ANGIE BARRY
The zombie queen of the Midwest. Also obsessed with Doctor Who, Marvel, LOTR, all things Sherlockian, and fairy tales. British in a past life. Writer. Zombologist. Buddhist. Whovian. Ravenclaw. Browncoat. Cinemaphile. Baker Street Irregular. Waterbender. Trekkie. Marvel. IS SO DEADLY SHE'S THE BEES KNEES. Basically one of the biggest fangirls and coolest people you will ever meet.
And humble, too! COLLEEN TOLIVER
Villain lover extraordinaire and a lifelong writer. I'm a recent college graduate with absolutely no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. I have steadily written fan fiction since I was in fifth grade and I still write it like crazy. I love movies, books, and music and spend a ton of time hanging out on my computer.
Angie and I also work together on the "Beauty and the Beast meets The Little Mermaid in steampunk Victorian England" serial Of Airships and Metal Men. |
STEPHANIE RABIG
I think the brief bio I came up with for Twitter says it all: "Writer. Fangirl. Mom. Sleep-deprived." :) I love mythology, fairy tales, Firefly, fancasting, The Avengers, and chocolate, and when I get really excited about a project I go into Tasmanian Devil mode and bombard my poor cowriters with 86,000 emails.
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30 DAYS OF WRITING
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why.
ANGIE:Oh gosh, that's a hard one! It's really a four-way tie between Faerietale (the most awesome collaboration of like-minded ladies to ever exist, IMO, and FAIRY TALES!), Weird, USA (my supernatural road trip epic) , The Lito (the continuing adventures of the Greek gods in modern times, and Of Air Ships and Metal Men (a collaboration with Colleen that is essentially Beauty and the Beast + The Little Mermaid, but in steampunked Victorian England!).
COLLEEN: Why must you ask me questions that pain me? That's such a hard decision. I love each universe in its own way. There isn't a single one I haven't loved working on, even when I get frustrated with them. I really love my pet project/peeve, Incorporeal Form, which is basically an epic ghost adventure in an alternate universe, and my NaNoWriMo for last year, Dwindler, is just such fun to write with, mostly because of the cast of characters and the bizarre world in which it's set. I love Faerietale, obviously, because it's a fabulous collaboration and there's so much energy and life to it. And I really love the steampunk fairy tale novel I'm working on with Angie, Of Airships and Metal Men.
STEPHANIE: I'm going to cheat a little bit and do one personal project and one collaborative one. Personal: Atmidos, because it's been so much fun doing research into the themes/settings-- steampunk! Old West! Greek mythology! Collaborative: Faerietale has been so much fun work on. Playing with the stories I've known since I was a little girl and twisting them into new and interesting shapes is great, and working with two other people who are just as enthusiastic has been amazing.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer men or women?
ANGIE: My pantheon of protagonists grows by the day. I really enjoy having a spread of personalities, backgrounds, and motivations in my stories, so I can do just about any kind of tone. I think I unfortunately skew towards having more dudes than dudettes in my work, but I'm working on developing more kick-ass ladies.
COLLEEN: This is another one of those painfully difficult questions. I have loads and loads of characters, some still without stories. I usually think of the characters first; the story generally comes after. As for which gender I prefer - neither. I like both male and female characters. I tend to focus on female protagonists, I think, probably in part because it's simpler for me to write from a female perspective because I am a female. But I have my male protagonists too. Generally speaking, I try to make sure the ratio of genders balances out.
STEPHANIE: About 384.
Actually, somewhere around fifty. As for men/women: a quick count taken from most of my projects gives me 31 women and 17 men, so there's the statistical answer. I know when I started writing I preferred writing women because of the whole "write what you know" thing, but as I've practiced more I've started to like writing for men, too.
3. How do you come up with names for characters and places?
ANGIE: I frequently just write down interesting/unusual/uncommon names that I really, really like.I'm fond of a lot of Bible names, which is hilarious considering I'm a Buddhist.
COLLEEN: I used to have this notebook full of names that I came up with in my spare time. It was actually very neatly divided; there was a section for places, a section for plots, a section for extraneous information, a section for names, and a languages and runes section. As I got older, though, I started relying pretty heavily on baby names books. I used to check out about ten baby names books at a time from the library. Everyone always thinks I'm pregnant, but I'm really just looking for the perfect name for my character. It's easier for me now to just look at baby names sites on the web, or search for cool surnames or name meanings on Google.
STEPHANIE: Once in a while a name will just pop into my head and I'll write it down to use for a character later, but most of the time I'll come up with a general character profile and then go to http://www.behindthename.com/
Places is basically the same thing, though for those I'll a) switch some letters around and b) usually look in the phone book first.
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters.
ANGIE: My first REAL writing was actually fanfiction: Gundam Wing, Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon... The first original novel I remember writing was a typical fantasy initially titled The Sword and The Sorceress, until I found out there was a long-running fantasy anthology by the same name (oops). It involved a mercenary named Hawk who thought he was going insane - every time he was near people, he'd be overwhelmed by their thoughts and memories and emotions - and a sorceress named Helena who had been raped and was determined to live fearlessly in the world. There was a lot of epic prophecy stuff, true love, magical powers, mercenary hijinks, talking griffins, and traveling across the globe. It was also the first big story I ever finished (it took me six months) and remains the only major novel I've ever finished in toto. ...Which is rather depressing.
COLLEEN: Technically, my very first book series was called Snow Beauty and was about a (male) unicorn named Snow Beauty and his wife, who was a rainbow unicorn, and their adventures. A couple years later I started a book about a girl named Calistavia (I had/have a thing for really ridiculous names) who was a princess fighting against her pirate brother, Ripclaw, who wanted to marry her. It was pretty heavily influenced by the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. Then I started writing Star Wars fan fiction and everything sort of branched off from there.
STEPHANIE: Okay, this is embarrassing, but what the hey.
My first project was a book called Sisters, about a family with-- I think it was five-- girls, and following them as they grew up. I was about fourteen or so when I started the thing, so I had no concept of how to handle that many characters. I think the main differentiating factor between them was hair color. And it had two sequels, Cousins and Family, about the sisters' children and then about everybody as adults.
The whole thing was a hot mess, but the books were also about 100 pages each, so they did get me into the habit of starting things of at least novella length and actually finishing them.
They were also my introduction to fancasting; I went through my stacks of magazines and cut out pictures of models from ads and made 'covers' for each book. I think I still have them in my closet somewhere.
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them?
ANGIE: Youngest fully-developed character is Tommy (13) from "Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?". And the oldest? Any of the Greek pantheon in The Lito, who are have thousands of years of experience.
Youngest in terms of writing is also Tommy, since "Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?" was the most recent thing I started. And oldest is Hawk and Helena from Sword & Sorceress.
COLLEEN: By age, Theo from Incorporeal Form is my youngest character; he's technically twelve, but his soul is 37. Also he's trapped in a twelve-year-old girl's body and sometimes takes on the characteristics of a twelve-year-old girl. My oldest character by age is also my oldest character altogether: Nazara, a goddess character who was created at the beginning of time and who was technically my first true protagonist. I started writing about her when I was in sixth grade. There are two "youngest" characters in terms of creation: the Shade (also known as Death), and a female character who as yet has no name. That's how new she is. Both of them popped up in my brain today while I was at work.
