Author Interview: ✨Isabelle Knight ✨
Wow—long time no see! I apologized in my last post for being missing in action for a week. Now I get to apologize for taking a two month break. (I’m going to break this habit, I promise.)
I’m here to formally introduce you all to an amazing author—and writer friend of mine—Isabelle Knight, and her recently completed middle grade quartet: The Enchantria Series. Many of you will recognize this name from the sweet and encouraging comments she’s left around my blog in the past few months; and, yes, she really is as nice as she seems! I copyedited her fourth novel this year and she was such a joy to work with. I, along with many others, am so so proud of how far she’s come in her writing journey. And I know she’ll be the first to read this—so congratulations Isabelle!
The fourth book, The Last Hope, was released on July 20th, 2025 and is available on Amazon.com as an ebook. Don’t miss any of her past or future publications, and be sure to visit her blog!
Blog: https://springfallschronicle.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@isabelleknightbooks
And without further ado…
Can you tell us what your book is about in just one sentence?
The Enchantria series is middle-grade fantasy about a girl named Elena Ramirez who is suddenly sucked out of her world by a magical portal into the kingdom of Enchantria and a new world of magic, ravens, and mysteries, and there she discovers she is the subject of a prophecy and with the help of her new friends, must defeat an ancient villain and discover what being a hero truly means or let Enchantria fall to ruin.
Where did the idea of your book come from?
Lots of places! And really, I’m not sure. One of the places the main idea came from was a movie I saw as a kid. I don’t remember the name or what it was about, but I still remember that there was one good kingdom (with fairies!) and another evil kingdom of darkness. There was this very clear border between those two kingdoms, and I think that was where I got the ideas for Enchantria and Nyxria.
The other ideas just really came along as I started writing the book, and I pulled lots of thinsg from books, movies, and TV shows that I loved! A lot of the ideas (such as the villain) had also been buried in my head for a really long time, and I think they just really came out as I started writing the book.
How different was your idea for the story from the way it actually came out?
Oh, wow, I really love that question! It’s something that I actually never thought about before. I think one of the main things is just that, because I didn’t have a plan for the series, and the only thing I had in mind for book one was a beginning and an end, there wasn’t really much of a gap between “expectations” and “reality” because I really didn’t know what expectations I had.
But one of the things that I think might’ve surprised me was really all of the twists in the story. When I first started writing it out, I’d never even thought of any of these twists. And then when I got deeper into book two and three, my brain starting coming up with all of these dark, twisty, painful plot twists—betrayals, hidden magic, a secret plan that could destroy them all… And I really never expected that! Another thing that definitely changed is who the traitor in the prophecy turned out to be. I had an original idea for it, but then I started working on this character who really didn’t seem like the traitor at all, and all of a sudden, I realized, “WAIT. NO. (character’s name redacted) isn’t the traitor!!! It’s her!!!”
How long does it take you to plot out and write one book?
That’s a great question! And I have to say, it really depends on the book and the complexity of the story. And of course, how hard the story is to work with. It took me around six months to complete the first draft of Enchantria: Guardian’s Heir, and I really didn’t do much plotting beforehand. I’m what’s called a pantser, and so I just write by the seat of my pants and discover the world and the plot as I go along! Books two and three came much faster, and the first drafts for those only took two to three months, which is really crazy! Book four on the other hand took a severely long amount of time to get right. While the first draft really didn’t take that long, what I really struggled with was perfecting the story and really making sure I was telling the right story and that I was ending Elenora’s journey the right way.
Significant changes were made in the fifth and sixth drafts of book four, and all in all, it’s taken around a year for me to complete that book. Again, I was just really struggling with the story, and I realized that the story I was telling just didn’t match Elenora’s journey. It was only till the fifth and sixth drafts that a friend helped me realize, “Oh, wait, this is the right way to go!”
As for plotting and writing a book in general (completely – not just the first draft), it can take anywhere from two months to a whole year for me! My current WIP, Island Keepers, which is a middle-grade fantasy/action and adventure book has already been in the works for seven months, and I fully expect it to take till at least autumn to complete. It’s also my first time writing a standalone, so one of the struggles has definitely been trying to get the plot and character arcs and world to line up!
Did you plan your story out, or did it evolve as you wrote?
It definitely evolved as I wrote. I try never to plan my story out. Much of the planning I’ll do is mainly just knowing the beginning, midpoint twist, and the end. Everything in between is up to my fingers and the story. I feel like the story is always much truer to my heart if I just let it evolve as I write, and the few times I’ve tried planning, the story rebelled! Now, I will say that different projects will definitely be different. I’m certain there’s one project where planning, not pantsing, is the best way to write it, while there’s another project that refuses to be planned out at all! It all really depends on the story, I guess.
