Magic and Madness

mood: ecstatic

music: Jingglebell Rock

For about fifteen years I have wanted a cat or a dog.

His name is Valiant and he is coming home for the first time this Friday.

I’m so excited.

location: Computer

mood: ditzy

music: Silent Hill 2

That’s something I really must try to do one of these days.

The thing is that I am very aware that I am really just beginning to learn how to write properly. I mean I have been writing for a long time, but that was mostly school work or home work or lists of things to do, miscellaneous stuff. Now I am trying to do something different. I just didn’t realise how different writing a story was to almost all that came before.

I’ve written stories for a long time and on the standard for most seven year olds I considered them to be novels at the time. I had sort of assumed that now I was a more grown up version of myself that all I would have to do is write a grown up version of my ‘novels’. But I think that children’s stories don’t so much grow up into adult novels, more like they evolve, which is a far more complicated venture.

Also I’m a heck of a lot harder to please at twenty-two than I was at seven. This also makes things far more complicated.

The problem that I’m having at the moment is not writers block. That seems to imply that I don’t have anything to write about or that I’m stuck somewhere and I can’t find a way past it. No, the problem I am having at the moment is that I have a bunch of ideas for various projects and I am having difficulty settling on one.

I started this week working on a fae story that I have wanted to tell for a long time now but I couldn’t quite get the shape of it right. Finally I had the epiphany that has been far too long in coming and I started putting it to paper, or computer screen, or whatever, but while I was writing that my muse strolled in to poke at my Sentinels series and began insisting that I join him. I put him off because if I become a slave to his wimp I’m going to spend far too much time leaping out of the shower to type and that is not acceptable, at least until I live by myself at which time it will be too drifty, so it’s best to put your foot down at the beginning.

The next day I gave my attentions to the Sentinel book because I want to keep the muse happy if at all possible. That was going well until I had a really good idea.

Sadly I had to be content with merely jotting down my idea because my sister has strictly told me that if I start any more series she will disown me and refuse to let me have coffee.

The problem is that while I’m not short of ideas for writing my ideas are not always about the thing I am trying to write and the result of this is that I have about a dozen different projects on the go and while I am working on all of them they are going at a snail’s pace.

So learning to focus would be a good thing. I should try it some time.

mood: complacent

music: QI in the background

Okay. So for my first post I should probably introduce myself.
I’m not going to do that though. Instead I’m going to do this writing meme thing so that when time has passed I can look back on it and wonder why I ever thought this writing thing could be a good idea.

1.        Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why.

Atlanta. It’s my favorite because there is just so much freedom in it. I can do anything I want.

2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?

Quite a few. I’m not going to count them into an exact number because I’m not insane yet.

I used to prefer writing males because with the boys I wasn’t asked which character was supposed to be me but recently I’ve been writing more females and in some ways they are easier though in some ways not so much.


3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)?

I have a book of names on top of my printer and if worst comes to worst them I make a name up and try to remember to change it when I go back. A lot of the names I come up with are very bad but sometimes I can work around that.

4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

I used to write a lot of horror. I blame this on the fact that I was bullied a lot. I don’t want to admit to some of the dark things I made up.

5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?

I have a vampire sire named Xenos; he’s about eight hundred. The youngest is a little girl named Cassandra who is kidnapped in my second Sentinel story.

Of the stories I am writing Damion is the one who has stuck around longest but even he has only been around for a year and a half at this point.

Kissara is the youngest since she was roped into this writing lark only three weeks ago.

6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper?

I get more done on the computer, as long as I don’t get distracted by the internet – oops, but when I’m having difficulty beginning to write I solve that by writing long hand. A note book is less daunting for me than a blank computer screen.

7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?

So far no I write in whatever silence my little sister allows so mostly I write whilst listening to her music or whatever is on television.

8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?

Urban fantasy.

9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.

Sometimes my mind wanders and them brings back great gifts. Also my muse likes to hear the sound of his own voice.

10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!

So far there is plenty of weird but it’s more dark than funny. Sorry.

11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?

Either Sabrina because there are less limits or Rowan because his life is so dark but he is so goofy.

12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share?

The Sentinel books. It feels real enough to me that I can write as many stories as I want to.

13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?

Too soon to say.

14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?

So far I’m still mostly making it up as I go.

15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!

Seanan McGuire. She doesn’t know me, but I still love her.

16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?

I try but I don’t know how well I do them. There is some variation on how I do relationships. Sierra and Rowan have quite a passionate relationship. Damion and Shy are messed up and destructive. Sabrina is mostly oblivious to romantic advances. Striker doesn’t know what he wants yet. Shy and Yuri spend most of their time together being too embarrassed to talk to each other. Whereas Tamsin, Adam and Valen are not shy in the least.

Its all a bit of a mix.

I’ll go as far as the story wants to.

17. Favorite protagonist and why!

Sierra because zap, BOOM!

18. Favorite antagonist and why!

Kenny ... I killed him.

19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!

Kissara. She herself is not so pushy it was Tamsin. She just tugged Kissara along saying “what? Didn’t you know I had a sister?”

20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?

Sierra and Rowan. At the point that I am writing them not they have no idea that they are in love. It’s fun to watch them work it out.

21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?

No.

22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.

At this point most of my stories are like that. Except the parts I have written.

23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?

I don’t know. I haven’t been taking writing seriously for very long yet.

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?

I’ll kill them if I have to but it has to be for a reason besides me getting bored. Fortunately it hasn’t really come up yet. Most of the dead people that I have to deal with where basically designed to be dead.

25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.

No but Shy does have some issues with a certain raven.

26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them?

No.

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.

No not really. Rowans red hair gets brought up a couple times but that might just be because I have a soft spot for men with red hair.

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.

No.

29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?

Quite often.

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!

I don’t know what tag means outside of a playground.