Corinne Duyvis has recently signed with agent Michael Carr of Veritas Literary Agency. Corinne, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Congratulations and good luck.



QueryTracker: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?

Corinne Duyvis: ALWAYS READ THE FAE PRINT is a YA urban fantasy novel about a thoroughly human girl from a thoroughly non-human family of shapeshifters, warlocks, and telepaths -- who ends up being the only one to bail out her family when they get into some intense fae-related trouble.

I really wanted to do a sorta humorous book, and I had always wanted to write something set in my hometown of Amsterdam. Since I'd just written a book about characters with all kinds of magical abilities and wanted to write someone human, but couldn't bear to move away from SF/F... Everything fell into place.



QT: How long have you been writing?

CD: As a hobby? Since about 2004. More seriously? Since 2008.



QT: How long have you been working on this book?

CD: Well, I wrote the first draft in November 2008, but it was an adult book back then; after several revision rounds, I overhauled it to YA in December 2010. I started querying that version in January 2011.



QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?

CD: Yes, several times -- mostly when I felt burned out, or when I wanted to focus more on my art instead of my writing. I don't think any specific thing kept me going; I would vent and feel useless for a few weeks, but the stories and characters in my head wouldn't shut up. Once I got it out of my system, I just picked up where I left off.



QT: Is this your first book?

CD: It's the second book I wrote, but the first book I queried. (Well, if you count the earlier, adult version of the novel as a different book, this'll be the second book I queried. But I see this as more of a revision than an entirely new book.)



QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

CD: None whatsoever.



QT: Do you follow a writing "routine" or schedule?

CD: Oh, I'd love to be able to do that! Sadly, I'm far too chaotic. I switch between periods of massive procrastination (think: Xbox, tv series, endlessly harassing my dogs) and major productivity (think: 5k+ words a day) with no real rhyme or reason to them.



QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?

CD: I wrote the book in ten days in November 2008. From February-May 2009, I added about 30k words of much-needed subplots and depth, then shaved off 10k. From December 2009-February 2010, I took off another 15k through line editing and cutting extraneous scenes, resulting in a MUCH tighter book. I did some further edits as I queried -- tightening up the beginning, establishing my MC better in the early chapters -- but nothing major until December 2010, when I overhauled it to YA. That was actually a very quick process. I think I finished in one or two weeks. Another few days to incorporate my beta readers' suggestions in January, and that's it!

How long I take to edit varies wildly, as you can see above. It probably doesn't help that I usually have several projects going at once.



QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

CD: Yes, an embarrassing amount. I use fewer these days, but I still wouldn't know what to do without them. I'm incredibly impressed with (and a little suspicious of) anyone who can write a solid book without the help of betas.



QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?

CD: Outline, outline, outline. That said, my outlines are usually rather vague -- main events/twists/revelations only. I fill in the rest as I write, and always allow for plot detours. It just means I need to rework my outline before I can continue.



QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?

CD: I queried the adult version from February-November 2010. The YA version received an offer within a week of sending out my first query.



QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?

CD: For the adult version, over 90. (Gulp.) For the YA version, less than 20. I was able to send direct submissions to several agents as well; they'd either seen the adult version and agreed to read the YA, or -- like Michael, the agent I signed with -- they saw my work online and contacted me, instead.



QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?

CD: After some bad experiences querying the adult version, I was quite careful with the agents I queried for the YA version. Only agents with thorough experience in YA, at least some affinity with fantasy, and clients who raved about them made the cut.

Since Michael is brand-new, he didn't meet those requirements, so I'm pretty darned happy that he ended up contacting me, instead!



QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?

CD: Only when they specifically said they were looking for something I felt I could offer -- a strong voice, humor, a unique setting, dorky love interests, whatever.

I also mentioned if I'd previously queried them with the adult version. Most agents have good memories and my title is quite distinct, so I wanted to make sure they knew that I'd made significant edits and it wasn't just a requery of the exact same book.



QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?

CD: Do your research, listen to what experienced queriers have to say, and don't be afraid to move on to something new. Don't get stuck on just one book. (I know, so says the chick who's been working on the same book since 2008 -- but I promise I have other projects going on as well!)

Also, I know it's tempting to contact everyone who reps your genre, but do some research first. You don't want to have to turn down any offers, or worse, end up with an agent you're not comfortable with.



QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?

CD: I actually posted my query on the Absolute Write forums for critique before sending it out. That garnered me a few requests from agents before I sent out a single query letter! Michael was one of those agents. This is the letter that went out to the others, though, minus the occasional bit of personalization:

Dear Ms./Mr. [name],

Sixteen-year-old Lillian figures her family's vacation to Amsterdam is the perfect opportunity to get away from her weird-ass home life. She's the sole regular human in a family of shapeshifters, warlocks and telepaths: talk about getting a complex. But just when she's rocking the whole normal-life thing -- no bragging intended -- her dad ends up comatose from a car crash, and a couple of tricky fae come a-knockin' right after.

As it turns out, her dad signed a contract with them a full decade ago -- years of servitude in return for Lillian's life after a hellhound attack she still carries the scars from. Now that her dad is in a coma, it's kinda hard for him to live up to his end of that deal. The fae have already claimed the family's San Francisco house as compensatory damage. Her dad's soul is next in line.

All of Lillian and her mother's rescue attempts just get them into deeper trouble. Within days, Lillian is on her own in a foreign country, stuck with the task of rescuing both her parents with nothing in her arsenal but a clunky protective bracelet and some mad improvisation skills. Her one chance lies in uncovering the fae's real plans, which are much more ambitious than simply dealing in human souls -- but the fae are eager to keep their secrets from leaking out. Soon, rogue fae try to kill her, monstrous spriggans chase her through the Amsterdam streets, and to top it all off, a couple of mentally unstable Germanic gods join the fray.

Maybe 'normal' was too much to ask for, anyway.

ALWAYS READ THE FAE PRINT is a YA urban fantasy novel complete at 77000 words. Although the story stands entirely on its own, it's intended as the first in a series.

I live in Amsterdam where I work as a portrait artist and Dutch-to-English translator. I've previously sold short stories to Underground Voices, Sniplits, The Red Penny Papers, and Crossed Genres Magazine.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Corinne Duyvis
http://www.corinneduyvis.net