Ross, 37, is continuing the momentum with a stand-alone adult romantasy<\/a>, “Wild Reverence,” set to be published on September 2. Taking place in the same universe as “Divine Rivals,” “Wild Reverence” follows Matilda, the herald of the gods, who becomes entangled with the fate of a human lord she first encountered as a child.<\/p>\n Despite her recent success, Ross told Business Insider that writing a novel<\/a> felt like a far-off dream when she started her career.<\/p>\n Making time to write<\/p>\n Ross had aspirations of writing a novel while attending the University of Georgia, but she didn’t immediately dedicate her career to it after she graduated in 2012.<\/p>\n “Wild Reverence” by Rebecca Ross.<\/p>\n Saturday Books<\/p>\n “I studied English because I love reading and writing,” Ross told BI. “But then when I was working my 9-to-5 job, I really enjoyed it, but I realized I was just doing the same 9-to-5, 9-to-5, 9-to-5, and I wasn’t writing at all.”<\/p>\n “A few years passed, and I was like, ‘If I don’t take this seriously and set aside time and try to write a novel, it’s never going to happen, and this will be a dream that I never go after,'” she said.<\/p>\n For Ross, dedicating her weekends to writing and waking up early<\/a> to write on weekdays before her day job at a college’s student accessibility services office was key to turning that dream into a reality.<\/p>\n Related stories<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n “I love writing almost before the sun rises,” she said. “The world just feels really quiet. I don’t have many distractions. I also just like writing then because I feel like my dreams are still very close to me in the morning.”<\/p>\n Eventually, after many early mornings<\/a>, Ross finished a draft. She told BI that forcing herself to complete a book, regardless of the quality of the manuscript, helped boost her confidence and motivation.<\/p>\n “I actually finished a draft, and it was like 140,000 words of a fantasy novel,” she said. “It was not that good, but I finished it. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Here I am working 40 hours a week at a job, but I still made time to write a fantasy novel.’ It took me about four months, but I was able to really get it done.”<\/p>\n Waiting for the breakout<\/p>\n Shortly after she finished that first draft, Ross got the idea for “The Queen’s Rising,” a YA fantasy novel<\/a>. She told BI she knew she could write it because she had already finished one book.<\/p>\n “I just had this drive,” Ross said.<\/p>\n She finished “The Queen’s Rising” in 2015 and landed a three-book deal with HarperTeen with the manuscript. Ross quit her day job at the end of 2015, and “The Queen’s Rising” was published in February 2018. It didn’t make the NYT bestseller list, but it helped Ross build a fan base.<\/p>\n “It was a very quiet release,” Ross said. “I had my readers, and they were just so lovely and loyal to me. They just followed me from book to book. I tried to invest in them as much as I could.”<\/p>\n Ross kept writing until she struck gold with “Divine Rivals.”<\/p>\n “I remember telling myself, ‘I will just keep writing books as long as I can. As long as an editor wants to acquire it, I’ll just keep going,'” she told BI. “It took seven books, but eventually one broke out.”<\/p>\n “Divine Rivals.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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