Author Interview: Tracy Wolff and The Aftermyth Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have Tracy Wolff here to share about the first book in her new middle grade fantasy series, The Aftermyth. It sounds like a real page turner with a very sympathetic main character whose plans are imploding. I’m looking forward to reading it. 

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

 

In a world ruled by the tenets of Greek mythology, one girl’s fate is more than it appears in the first book in a new dark academia fantasy middle grade series from #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Crave series Tracy Wolff.

What’s your myth?

Penelope Weaver has spent her whole life preparing to attend Anaximander’s Academy, where students learn how to bring to life the stories of Greek mythology as well as discover the Greek god whose principles they most embody. Penelope knows she’s an Athena—all smart, practical, and rule-following girls who take part in stories that matter are Athenas.

But when Penelope and her twin brother Paris arrive at Anaximander’s, it appears fate has other plans. Penelope isn’t placed with Athena but with students who are anything but practical and who prefer parties to rules. And that’s just the beginning. She’s given the world’s worst muse, her assigned tasks feel impossible, and the magic of Anaximander’s is overwhelming. Not to mention, there are two very different boys making her new life even more confusing.

But as things go from bad to dangerously worse, one thing becomes in a world where everything is fated to happen a certain way, some stories need to be rewritten. As the world around her shifts and cracks, Penelope is asked to forget everything she thought she knew to help create a better story…even if that changes every plan and breaks every rule. 

Follower News 

Before I get to Tracy’s interview, I have Follower News to share. Valinora Troy has a new MG fantasy, Lianna and the Hombit, releasing on 1/29/2026. Here’s a blurb: A grieving girl in need of a friend. A magical creature with a secret task. Can they end the ancient curse threatening their new home? You can find more information at www.valinoratroy.com

 

Interview With Tracy Wolff 

Hi Tracy! Thanks so much for joining us. 

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Hi! Thank you so much for having me 😊 And oh, wow. That is a question with a very long, very circuitous answer, but I’ll give it my best shot!

I always say that I’ve been a writer since I understood that letters made words and words made sentences that could entertain people, and while that might be an exaggeration, it’s really only a small one.
From the time I was very little, my dad trained me to be a writer, though I don’t think he knew that’s what he was doing. He would say that he was training me to use my imagination. If we were sitting outside or going for a walk, he’d tell me to close my eyes and listen really hard. Then he’d ask me to describe everything that I heard. Or, and these were my favorite days, we might be sitting on the couch about to watch a movie or play a game and he’d tell me to make up a story about my shirt or the stuffed animal in my arms or my slippers or the painting on the wall or … you get the drift.

I do know that I wrote my first short story when I was six or seven years old. It had a princess (and a prince), a rainbow, a leprechaun, and a happily ever after. I don’t remember much else about the story (except it was written in an aquamarine marker) but I do remember that it was the most fun I’d ever had. I couldn’t wait to write the next story, and I think that was the moment I decided I wanted to be a writer.

I spent the next twenty plus years of my life getting there. I joined every writing club/newspaper/literary magazine I could throughout high school and college. I wrote a play my junior year in high school that was professionally directed through something called the California Young Playwrights Project. I had my first poem published in a professional journal when I was in high school. And when I went to college and grad school, I majored in literature and creative writing. In graduate school, I worked under a biographer and memoirist, and when she thanked me in the acknowledgements of the book she wrote while I was her assistant, it was the first time my name was in print in a book published in New York. It was an exhilarating feeling and I swore, then and there, that it wouldn’t be the last time my name appeared in a book from the Big Six publishers (Big Five now). And the next time it happened, I was determined my name would be the one on the cover.

From there, I became an English teacher for middle school, high school, and then college, and continued writing as much as I could in between work and starting a family. But it wasn’t until my second son was born prematurely and the doctor suggested I stay home for a year to help heal his lungs, that I started pursuing writing seriously and professionally. During the course of that year, I wrote two books and a novella and they became my first New York published works—two from Harlequin and one from NAL, a division of Penguin Books.

I’ve been writing professionally ever since—young adult fantasies and contemporaries, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, books for kids with dyslexia, and now, finally, my very first middle grade novel. I am so excited about The Aftermyth and can’t wait to hear what people think of it. 

