Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Bright.
Hi Anna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started writing in 2013, during NaNoWriMo.
I’d thought I wanted to go to grad school and get an MA in English, but the more I looked at why I was applying, the more I realized what I was doing was looking for someone to tell me I’d learned enough, that I could start telling my own stories. Well. After I got into a few schools, I decided I’d skip the degree and start doing what I wanted to do.
I spent 2013 to 2015 writing my debut novel. I tried querying agents in 2015 but met with no luck, and dug back into my novel. In the fall of 2016, I got a revise and resubmit from my current agent– so I dug back in *again.* And in the spring of 2017, I signed with her and we sold my first duology to HarperTeen.
Seven years and four books later, here I am!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve met challenges along the way– most of them the same kind of challenges other writers (and professionals in other fields) have had to confront. The pandemic affected my 2020 release and threw a real wrench in my work routines.
I also have two young daughters, ages two and a half years and two and a half months, and learning to work without endless unbroken swathes of time has taught me how to be faster nimbler, and more focused than ever.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m an author of young adult fantasy romance (~romantasy~, as it’s becoming known on BookTok) novels The Beholder (2019), The Boundless (2020), The Song That Moves the Sun (2022), and the forthcoming The Hedgewitch of Foxhall.
I enjoy riffing on history–fleshing out fairy tales into real stories and wrapping historical places and figures in fantasy. I firmly believe that romance and fantasy can be both fun AND meaningful– a story can be enjoyable AND have something true and important to say.
What makes you happy?
My husband and children. A tall stack of novels on my bedside table. Muddy boots and tired legs at the end of a long hike. Concerts, roller coasters, cross stitching, baking cookies, traveling, thrifting.
I love a lot of things.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.annabrightbooks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightlyanna/
Image Credits
Rosalinda Dauval
