Did you (a teenager) really write The Second Nature of Indigo?

Yes. The story idea, characters, and manuscript are all mine. Of course, I had help from my parents and editors, for which I am extremely grateful. (Love you guys!) This is standard in the writing and publishing industry.

It’s funny to be asked this question. Shortly after finishing Indigo, I had to process that people my age weren’t writing books. My younger sister published a short story years ago (read it for free by following this link) and is currently writing and illustrating a manga as well as writing her debut novel. (Seriously, I cannot wait for this to come out so you can read it. It’s incredible.) My brother also has a wonderful idea for a book series. My parents started Knight King Press and Dodo Studio. Dad (Mike Roy) has published a book, and Mom (Eileen Chevalier) is in the process. I’m surrounded by artists.

Prior to writing The Second Nature of Indigo did you have professional writing experience?

No. However, writing Indigo was not one event, it was thousands upon thousands. Days upon days of doing different things and learning more. Writing and publishing Indigo was one or two months short of a three year journey. A journey through which I changed a lot as a person and writer.

When did you know you wanted to write professionally?

The year before I started writing Indigo I wrote a short story for Challenge B (Classical Conversations Homeschool group equivalent of 8th grade). It was revelatory to me. I’d always loved to write, but it wasn’t something I was actively pursuing. Actually, at the time, I had an acting agent and was auditioning for film work. I realized that year I wanted to write books along with making movies.

Do you have circus experience?

The short answer is yes. The longer one is that I’ve known about circus arts for as long as I can remember. When I got money of my own, the first thing I invested in was an aerial silks class in Raleigh. Though the class wasn’t amazing, it got me started. After that, I taught myself aerial silks and lyra (aerial hoop) at home. The hoop and silk are two of my most prized possessions, which I use fairly regularly. You can watch some of my acrobatic endeavors on my Instagram account @aubineliseofficial.

Have you graduated High School?

Yes! As of 2023! I was set to graduate early, but with all the time I took off to work on The Second Nature of Indigo, I graduated on time. I’m taking a gap year to write Indigo Book II and Indigo Book III.

Have you written anything else?

Nothing else that is published… I’ve written quite a few short stories (11 at this point), and have begun work on the second and third books of Indigo. Beyond that, I also have other series and screenplays. The problem isn’t lack of ideas, only time and mental space enough to write them.

What was your writing process like?

Haha. Long. I wrote the first draft of The Second Nature of Indigo in three months, starting from when I was 14.5. I wrote the story without a plot and in chronological order. (The Prologue came about a month after the first draft was finished.) After that I read through the entire book, getting a sense of its many shortcomings and strengths. With that information, I went through scene-by-scene (often sentence-by-sentence) rewriting and adding description. After this, I was forced to come face to face with the fact that I needed to overhaul the plot and fix the tense of the entire manuscript. I’d known this for a long time, but it was overwhelming to the extreme. I chipped away at it, little by little, for the next six to twelve months. With this, my word count grew from 70k into the 90k’s.

Then, I embarked on the third draft: adding more description, continuing to fix tense issues, and flushing out the world. By the time I went to the Writerfest conference in Nashville, my draft was over a hundred thousand words and roughly matched the current plot. It was time to start looking for professional editors (because at this point my parents/publishers had already helped alpha edit a ton). When I began to work with my first editor I officially had a DEADLINE. Yes, a real one. Even more emotional, was that we also set a date with OneAudiobooks for the book to be recorded. I knew that at the point the lovely Ms. Tamaryn Payne read my draft, it would no longer be just a draft… it would be the real thing. (It’s a terrifying and exhilarating feeling.) I had a great experience with both my editors, but I was working non-stop before and after the their passes with my parents. My parents were true champions with this, spending looooong hours going through the book. I remember timing it and Dad and I alone spent over twenty hours on one of our later passes. At the same time, Mom was going through on her own for word choice. Eventually, the day came to send it to One Audiobooks. I felt so nauseous. I stared at the words on the screen searching for something to fix, attempting to ignore the feeling in my stomach. Mom and Dad assured me that it’d be fine. The next day, we sent off the The Second Nature of Indigo.

Funny Story: I changed chapter headings two hours before sending it to OneAudiobooks. The headings had some pretty bad names and they were in awkward places. That’s why I still don’t really know exactly where the new chapter breaks are now.

(Haha, my answer is a bit… long. I hope you were looking for the novel-length explanation. If you would like to ask any questions about the process, or would like me to make a video about the process write me through the mailing list. I’d be happy to expand on my experience.)