Written In The Stars Author: September North

Interview With September North:

Tell us what prompted you to start the series? Be as detailed as you want.

I decided to write The Drummonds because my niece was really upset about not being able to read my books. She’s in high school, but a lot of my adult stuff is very adult content. I thought about it and one day, I woke up with this…teenager in my head, Drum, and that started it all.

How did you feel as you were writing the first book?

A bit nostalgic, a bit aware of the things I wished I knew more about when I was younger. I was not a well-behaved teen in my youth. I had only planned to write one book, but then that turned into three. I tried to approach these books from a place of honesty, and I was surprised at how much I was able to purge some demons, rewrite some stories I lived or learned from.

Has that feeling changed between then and now? If so, how?

Not really. It has probably intensified due to the response I’ve had from readers. After Drum, Fight, Break, I started getting people asking what about their kids? Now that they are parents, so I wrote their kids stories. Then it was, well…so Gen 2 is 90% complete. Their kids as parents. I can’t write past Gen 2. Drum is in his 80s. I won’t take him past that point. I can kill off others and cry, but…no. Not him.

So, instead, I’ve written some Cara North versions of them as adults while their kids are teenagers. It gives it a whole new spin on everything. I love my Drummonds.

How many times have you had a specific idea for the story, but it has been derailed because the characters decide to go a different way?

Oh, my goodness, I often think I know where things are going and then they are like, just hold this root beer. I got this. I stopped trying to control my characters a long time ago. I have more fun as a writer if I’m seeing this movie in my head for the first time. It’s been weird though because some of them, because there are so many, come in scenes to me rather than a start to finish story and this is the first time (with the second-generation Drummonds) that has happened to me as a writer, so they are teaching me new things too.

What was the most difficult part in writing the series?

Keeping track of the timelines when I have overlapping scenes. Lou, Hendrix, and Junior all have scenes that you see from each of their POVs in their books, so it was a bit wild that way. I have a whole chart of where everyone lives. What age everyone is in each other’s books. I have a whole physical and digital notebook dedicated to this family.

If you could give advice to anybody else considering writing a series, what advice would you give?

If you know it is going to be a series going into it, start your trackers early. Do the timeline from the start. When I started, I had not planned on having so many books. It was one. It is currently: 3 for the original series—Drum, Fight, Break; 11 for the Gen 1s Ozzy, Kat, Sophie, Lou, Lauren, Leslie, Hendrix, JoJo, Junior, Winnie, Daphne; then Gen 2 which will start arriving mid 2022ish: Wessex, Luna, Noah,

About the Author:

I write fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. I am interested in a variety of literature. I have a MFA in Creative Writing and a MA in English. I have held workshops for creative writing with a variety of people in libraries and other venues. I am a USMC Veteran.

My pseudonyms are:
Cara North: Contemporary, PNR, Other
September North: YA
Echo North: Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Follow me everywhere: https://linktr.ee/StarsBooksAndTea