I have an exciting post for you guys today! Marla, a young author who I’ve been mentoring for the past four years, is about to publish her first-ever book. I’m so incredibly proud of her, and excited to see where she goes next in her author journey. But I’m also excited for all of you to meet her!

Marla is a 16-year-old writer and hard-core anglican. She has been writing for six years, but telling stories for as long as she can remember. She loves all things C.S Lewis and J.K. Rowling, and when she’s not writing, you’ll find her buried in a cozy armchair, reading a classic.

You may notice that my name also comes up a few times in her interview… I promise I didn’t tell her to say any of it. XD

Without further ado, Marla Dallman, everyone.

How did you get started writing?

For as long as I can remember I have loved stories. My big anglican family has had books in every room of our house for as long as I can remember. Because of that, my favorite thing to do when I was younger was sit in front of my dollhouse telling stories of woe and gore using the little dolls. When I was eleven, I used to constantly watch youtube videos of a young author, Millie Florence, I was in awe of her and her author life. So one evening, after my short amount of screen time was up, I walked downstairs to my mom who was in the kitchen making tea and announced that I was going to be a published author and then just walked out of the kitchen. That was it, I have been writing ever since!

What books and stories have influenced your writing?

Oh my, so many! Harry Potter is the very first book/series that I ever was like “That’s what I want to write.” So those books are always going to influence my writing. The Truth According to Blue by Eve Yohalem and Lemons by Melissa Savage really inspired Mr. Dickson’s Will. The style of those two books is something that I really tried to imitate because they show how growing up feels like. Honey Butter by Millie Florence is another one that is always going to influence my writing. The funny thing about writing that I’ve really realized for the past year is that every good single story I hear or read is going to influence me. Whether it is in some life changing or just a small maybe subconscious way. 

What inspired Mr. Dickson’s Will?

There is this bridge in my town that lifts up in the middle because it is a causeway bridge. One afternoon when my family was waiting for a sailboat to pass through so that we could go to the beach, an idea popped out of nowhere. A scene that would take place in an action or mystery book, a fight scene. Now that idea stuck with me for quite a while. But a few months later, when I stumbled upon Monica Bennet through a short story assignment that I had to do, it occurred to me that the scene I came up with might be even cooler if it somehow happened to Monica Bennet. The other thing that really inspired my book was my own experience being the youngest sibling. I have three amazing, talented older sisters who are incredibly intelligent and funny. So the younger me felt very insecure in my own skin. Somehow those two things came together by accident, might I add in this short story that I wrote, which of course didn’t end up being a short story at all.  

Finally making it into the local surfing competition, Fourteen-year-old Monica Bennet finds herself in the shadows of her four older sisters yet again. 

When Beckett, a famous movie star’s son, asks for her  help finding the missing will of the billionaire art collector Mr. Dickson, Monica jumps at the chance to prove herself. 

As Beckett and Monica begin to stick their noses where they don’t belong, they realize that there is a lot more at stake than playing this game. With unknown eyes on them, the web beneath them gets thicker with secrets that will crush them if they don’t solve the mystery in time.

Preorder here!

Without spoilers, what was your favourite part of the book to write?

Hmm. Probably the ending. It has evolved quite a bit since the first draft. But it has always been my favourite. I love how the characters changed, and I love just the quiet joy that I felt when writing it. The amount of hours and thought that I put into writing my book felt completely worth it when I wrote the ending. Even when I knew I would have to do another draft or round of edits, it was still so exciting to write it. 

What does your writing process look like?

Extremely slow, to put it simply! I usually come up with an idea quite suddenly. Whether it be because of a book I read or someplace I went, it really can be anything. But I come up with an idea and then let it sit. The way I let it sit is writing it down very roughly. Usually just writing down what I want the main character to be like, and then the plot or theme idea I have. I talk about it with someone and then think about it a lot. I write a first draft without plotting anything because it helps me think through the idea. Then after reading through that I plot out what I like to call a road map which is plot points I want to get the characters to. I don’t plot out every scene since I find I can’t write the actual book when I do that. And after that, I re-write and rewrite. My process is still evolving but for right now I can find this the best way to go about it!

What’s one piece of writing advice you think more people should hear?

Don’t compare you and your writing to anyone else. This sounds simple but this has been one of the hardest things that I’ve had to learn. It’s so tempting to think you’re behind because others are publishing their work already. And in my experience, it just messes with your head and you get stuck. The better thing to do is to be curious about what others are doing instead of envying them. You learn from them instead of getting stuck. 

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I love studying the classics. Seriously, studying is one of my favorite things to do, whether it is learning about the great authors or chemistry, you’ll find my head buried in it. Violin is a hobby of mine that I’m still getting the hang of but I do enjoy it quite a bit. I love just spending time with my family. My family is quite something so it is always an interesting time with the Dallman clan!

What are you working on next?

I am currently working on a book about fairies, four odd teenagers and a very old cathedral. That is taking up a lot of my time at the moment. I’ve had to do a lot of research for this book and I love it dearly. It combines my hard-core anglican side and my bookworm side so, though it has been hard I can’t wait to share it with the world at some point! Besides that I’m trying to get better at writing short stories and I plan to publish some of them on my substack very soon, so stay tuned!

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A big thank you to Marla for answering my questions! In the comments below, let me know what you thought of the interview, and send Marla some congratulations for this big milestone. I personally loved her thoughts on being curious instead of envious.

If your own curiosity has been piqued, you can buy Mr. Dickson’s Will on Marla’s website and follow Marla on Instagram to keep up with her future adventures.

Millie Florence