D. Myall:on Zoom, but not in person.
Holly Race:Did you basically get inundated with us being like hi?
J.D. Myall:me, interview me. Yeah, I'm going to try to, you know, reach out to as many people as I can Tell me about the party, though Was that like?
Holly Race:Oh no, it was really great. It was their 50th birthday party, basically. So they rented out a space in London and, you know, had all of the cupcake, all of the obligatory book things, cupcakes, tote bags, um arcs. Uh yeah, it was lovely it was. It was busy and like loads and loads of orbit. Authors came from all over the UK, um, nice speeches. Just kind of got to meet a few more authors and yeah, it was really nice.
J.D. Myall:Is there anything you want to say that we haven't already covered about, like writing or publishing, or um advice to debuts or aspiring writers?
Holly Race:advice to debuts or aspiring writers. You've debuted twice so I'm sure you've got some um, I think. I think aspiring writers read a lot and that's that's a bit of advice that's always given is reading a lot. But I would say I would add on to that read a lot from the last few years in your genre. When I did, I've done some kind of book editing and query editing work in the last few years and a lot of the authors that I've kind of come across have they've they've got really good ideas for stories and everything, but all of their comps are from sort of like 10, 20 years ago and that's not going to be so sellable or interesting, I would say, to an agent nowadays. So I think for aspiring writers, it's make sure that you're you're reading the modern classics as well as the classic classics in your genre.
J.D. Myall:I love that um. Where do people connect with you?
Holly Race:I am on Instagram at holly race books and on TikTok at holly underscore race, and my website is wwwhollyracecom awesome um you mentioned in an earlier email about cover. I mean, I can show you the cover as it is. I don't know if there's any like questions that you had about that right where can I find?
J.D. Myall:did you see the other sister?
Holly Race:uh, did I see the sorry the movie the other sister, the other sister. Oh, the other belinda girl. Oh yeah, the other belinda.
J.D. Myall:You're right, yes, yes I love the movie but forgot to say it.
Holly Race:Yeah yeah, it's a good movie. It's a good movie, incredibly historically inaccurate, but very good movie. I hmm, how can I add this? Okay?
J.D. Myall:Let's see. My daughter, my middle child is a history buff that would be ever so angry.
Holly Race:Which eras of history in particular.
J.D. Myall:She likes all of it. To be honest with you, she reads, like she read the book Making Bombs for Hitler and stuff like that. So she you know she's in high school now, so she reads a little bit of everything in the historical. She watches historical, like the YouTube videos and stuff like that. Nice, nice, nice.
Holly Race:This is gorgeous. It is the dragons are going to be the top dragon is as a little bit awkwardly positioned at the moment. So they're just doing some work to that and then hopefully we'll be there okay, when you get the final copy of it, email me that.
J.D. Myall:Yeah, I'm gonna send that in with the interview and this shot's gonna get those and all that good stuff can do awesome meeting you you too so far. I'd say, we could do lunch one day.
Holly Race:I know, I know. Well, if you're ever over in the UK, let me know, will do, will do.
J.D. Myall:Thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
Holly Race:Thank you and let me know if there's anything that I can do in return next year, when it comes to like pushing your book as well.
J.D. Myall:Awesome, I'd appreciate that. Also, if you're ever in Philadelphia I'm co-chair of the Drexel University MFA program oh, amazing. If you're ever in Philadelphia, you know you wanted to do some events at Drexel. Or there's like a we're partnered with about a really nice brand new Gordon Noble in the middle of Rittenhouse Square, which is like a fancy suburban area in Philadelphia. So you know I could hook up that location and stuff too.
Holly Race:So if you're ever in the philadelphia area reach out nice, we'll do, thank you or georgia.
J.D. Myall:I'm here. I don't have as many connections in georgia, though I just moved back. I'm more helpful in philadelphia okay, got it amazing.
Holly Race:We'll have a really amazing rest of the day.
J.D. Myall:No, sorry, I was trying to say bye, but I froze that wraps up today's craft chat chronicles with JD Mayer.
Holly Race:Thanks for joining us. If you liked the episode, please comment, subscribe and share. For show notes, writing workshops and tips, head to JD Meyercom. That's JD Meyercom. While you're there, join JD's mailing list for updates, giveaways and more.