STEPHANIE: Youngest character-- Abigail from Pale Moon. She's 11.
Oldest-- Elizabeth from In the Darkness Find Me, who's over 100.
As for when I created them:
Youngest-- Anybody from Faerietale, since it's my latest project.
Oldest-- Stace from And This is Fate; I came up with her in 1999. Someday that book'll get re-edited and see the light of day again. :)
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? What time of day? Computer or pen and paper?
ANGIE: In my room, on my couch. If I'm having an especially hard time, I'll go to a little cafe in town called The Blend to help focus without distractions.
Ever since I got my first clunky desktop at 12, I've been unable to do more than a couple paragraphs by hand at a time. Computer all the way: it's the only way to keep up with my thoughts/words properly.
COLLEEN: I generally prefer to write late at night, in my room, with nobody else around; and these days I'd much rather write on the computer. I can't keep things organized when I write on paper, and it's much slower going for me.
STEPHANIE: Depends on what type of writing I'm doing. If I'm writing notes on an upcoming book, then it's pen and paper, and most comfortable in the car. We'll go on drives out in the country and look at the scenery and take pictures of decaying barns and I'll scribble notes.
If I'm actually writing the book, or editing, then in front of the computer.
As for time of day-- late night or very early morning. That way it's before anyone else gets up or after everyone else has gone to bed, and I can concentrate on the book.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you relate to your characters?
ANGIE: Once upon a time (hur hur), I'd listen to specific kinds of music depending on what I was writing: hard rock like Coheed & Cambria for action scenes, schmaltzy pop rock/love songs for sweet stuff, etc. Now I can only listen to instrumental soundtracks or foreign language stuff and still concentrate - or just have no music at all.
COLLEEN: I do tend to listen to music when I write, unless I really really really need to concentrate. Generally music helps to inspire me, particularly the "trailer music" genre - lots of soundtracks with epic battle music and the like. I do also have entire play lists dedicated to my characters. There are about forty character-based playlists in my iTunes at this moment.
STEPHANIE: We could be here a while. ;)
I most always listen to music when I write, usually the radio (yay Pandora). There are tons of songs I associate with my characters, either because I was listening to the soundtrack nonstop while working on it-- which is why the Wicked soundtrack will always remind me of Stealing Time and Florence & the Machine's music is Faerietale-- or because the lyrics fit certain characters ((April March's "Chick Habit" = Zeus))
Sometimes the lyrics won't really matter; the tune of the song just fits. Can't really explain that one, but it happens a lot: Sixpence None the Richer's "There She Goes" is always going to be Stace's theme to me; Polyphonic Spree's "Light and Day" is Jia; Sweetwater's "In a Rainbow" is Nomiki; Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly" is Logan.
8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?
ANGIE: To write: fantasy/magical realism with shades of horror. I like worlds that seem normal at first, but then are revealed to have dark underbellies full of oddities. And to read: all the above + historical mysteries. Particularly British historical mysteries like Dorothy L. Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey series or Laurie R. King's Russell and Holmes outings.
COLLEEN: Fantasy, for both. If it's a subgenre of fantasy, chances are I'll like it.
STEPHANIE: To write: Different kinds of fantasy-- Sci-fi fantasy (Stealing Time); Urban fantasy (Pale Moon); Traditional/dark fantasy (Faerietale); Romantic fantasy (Jia's Charms). Also horror (In the Darkness Find Me; my short fiction).
To read: Horror novels and short stories, fantasy, nonfiction, some romance.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe your process of creating them.
ANGIE: I get inspiration from everywhere, basically. But I do tend to base characters' personalities after particular people. For instance, Charlie from Weird, USA is essentially my long-time pal Molly: both are sarcastic, supremely confident in their sexuality, and are very loud with their opinions. Ben from Weird, USA is an amalgamation of Lucas (the music and realism), Jason (the sarcastic snark), and Twaddle (the goofy fanboyishness).
COLLEEN: I'm usually inspired by something specific - something I've watched or read recently. There's usually a specific character type that's on my mind. Sometimes there's a little plot attached, too. If it excites me, I'll end up running with it.
STEPHANIE: I don't really have a set process . . . sometimes a story idea will come to me and then the characters follow, and other times it'll be the character first and I'll have that person in mind for months/years before I find a story that fits them.
I'll usually use a character sheet at some point-- full name, age, physical appearance, favorite childhood memory, most embarrassing childhood memory, that kind of thing. There are some minor characters I don't know all these things about, of course, but if the character's a main one and especially if I write for them in more than one book, I know plenty about them that might not ever make it into a novel.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
ANGIE: Ben was attacked by a skinless woman called a Boo Hag and had not only his chest cut open but his favourite Beatles shirt was also destroyed; Hermes met his ladylove when she was picking the pockets of his family at a charity cruise that was further enlivened when Dionysius and Ariadne had the captain of the ship marry them whilst dressed like Jack Sparrow and Ariel; Tommy and his friends just found a dead woman stuffed into a hollow tree (and the weirdest thing is THIS PART OF THE STORY ACTUALLY HAPPENED); Mordecai just woke up to find his arm and legs had been replaced by robotic limbs.
COLLEEN: My characters from my elemental magic-based story had a game of spin-the-bottle, which was a bit out of character for them. It was meme-based, though, and it was really fun to write. Sycha Gin-Gruka has to confront her older and in disguise self in Incorporeal Form. Cerys, of Dwindler, has to rescue her husband from the Wind Spirit and winds up battling her own nightmares in what is basically the gods' magical junkyard.
STEPHANIE: Well, I've got an upcoming scene where a guy has to deal with aliens crash-landing in his backyard. Stace got chased around by a mutant wasp-thing and got trapped in a flour bin (the perils of only being 4 inches tall). Rohan tries to go back in time one hour and ends up skipping decades. Alice goes on a walk on a hiking trail and ends up traveling to another dimension.
I'm sure there are more, but a lot of these things don't really stand out to me because even though they're objectively weird, they make perfect sense in the context of the story.
11. Who's your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
ANGIE: ALL THE SNARKY BASTARDS. GIVE ME ALL YOUR SARCASTIC ASSHOLES. I especially love to write Captain James Hook of Faerietale and Dionysius of The Lito- hey, wait a minute! They're both played by Robert Downey Jr.! I think I've discovered a pattern!
I also love writing fierce ladies with opinions who aren't afraid to voice them. See: Charlie (Weird, USA), Isabeau (Of Air Ships and Metal Men), and Dorothy Gale (Faerietale).
COLLEEN: I really enjoy writing Ivan Shadespark from Incorporeal Form. He's a snarky little bastard. I love writing Anadil from Of Airships and Metal Men, as well - she's a curious creature and doesn't understand human conventions of behavior, so she's always doing something ridiculous without realizing it. I don't really have a least favorite - if I don't like writing from the character's POV, chances are I'm just not going to.
STEPHANIE: Past characters: Maia from Stealing Time-- devoted to her cause, brave to the point of being foolhardy, perverted sense of humor, and a deep-down romantic even if she'd never admit as much. She was great to write for. Currently, I love writing for Cybele from Faerietale. She's a sweet, honest, loyal person and as much as I love my snarky cynical characters, Cybele's just a joy.