Who’s your favorite character and why?
This is probably a dread question for quite a few authors, but if I were forced to choose my favorite character, it would be either Elenora, Arabella, Ariella, Thalia, or Rani. I just love their personalities so much, and Elenora is the main character, and she just has so much of me in her! And of course, Rani is the Starseer’s apprentice, and so she tends to ramble, but she’s also really mystical and mysterious and a little bit random, and I just love that about her! And I also really love how much depth Arabella’s character has! I know it definitely doesn’t seem like it in the book, but as you get deeper into the series, you start to really get a closer look at her character and really see that there’s more to her than meets the eye!
Who do you empathize most with? (Bonus points if it’s somebody who you don’t like.)
Oh goodness, I get this question a lot, and my answer is always different! I suppose it depends on my mood at the moment. Right now, I would probably say Rani. She is the Starseer’s apprentice, and she’s quite kind and nice, albeit just the slightest bit aloof. She can also be quite cryptic at times, a trait that appears to be the requirement for Starseers. Another character I empathize with is Arabella. There’s just something about her that I really do empathize with and something so intriguing about her! And she’s actually one of my characters who isn’t quite “morally good”, and she’s definitely made quite a few mistakes in the past, and as you get deeper into the series, you really start to see how much Arabella has really been hiding under the surface. She was just so much fun (and so sad) to write! And I say sad, because I hated having to give her such a tragic backstory! But it was needed…
What was the hardest scene or part of the book to write?
In book one of the series, I don’t think there was really any specific scene that was “hard to write.” There was definitely a part of the book that was hard to write, and that was really just Act Two! Because while there wasn’t any specific scene that was hard to write, the hardest part was really just pushing through that muddy middle when it felt like nothing was coming together and try to really get to the end. For book four, the hardest scene to write was definitely the climax and the resolution of the book! I won’t spoil anything, but really figuring out how they were going to defeat Ravena was hard. There’s a lot of themes of good vs. evil and themes of hope and friendship throughout the series, and when I first started writing the climax, I genuinely didn’t feel like having this series end with more fighting (in the first draft, Elenora did indeed kill Ravena) really fit was this story was trying to say. So the climax was definitely hard to write. And then the resolution was hard, because I couldn’t figure out how to wrap up such an epic series in a good and satisfying way!
What inspired you to start writing?
In my opinion, this is one of the answers that is just really hard to pin down. I suppose I did have a moment where I realized that, “Yes, this is what I want to do. I want to be a writer.” But to pin down what really inspired me to start writing is really kind of hard. Because ever since I was little, I’ve always loved storytelling—I’d always scribble these little drawings of princesses and dragons and mermaids, making up little stories for those drawings in my head (I had no patience to sit down and write at that age).
Later on in my life, I read the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, and those books really did spark my imagination and my love of reading. And it was only because of my love of reading (and the fact that I’d always had this random idea in my head ever since I was little) that one day, during a very boring summer vacation, I just decided, “Hey, I love reading books! Maybe I’ll write one!”
So while it’s really hard to say exaclty what inspired me to start writing, I think I might narrow it down to really just the books I read and loved as a kid.
When did you realize you wanted to become an author?
When I first started writing the Enchantria series, I never wanted to become an author, really! It’s a funny thing, but I was just writing the Enchantria series and I never once thought I’d write any book other than this series. But sometime after I finished the first drafts of books one and two in the series, I begged my dad to buy me this craft book on writing from one of my favorite authors, Gail Carson Levine. It was called Writing Magic. And I think that the moment I finished reading that craft book was really the moment that I realized I wanted to become an author. The way Gail Carson Levine spoke about writing in that book just felt so fun and freeing, and it was like everything really clicked for me. In writing, I could create my own worlds, I could make up whatever I wanted, and I could just make up my own rules. I could create things that didn’t exist in real life. And apparently, I could also make a living from it! (Or at least, attempt to. As everyone knows, writing doesn’t always make the best amount of money, but I’m starting young, so let’s hope for the best!)
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote? What was it about?
Oh goodness… I’m really not sure! After all, the first story I ever wrote would have a really long time ago, and no doubt I’ve forgotten it by now. The first stories I created were literally just fanfiction pieces in my head from my favorite books and movies. The first stories I ever penned down… I really have no idea, honestly! The oldest story I can find is a story that I wrote about four of my stuffed animals (four, very sparkly unicorns), and that was, er, cringy. It was basically supposed to chronicle their everyday life and any catastrophes that happened along the way. I never made it past Chapter One, and looking back now, I still do cringe!
