by Meru S.
Millie Florence is the author of three middle-grade novels including Honey Butter, which she wrote and self-published at the age of thirteen.
Honey Butter is a simple yet vividly descriptive tale of joy and sorrow, lightheartedness and contemplation, anger and love. The storyline follows Jamie Johnson, a young girl with a passion for collecting paint cards, and her friend Laren Lark, who, at nearly thirteen, is several years older than Jamie.
As I read this book, I did not notice a completely perceivable plot. Instead, I felt as though I had entered the lives of the characters and was observing the typical events of their days. Nevertheless, I was gently gripped by the book without the need for dramatic occurrences or twisted mysteries.
Other novels by Millie Florence are Beyond Mulberry Glen, which will be released in early 2025 from Waxwings Books, and The Banter of Ashton Harper, published in 2023.
Having read Honey Butter, I decided to interview the author of this book. I had heard that she was homeschooled, as am I, a fact that inspired me to email her with a few questions.
What was your inspiration to write Honey Butter?
I got the idea for my first book, Honey Butter, while waiting for my parents in a paint store. Somewhat bored, I began reading the names of the paint cards.
Vivid jungle, cherry soda, bubble bath.
I was amazed how, with only two or three words, the titles painted a picture in my mind. I began to take the cards home with me until I had a small collection sitting on the edge of my bookshelf. Then I asked the first question:
“What if I wrote about a person who was obsessed with collecting paint cards?”
From this question, the character of Jamie Johnson began to take shape, and the story of Honey Butter slowly formed around her.
That’s how my ideas usually come about–a small spark of interest followed by a lot of questions. I find those sparks in paintings, overheard conversations, nature, history, the dictionary, antique shops, or a door-knocker on a house in Oxford that was shaped like a dragonfly.
I notice the world. I look carefully and pay attention to the things that interest me. Then I ask questions about them. A story is born from curiosity and good questions.
In Honey Butter, the protagonist, Jamie, has a hobby of collecting paint cards. Was that something you enjoyed doing when you were working on the book?
Yes! My collection got large enough that I kept it all in a shoebox, just like Jamie! The brand of the shoebox was “Piper”, and one day, while trying to think of a name for Erica’s friend, I looked over at the shoebox, which had “Piper” written across the top in big, pink letters, and I thought “That’s perfect!”
Since the book has been published, people will often give me paint cards as gifts at author events. At one school visit a class gave me a box full of paint cards that they had all written on–thanking me for coming and telling me their favorite parts of the book. To this day it’s one of my favorite reader gifts.
After an idea for a storyline comes to you, what is the first step you take to begin writing a draft?
My writing process has changed slightly with every book. It’s always growing and evolving. I used to jump in headfirst as soon as I got an idea and write my first drafts without an outline. I felt as though outlines held me back and made my writing feel more unnatural. However, more recently I’ve discovered an outlining method that works well for me, developed by K. M. Weiland. It involves stream-of-consciousness journaling about your story idea, which I love, because it allows me the messy creative freedom I need, without requiring the massive structural rewrites to fix it later. I outlined the entire story of my current work in progress before I wrote a word of it, and it went very well!
So these days, the first step I take is to scribble down everything I know about the story so far, whether that’s a few disjointed scene ideas, a bit of funny dialogue, what I want the theme to be, or a long list of paint card names!
Do you have any techniques for overcoming writer’s block?
First of all, I don’t think writer’s block is as common as we writers would like to pretend. Much of the time, I think we can cry writer’s block when in reality we feel unmotivated or uninspired.
The trouble is, if I only ever wrote when I happened to feel inspired, I would write maybe five days a year.
Sometimes you need to take a break, especially when you’re tired or you’re genuinely not sure how to proceed with the story.
But a lot of the time, you won’t feel inspired until you actually start writing. There have been many, many days when I sat down to write, completely uninspired. But once I started writing, after about half an hour, suddenly I was excited about the project again. I started getting new ideas and really enjoying myself.
So what do I do when I feel uninspired? I write anyway. The act of writing in and of itself can be an inspiration.
That said, I did have major writer’s block for a year after my second novel came out. It sold more books in a month than Honey Butter had sold in a year. That was exciting but also terrifying. Suddenly, I was worried. None of my new ideas seemed nearly as good. What if I could never write something better than that? The thought was a bit irrational, looking back, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the emotions of the moment.
I harshly judged everything I came up with, writing drafts, and then discarding them. It was a very difficult time for me creatively. The way I finally found my way out was to stop putting so much pressure on myself and write because I loved it, not because of what other people might think–after all, that was why I started writing to begin with. That experience led me to write The Balter of Ashton Harper, which is all about finding joy in the act of creating.
The word Balter means “To dance artlessly, without particular grace or skill but usually with enjoyment.” But it applies to more than just dancing.
To fend off writer’s block, try to write artlessly, without particular grace or skill but usually with enjoyment.
When you publish a book, how do you celebrate?
Privately, the tradition has been to have a tea party with my family and friends! It’s no secret that I love tea, and baking, so I love to combine the two while spending time with the people I care about. Usually my family also buys me flowers.
I also celebrate with my readers all throughout the release with author events, live streams, giveaways… In many ways all the marketing I do for a release is just celebration!
I’ll be celebrating the release of my newest book, Beyond Mulberry Glen, on January 7th 2025. It’s already available for preorder, which means you can reserve a copy, along with some awesome pre-order goodies, inducing a signed bookplate. You can find out more on my website: millieflorence.com
The Lighthouse 