Least favorite would be a tie between Scanlaan from the Atmidos series and Jeryl from Stealing Time. I think (hope) I've done enough research into rapists/abusers to get the characters down realistically, but it's still getting into a really creepy headspace.
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world-building?
ANGIE: I love what I've done with Weird, USA, because it's basically still our world - but I've peeled a layer back to show that it's not so normal as we think. There are ghosts and Vodun werewolves and psychics everywhere. Basically, I just wish this version of the world were real, so I could follow in my characters' footsteps on such a bitchin' road trip.
COLLEEN: All my worlds are actually interconnected in one way or another, so having that underlying basis for each world is key. Incorporeal Form's universe is probably the best developed, simply because I've been working on it for so long.
STEPHANIE: I love Stealing Time because of the jumping between the past and the future and showing how everything ties in together, and the cultural/religious differences between the Bihlan and the Niveti that cause the conflicts in the book.
13. How do you map out locations, if needed?
ANGIE: I don't like to map things out, largely because I have a hard time visualizing things or drawing them out. With Weird, USA I just literally look at a map and then plot out my interesting stops, usually around pre-existing paranormal hot spots. And with The Lito, I intentionally never mention just WHAT city it's in, mainly so I don't have to name specific streets or buildings. It's not New York; but otherwise I just describe it as a general big city.
COLLEEN: I have a sketchbook actually set aside in case I need to sketch a visual of locations. I have a number of messy sketches in that notebook mapping out the general location of countries, houses, and even people who are in the same room together. It helps me keep the visuals consistent as I write.
STEPHANIE: I map out locations in my head-- I have a general idea where various places/houses are in relation to each other, and if it's a really large area I'll write out notes describing what goes where. For real-life locations-- Google Earth!
14. Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
ANGIE: Colleen does descriptions and villains in a way I'll forever admire; Steph's so good at doing sweet and adorable without going saccharine (see: Cybele); my friend Emma writes darkly poetic in a way that makes me want to claw my face off with joy; and Gabby is so good at coming up with interesting scenarios and describing them in a really beautiful way.
Professional, Sir Terry Pratchett is my hero, Uncle Stevie is a constant inspiration, and I want to be Neil Gaiman when I grow up. With a dash of Jo Rowling.
COLLEEN: Professionally, I really love Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and J.R.R. Tolkien - I think they're geniuses of the genre and I wish I had half their talent. I love my cowriters' work, as well; and my friend Gabby is an incredible writer who handles surreal work far better than I ever could.
STEPHANIE: There are plenty-- my cowriters are of course two of them. Someday I hope to be as good at descriptive writing as they are.
Two of my influences growing up were Stephen King and Dean Koontz-- King's short story "The Last Rung on the Ladder" is still one of my favorite pieces ever, and I love a lot of Koontz's dialogue (hooray for snarky banter).
And there are tons of people I'm leaving out because my brain is a sieve.
15. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how far are you willing to go in your writing?
ANGIE: For all that I'm constantly mocking romance novels, I sure do write a lot of sex, lol. Almost all of my stories circle around a couple (or two, or twenty in the case of The Lito). The only piece I've ever written without a romance is "Who Put Bella In The Wych Elm?" mainly because the cast are thirteen year old boys. And I'm willing to go alllll the way. My smut skills aren't the best, but that's mainly because the terminology makes me giggle.
COLLEEN: I almost always write romantic relationships. I wouldn't say I write romances per se, but every story features at least one major romance. I'm not super comfortable writing porn-y scenes, but if it fits the couple, I will.
STEPHANIE: I think a better question would be, when do I not write romantic relationships. I don't think there's a book I've worked on yet that didn't feature a romance of some kind. Whether it's in the background or not depends on the story, but there's always something there. Because I'm a sap.
How far I'm willing to go depends on the characters. Aphrodite and Dionysus from Atmidos are more of a fade-to-black pair, while Xavierre and Maia from Stealing Time are a "Hi, you're trying to focus on plot when you really should be writing porn about us instead" couple.
16. Favorite protagonist and why!
ANGIE: DON'T MAKE ME DO IT, THIS IS LIKE SOPHIE'S CHOICE OVER HERE.
The entire crew from Weird, USA, just for different reasons.
Faves from The Lito: Dionysius (for his good-natured fun and surprising depths), Hestia (for her sweetness and good intentions), Hephaestus (for his angst, homebody romance, and talented hands), Hedone (for her cynical snark), Hercules (because he's a puppy who could pick up your house), Bellerophon (for his eccentricities and quips).
Isabeau from Of Air Ships and Metal Men because she's my homegurl, loves to read, thinks women are as good as men, and looks like Gemma Arterton.
And in Faerietale I particularly love James Hook because he's fun but also angsty, Snow because she's fierce and devoted to her kingdom, and Mr. Smee because of his adorable pining for a mermaid who could kill him as quick as kiss him.
COLLEEN: Oh god, why the hard questions again? I'll settle for two at the moment: Anadil from Of Airships and Metal Men, because of her curiosity and clumsiness and general fierceness; and Ruri Hardister from Flynn and Hardister, an adventure series about a fae and vampire who hunt down and slay fellow supernatural creatures. Ruri is a faerie - the sort who is beautiful at night and hideous by day. She got tired of waiting for a man who would be willing to look past her hideous daytime appearance and took up assassin work instead.
STEPHANIE: At the moment, we have a tie-- very different characters, from different series, but equally awesome to me:
1) Alice, from Faerietale. She unexpectedly finds herself in a completely different world, and has to figure out how to function there. She's suspicious and doesn't always give her trust easily, but her friends have her complete devotion (though, in true Alice fashion, she shows that devotion mainly through teasing and sarcasm).
2) Nomiki, from Atmidos. She doesn't really fit in with the others-- most of them are hardened warriors or at least familiar with fighting and used to traveling. She's just out of school and while her knowledge makes her a valuable asset, her lack of real world experience and general naivete can make her a liability. Especially when some of the stray animals she insists on taking in would eat her companions if given a chance.
17. Favorite antagonist and why!
ANGIE: I can't really say without spoiling upcoming stuff from The Lito, so I'll just say, "Wouldn't you like to know?" and laugh maniacally.
But the shadows in Weird, USA are really bloody terrifying, especially when they attack in Seattle.
And I love Theodosia Wolfe from Of Air Ships and Metal Men because she's constantly bucking conventions and is really fierce.
COLLEEN: Ugh, this may be harder than the last one! I love the Dwindler; he's a trapped character who knew too much, and whose time in the magical land he's been locked in has totally warped him. I'm also a pretty big fan of the Shade, though he's pretty new at this point. He's basically playing a game against all the other gods, and winning.
STEPHANIE: The Red Queen from Faerietale, because she's both protagonist and antagonist at different points in the story. As much fun as it is to write a mustache-twirling villain sometimes, the ones who do awful things while fully believing that they're doing good are just fantastic.
18. Favorite minor who decided to shove him/herself into the spotlight?
ANGIE: OCTOBER. He was supposed to show up in a minor scene and then he sat down and was like, "I'm going to turn this all into Big Epic Stuff and then steal the entire spotlight before slipping into all of your other projects, kthnxbai."
Except this is October, so he wouldn't say kthnxbai because that would be far too juvenile. He'd just sit and stare at you with his gold eyes until you got uncomfortable.
