Ana Stanojevic, author of Fire Wave Trilogy, lives in Calgary, AB with her family. 

​Her dream was always to become an author.

She got the idea of her Fire Wave Trilogy when she was on a vacation with her family in Greece and from there, she started to map out the trilogy, jotting down the ideas on paper. She also owns a blog where she fangirls about books as well as sharing updates about her life.

​After Fire Wave Trilogy, she hopes to write many more fantasy fictions that are on her list including a reimagined Aladdin novel.

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Welcome to the Hive, Ana. Let’s start with the basics: tell us about your debut Fire Wave – why should readers check it out?

Thank you so much for inviting me!

Fire Wave is a novel about a superheroine where Aiyana, the main character, works as a Chemical Analyst in Ihode Labs. Things get interesting when her workplace suddenly gets attacked by an alien. Aiyana learns that there were chemicals that got stolen and there, she suddenly does something that is out of her league…She becomes Fire Wave! Did I mention that there are aliens?

Yes, yes you did! How cool is that?!

Tell us a little something about your writing process – do you have a certain method? Do you find music helps? Give us a glimpse into your world!

For my editing process, I first write down the plot of the whole book and then I break it down into chapters. Usually, I give out an estimated guess of how many chapters I would want for my book—of course, more chapters are added later if needed! After that’s done, I then write all the points that would happen in each chapter and from there, I start to write onto my laptop. I don’t usually listen to music when I write my stories. I just go on YouTube, find a video I like, and I just write. I also find that I write way more late at night than in the afternoon.

Speaking of worlds, what inspires your worldbuilding? Do you have a magic system/s? If so, can you tell us a bit about it?  

I have no magic system. Well, except for Opsidia who has powers but she has no magic system. She just whips out her power whenever she wants. Iron City, which is where the whole book takes place, is actually inspired by Toronto, Canada. Of course, I did make some changes to it.

What (or who) are your most significant fantasy/sci-fi influences? Are there any creators whom you dream of working with someday?

I don’t really read Sci-Fi (except loving Star Trek too much, haha) that much but I did recently read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars from Christopher Paolini and I thought that was fantastic! I’m more of a Fantasy reader which was why I started to write a fantasy novel. I would totally love to work with Brigid Kemmerer and Kerri Maniscalco.

We see such varying opinions from authors when it comes to the time of editing their books. How have you found the editing process? Enjoyable, stressful or satisfying?

The editing process was really interesting to me. Since this is my first time doing editing and hiring an editor, I didn’t really know what to expect. It was a bit overwhelming with all those words outlined in red (I fear the red mark, haha) but nevertheless, it was a great experience to have! I appreciate all feedback so that way, I can improve even better!

We always appreciate a beautiful book cover! How involved in the process were you? Was there a particular aesthetic you hoped they’d portray?

I was pretty much involved with the cover design as I am a self-publisher. Right away, I knew I wanted the cover to have a red/black theme to it. I was able to make an edit of how I wanted the cover to look like and then I sent the designer the edit as to how I wanted my cover to look like. It took a few tries but I’m so glad it worked out in the end! I love it so much!

Can you tell us a bit more about your characters? Do you have a favourite type of character you enjoy writing?

I can’t say too much because you know, spoilers. I love writing about Opsidia! She’s so much fun to write about and I’m excited to see her role play out in the last two books. Of course, writing how Aiyana became Fire Wave was pretty cool! She’s stubborn, wouldn’t give up the city for an alien. The third book will destroy you. Oops, I said too much.

The world shifts, and you find yourself with an extra day on your hands during which you’re not allowed to write. How do you choose to spend the day?

YouTube. (laughs) 

One of our favourite questions here on the Fantasy Hive: which fantastical creature would you ride into battle and why?

Ooo, this is a good question and really tough. It’s either a dragon or phoenix. Can I do both?

You could combine the two!

Tell us about a book you love. Any hidden gems?

Oh man. I read too many books. I would say Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. I love that series so much. I reread the first book two times and I plan to reread the series again. I also really love A Curse so Dark and Lonely trilogy by Brigid Kemmerer.

As a newly self published author what would you say has been the hardest part for you? And what have you enjoyed the most?

The hardest part of being a self-publisher is that having your book get known. Also, having people to take you more seriously because you don’t have an agent. Self-publishers are frowned upon but I hope people would take more chances on them. The thing that I enjoyed would be seeing all this hard work that you did be paid off. Self-publishing is really hard and you have to fund everything yourself so seeing all this being paid off, is so great!

Finally, what is the one thing you hope readers take away from your writing?

I hope the readers will enjoy the book. Writing about superheriones is so much fun and I hope people will have fun reading about it. As an author, I hope that readers will also laugh, cheer and cry for Aiyana as she becomes Fire Wave throughout the journey.

Thank you so much for joining us today!

Fire Wave is available now HERE