Feature Friday - Guest Post by Katlyn Duncan

Feature Friday is a brand new item on Bookish Treasures. Every Friday I will be featuring an author through either an interview or a guest post. If you are interested in taking part please send me an email.

This week I am featuring YA paranormal author Katlyn Duncan.

Soul Taken by Katlyn Duncan

Synopsis

Book 1 in The Life After trilogy from Carina UK.

After-life just got a lot more complicated

Maggie is a Soul Collector. It’s her job to transport souls from the Living Realm to the After – but during a mission to find a stolen soul, she ends up stuck in a teen mean girl’s body.

Trapped, Maggie’s soul is catapulted into Ally’s life – and the human world she hasn’t experienced for one hundred years. But, as a descendant of the most powerful beings in the After, Maggie must rescue Ally before the girl’s soul dies…

To survive, Maggie must uncover devastating secrets – because with one soul taken by a terrifying enemy, Maggie’s could be next!

Mills& Boon | KindleUS | KindleUK | Nook UK | Kobo | Google Play | Sony | Diesel ebooks | iBooks US | iBooks UK 

Plotting the Trilogy by Katlyn Duncan

Since this is my first published trilogy I am in no way stating that this is the *only* way to write a trilogy, it’s just the way I went through my own process.
 
When I was contracted for a three-book deal with Carina UK I had to turn my stand-alone story into three books. So I needed some advice. I opened my laptop and went right to Google. After reading through some not so helpful articles I came across Elana Johnson’s blog and her “Writing A Trilogy” series (http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/2012/10/writing-trilogy-part-one-book-one.html). I had found my savior! Her way of plotting made so much sense to be and I loved the idea that you treat a trilogy like one massive book with a beginning, middle, and end while exploring the smaller details in each book.
 
I am a plotter but I used a technique that was a bit more lenient. I outlined the big moments for the whole series first. I used the Three Act structure to plot where I wanted Maggie at the beginning, middle, and end of the series. Then I broke it down further and focused on each book’s beginning, middle, and end. I still haven’t found the exact template that I am happy with in terms of my “go-to” outline, but I do somewhat of an outline before I start to write. I’ve read many articles and books on plotting and pick from different sources until I find the one that works best with my books. When in the plotting stage, I am a big fan of the index card method, but using Scrivener’s awesome corkboard (I hate to waste paper! J ). I am able to download all the scenes I’ve already thought of in my head. But my love for Scrivener is a whole other guest post…
 
As I said, I am still working through my process but I love the idea of exploring new ways of plotting each time I start a new book. I love to learn and I think, at least for me, it makes my books better and better each time.
 
I’d love to hear from you! Have you ever plotted a trilogy? What methods do you use?
 
Thanks for hosting me!