So Erin tagged me in her post, so I had to write this. Enjoy
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
Hmmm My favorite universe I've created. Well.... the only universe i've really created is the one in my novel. It's so much fun to write there because i'm a big fantasy fan, and all the things there are so much fun, and the people you run into are well.... interesting.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
Like Erin said, I've got too many to count. I make up a ton and a half just to fill in my plot holes, most of them are brought up once, or are sorta "extras" if you will. I don't have a preference really.... but I think my characters tend to be pretty even because I like pairing them up. I do like creating extremely attractive men though too.
3. How do you come up with names for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
I use name generators and common names i've heard around, or if my friends have cool names I write them. As for places, I just kinda come up with something. Most of the time my plots are grounded in a futuristic place of an already existing world.
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
Well.... I've had a lot of stories, but I think the first one that really had any hold was a story that I wrote with Nikki a long time ago. It was of our wonderful vampires Kathyrne and Alikzander. They've gotten face lifts, but they've been neglected. Maybe I'll bring them up again, but I doubt our vampires will be resurrected.
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?
Youngest character.... hmmm. Okay youngest character that really matters is Kaeli from my novel. She's sixteen. Oldest character.... UH It's one of my elves. I think Uruviel is the oldest. She's like... wait... nope she is the oldest. Barely. Uruviel is 460 and Seili is like 430. Wow, that's strange. Seili and Kaeli are totally a couple. See the age difference here? Hahaa. "Youngest" I don't think I have any in particular, but Aeros acts like a two year old a lot. He's easily procoked and he's envious of flowers because Terra pays more attention to them then to him sometimes. "Oldest" Chonus who is literally the oldest too, but you don't really hear about him. He's Father Time.
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
Anywhere really. I don't have a preference. I do however write mostly with pen and paper! I used to have a huge phobia of putting my stuff on the computer because I thought someone would be able to take them and steal my ideas. That's not helping because I've been posting my stuff but I've gotten over that.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Well, I've been known to listen to music while I write, but sometimes its nice to just write in silence.As with my last post sometimes I just youtube stuff. Whatever comes up. No particular soundtrack... It's just whatever comes up.
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
FANTASY and romance. I'm a sap for a good love story. I'm a hopeless romantic.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
Ideas for characters come from people around me, my friends, people I see in the workplace, and just well around. Some of them come from dreams. When I create them their personality comes first, then coupling with that is their appearance. Sometimes I'll give them a name first but most of the time their name comes last. If not close to it. I role play for my characters, so if you ever see me talking to myself, I'm probably not talking to myself, but I'm playing out a scene that I'm writing, or trying to write.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
Well... There is this one scene from a story I'm writing, which only Nikki has seen. It involves Alex Day, who has been seducing the Shaian General for information and she's coming for her last "information session" and what does she find but her husband whom she had no idea was even on Shai, has replaced the General and who does she meet? Yep. Quinn. He recognizes her so it gets pretty embarassing for them. I've got a bunch of others, but they take too long to write.
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
Favorite character to write would by far have to be Stitch. He's just so well... alluring. He's funny and sarcastic and can be really cute when he wants to be. I like writing my own "perfect stranger" in Stitch. Mhy blond, which I won't give you a name for yet, that comes later. He's fun to write as well. But I can't give anything away by telling you what he's like. My least favorite to write would probably be Taj or Foxburr even though they have a few good runs. Mostly they're just hard to write because they are crazy.
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world-building? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
The Glade, that's really the only world I've created and I think I did rather well there, but there are a few things that I should tweak. Like... probably keeping the names of all the forests and their locations straight. It's kinda a pain considering that most of the world there is a forest.
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
The Kyurions. They're my go to alien race. They are from a planet called Kyuri and you've met two of their most talented and gifted individuals. Terra and Aeros. They're two of the six that were chosen to go to distant planets to teach the people of those planets the knowledge that the Kyurions have.
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
I don't do very well with that. I tend to stick to places that I've been or seen, or just keeping things based in the USA. Other than that, I just write, and then after that I have to do extensive cross checks to keep my mapping striaght. That's one thing I need to get better at.
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
UHM Richard Castle. Yes, he exists. But I can't say that I have a favorite writer. I have favorite books. I love Old Magic by Marianne Curley. It's an amazing book. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do.
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing? ;)
MMMMM romances. I love writing romances. As for how far I'm willing to go... pretty far. Not to the point of writing it all, but implying it. I don't write sex scenes because I don't want to.
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Favorite protagonist. Crap. I don't know. I really like all of them but I really love writing Larkin. She makes me sad but she gives me so much hope! She grows so much during her horrific ordeal and gives me a reason to look at things differently and really appreciate what i have.
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
Taj. Oh my gosh he's ridiculously strange. He's got a weird mind set, and so he's fun to write. My other favorite so far is my Blond. Erin knows who he is, but he's fun to write because he is the perfect man. It's almost like Valentine. But Valentine is like... well I don't know how to describe him very well, but if you haven't read the mortal instrument series, I suggest you do. Valentine is the percect villain.
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
I like writing tender moments and action scenes!! Anything that makes me feel pumped or tense. Oh my gosh I just love writing! I like to write anything I can feel. So, since I'm single and a hopeless romantic, I write sappy love stories most of the time.
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
No, most of my charcters are really too young for kids. They do have parents and younger siblings that I write for. I've never written a character with children. I should try that.