And Gloria, also from Weird, USA, who was supposed to be a name in a book and a psychic on the phone and turned into a Russian ballerina psychic with tragic ties to the main characters. I do not even know.
COLLEEN: Chen Calanth Amory, from Dwindler. He was originally supposed to be the springboard that started the plot and little else; but he's really taken on a life of his own and become important outside Dwindler itself.
STEPHANIE: Cybele, from Faerietale. All of the women in the Prince's harem were going to have distinct personalities, of course, but she went from having a personality to "oh, by the way, I'm going to finagle my way up to main character status".
19. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
ANGIE: Allll the witty banter. ALL OF IT.
COLLEEN: I really enjoy writing tense enemy dialogue. I love those scenes where so much is implied instead of stated.
STEPHANIE: I love to write flirting. Which is funny to me because I'm horrible at it in real life. But it's always so great to write, whether it's as characters who flirt as automatically as they breathe or ones who are awkwardly trying to figure out what they're doing.
On the other end of the spectrum, I also like fight scenes. It's interesting to me to see how characters'll react in a fight; who'll go right for the throat and who'll hide under a desk, and who'll surprise you by having the exact opposite reaction from what you'd expect.
20. Do any of your characters have children?
ANGIE: Don't even get me started on the crazy familial mess that is The Lito. All them gods and goddesses be having illegitimate kids left and right. Ho boy.
COLLEEN: You know, now that I think about it, no. None of them do. That probably needs to change!
STEPHANIE: Several of my characters have kids-- Lauren has Ivy and Kae; Rick has Kaveri; Elspeth has Abigail; Maia has Darshana; Durai has Mairi.
21. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
ANGIE: I've got an upcoming piece planned for The Lito where I'll be introducing Chronos, Pygmalion and Galatea. There will be a timeless realm, giant clocks, thievery and manipulation, and designer clothes involved. And Idris Elba is Pygmalion. Yep.
COLLEEN: I have a scene planned out for Incorporeal Form where Sycha and Ivan accidentally mingle souls, which is sort of the dead person equivalent of sex. There's all kinds of fallout from that interaction; Sycha and Ivan now know incredibly personal things about one another, and they're generally uncomfortable around one another and afraid to interact anymore. It's sort of like getting drunk and having sex with the guy you thought was just your best friend right up until the sex itself.
STEPHANIE: Well, I do have a scene in mind in Pale Moon where an agoraphobic alien gets into a heated argument with her spaceship.
I don't know; it's easy to think of stuff I haven't written but a lot harder to remember scenes that I haven't discussed with somebody.
22. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story-- from planning to writing to posting/publishing?
ANGIE: In the words of Nigel Thornberry: BLARGHBLARGHBLARGH. I've been working on Weird, USA for three years (granted, most of that work has been over three months, as I've been writing it for NaNoWriMo) and still haven't finished the full arc, though the story is big enough for a trio of novels at this point. With The Lito and Faerietale I approach them more as interconnected short stories, so each one can take me a day, a couple weeks, or in the case of the Hades/Persephone retelling FIVE MONTHS. Blargh.
COLLEEN: Aaaaaaaages. I'm too much of a perfectionist; I always want to fix things and change things. I need to be better about being happy with what I've done.
STEPHANIE: It so, so varies. Redemption is a story that's existed in my head in one way or another for about eight years, and I'm only now really figuring out how it's going to work. In the Darkness Find Me, on the other hand, was probably a year or less. I had a dream about one of the main scenes in it, woke up and wrote it down, and the rest of the novel followed quickly-- helped that it was more a novella than a novel.
23. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot demands it?
ANGIE: NOOOOOOOO. It's the one golden rule of Uncle Stevie's that I just cannot follow: Kill Your Darlings. The only character I've killed in recent memory is Danny in Weird, USA - and he immediately came back as a ghost. LOL.
COLLEEN: Completely willing. The more angst, the better, I say!
STEPHANIE: I'm willing to kill a character if I think it's necessary to the plot. To me, 'necessary to plot' means that it's unrealistic for a large group of characters to go through a situation like the one I've got them in with all of them making it out unscathed. Or if a character's in a seriously bad spot and there's no way to get them out of it and it's either kill them or come up with a deux ex machina, then they're toast.
I do specifically work on not killing one character just in order to motivate another. I hate the whole 'fridging' thing, and while I know that sometimes crappy, unexpected things happen in real life fights, I'm not much for Death As Gritty Shock Value either.
24. Do any of your characters have pets?
ANGIE: In The Lito, Psyche would tell you Dionysius is a dog that hasn't been house-trained yet if you asked her. The original trio in Weird, USA picked up a beagle puppy named Oswald, but I somehow forgot about her so she disappeared in Oklahoma at a Native American reservation at some point (whoops).
COLLEEN: A few do. Raktia from Godlings Among Men has a raven; and technically, Anadil has her Rhodesian Man, Barzilai, who she treats as a sort of pet.
STEPHANIE: Yep! Connor from Redemption has a cat named Charlie. Connor adopted him when he was an adult, and he has issues from a previous owner. He somewhat tolerates Connor, but if anyone else comes into the house, their ankles are fair game.
Nomiki from Atmidos has a pet dragon for starters; she's currently working on her own menagerie.
Ivy from Jia's Charms has a couple of viatars-- picture a pudgy flying squirrel without the jumping ability and about twenty times more laziness.
Abigail from Pale Moon has a giant squirrel (it's a long story).
And I just realized that out of the common domestic pets, none of my characters have a dog. I should rectify that.
25. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them?
ANGIE: My art makes Picasso look like a realist. I get my good friend Hannah to draw my characters; she's incredibly talented, and her style fits my work.
COLLEEN: If only I could draw, I would draw my characters all the time. Alas, all the pretty pictures I wish I could put on paper stay in my head.
STEPHANIE: I have tried to draw my characters. Results-- sooooo not pretty. So now I pay other actually talented people to draw them! You can see some of the results here.
26. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us how you go about designing your characters.
ANGIE: With some characters, appearance definitely matters. Charlie in Weird, USA is covered in tattoos and dyes her hair fire engine red to match her outspoken, fiery temper. And Robbie (also of Weird, USA) has distinctive Vulcan-like eyebrows that lead to a lot of teasing and humor.
COLLEEN: It honestly depends on the character. I usually have a pretty strong visual for the characters almost as soon as I create them; the image of them comes with their personality and name. Then it's just a matter of putting that image into words.
STEPHANIE: It depends on the story. In Faerietale, Wendy is a dimension-traveler with fully black eyes; her eyes are brought up more than once because they're an extreme oddity in most any world she goes to and she has to take measures to hide them. I'll toss in short descriptors sometimes-- mostly hair and eye color, height-- but I don't usually go for the paragraph-long elaboration on exactly what someone looks like and what they're wearing.
I'll generally get a feel for a character's 'voice' first and their appearance follows after that. And some of it is "this'll look really cool when I ask Mandy to draw it". :)
27. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities?
ANGIE: The Lito: Poor Hephaestus is crippled thanks to Hera's ire. Bellerophon has to use a cane and is in constant pain thanks to his own hubris. Dionyius is a habitual drunk, naturally. Morpheus is manic depressive.
Weird, USA: Danny is living impaired (poor guy).
