How do you develop your plot and characters?
I am a true Pantster if there ever was one. I just write, sometimes in sequence, sometimes random scenes I might find places to fit them in. It’s not until I hit a wall or finish something that I will go back and make it all make sense.
How important was professional editing to your book’s development?
I was lucky enough to be picked as a winner in the 2021 #RevPit contest, and through that I got to work with an amazing Development Editor. This process not only made my book tighter, more fun and more engaging, but it made me a better writer by giving me an insight into the editing process.
How long did it take you to write this book?
I started writing The Potent Solution in 2018, and it was “finished” around 2022, except for a few minor edits after we secured a publishing deal.
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
Imposter syndrome, Alchemy conferences, and murder.
What book (or books) are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading The Hades Calculus by Maria Ying and Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves
What characters in your book are most similar to you or to people you know?
Charlotte, the protagonist in The Potent Solution, is based on many of my own experiences with ADHD, but more importantly, her dad is based on my Grandad, who I love very much.
What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft?
There are no more elves or dwarves in it.
What was your hardest scene to write, and why?
I don’t want to spoil it, but there is a scene towards the end of the book which takes place almost entirely out of the main character’s POV. It was inspired by the airlock explosion scene in The Martian and it was so hard to get perfect.
What inspired the idea for your book?
I started writing this book after a long-running TTRPG campaign I was in ended, and I realised that I wasn’t ready to stop exploring Charlotte as a character. So I plucked her out of the game setting and dropped her into 1830’s London, and the rest is (fake) history.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
“The Potent Solution” is a very unsubtle alchemy/detective mystery pun and is also the name of the Alchemy shop where the protagonist worksnge is her own errant attention span, which threatens to stop the investigation in its tracks. To find her mentor and prevent disaster, she must overcome her fear of failure, trust her instincts, and learn that she has everything she needs to thrive.
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The Potent Solution by Ashley Nova
Charlotte Price is a mess; perpetually tardy, chronically unfocused, and indecisive to a fault.
She’d hoped that apprenticing for London’s only master alchemist and private detective would help solve her problems, but her first investigation will test her limits in ways she never imagined. On the trail of a dangerous magical drug, Charlotte’s mentor vanishes without a trace, Lost, overwhelmed, and inexperienced, she must use everything she’s learned, and improvise the things she hasn’t, as she takes on magically empowered assassins, gate-crashes a society ball, and uncovers a conspiracy that goes right to the heart of government
Yet Charlotte’s biggest challenge is her own errant attention span, which threatens to stop the investigation in its tracks. To find her mentor and prevent disaster, she must overcome her fear of failure, trust her instincts, and learn that she has everything she needs to thrive.