Who are some of your favorite authors or writing influences?
I have a lot! In fact, I practically have a whole list in the Acknowledgments section of Enchantria: The Last Hope where I thank a lot of the authors who’ve helped me along this journey (whether I know them personally or not), and it’s a very long list! So I’ll just put it down here:
Rick Riordan
Erin Hunter
Gail Carson Levine
Tui T. Sutherland
Shannon Messenger
A.F. Steadman
Sophie Torro
E.L. Shen
Valinora Troy
Roshani Chokshi
Tae Keller
And I should probably stop there, otherwise your whole blog shall just be flooded with an endless list of names!
Have you ever had doubts about your writing? How did you push through them?
I do. I do all the time, even up till now! And I think it’s something a lot of writers do struggle with. In some ways, that makes me feel better, since my misery does seem to enjoy the company of other writers. A lot of times, especially when I was done with the Enchantria series, I had this huge crippling doubt that, “What if my book isn’t good enough?” And sometimes, I’ve even doubted whether I’m meant to be a writer. But again, I do think it’s something a lot of writers do struggle with. As for how I push through them… that I can’t really say. Because I don’t really have this one way to push through it, and a lot of the times, I really just need to put my hands on the keyboard and write past it. It does help to have a marvelous writing buddy who cheers me on, though!
How do you handle feedback or criticism?
Depends on what kind of feedback. If it’s constructive criticism from my beta readers, I will mull it over for a whole day, trying to think on what they’ve said (and I will usually come to the conclusion that they are right!), and after that, try to think on how I could rework the story to be better. If it’s something like a bad review, I (and many authors) usually try not to check reviews of my book. Reviews are for the readers, not for the authors. But if I do see a one star or something, I normally just go, “Welp. Can’t do anything about that.” And if the review was especially disheartening, I have a letter to myself that I wrote in the past that I read to cheer me up. It’s quite a funny letter!
If you could live in the world of any book, which would it be and why?
Such a fun question! I have lots! But if I were to pick one, it might be Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman! It’s such an imaginative world, with bloodthirsty unicorns, elemental-allied riders and unicorns, bonds between the unicorns and riders, and a forbidden fifth element! The Fire Festival sounds like such fun as well!
Do you have a writing “lucky charm” or favorite snack while working?
I love this question! Sadly, I don’t really have a lucky charm, and I don’t really snack while writing. I mostly just sit down and write, whether it’s on the plane, in the car, in my room, etc. But I will usually have my WIP notebook (every WIP I have has its own notebook) by my side along with a pen and my stuffed panda!
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Sketching out little drawings of my characters/future book ideas, swimming, painting, listening to the rain, listening to music, and writing songs!
Do your friends and family read your work? What do they think?
Haha! I never let my family read my books (at least, not till the book is done… And even then, I’m wary of letting them read it), because I’d be far too worried about what they’d think to let them! I do show my work to a lot of my friends who are also writers, and they will usually give me very helpful feedback on it! We all enjoy reading each other’s writing, and so it’s quite fun!
What’s advice would you give to other young writers?
The advice I’d give to other young writers is to just write. You may not know anything about the publishing industry or know every character arc or every plot beat, and that’s okay! Because you are really just starting out, and what really matters right now is just honing your creativity, finding your own unique voice, and discovering what amazing stories you want to tell. You don’t need to know every single plot beat or story structure, and I think what you really need to do is just put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and just write. Even if it’s just one random word. Even if it’s really terrible. The point is really just to get your creative muscles working and the words flowing – you can always edit later!
Another thing I’d say is to take all writing advice with a grain of salt. You’ll often find two pieces of writing advice that often contradict each other! You’ll also find a lot of people saying things like, “This is the right story structure!” But in reality, that is not true. There are millions of ways to write a book and every writer has their own way that works for them, even if it seems outrageous to others! The point is really to just experiment and find out what works for you! Read lots as well, because reading books really gets you inside a story and you can learn lots about writing from reading! Don’t be afraid to reach out to other writers as well! Finding a good writing community and finding writing buddies can really help so much and they can really help cheer you on when times get tough!
—Isabelle Knight
Thank you so much for reading! And thank you Isabelle for taking the time to do this interview with me!
As the author of the hour would say…
May the stars forever light your path,
—Leah Larkspur & Isabelle Knight