COLLEEN: A few with physical disabilities, but none with mental disabilities; I'm not so comfortable with that. Anadil loses her voice because she swallowed too much smoke while rescuing her hero, Mordecai, from a flaming airship.
STEPHANIE: Aikaterine from Atmidos is attacked and blinded; she now has to work out life without her sight. I'm not sure if the term for them is really 'disabilities', but Aikaterine has a pretty bad case of PTSD, and Lauren from Jia's Charms has depression.
28. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
ANGIE: ALL. THE. TIME. I think about my characters and stories when I'm driving, in the bath, at work, just before bed. I always have to have at least one notebook and a good pen at all times to jot down ideas. And I'm inspired by all sorts of things: people, music on the radio, overheard bits of conversation.
COLLEEN: I think about writing all the time. If I'm staring off into space, chances are I'm making up a story. I also usually have a notebook on me, in case inspiration strikes.
STEPHANIE: Constantly. I'm rarely without a notebook; I'd carry one to class in high school and college, and now I carry one in my purse. When I worked at the donut shop, I'd use Post-It notes when we had a lull. Sometimes I'll see a news story that inspires an idea, and sometimes I'll see a person who really looks like one of my characters.
29. Who is your most unlikely (yet still realistic) couple that you have NOT written?
ANGIE: I honestly thought about doing a Hermes/Pandora piece set prior to The Cat or Bello - maybe Pandora went to The Lito with Hedone for a party, got drunk, thought he was cute... And I still haven't brought in Jason and Medea.
COLLEEN: Hmmm. That's a hard one. Possibly Chen and Thriar Polt, though they technically exist in different universes; they've both done something truly, horribly wrong to the ones they love, and neither of them remember it anymore and will rediscover it accidentally.
STEPHANIE: Probably Tinker Bell and The Prince, from Faerietale. Unlikely because she's got it bad for Peter and he's involved with his harem. Also, the little matter of how they haven't met. But they do have similar arcs, and both definitely have a mischievous streak. Given a different storyline, I could see it.
30. If you could collaborate with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
ANGIE: SIR TERRY PRATCHETT. Or Neil Gaiman. OR, OH, George Romero! We could write a zombie screenplay together!
COLLEEN: Oh dear. I think I'd have to say Sir Terry Pratchett. I just so admire his wit and the worlds he creates.
STEPHANIE: 0___O So. Many. Choices. I think I'd have to go with Jeff Strand, because I've loved all of his books/short stories and he has a really humorous, fantastic writing voice.
ANGIE:Oh gosh, that's a hard one! It's really a four-way tie between Faerietale (the most awesome collaboration of like-minded ladies to ever exist, IMO, and FAIRY TALES!), Weird, USA (my supernatural road trip epic) , The Lito (the continuing adventures of the Greek gods in modern times, and Of Air Ships and Metal Men (a collaboration with Colleen that is essentially Beauty and the Beast + The Little Mermaid, but in steampunked Victorian England!).
COLLEEN: Why must you ask me questions that pain me? That's such a hard decision. I love each universe in its own way. There isn't a single one I haven't loved working on, even when I get frustrated with them. I really love my pet project/peeve, Incorporeal Form, which is basically an epic ghost adventure in an alternate universe, and my NaNoWriMo for last year, Dwindler, is just such fun to write with, mostly because of the cast of characters and the bizarre world in which it's set. I love Faerietale, obviously, because it's a fabulous collaboration and there's so much energy and life to it. And I really love the steampunk fairy tale novel I'm working on with Angie, Of Airships and Metal Men.
STEPHANIE: I'm going to cheat a little bit and do one personal project and one collaborative one. Personal: Atmidos, because it's been so much fun doing research into the themes/settings-- steampunk! Old West! Greek mythology! Collaborative: Faerietale has been so much fun work on. Playing with the stories I've known since I was a little girl and twisting them into new and interesting shapes is great, and working with two other people who are just as enthusiastic has been amazing.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer men or women?
ANGIE: My pantheon of protagonists grows by the day. I really enjoy having a spread of personalities, backgrounds, and motivations in my stories, so I can do just about any kind of tone. I think I unfortunately skew towards having more dudes than dudettes in my work, but I'm working on developing more kick-ass ladies.
COLLEEN: This is another one of those painfully difficult questions. I have loads and loads of characters, some still without stories. I usually think of the characters first; the story generally comes after. As for which gender I prefer - neither. I like both male and female characters. I tend to focus on female protagonists, I think, probably in part because it's simpler for me to write from a female perspective because I am a female. But I have my male protagonists too. Generally speaking, I try to make sure the ratio of genders balances out.
STEPHANIE: About 384.
Actually, somewhere around fifty. As for men/women: a quick count taken from most of my projects gives me 31 women and 17 men, so there's the statistical answer. I know when I started writing I preferred writing women because of the whole "write what you know" thing, but as I've practiced more I've started to like writing for men, too.
3. How do you come up with names for characters and places?
ANGIE: I frequently just write down interesting/unusual/uncommon names that I really, really like.I'm fond of a lot of Bible names, which is hilarious considering I'm a Buddhist.
COLLEEN: I used to have this notebook full of names that I came up with in my spare time. It was actually very neatly divided; there was a section for places, a section for plots, a section for extraneous information, a section for names, and a languages and runes section. As I got older, though, I started relying pretty heavily on baby names books. I used to check out about ten baby names books at a time from the library. Everyone always thinks I'm pregnant, but I'm really just looking for the perfect name for my character. It's easier for me now to just look at baby names sites on the web, or search for cool surnames or name meanings on Google.
STEPHANIE: Once in a while a name will just pop into my head and I'll write it down to use for a character later, but most of the time I'll come up with a general character profile and then go to http://www.behindthename.com/
Places is basically the same thing, though for those I'll a) switch some letters around and b) usually look in the phone book first.
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters.
ANGIE: My first REAL writing was actually fanfiction: Gundam Wing, Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon... The first original novel I remember writing was a typical fantasy initially titled The Sword and The Sorceress, until I found out there was a long-running fantasy anthology by the same name (oops). It involved a mercenary named Hawk who thought he was going insane - every time he was near people, he'd be overwhelmed by their thoughts and memories and emotions - and a sorceress named Helena who had been raped and was determined to live fearlessly in the world. There was a lot of epic prophecy stuff, true love, magical powers, mercenary hijinks, talking griffins, and traveling across the globe. It was also the first big story I ever finished (it took me six months) and remains the only major novel I've ever finished in toto. ...Which is rather depressing.
COLLEEN: Technically, my very first book series was called Snow Beauty and was about a (male) unicorn named Snow Beauty and his wife, who was a rainbow unicorn, and their adventures. A couple years later I started a book about a girl named Calistavia (I had/have a thing for really ridiculous names) who was a princess fighting against her pirate brother, Ripclaw, who wanted to marry her. It was pretty heavily influenced by the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. Then I started writing Star Wars fan fiction and everything sort of branched off from there.
STEPHANIE: Okay, this is embarrassing, but what the hey.
My first project was a book called Sisters, about a family with-- I think it was five-- girls, and following them as they grew up. I was about fourteen or so when I started the thing, so I had no concept of how to handle that many characters. I think the main differentiating factor between them was hair color. And it had two sequels, Cousins and Family, about the sisters' children and then about everybody as adults.