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
Erin requested something 'intense and awesome' so here we go. I've decided to give you an exerpt from Branded. Enjoy.
The breeze was light, tickling the back of Larkin's neck, making her turn to check behind her for the millionth time that day. On days like this she and her friends were at their most paranoid. Something bad always happens when the set up is so perfect... She and the boys had stopped off in the park to plan their next move, and for Arden to find them a new ride. It was always risky to lift a car from a public place like this, but Arden was a pro. Killswitch told us the neighborhood we stopped off at had a history of having cars stolen, so people reported the theft but the police didn't try to hard to find the cars.
"Try and find us something that gets good mileage please," Killswitch remarked as Arden slunk off toward the edges of the park.
Larkin and the others sat on a bench and began to strategize. They hadn't made it very far from home at this point but they needed to get to Chicago, and soon. When they ran into DinNoni after having allegedly released him from prison, he told them their questions would be answered in Chicago by a man named Sam Connoly. Killswitch estimated that it should take them about a week which included car changes and walking time. Alexander said they would also have to stop for food, which meant they would have to get money some how.
"We can't make any withdrawals from our bank accounts because the government will be watching those." Killswitch said, pulling a roadmap from his backpack and laying it out on his knees. He started tracing some roads, most likely backroads with a few major highways thrown inbeetween as needed. "So how do you propose we get some cash?"
Larkin stopped to think for a moment. "Well, we're already wanted criminals, and Arden's got magic fingers, so I'm sure he could lift a few wallets here and there, or we could set up a scam and write those stupid 'Homeless, anything helps' signs. But there's the risk of someone recognizing one of us and tipping off the police." she said, and Alexander agreed.
"We've got some cash left from the last car, but we're going to need money fast." Alexander commented, glancing around the park to make sure no one recognized them. It had become habit to do checks like that.
Larkin stood from off the bench and began to scan the park as well when from the corner of her vision she saw a swarm of dark figures approach them. Her body tensed and she snatched up all the maps from Killswitch and took off. "Run!" she shouted over her shoulder as the dark figures began to pick up speed. Without questioning anything the other two boys tore away from the bench and across the park. If Arden hadn't lifted a car by now they would have to pick one up at a later time, or drag people out of their vehicle at a stop light. From the street Larkin saw a dark SUV speeding down the road exactly parallel from them, and she panicked. They needed cover somewhere. But where? Families and couples all over the park were scrambling away running to their cars and screaming. They were screaming? Why? We were the ones being chased!
I darted to the right, not sure if the boys were following, but hoping they were. I heard Arden screaming at me from the road and spotted him next to a blue Sedan jumping up and down. I made a beeline for the car, hoping and praying harder than I ever had before that I could make it to the car and now get shot. I heard footsteps behind me and picked up speed. When I reached the car I dove into the passenger side and not a second later Killswitch and Alexander dove in and Arden peeled out before the doors were closed. He tore down the street, paying no regard to street signs or traffic laws. We had all agreed that Arden was our go to driver for situations like this because he played far too many video games and watched way too many movies.
"Get us out of here" Killswitch screamed from the back seat.
"I'm workin on it!" Arden growled jerking the steering wheel severely to the right. Larkin hit the door and yelped.
She could see the black SUV closing in on them; there was a man hanging out the window, a huge gun aimed for their tires.
"Gun!" Larkin yelled, "Step on it!"
The glass from the back window shattered and Alexander hit the floor.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
Depends on how long it is. With my novel it took me two years and that's just the rough draft. I'm working on further drafts. So it could take a lot longer than that.
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
Yes. I've killed a few characters. I got writers block so I killed Kiki in my novel. She dies because of magic... Uh. Alex... okay so technically I didn't kill her, but I wrote her death. She killed herself in a sense but she gets speared through the back with a venomous spear and dies slowly and painfully. I cried a lot...
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
Yes, Primula has a pet, his name is Fai. He's like this dragon lizard fluffy thing. See him Here. Uh, Foxburr has a pet who has been handed down through the generations from his father (they live for like ever), it's a freakishly large dragon named Riplakish. I stole that name from the Book of Mormon. Cool right? Beyond that, I don't think anyone has a pet. If they do, I forgot about them. Well okay so in a dream I had about Perfect Strangers Laela has a dog named Cworky.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
I do draw them!! All the time I also draw Erin's characters, I love drawing Alessia and Rath, this one is my favorite one... Here it is. I draw a lot more but I don't really wanna post them. If you wanna see more, feel free to poke around using that link there.
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
Well lets see do appearances play a role in designing my characters. DUH. Take Stitch for example. He's tall dark and handsome, and then there's blond man. He's like the epitomy of angels everywhere, but.... oooh I feel like i've given too much away. Enough about blondie.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
Larkin has some major handicaps. She's very afraid of men and because of that she also doesn't believe in herself at all, and at times her fear of men is so intense that she passes out.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something in real life that reminds you of your story/characters?
All the stinking time. You don't even understand how much I think about writing. Like I said before I role play situations between my characters a lot. That's where a lot of my scenes come from. My random role play moments. Yep. I've had situations that play out in reality where I'm all "OMG MY CHARACTERS WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING!!" needless to say I laugh out loud in quiet rooms because I thought of a funny situation to write.
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
Dear Nikki, fill this out. ;] And Shannon, I would love to read about your process. Anyone else, feel free!
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