6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
I always have a notebook with me, because you never know when or where you might find yourself with ten minutes and nothing to do. If I have a choice, though, I prefer early mornings or late nights at my desk. A burning candle is nice, too. I always draft on paper. Always. Transcribing from paper to screen constitutes my first round of revision.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Sometimes, but only instrumental. I’m a fan of Peter Gundry and Philip Glass for writing. There are certainly songs that remind me of my characters, but I don’t make playlists for them, or anything.
8. What’s your favourite genre to write? To read?
The bulk of my writing so far is paranormal. I’m really enjoying mystery, as well, but I have no plans to branch out beyond Morrigan Holmes. Future projects – The Van Helsing Legacy and that gothic back-burner – return to paranormal, though in time periods other than the contemporary. I guess I just like a real-world setting with slight, ah, embellishments.
I read anything I can get my hands on. About equal parts fiction and non-fiction, the fiction about equal parts mystery, horror, paranormal, science fiction, historical, satire, YA… More picture books now than previously, since I collect them for use in my classes.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
I hate this question. I think most authors do. There is, in fact, only one character whose origin I can pinpoint to a single moment. John, from The Siren, was inspired by a comment on a Youtube video. Everybody else evolved sort of organically. I’m thinking about stories for a while, telling myself stories, and suddenly realize I have a character.
I can describe how they develop, though. Most of my Lost Knowledge characters were involved in role-play around the internet for years before I began publishing the books. I can’t think of any better way to really get to know a character than to have someone else throw situations at them.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
That role-playing background resulted in some really strange ones. Daniel once wound up married to a time-travelling airship captain from a steampunk alternate universe, living in an interdimensional bubble where they were occasionally attacked by Daleks. Non-canon, of course, but he still hasn’t forgiven me. Lenny’s been turned into a wolf, hit with a love spell, attacked by Umbrella Corp. zombies, and press-ganged into taking care of a magical toddler. Kim and Jadwiga have, for the most part, been spared any particular indignity, except for that one time they both got really smashed and almost came to blows over the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody.
Canon is about to get weird, too. No spoilers.
11. Who is your favourite character to write? Least favourite?
Individual characters aren’t that interesting, to me. I like to play characters off one another. Current favourite is having Kim and Daniel in the same room, snarking at one another, closely followed by Signe tormenting Daniel.
I hated writing Sebastian. It was incredibly emotionally taxing, and I am forever glad that I ultimately decided not to give him the status of point-of-view character. That would have killed the series.
The Writing Meme – Part 3
The Writing Meme – Part 4
The Writing Meme – Part 5
I never thought I would see a reference to the Umbrella Corporation on your blog. Ha ha. The RP thing is wildly different than anything I have heard before. Very interesting.
Oh? Do I not strike you as a gamer? ;D (I’m not; someone else involved in the RP was, and got me into the franchise.)
It’s pretty weird, yeah. The only other people I know of who developed characters that way are those I was playing with.
Ha ha. Even if I could imagine you as a gamer, I would be hard pressed to think of you playing Resident Evil and killing zombies. XD