The whole thing was a hot mess, but the books were also about 100 pages each, so they did get me into the habit of starting things of at least novella length and actually finishing them.
They were also my introduction to fancasting; I went through my stacks of magazines and cut out pictures of models from ads and made 'covers' for each book. I think I still have them in my closet somewhere.
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest" and "oldest" in terms of when you created them?
ANGIE: Youngest fully-developed character is Tommy (13) from "Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?". And the oldest? Any of the Greek pantheon in The Lito, who are have thousands of years of experience.
Youngest in terms of writing is also Tommy, since "Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?" was the most recent thing I started. And oldest is Hawk and Helena from Sword & Sorceress.
COLLEEN: By age, Theo from Incorporeal Form is my youngest character; he's technically twelve, but his soul is 37. Also he's trapped in a twelve-year-old girl's body and sometimes takes on the characteristics of a twelve-year-old girl. My oldest character by age is also my oldest character altogether: Nazara, a goddess character who was created at the beginning of time and who was technically my first true protagonist. I started writing about her when I was in sixth grade. There are two "youngest" characters in terms of creation: the Shade (also known as Death), and a female character who as yet has no name. That's how new she is. Both of them popped up in my brain today while I was at work.
STEPHANIE: Youngest character-- Abigail from Pale Moon. She's 11.
Oldest-- Elizabeth from In the Darkness Find Me, who's over 100.
As for when I created them:
Youngest-- Anybody from Faerietale, since it's my latest project.
Oldest-- Stace from And This is Fate; I came up with her in 1999. Someday that book'll get re-edited and see the light of day again. :)
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? What time of day? Computer or pen and paper?
ANGIE: In my room, on my couch. If I'm having an especially hard time, I'll go to a little cafe in town called The Blend to help focus without distractions.
Ever since I got my first clunky desktop at 12, I've been unable to do more than a couple paragraphs by hand at a time. Computer all the way: it's the only way to keep up with my thoughts/words properly.
COLLEEN: I generally prefer to write late at night, in my room, with nobody else around; and these days I'd much rather write on the computer. I can't keep things organized when I write on paper, and it's much slower going for me.
STEPHANIE: Depends on what type of writing I'm doing. If I'm writing notes on an upcoming book, then it's pen and paper, and most comfortable in the car. We'll go on drives out in the country and look at the scenery and take pictures of decaying barns and I'll scribble notes.
If I'm actually writing the book, or editing, then in front of the computer.
As for time of day-- late night or very early morning. That way it's before anyone else gets up or after everyone else has gone to bed, and I can concentrate on the book.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you relate to your characters?
ANGIE: Once upon a time (hur hur), I'd listen to specific kinds of music depending on what I was writing: hard rock like Coheed & Cambria for action scenes, schmaltzy pop rock/love songs for sweet stuff, etc. Now I can only listen to instrumental soundtracks or foreign language stuff and still concentrate - or just have no music at all.
COLLEEN: I do tend to listen to music when I write, unless I really really really need to concentrate. Generally music helps to inspire me, particularly the "trailer music" genre - lots of soundtracks with epic battle music and the like. I do also have entire play lists dedicated to my characters. There are about forty character-based playlists in my iTunes at this moment.
STEPHANIE: We could be here a while. ;)
I most always listen to music when I write, usually the radio (yay Pandora). There are tons of songs I associate with my characters, either because I was listening to the soundtrack nonstop while working on it-- which is why the Wicked soundtrack will always remind me of Stealing Time and Florence & the Machine's music is Faerietale-- or because the lyrics fit certain characters ((April March's "Chick Habit" = Zeus))
Sometimes the lyrics won't really matter; the tune of the song just fits. Can't really explain that one, but it happens a lot: Sixpence None the Richer's "There She Goes" is always going to be Stace's theme to me; Polyphonic Spree's "Light and Day" is Jia; Sweetwater's "In a Rainbow" is Nomiki; Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly" is Logan.
8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?
ANGIE: To write: fantasy/magical realism with shades of horror. I like worlds that seem normal at first, but then are revealed to have dark underbellies full of oddities. And to read: all the above + historical mysteries. Particularly British historical mysteries like Dorothy L. Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey series or Laurie R. King's Russell and Holmes outings.
COLLEEN: Fantasy, for both. If it's a subgenre of fantasy, chances are I'll like it.
STEPHANIE: To write: Different kinds of fantasy-- Sci-fi fantasy (Stealing Time); Urban fantasy (Pale Moon); Traditional/dark fantasy (Faerietale); Romantic fantasy (Jia's Charms). Also horror (In the Darkness Find Me; my short fiction).
To read: Horror novels and short stories, fantasy, nonfiction, some romance.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe your process of creating them.
ANGIE: I get inspiration from everywhere, basically. But I do tend to base characters' personalities after particular people. For instance, Charlie from Weird, USA is essentially my long-time pal Molly: both are sarcastic, supremely confident in their sexuality, and are very loud with their opinions. Ben from Weird, USA is an amalgamation of Lucas (the music and realism), Jason (the sarcastic snark), and Twaddle (the goofy fanboyishness).
COLLEEN: I'm usually inspired by something specific - something I've watched or read recently. There's usually a specific character type that's on my mind. Sometimes there's a little plot attached, too. If it excites me, I'll end up running with it.
STEPHANIE: I don't really have a set process . . . sometimes a story idea will come to me and then the characters follow, and other times it'll be the character first and I'll have that person in mind for months/years before I find a story that fits them.
I'll usually use a character sheet at some point-- full name, age, physical appearance, favorite childhood memory, most embarrassing childhood memory, that kind of thing. There are some minor characters I don't know all these things about, of course, but if the character's a main one and especially if I write for them in more than one book, I know plenty about them that might not ever make it into a novel.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
ANGIE: Ben was attacked by a skinless woman called a Boo Hag and had not only his chest cut open but his favourite Beatles shirt was also destroyed; Hermes met his ladylove when she was picking the pockets of his family at a charity cruise that was further enlivened when Dionysius and Ariadne had the captain of the ship marry them whilst dressed like Jack Sparrow and Ariel; Tommy and his friends just found a dead woman stuffed into a hollow tree (and the weirdest thing is THIS PART OF THE STORY ACTUALLY HAPPENED); Mordecai just woke up to find his arm and legs had been replaced by robotic limbs.
COLLEEN: My characters from my elemental magic-based story had a game of spin-the-bottle, which was a bit out of character for them. It was meme-based, though, and it was really fun to write. Sycha Gin-Gruka has to confront her older and in disguise self in Incorporeal Form. Cerys, of Dwindler, has to rescue her husband from the Wind Spirit and winds up battling her own nightmares in what is basically the gods' magical junkyard.
STEPHANIE: Well, I've got an upcoming scene where a guy has to deal with aliens crash-landing in his backyard. Stace got chased around by a mutant wasp-thing and got trapped in a flour bin (the perils of only being 4 inches tall). Rohan tries to go back in time one hour and ends up skipping decades. Alice goes on a walk on a hiking trail and ends up traveling to another dimension.
I'm sure there are more, but a lot of these things don't really stand out to me because even though they're objectively weird, they make perfect sense in the context of the story.
