I was thinking Poison Study would be a stand along adult fantasy, which is why I detailed a certain traumatic event. I didn’t start out writing them with a teen audience in mind. Did you write them with a teen audience in mind? The Study/Glass series are often considered to be YA. They were written in first person POV and always had mini-cliffhangers for his chapter endings – something that I do as well. I also loved Dick Francis’ mystery books. A mix of science fiction and fantasy authors. LeGuin, Barbara Hambly, Kate Elliot, David Eddings, Mercedes Lackey, and Andre Norton. But at the time, I was reading and enjoying Ursula K. I started writing because I was bored at work and needed something creative to do. What writers and/or books most inspired you to start writing? I sparked on this idea while traveling in the Australian Outback. The Eyes of Tamburah, which is my latest fantasy novel is set on a desert world and the citizen all live underground to keep safe from the killing heat when the sun’s at apex. I find that creating new worlds is harder to do as I don’t want to repeat the same elements. Keeping track of all the details! As the books went from 1 to 3 to 9, the world became a large complex beast! Also coming up with unique elements to each world. What is the biggest challenge for you in creating such vast and rich fantasy worlds, like the ones we see in the Study and Healer series? For example, traveling to China back in 2004, I learned about the Terracotta Army discovered near the first Emperor’s tomb and learned that they were built to protect him in the afterlife, which got me thinking about the afterlife and what happens if one of the warriors is broken – do they disappear in the afterlife and, if so, how does that impact the Emperor? This all mutated over the years and I sparked on the idea of the discovery of these warriors on other planets in the galaxy and that became Navigating the Stars. Not all of my ideas will make it into a book or become stories, but I keep a journal as I travel and write it all down. Traveling! I love to travel and I’m always finding inspiration for stories. What would you consider to be your biggest sources of inspiration when coming up with ideas for new stories to tell?

Snyder’s most recent novel, Chasing the Shadows, the second book in her Sentinels of the Galaxy series, is due to be released on November 18, 2019.

Her most popular series, the Chronicles of Ixia series, spans nine books over 12 years. She currently works as a teacher and mentor at Seton Hill University alongside her writing career. Snyder is a New York Times bestselling author of 16 fantasy and science fiction novels and a variety of short stories.

Navigating the stars maria v snyder