2. What an inspiring story. It’s so cool that your dad started you on your writing path. Where did you get the idea for The Aftermyth? 

The idea for The Aftermyth came from a bunch of different places. I have been wanting to write a middle grade forever, and when my editor mentioned she wanted a Greek mythology book, I jumped at the chance to write one. Each book in the series will follow Penelope Weaver, a young girl who is attending Anaximander’s Academy, a school where students are divided into 5 halls that honor 5 Greek gods, based on their personality traits and family legacies. I wanted Penelope to explore a different Greek myth in each book, and I started with Pandora’s Box because it is a myth that has always bothered me. Pandora was created by two gods (Zeus and Hephaestus) to punish two titans (Prometheus and Epimetheus), yet she is the one who has gotten blamed for opening the box/vase they gave her. This was a huge reminder to me that history is written by the winners, winners who—for millennia have been men—and I wanted to challenge that with The Aftermyth. Penelope is a mythweaver—someone who has the power to change myths—though she doesn’t know it at first, and The Aftermyth series is my shot at herstory instead of history. I had a fabulous time telling a funny,  action-packed story that also asks who gets to decide which myths we believe—and why.

Your Writing Process 

3. Share what your writing process was for The Aftermyth once you came up with the story idea, and how long it took to complete a draft to send to your agent and editor. 

I brainstormed The Aftermyth for a few months before I started writing, partly on my own and partly with my editor, as I worked out the pieces of the story I wanted to tell and the world I wanted to tell it in. But once I started writing, it took me about two months to write the book I turned in to my editor.

4. You wrote it in two months! As a slow writer, I need to take a class from you. Reviewers have said that The Aftermyth is a real page turner. What are your techniques for making readers, especially middle graders, want to keep turning the pages?

I am so thrilled and so grateful that early reviewers have been so positive and excited about the book! I don’t know if I have any actual techniques to keep people turning the pages, but I do like to write in short, action packed chapters that don’t take very long to read. Action-adventure mixed with humor is my favorite thing to write and I try to put as much of both into every chapter as I can. Also, my favorite thing about writing is creating characters who feel like real people. I have so much fun with their quirks and personalities, and I think people who read my books are invested in finding out what is going to happen next to whatever character in the story they like the most.

5. The Aftermyth is the first book in a series. You’ve written over 15 series already. How much of the rest of the series did you know as you wrote The Aftermyth? What tips do you have for other writers who want to write a series?

As I did with The Aftermyth, I tend to do a lot of brainstorming at the beginning of a series, working out the world, the big overarching problems, the character arcs, and a basic problem/growth arc for each book in the series. I like to know where I’m starting and where I’m going to end the series (though sometimes that changes along the way) and I usually have a few key scenes in mind for each book. Other than that, though, I like the world to grow organically in each book and see where it takes me.

I don’t have a lot of tips, except to keep a story bible. As a series grows and the world and list of characters expands, it’s helpful to have a list of rules, etc. that you have already set up in the series so that you can quickly reference it. For example, I might have a minor character in book one who plays a small but important part throughout the series. After writing them in book one, I like to make a quick note about them—what they look like, what color eyes they have, where they live, etc in the story bible. I remember who they are from book to book, but if it is a character who only has a couple pages per book, I might forget what color eyes they have or how they wear their hair, etc.

Another tip I have about writing a series I actually got from the middle grade and YA author Ally Carter. We were at a conference and having lunch with a bunch of other writers one day and she mentioned that her philosophy for series is to leave everything on the table in each book. Don’t hold a great idea back for the next book in the series—use every great idea you have in the book you are writing and worry about the next book when you get there or you run the risk of there not being another book in the series. I thought it was a great piece of advice when I heard it and it’s definitely something I try to live by even now. 

Your Journey to Publication 

6. Your tips are great. Your agent is Emily Sylvan Kim. Tell us how she became your agent and about how you’ve been able to publish over 60 books since you got your first publishing contract in 2007. 

