Kelly’s Writerly Q&A is about authors, writing, and books. I love learning all about an author’s process and journey to publication, I can never learn enough. That’s why talking to someone I’ve interviewed before is such a joy!

Coinciding with the publication of her third middle-grade novel, I’m delighted to share a second interview with Di Walker!

Di is a school teacher who lives in country Victoria. She writes middle-grade fiction and is a generous and encouraging writer.

Hi Di, thanks for taking the time to answer some more writerly questions. First of all, congratulations on the publication of your third novel, Saving Charli! Could you start by telling us what it’s about?

Thanks for having me back – I really enjoyed talking with you last time. Your newsletters are a great read too!

Saving Charli is about 12-year-old Charli who blames herself for her twin sister Freya’s lifelong illness. When Freya dies Charli withdraws from her family and friends and then it is about how to save Charli from her own grief.

It’s about grief and love but also the importance of friendship. Readers go through the journey from Charli’s point of view but also through the eyes of her best friends, Blair and Queenie.  The chapters switch between these three characters which also means that they don’t always see things the same way.

Thanks Di, it’s so great to have you back! Saving Charli sounds like another emotional story! Last time we spoke you had just signed your publishing contract with Scholastic for Saving Charli and were about to start the editing process, are you an old hand at publishing edits now or were there some new challenges?

I am definitely not an old hand at it. Each editing process has been different because I’ve had different editors. What I am getting better at is editing my first draft because I have learnt so much from each editing process. Saving Charli is written in a different format from Unpacking Harper Holt and Every Thing We Keep – so that was a new challenge – making each voice and perspective distinct.

Lorae Fossy is my editor for Saving Charli and her ability to make the slightest changes that make a huge difference is something I admire – I would look at her suggestions and think ‘wish I’d thought of that’.

So you are still growing as a writer, I love that! Last time we chatted, you said your manuscripts start with a name, is that how you came up with the idea for this story?

Yes. I was watching a set of twins leave school, they were laughing and happy. As I went home, I started to wonder what it would be like if one, for whatever reason, started to resent or distance themselves from the other. By the time I got home Charli and Freya were the names that were bouncing around. And like the last two novels, the characters were there, and I just had to wait a bit longer for the situation to arrive. The main characters' names never change – it has always been Charli and Freya – they are fully formed in my mind.

I’m amazed by how inspiration strikes you, and I wish I could say my main characters names never change but I cannot, lol! If Agatha took six weeks to write, how long did it take you to write Charli’s story? 

Charli took about the same time – about six weeks. That’s how I write – it’s a blurt write, I write a chapter each morning until it is done – on weekends sometimes I write three or four chapters in one sitting. I get up early, read the last paragraph of the last chapter then keep going.

I wasn’t sure, at the start, why Charli was unhappy being Freya’s twin, but a few chapters in it started to emerge and then it just kept going.

I just need to point out that there is a lot more work that goes into it after that. I redraft, I send it to Emma and Lucinda at Flying Pants Editing and get their feedback, redraft, give it to friends, redraft – it goes on and on. Then there is more editing with the publisher. So, six weeks sounds quick, but it takes another year or two to get it ready.

It’s like the Di Walker version of NaNoWriMo! Let’s talk about querying and publishing, was getting a yes for this novel easier than the others?

Yes and no. Yes in that I could send the manuscript directly to the publisher, Laura Sieveking at Scholastic Aus because we had worked together on the revised edition of Every Thing We Keep. No in that it had to jump through all of the hoops every other manuscript has to jump through so there was never a guarantee. 

That’s so interesting. I’m sure most people would assume, once you’re a published author, the second or third book wouldn’t have to jump through the same hoops as the first.

Marketing can be such a challenging part of being an author, how do you navigate the social media landscape and getting your name and book out there?

Social media is not my thing. I have just learnt how to make a reel on Instagram! But I try – I post updates, use tags, and now you will be seeing more reels, but that is about it. I have a website too and recently had it updated after I finally settled on a logo. I live in northern Victoria, and it’s challenging to get to events in Melbourne and to make those connections but if I am in Melbourne and am near a bookstore I will go in and see if they have any of my books on their shelf.

You are doing a great job! Social Media is a wonderful marketing tool, you just have to discover how it can serve you best. Some writers say that every time they sit down to write a new novel, they forget how it’s done; does imposter syndrome still infect a writer on their third or fourth novel?

That is an interesting question – I know I like to write but I have trouble referring to myself as an author or writer. When I see my books in a library or a bookshop, I know I wrote them but that doesn’t make me an author.  It’s odd, isn’t it? I wonder what it is I will have to do to convince myself I am an author.

Mind blown! What are you reading and loving?

I like to read crime fiction however I like to read in one sitting. So, I don’t get to read a lot until I can get a day where that is all I do – start and finish a novel in a few hours. I have a few novels waiting for me to read them on the school holidays.

Wow, that’s commitment! I could never sit still for that long! Your advice to writers last time was “Find your way of being a writer,” do you have any new tips for aspiring authors? 

Feedback – that is my next piece of advice. Find a range of feedback sources that you are comfortable with and share your manuscript with them. It can be frustrating – waiting to get the feedback but it’s worth it. Then of course you have to be open to it which doesn’t mean you have to change everything that is suggested but just be open. Sometimes the feedback gives you something that really rounds out a character. With Saving Charli, her friends each had an interest and so the feedback I got was a question – What is Charli’s interest? And when you read the novel, you will find out the great question that filled a gap in the narrative.  

Yes, I agree. Feedback is so important in the journey of a manuscript and I’m glad you brought that up! So, what can we expect from you next?

I am trying something new – so I’m not sure how it will go. I have a completed manuscript that is not working but I am really attached to the characters. I’m going to rewrite it – so not a redraft – a restructure and change of themes. However, the two main characters are the same, the setting is the same. Middle-grade fiction is about 55 to 60 thousand words – so I am going to cut this one in half and rework it. This is new for me so you may never see it on a shelf.

Ooh, that sounds exciting! I look forward to hearing more about it in your blogs! Thank you so much for chatting with me again, Di! You’ve given me even more insight into what’s is like to be a published author.

Read what Author Di Walker had to say 11 months ago; and thank you for reading!

Follow Di on Instagram