‘To say that my novel benefited hugely from having a mentor would be an understatement’ Ania Card’s journey to publication

‘Whirlwind’ is the perfect word to describe Ania Card’s writing journey from writing her first novel, embarking on a summer of mentoring and landing an agent and a publishing deal within a year. The result? Above Us the Sea was published July 2024 by Dead Ink Books, an acclaimed indie publisher based in the UK. Ania’s debut is a heart-rendering novel that explores the complexities of young love and identity with sparkling prose. We were thrilled to catch up with Ania and hear all about how Above Us the Sea came to life.

Hi Ania, thanks so much for taking the time to catch up with us. Can you tell us a little about where you were in your journey before working with Donna and what that experience was like?

At the time when I was about to apply for mentorship with Jericho Writers, I had been through two drafts of Above Us The Sea. I had no creative writing or literary background and had been to exactly one writing event.

I believed in my story but, alas, had no idea how good it was or how it could get better and what my ability as a writer was. I was basically a ball of insecurity, but a ball that was eager to learn.

I was thinking about my options; I had always been shy in groups and always preferred one-to-one contact. I also felt like the novel was pretty much in shape (ha! the sweet hindsight!). I didn’t need to be motivated to write: I needed an expert eye and guidance on what to do next.

I submitted my manuscript to Jericho Writers and was matched with Donna Freitas. Within a couple of weeks she came to me with feedback. Donna started off by sending me a detailed report on the entire manuscript that spanned a few pages. She outlined key issues with the manuscript and identified areas that needed a bit more work.

It was great to have that overview to refer back to as we worked through individual sections one by one. We focused on a section per Zoom call and Donna would always leave me with homework for our next call. I had next to zero belief in myself at that point, desperately needing validation to keep going. Donna’s love and enthusiasm for the novel in those early stages was the fuel I needed.

That’s amazing. Mentoring can be such a nurturing process, but it’s also so collaborative. What was that process like for you?

I was repeatedly blown away by Donna’s insightful remarks and ideas. It was so invigorating and such a joy to be able to talk about the novel in this new (for me) way; reconstructing, building, doubting and taking risks. I always say that those two months working with Donna were my creative writing learning on speed. I didn’t know a thing about character arcs, stakes, building tension or story structure when we started, all and any of those essential writing craft terms completely foreign to me.

We had a few Zoom calls together and I left each one buzzing with ideas, wanting to do better, improving and learning. With Donna’s help, I felt invincible – together we could do great things.

And those big, scary things we did: we moved chapters and sections, threw away characters… We binned the opening section and one in the middle, too, and under Donna’s guidance and a deadline, I fully rewrote the novel twice, making my biggest cuts and edits. There was one moment when I had to completely rewrite two sections and compress them into one, and I almost crumbled under the scope of it. Donna believed I could easily do it in a month, and because she had that faith in me, I believed in my ability, too. I handed in the edits within a month.

You must have both worked incredibly hard during those two months! How would you say Donna’s mentoring helped you not only finish your manuscript but polish it to the point you knew it was ready to go out into the world?

Donna always pushed me to do better and use every opportunity to raise the stakes. The stakes was what was ringing in my ears for months! I had always been a character writer; emotions and interior worlds were my strengths. I crumbled and cried at the feet of a plot, a timeline and stakes (timeline had me tearing my hair out at points). But by the end of our time working together, I felt I had a much stronger grasp of all three.

I had new skills, and I had this new confidence in my ability as a writer. By the end of two months, Donna was confident the work was ready to be sent out to agents. In our last meeting, she still pointed out a few small things that might benefit the story further and I actually ended up implementing those further down the line.

Fantastic. What happened next?

I signed with my agent Clare Coombes from The Liverpool Literary Agency only two months after working with Donna. We worked through minor edits over the summer and went on submission in November 2022. I signed with Dead Ink Books in February 2023 and the finished novel was published last month.

To say that my novel benefited hugely from having a mentor would be an understatement. It did, completely, but I have also become a far better writer, smashing my own glass ceilings time and time again.

Your journey has been such a whirlwind. Is there anything you wished you had known earlier, or been prepared for?

Oh, there would be so many things! In hindsight, having connected to many debut authors over the last few months, I now know that everyone’s publication journey is completely different. It’s hard to have expectations in our industry where there are no guarantees. I would say to all writers embarking on this journey, go with the flow, say yes to opportunities coming your way and enjoy all moments, and always come back to writing. This is what we do and it’s the only thing in our control.

Do you have any advice for writers working on their first draft?

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and write bad sentences, bad paragraphs and bad chapters. It’s all part of the process. There are so many ways to write, structure, plot, build characters, there are many writing routines, none of them are right or wrong. Choose your own adventure, one that works for you because there are no right or wrong answers. Read as much as you can, and read for joy. Make connections, connect with writers, booksellers, book influencers, your own writing community can be your rock through the good and tough times, and the lovely booksellers and book influencers are absolute heroes of our industry and champions of our stories.

Can you let us know what are you working on now?

I am currently working on my second novel. It’s still in very early stages but I’m so excited at every opportunity to dive back into it, which hasn’t been easy post-publication. It’s set in Brighton and spans an eco-thriller, a climate anxiety story, a bit of folklore, AIDS epidemic and as those themes always bubble at the edges of me; looks at identity and migration with a touch of the surreal I can never resist!