Emily is my first and only agent and even after all these years, I still feel so lucky to work with her. I’m actually an impatient sort, and getting an agent is difficult at the best of times. So when I decided to concentrate on writing full time during that year I stayed home with my premature son, I sent chapters into two Harlequin writing contests with the hope of getting my work in front of editors who might actually buy it. I ended up placing in both contests and, after some revisions, one of the books was accepted for publication in a two book deal. That deal helped me get Emily’s attention and eventually she offered representation. 

Accepting that representation was one of the easiest (and best) decisions I’ve ever made. From the beginning, Emily was my first choice for an agent because everything I knew about her made me think we’d be a good fit. And it turns out I was right. The second book I’d entered in the second Harlequin contest was ultimately rejected because it wasn’t right for the category line it was aimed at, but when Emily signed me in November, she really liked the book and wanted to shop it. By early January, she had found Full Exposure a home at Penguin. That was nineteen years and more than seventy books ago, lol. 

7. What is your writing schedule like since you became a published author? How have you stayed so productive and juggled publishing multiple books a year? 

My schedule is a little wild. I am a slow plotter and a fast writer, so once I’ve figured out the main plot points of a book I can write it in a month or two (depending on the length). When I’m first starting a book, I tend to only write a couple thousand words a day because I’m still figuring things out. Somewhere around the middle of the book, my speed picks up and by the end, as I’m racing toward deadline, I usually write between seven and ten thousand words a day.

I usually only write one book at a time, but I can still brainstorm, edit, or do publicity for other books at the same time. So that’s mostly how I juggle—for most of my career, I’ve tended to have four projects in different stages at any given time. One that I’m brainstorming, one that I’m writing, one that I’m editing/doing copyedits or proofs for, and one that I’m actively doing book signings/interviews/publicity for. 

8. You write for middle grade through adult and in many different genres. For some books, you write under the names of Tracy Deebs and Tessa Adams. What made you decide to write under pen names when you’re so well known as Tracy Wolff? 

Back when I started my publishing journey, things were different. Your publishers wanted you to have different names for different projects. Tracy Wolff was the name my first books were published under. They were contemporary romances, and when I started writing YA, my YA publisher wanted me to write under a different name. Then when I started writing paranormal romances for adults, they wanted a third name, and Tessa Adams was born. Eventually, though, self-published authors helped show publishers that authors could be successful writing different types of books under the same name and I was able to streamline my different names back down to just one—Tracy Wolff. 

Marketing Your Books 

9. How are you planning to market The Aftermyth? How has your marketing strategy changed over the years? 

I’ve been very lucky to work with publishers with amazing marketing departments my whole career, so a lot of my marketing tends to go hand in hand with whatever they are doing. Simon and Schuster, who are publishing The Aftermyth, are incredible. They’ve been so wonderful to me and to this book at every step of the journey, including marketing.

As for what I do personally. I have a readers group, a newsletter, and a street team, so I will be publicizing The Aftermyth that way, as well as on my social media accounts. And yes, I am so excited that Simon and Schuster has organized an eleven-day signing tour for me, so I’ll be at various events in bookstores around the country in February.

10. What are you working on now? 

I am working on the second book in the Aftermyth series, the second book in my Calder Academy YA series, and a brand new Romantasy novel for adults. Thanks so much for having me! 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Tracy. You can find Tracy at tracywolffauthor.com, Instagram, and Facebook. 

Giveaway Details

Tracy’s publisher is generously offering a hardback of The Aftermyth for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by February 7th. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address. 

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or follow Tracy on her social media sites, mention this in the comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S. 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog. 

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Sunday, February 1, I’m participating in the Heart 2 Heart Giveaway Hop

Monday, February 2, I have a guest post by V.T. Bidania and a giveaway of her MG A Year Without Home

Wednesday, February 3, I have an interview with Alichia Dow and a giveaway of her YA Until the Clock Strikes Midnight and my IWSG post

Monday, February 9, I have an interview with Seema Yasmin and a giveaway of her MG Maysoon Zayid, The Girl Who Can

Wednesday, February 11, I have an agent spotlight interview with Tamara Kawar and a query critique giveaway

Sunday, February 15, I’m participating in the Wish Big Giveaway Hop

I hope to see you on Sunday!