Hello lovely people! It’s time for another author interview and today we have the fabulous Isabelle Adler here to chat about her new novelette, The Exile Prince, which is available now from NineStar Press.
A voracious reader from the age of five, Isabelle Adler has always dreamed of one day putting her own stories into writing. She loves traveling, art, and science, and finds inspiration in all of these. Her favorite genres include sci-fi, fantasy, and historical adventure. She also firmly believes in the unlimited powers of imagination and caffeine.
1. What inspired you to write The Exile Prince? Can you tell us a little more about the story?
The inspiration for The Castaway Prince, the first story in the series, came when I saw a submission call from NineStar Press, my publisher, for stories featuring crossdressing. I wanted to write a story where the crossdressing aspect would be featured as part of a grand, dangerous adventure, while portraying it as sensitively and respectfully as I could as being an important part of the character’s identity. This idea continues in The Exile Prince, which follows the heroes’ adventures and delves more deeply into what crossdressing means to the main character. As in the first story, Stephan’s ability and desire to outwardly present as a woman (all the while identifying as male), is a major part of the plot, one which plays to the heroes’ advantage when they find themselves in a dangerous situation and must once again run for their lives.
2. Can you share something with us about the book that isn’t in the blurb?
The blurb is intentionally vague, but I can reveal that Prince Stephan’s family is not willing to let him slip away as easily as he’d hoped. He is still a royal, and as such, poses a potential threat to his older brother’s rule – a threat that the new king will go to great lengths to eliminate.
3. What was the hardest scene to write?
I always find the sex scenes the hardest to write! The Exile Prince contains two very explicit scenes, and it was important to me to show the characters’ emotional bond grow stronger with each one while also advancing the story, as opposed to slowing it down to allow the heroes some sexy times.
4. What did you edit out of this book? Or really want to include but it just didn’t fit?
Actually, there wasn’t anything I edited out of the story, but I did add something that wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. The scene in the epilogue where we get a glimpse of Robert, Stephan’s older brother and his adversary, was added on a stroke of inspiration almost at the last minute, but I think it serves to segue the story into the next instalment and piquing the readers’ interest.
5. Stephan and Warren’s story is the second part of your The Castaway Prince Series, do you have any plans for more stories in this series or are you planning something new?
The Castaway Prince series is planned as a trilogy of novelettes, and I’m currently working on the third and final instalment. It does not have a title yet, but it will deal with Stephan’s connection to his family and his homeland, which he will no longer be able to ignore, and, of course, follow his romantic relationship with Warren.
There are several other projects I’m currently working on, notably the third and final book in my sci-fi series, Staying Afloat; a standalone fantasy novel, The Wolf and the Sparrow (coming out December 2019); and a new F/F mystery series set in an alternative 1880s New York.
6. If we made The Exile Prince into a movie, who would be your dream casting for Stephan and Warren?
This is such a hard question! I really don’t want my vision of the characters to interfere with how the readers imagine them, but if I had to choose my absolute dream casting, I’d pick Jaco van den Hoven for Stephan (if he even decided to go into acting in addition to being a model), and Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Warren. I must say that having The Exile Prince made into a movie would be the ultimate goal!
7. What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve dreamed about being a writer from a very early age. I remember trying to write adventure stories when I was about six, just like those I’ve read in all my favourite books, but I’ve never finished them. It wasn’t until I was much, much older that I’ve decided to give that long-forgotten dream another go, following some drastic (and not always positive) changes in my life. Writing definitely helped me deal with a lot of the struggles I was facing, and I’m glad I gave my life-long dream a shot of becoming a reality.
8. What or who (or both) has influenced you most as a writer?
I used to read a lot of science-fiction and fantasy growing up, and when I was older, I discovered LGBTQ fiction, which was a huge impact on the development of my writer’s imagination. Fanfiction was also a major influence, though I was never a big part of any fandom.
9. As an experienced author, what do you have any advice or tips for new authors who are just starting out?
An important lesson I’ve learned recently was to finish publishing one series before starting another. Having long time gaps between books in the same series leads to readers losing interest, which makes the books so much harder to market. Hold off that shining new idea until you’re finished with the current one.
10. What is your favourite childhood book?
The Lord of the Rings.
11. What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Do you have a secret passion or hobby that we don’t know about?
Unfortunately, with small children to take care of, there isn’t much free time left in the day for other hobbies! When I’m not working or spending time with my family, I try to write as much as I can, and when I just want to rest, unwind, or recharge, I read or binge-watch mystery series on Netflix. When I was younger, I had other creative pursuits, such as drawing, but now I devote all my creative energy to writing and coming up with new stories.
12. Finally, what’s your favourite dinosaur?
Brontosaurus!
Thank you so much for dropping in Isabelle! Remember you can get your hands on The Exile Prince right now.
You can also find Isabelle on Twitter, Amazon, Goodreads and on her website!