11. Who's your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
ANGIE: ALL THE SNARKY BASTARDS. GIVE ME ALL YOUR SARCASTIC ASSHOLES. I especially love to write Captain James Hook of Faerietale and Dionysius of The Lito- hey, wait a minute! They're both played by Robert Downey Jr.! I think I've discovered a pattern!
I also love writing fierce ladies with opinions who aren't afraid to voice them. See: Charlie (Weird, USA), Isabeau (Of Air Ships and Metal Men), and Dorothy Gale (Faerietale).
COLLEEN: I really enjoy writing Ivan Shadespark from Incorporeal Form. He's a snarky little bastard. I love writing Anadil from Of Airships and Metal Men, as well - she's a curious creature and doesn't understand human conventions of behavior, so she's always doing something ridiculous without realizing it. I don't really have a least favorite - if I don't like writing from the character's POV, chances are I'm just not going to.
STEPHANIE: Past characters: Maia from Stealing Time-- devoted to her cause, brave to the point of being foolhardy, perverted sense of humor, and a deep-down romantic even if she'd never admit as much. She was great to write for. Currently, I love writing for Cybele from Faerietale. She's a sweet, honest, loyal person and as much as I love my snarky cynical characters, Cybele's just a joy.
Least favorite would be a tie between Scanlaan from the Atmidos series and Jeryl from Stealing Time. I think (hope) I've done enough research into rapists/abusers to get the characters down realistically, but it's still getting into a really creepy headspace.
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world-building?
ANGIE: I love what I've done with Weird, USA, because it's basically still our world - but I've peeled a layer back to show that it's not so normal as we think. There are ghosts and Vodun werewolves and psychics everywhere. Basically, I just wish this version of the world were real, so I could follow in my characters' footsteps on such a bitchin' road trip.
COLLEEN: All my worlds are actually interconnected in one way or another, so having that underlying basis for each world is key. Incorporeal Form's universe is probably the best developed, simply because I've been working on it for so long.
STEPHANIE: I love Stealing Time because of the jumping between the past and the future and showing how everything ties in together, and the cultural/religious differences between the Bihlan and the Niveti that cause the conflicts in the book.
13. How do you map out locations, if needed?
ANGIE: I don't like to map things out, largely because I have a hard time visualizing things or drawing them out. With Weird, USA I just literally look at a map and then plot out my interesting stops, usually around pre-existing paranormal hot spots. And with The Lito, I intentionally never mention just WHAT city it's in, mainly so I don't have to name specific streets or buildings. It's not New York; but otherwise I just describe it as a general big city.
COLLEEN: I have a sketchbook actually set aside in case I need to sketch a visual of locations. I have a number of messy sketches in that notebook mapping out the general location of countries, houses, and even people who are in the same room together. It helps me keep the visuals consistent as I write.
STEPHANIE: I map out locations in my head-- I have a general idea where various places/houses are in relation to each other, and if it's a really large area I'll write out notes describing what goes where. For real-life locations-- Google Earth!
14. Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
ANGIE: Colleen does descriptions and villains in a way I'll forever admire; Steph's so good at doing sweet and adorable without going saccharine (see: Cybele); my friend Emma writes darkly poetic in a way that makes me want to claw my face off with joy; and Gabby is so good at coming up with interesting scenarios and describing them in a really beautiful way.
Professional, Sir Terry Pratchett is my hero, Uncle Stevie is a constant inspiration, and I want to be Neil Gaiman when I grow up. With a dash of Jo Rowling.
COLLEEN: Professionally, I really love Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and J.R.R. Tolkien - I think they're geniuses of the genre and I wish I had half their talent. I love my cowriters' work, as well; and my friend Gabby is an incredible writer who handles surreal work far better than I ever could.
STEPHANIE: There are plenty-- my cowriters are of course two of them. Someday I hope to be as good at descriptive writing as they are.
Two of my influences growing up were Stephen King and Dean Koontz-- King's short story "The Last Rung on the Ladder" is still one of my favorite pieces ever, and I love a lot of Koontz's dialogue (hooray for snarky banter).
And there are tons of people I'm leaving out because my brain is a sieve.
15. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how far are you willing to go in your writing?
ANGIE: For all that I'm constantly mocking romance novels, I sure do write a lot of sex, lol. Almost all of my stories circle around a couple (or two, or twenty in the case of The Lito). The only piece I've ever written without a romance is "Who Put Bella In The Wych Elm?" mainly because the cast are thirteen year old boys. And I'm willing to go alllll the way. My smut skills aren't the best, but that's mainly because the terminology makes me giggle.
COLLEEN: I almost always write romantic relationships. I wouldn't say I write romances per se, but every story features at least one major romance. I'm not super comfortable writing porn-y scenes, but if it fits the couple, I will.
STEPHANIE: I think a better question would be, when do I not write romantic relationships. I don't think there's a book I've worked on yet that didn't feature a romance of some kind. Whether it's in the background or not depends on the story, but there's always something there. Because I'm a sap.
How far I'm willing to go depends on the characters. Aphrodite and Dionysus from Atmidos are more of a fade-to-black pair, while Xavierre and Maia from Stealing Time are a "Hi, you're trying to focus on plot when you really should be writing porn about us instead" couple.
16. Favorite protagonist and why!
ANGIE: DON'T MAKE ME DO IT, THIS IS LIKE SOPHIE'S CHOICE OVER HERE.
The entire crew from Weird, USA, just for different reasons.
Faves from The Lito: Dionysius (for his good-natured fun and surprising depths), Hestia (for her sweetness and good intentions), Hephaestus (for his angst, homebody romance, and talented hands), Hedone (for her cynical snark), Hercules (because he's a puppy who could pick up your house), Bellerophon (for his eccentricities and quips).
Isabeau from Of Air Ships and Metal Men because she's my homegurl, loves to read, thinks women are as good as men, and looks like Gemma Arterton.
And in Faerietale I particularly love James Hook because he's fun but also angsty, Snow because she's fierce and devoted to her kingdom, and Mr. Smee because of his adorable pining for a mermaid who could kill him as quick as kiss him.
COLLEEN: Oh god, why the hard questions again? I'll settle for two at the moment: Anadil from Of Airships and Metal Men, because of her curiosity and clumsiness and general fierceness; and Ruri Hardister from Flynn and Hardister, an adventure series about a fae and vampire who hunt down and slay fellow supernatural creatures. Ruri is a faerie - the sort who is beautiful at night and hideous by day. She got tired of waiting for a man who would be willing to look past her hideous daytime appearance and took up assassin work instead.
STEPHANIE: At the moment, we have a tie-- very different characters, from different series, but equally awesome to me:
1) Alice, from Faerietale. She unexpectedly finds herself in a completely different world, and has to figure out how to function there. She's suspicious and doesn't always give her trust easily, but her friends have her complete devotion (though, in true Alice fashion, she shows that devotion mainly through teasing and sarcasm).
2) Nomiki, from Atmidos. She doesn't really fit in with the others-- most of them are hardened warriors or at least familiar with fighting and used to traveling. She's just out of school and while her knowledge makes her a valuable asset, her lack of real world experience and general naivete can make her a liability. Especially when some of the stray animals she insists on taking in would eat her companions if given a chance.
