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You have no idea how excited I am to have Tomi Adeyemi on our show! Tomi is the author of Children of Blood and Bone, a West African-inspired fantasy debut and the first novel in her trilogy that conjures a world of magic and danger, perfect for any of you fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir. It’s been described as “powerful” and “captivating” and Tomi has been hailed as one of the most promising voices in young adult fiction. Entertainment Weekly describes “Children of Blood and Bone” as “a phenomenon” and it landed one of the biggest YA debut novel publishing deals ever. Way before her novel was even released, her entire fantasy trilogy landed a deal to be made into movies produced by the team at Fox 2000 and Temple Hill Productions, the same team who produced the movies “The Fault in Our Stars,” and “Twilight”. “Children of Blood and Bone” releases on March 6th so be sure to grab yourselves a copy to see what everyone’s talking about!

In today’s episode, we discuss ALL things “Children of Blood and Bone”, from the story behind the title, to her research, and writing process. Tomi even shares her resources that helped her world building process in the novel.

We discuss how Tomi’s awareness of poor representation in her earlier stories inspired her to craft strong representation for her readers, why it’s crucial to recognize our responsibility to give younger generations true representation that creates self-love, and the power a story has to create empathy in humanity and to open our eyes to possibility.

For those of you who are currently writing your own manuscripts, you’ll really appreciate all of the helpful and detailed advice Tomi shares for our storyteller community. She walks us through how to craft character descriptions, all about first drafts, how to use rejections to further your story’s success, advice on finding mentors and editors who can help get your story to where you want it to be, and so much more.

Say ‘Hi’ to Tomi on Twitter and she’ll be taking over our Instagram stories for the release of her episode and it’s going to be AWESOME. Be sure to catch her takeover by clicking here!

Happy Listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word!

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Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!

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“Storytelling became this way to get everything I wanted, so I just kept doing it.” 

-Tomi Adeyemi (Click to tweet)

“Books are amazing. You explain something so internal, but in such a universal way, that everybody can understand it.”

-Tomi Adeyemi (Click to tweet)

“The best editors help you write the story you thought you wrote the first time.”

-Tomi Adeyemi (Click to tweet)

“It has been a dream, but it has also been a crazy amount of work, as it should be.”

-Tomi Adeyemi (Click to tweet)

“The more you write and the more you revise, the more you discover exactly what you need.”

-Tomi Adeyemi (Click to tweet)

“When you arm yourself with knowledge, everything feels possible.”

-Tomi Adeyemi (Click to tweet)

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WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN TODAY’S EPISODE: 

• How Tomi’s awareness of poor representation in earlier stories inspired her to craft strong representation for her readers 
• Why it’s crucial to recognize our responsibility to give younger generations true representation that creates self-love 
• How to craft beautiful character descriptions 
• Advice on staying current in your genre and in the publishing world 
• How to use rejections to further your story’s success 
• The power a story has to create empathy in humanity and to open our eyes to possibility
• A detailed look into Tomi’s research and writing process 
• Advice on finding mentors and editors who can help get your story to where you want it to be 
• What is Pitch Wars, how it works, and Tomi’s experience 
• The story behind the title of “Children of Blood and Bone” 
• Tomi shares her experience living her dream as a debut author 
• How first drafts exist to give our outlines more shape 
• Tomi shares her resources that helped her world building process in “Children of Blood and Bone”