I love Aussie YA. I love reading books from authors that live in the same country as me, that know things that people out of Australia might be so confused about. I love how sometimes they can incorporate this into their book and it is fabulous. 

So I decided to created a feature where I interview Australian Young Adult authors about their craft, journey and some interesting facts. I thought it was a fun way of everyone around the world to get to know these authors and maybe make them want to pick up their books. And that is what I am aiming to do, spread the word about #LoveOZYA and get everyone reading it. 

So far on #LoveOzYA Interviews, I have had  Sarah Ayoub, Fleur Ferris, followed by Will Kostakis and Shivaun Plozza. Then I had Gabrielle Tozer, Jay Kristoff and Kylie Fornasier, followed by A.J Betts, Megan Jacobson then Christopher Currie, Steph Bowe, Tim Sinclair and last week Meg Caddy. 

This week I bring you Lynette Noni author of the Medorand Chronicles. Akarnae (2015, Pantera Press), Raelia (2016, Pantera Press) and Draekora (2017.) 

Hi Lynette, welcome to Angel Reads. First can you introduce yourself to everyone? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi! I’m Lynette and I’m the author of Akarnae and Raelia—the first two books in The Medoran Chronicles. There are five books in total (four of which I’ve already written), and it’s kinda like Harry Potter mixed with Narnia and X-Men. All of my favourite things rolled into one epic series!

What has your writing journey been like? When did you start? Why?

I’ve always been an avid reader but I never had any real desire to write until just after I graduated from uni. In early 2010 I was saving up to go travelling overseas and I was in a bit of a reading slump, so I basically decided to try and write the book I wanted to read. Akarnae was a result of that.

I wrote the first draft of the manuscript in roughly three months but I never intended to let anyone read it. It was just meant to be for me. But the story stayed with me enough that I needed to know what was going to happen next, so I wrote the second book. It was only after finishing the final sentence of Raelia that I realised I wanted—maybe even needed—to share what I’d created with the rest of the world.

What was the process of getting your first book published?

It started out with researching—lots and lots of researching. Like most wannabe authors, I had to choose between traditional publishing and self-publishing, and once I made the decision to try the traditional path, I had to consider if I wanted to try getting an agent first as opposed to jumping straight in and sending unsolicited submissions directly to publishers.

From there, I started querying agents. Lots and lots of agents over the course of about three years—which also meant lots and lots of rejections in that time.

But no matter how many rejections I received, I knew all it would take was one “Yes” for all the “No” emails to mean nothing. So I continued querying, and I also continued editing and improving the manuscript. During all that, I wrote another book for a separate YA fantasy series, and once that was finished, I put Akarnae aside and started focusing on querying the new book in the hope that it might have more market appeal.

It was just as I was swapping my focus over to the new series that I was browsing the book section of Big W and saw a YA book with a really shiny cover—Wanda Wiltshire’s Betrothed—and I picked it up only to see that it was published by a boutique Australian publisher that I’d never heard of before called Pantera Press. After stalking them online I discovered that they accepted unsolicited manuscripts, so in one final, last-ditch effort, I submitted Akarnae to them.

That was the last submission of any kind for Akarnae—as I said previously, my focus had turned to my new series. But a few months later I received an email from Pantera saying I was through to the next round of their submissions process.

Having received too many rejections from agents and publishers alike, even after cases where I was very nearly offered representation, I thought nothing of the email, presuming I would again be turned down soon enough. So I continued on with life, receiving much more interest from overseas agents for my new book and continuing to focus my energy on the possibilities there.

In January 2014—seven months after I submitted to Pantera—I received an email with an offer of publishing. Within a month they put me on a plane to meet them in Sydney where I signed my contract, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Was it different when getting your subsequent books published?

So far I only have two books released, both of them in the same series, and both published with Pantera Press, so my answer at this stage is ‘no’. Pantera has taken on another trilogy of mine—the one I was focused on submitting when Akarnae was picked up—and I’m also working with my New York literary agent on yet another (third) series as well. So perhaps ask me this question again in the future and I’ll likely have a different answer for you! 

You are an OZYA author, what are some of your favourite Aussie YA books?

Aussie authors are amazingly talented! One of my favourite books from last year was Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and I also absolutely adore the Starbound trilogy which is again by Amie Kaufman but with Meagan Spooner (Meagan is from the US, but Amie is Aussie so it still counts).

I’m also a huge fan of John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series, Jessica Shirvington’s Violet Eden Chapters, Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician trilogy, and Juliet Marillier’s Sevenwaters series. Also, Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn was the first fantasy book I ever read, so it automatically goes on any Aussie YA list of recommendations from me!

I have yet to read Lynette Noni’s books, however the seem like my sort of thing and I am really excited to get started. You can find Lynette on twitter at @LynetteNoni, her website and you can add her books to your goodreads. 

Akarane by Lynette Noni

Pages: 436
Publish date: February 1st 2016 
Publisher: Pantera Press
ISBN: 1921997508
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks 

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Thank you Lynette for joining me at Angel Reads and sharing your journey. Have you her books? Did you like them? Are you going to read them? 

Come back next week for some more Aussie fun. If you want to know more about the #LoveOZYA movement check out the website for all the details. Also if you have any Australian YA authors that you would like to see me interview, just let me know and I can see what I can do.