Literary Birthday – 7 July – Renée Ahdieh

Happy Birthday, Renée Ahdieh, born 7 July 1983.

Renée Ahdieh Quotes

1. My favourite part of writing any story is falling in love with my characters. It’s that moment when I really feel as though I understand their histories and can’t wait to put their perspectives on the page.
2. I like to world-build. I love writing books that are transportive, and my favourite way to do this is through the senses.
3. I get my ideas from everything around me. Sometimes it’s a song I love or a piece of art I like. Sometimes it’s a conversation I overheard while standing in line for coffee. And sometimes it’s just because I want to read a certain kind of book and haven’t found it yet. Then there are those wonderful moments of inspiration that arise from personal experience. It sounds exploitative, but I find the best inspiration in the everyday interactions I have with those around me.
4. The other thing I found most helpful was the simple advice of a published friend: You spent a long time writing your book. You took your time. Dotted every ‘i’; crossed every ‘t’. Why would you do any less for querying? Take your time. Don’t kick in the saloon door and fire off some buckshot, utterly blind to your target. Be deliberate. Be smart.
5. I love taking something familiar and tweaking it ever so slightly . . . just so that it still retains what’s wonderful and satisfying about the trope at its core, yet adds something fresh and unique to it.

Renée Ahdieh is an American author of Young Adult fantasy novels. She is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Wrath & the Dawn series, the Flame in the Mist series, The Beautiful quartet, and the picture book, Emilio Sloth’s Modern Manners. Park Avenue is her debut adult novel. Follow her on Instagram.

by Amanda Patterson

Please click here for our Literary Birthday Calendar