“It was a giant puzzle, and making the pieces fit was delightful.” Q&A with Bethany Jacobs, author of These Burning Stars

Hello and welcome to this very special blog post: a conversation with Bethany Jacobs, author of the newly released queer space opera These Burning Stars. We’ll be talking all about the editing process that These Burning Stars went through, from first draft to finished publication.

Bethany and I worked together during the 2020 session of Pitch Wars, after which Bethany went on to sign with an agent and land a three-book deal with the publisher Orbit. These Burning Stars, the gripping first instalment of the Kindom trilogy, comes out this week (17 October in the US; 19 October in the UK) and I’m so excited for everyone to read it!

About These Burning Stars

A dangerous cat-and-mouse quest for revenge. An empire that spans star systems, built on the bones of a genocide. A carefully hidden secret that could collapse worlds, hunted by three women with secrets of their own. All collide in this explosive space opera debut from a powerful new voice in sci-fi.

On a dusty backwater planet, occasional thief Jun Ironway has gotten her hands on the score of a lifetime: a secret that could raze the Kindom, the ruling power of the galaxy.

A star system away, preternaturally stoic Chono and brilliant hothead Esek—the two most brutal clerics of the Kindom—are tasked with hunting Jun down.

And tracking all three across the stars is a ghost from their shared past known only as Six. But what Six wants is anyone’s guess. It’s a game of manipulation and betrayal that could destroy them all. And they have no choice but to see it through.

UK retailers

Paperback: Lighthouse Bookshop (link opens in a new tab) | Your local queer bookshop (link opens in a new tab) | Bookshop.org (link opens in a new tab) | Audiobook: Libro.fm (link opens in a new tab) | eBook: Hive (link opens in a new tab)

US retailers

Paperback: Powell's (link opens in a new tab) | Bookshop.org (link opens in a new tab) | Barnes & Noble (link opens in a new tab) | Audiobook: Libro.fm (link opens in a new tab) | eBook: Barnes & Noble (link opens in a new tab)

Q&A with Bethany Jacobs

Jake: Hi, Bethany! Thank you so much for being here. First of all, huge congratulations on the publication of These Burning Stars!

Bethany: Absolutely. Delighted to chat with you.

J: Let’s start right back at the beginning: what did the early stages of development look like for These Burning Stars?

B: Writing this book started as a lark. I had been struggling with another book for months and thought it might be a good idea to try pantsing it for a while (which is the opposite of my usual method). I sat down and started writing what eventually became the third chapter of the book, and gradually I evolved this group of characters who were just delightfully fun to write. The plot went up and down, changing multiple times, with good guys becoming bad guys and bad guys becoming good guys. That first year, I was also ending a post doctoral fellowship and switching careers, so it wasn’t until those transitions were over that I really nailed down what I was working on: a space opera about uncovering a genocide.

J: I love that your approach to drafting this book was so different from your usual way of doing things; that’s really interesting. It must have changed what your revisions looked like, too. Do you have any advice for writers on how to figure out the jump from drafting to revisions?

B: Definitely take a break from the book. Walk away from it for a month at least. Ideas will percolate, but you’ll get the distance you need to understand it in new ways. When you go back, reread it first, and pay attention to and take notes on some particular areas of form: the logic, consistency, and “fullness” of the worldbuilding; pacing (think about inciting incident, middle point, climax and denouement); and the character arcs. Be prepared to rewrite a good portion of the book. Every time I do this, realising how much I have to rewrite makes me panic, but it always turns out to be the funnest and most rewarding part of the process.

J: I totally agree: walking away from your manuscript is so crucial for getting that fresh perspective!

These Burning Stars has a complex structure: it follows three point-of-view (POV) characters across two separate timelines. Was that a structure that emerged naturally alongside your ideas about plot and character, or did you have to play around with different options until you found the one that worked?

B: I realised early on that an essential aspect of this book was going to be the history between its characters. The plot existed in a present timeline, but that plot only made sense if you understood the past. Since I didn’t want to constantly info dump with “memory” scenes, it made sense to have one of my POVs exist entirely in the past. The next step became about pacing. I needed the past tense POV to keep pace with the present tense POVs, so that everything that happened in the past clearly informed what was happening in the present. This took constant reorganisation, because I had essentially built a house of cards.

J: Right, that’s one of the things that struck me most about your novel: that every single chapter adds to the reader’s understanding of the characters and their present-day situation. It’s all so tightly woven together! It’s extremely satisfying to read, but it must have been quite the challenge to pull together in revisions. What would you say were your favourite and least favourite parts of the revision process?

B: Because of that house of cards element, and the sheer complexity of the plot, revision could be a gruelling process. Every tiny change I made had huge ramifications for the entire plot and I was constantly finding continuity and logic errors that I then had to go back and revise even further. I frequently felt like I would never get it right. But oddly, this was also the most satisfying part of the process, because it was a giant puzzle, and making the pieces fit was delightful.

J: Yes! I love that feeling, too.

The road to traditional publication is a long one, and it involves getting editorial feedback at many different stages. Could you share what your manuscript’s editing journey looked like?

B: These Burning Stars was the first book I wrote that received the benefit of outside editors. It began when writer Michael Mammay gave me a 50-page critique, in which he strongly urged me to submit to Pitch Wars, a writing mentorship contest. I was extremely lucky to get teamed up with you, Jake. (J: The feeling's mutual!) Our process was organic and comfortable. You gave me an edit letter early on, and then we met to talk about the major changes. After I delved into revisions, we had a couple more conversations, mostly to work through snags. After the end of the mentorship program, my book got some offers of representation from agents, and I signed with Bridget Smith of JABberwocky Literary. We did another round of edits, but it was very minor compared to what you and I worked on. After I got my offer from Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit, we worked together similarly to how I worked with you. Edit letter, phone calls. What followed was a second round of developmental and line edits, and then copyediting. So this book went through many rounds of edits, with multiple people. And it was better for it.

J: As much as getting feedback is beneficial, it can feel tough sometimes. Do you have any advice for writers on how to navigate the process of receiving feedback?

B: I’ve always found the feedback stage incredibly rewarding and fun, and I really encourage people to try to find the joy in the process. The opportunity to hear from a reader what works and what doesn’t, and make the book better as a result, is invigorating for me. But I’ve also had the benefit of editors who are cheerleaders, who want me and my book to succeed. If you find yourself working with critique partners who bring nothing but negativity to the process, walk away. Only work with people who you feel believe in you. When you have confidence that they are confident in you, it can help to lower your defences about critique. This is a craft and excelling at any craft requires trial and error. Embrace that process.

J: That’s brilliant advice, thank you. And thank you for all your time and wisdom today, Bethany!

B: Thanks so much for having me, Jake! This was fun!

About Bethany

Bethany Jacobs is a former college instructor of writing and science fiction, who made the leap to education technology. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading, trying out new recipes, and snuggling in bed with a TV show she’s already watched ten times. She lives in Buffalo, New York, with her wife and her dog and her books. These Burning Stars is her debut novel.

Where to find Bethany: Website (link opens in a new tab) | Newsletter (link opens in a new tab) | Twitter (link opens in a new tab) | Instagram (link opens in a new tab) | Bluesky (link opens in a new tab)

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