Shen Tao, author of ’The Poet Empress’ - Debut author discusses magical mystery, changing routines, and 9 failed manuscripts

Shen Tao has always wanted to be a writer. For as long as she can remember, she's had ideas, developed characters, and written stories. It took her 9 attempts, 9 manuscripts, to finally get it done.

Her debut is 'The Poet Empress'. It's a Chinese historical fantasy, blended with a love story and a murder mystery. It tells the story of a young woman, who enters the Imperial Court as a concubine, and learns poetry-magic to try and kill the heir to the tale. We talk about how she pushed on, through the failed manuscripts, and had an idea she knew would be a winner. A winner it was, eventually being bought in a 6-way auction.

You can hear why she's prepared to chuck words away, why she writes a '0th draft', and how her routine has changed since going full-time.

We chat about the pressure of getting it right, her unique inspiration blending both Chinese and Western myths and stories, and Shen shares her strong font opinions.

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