17. Favorite antagonist and why!
ANGIE: I can't really say without spoiling upcoming stuff from The Lito, so I'll just say, "Wouldn't you like to know?" and laugh maniacally.
But the shadows in Weird, USA are really bloody terrifying, especially when they attack in Seattle.
And I love Theodosia Wolfe from Of Air Ships and Metal Men because she's constantly bucking conventions and is really fierce.
COLLEEN: Ugh, this may be harder than the last one! I love the Dwindler; he's a trapped character who knew too much, and whose time in the magical land he's been locked in has totally warped him. I'm also a pretty big fan of the Shade, though he's pretty new at this point. He's basically playing a game against all the other gods, and winning.
STEPHANIE: The Red Queen from Faerietale, because she's both protagonist and antagonist at different points in the story. As much fun as it is to write a mustache-twirling villain sometimes, the ones who do awful things while fully believing that they're doing good are just fantastic.
18. Favorite minor who decided to shove him/herself into the spotlight?
ANGIE: OCTOBER. He was supposed to show up in a minor scene and then he sat down and was like, "I'm going to turn this all into Big Epic Stuff and then steal the entire spotlight before slipping into all of your other projects, kthnxbai."
Except this is October, so he wouldn't say kthnxbai because that would be far too juvenile. He'd just sit and stare at you with his gold eyes until you got uncomfortable.
And Gloria, also from Weird, USA, who was supposed to be a name in a book and a psychic on the phone and turned into a Russian ballerina psychic with tragic ties to the main characters. I do not even know.
COLLEEN: Chen Calanth Amory, from Dwindler. He was originally supposed to be the springboard that started the plot and little else; but he's really taken on a life of his own and become important outside Dwindler itself.
STEPHANIE: Cybele, from Faerietale. All of the women in the Prince's harem were going to have distinct personalities, of course, but she went from having a personality to "oh, by the way, I'm going to finagle my way up to main character status".
19. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
ANGIE: Allll the witty banter. ALL OF IT.
COLLEEN: I really enjoy writing tense enemy dialogue. I love those scenes where so much is implied instead of stated.
STEPHANIE: I love to write flirting. Which is funny to me because I'm horrible at it in real life. But it's always so great to write, whether it's as characters who flirt as automatically as they breathe or ones who are awkwardly trying to figure out what they're doing.
On the other end of the spectrum, I also like fight scenes. It's interesting to me to see how characters'll react in a fight; who'll go right for the throat and who'll hide under a desk, and who'll surprise you by having the exact opposite reaction from what you'd expect.
20. Do any of your characters have children?
ANGIE: Don't even get me started on the crazy familial mess that is The Lito. All them gods and goddesses be having illegitimate kids left and right. Ho boy.
COLLEEN: You know, now that I think about it, no. None of them do. That probably needs to change!
STEPHANIE: Several of my characters have kids-- Lauren has Ivy and Kae; Rick has Kaveri; Elspeth has Abigail; Maia has Darshana; Durai has Mairi.
21. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
ANGIE: I've got an upcoming piece planned for The Lito where I'll be introducing Chronos, Pygmalion and Galatea. There will be a timeless realm, giant clocks, thievery and manipulation, and designer clothes involved. And Idris Elba is Pygmalion. Yep.
COLLEEN: I have a scene planned out for Incorporeal Form where Sycha and Ivan accidentally mingle souls, which is sort of the dead person equivalent of sex. There's all kinds of fallout from that interaction; Sycha and Ivan now know incredibly personal things about one another, and they're generally uncomfortable around one another and afraid to interact anymore. It's sort of like getting drunk and having sex with the guy you thought was just your best friend right up until the sex itself.
STEPHANIE: Well, I do have a scene in mind in Pale Moon where an agoraphobic alien gets into a heated argument with her spaceship.
I don't know; it's easy to think of stuff I haven't written but a lot harder to remember scenes that I haven't discussed with somebody.
22. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story-- from planning to writing to posting/publishing?
ANGIE: In the words of Nigel Thornberry: BLARGHBLARGHBLARGH. I've been working on Weird, USA for three years (granted, most of that work has been over three months, as I've been writing it for NaNoWriMo) and still haven't finished the full arc, though the story is big enough for a trio of novels at this point. With The Lito and Faerietale I approach them more as interconnected short stories, so each one can take me a day, a couple weeks, or in the case of the Hades/Persephone retelling FIVE MONTHS. Blargh.
COLLEEN: Aaaaaaaages. I'm too much of a perfectionist; I always want to fix things and change things. I need to be better about being happy with what I've done.
STEPHANIE: It so, so varies. Redemption is a story that's existed in my head in one way or another for about eight years, and I'm only now really figuring out how it's going to work. In the Darkness Find Me, on the other hand, was probably a year or less. I had a dream about one of the main scenes in it, woke up and wrote it down, and the rest of the novel followed quickly-- helped that it was more a novella than a novel.
23. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot demands it?
ANGIE: NOOOOOOOO. It's the one golden rule of Uncle Stevie's that I just cannot follow: Kill Your Darlings. The only character I've killed in recent memory is Danny in Weird, USA - and he immediately came back as a ghost. LOL.
COLLEEN: Completely willing. The more angst, the better, I say!
STEPHANIE: I'm willing to kill a character if I think it's necessary to the plot. To me, 'necessary to plot' means that it's unrealistic for a large group of characters to go through a situation like the one I've got them in with all of them making it out unscathed. Or if a character's in a seriously bad spot and there's no way to get them out of it and it's either kill them or come up with a deux ex machina, then they're toast.
I do specifically work on not killing one character just in order to motivate another. I hate the whole 'fridging' thing, and while I know that sometimes crappy, unexpected things happen in real life fights, I'm not much for Death As Gritty Shock Value either.
24. Do any of your characters have pets?
ANGIE: In The Lito, Psyche would tell you Dionysius is a dog that hasn't been house-trained yet if you asked her. The original trio in Weird, USA picked up a beagle puppy named Oswald, but I somehow forgot about her so she disappeared in Oklahoma at a Native American reservation at some point (whoops).
COLLEEN: A few do. Raktia from Godlings Among Men has a raven; and technically, Anadil has her Rhodesian Man, Barzilai, who she treats as a sort of pet.
STEPHANIE: Yep! Connor from Redemption has a cat named Charlie. Connor adopted him when he was an adult, and he has issues from a previous owner. He somewhat tolerates Connor, but if anyone else comes into the house, their ankles are fair game.
Nomiki from Atmidos has a pet dragon for starters; she's currently working on her own menagerie.
Ivy from Jia's Charms has a couple of viatars-- picture a pudgy flying squirrel without the jumping ability and about twenty times more laziness.
Abigail from Pale Moon has a giant squirrel (it's a long story).
And I just realized that out of the common domestic pets, none of my characters have a dog. I should rectify that.
25. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them?
ANGIE: My art makes Picasso look like a realist. I get my good friend Hannah to draw my characters; she's incredibly talented, and her style fits my work.
COLLEEN: If only I could draw, I would draw my characters all the time. Alas, all the pretty pictures I wish I could put on paper stay in my head.
STEPHANIE: I have tried to draw my characters. Results-- sooooo not pretty. So now I pay other actually talented people to draw them! You can see some of the results here.
26. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us how you go about designing your characters.
ANGIE: With some characters, appearance definitely matters. Charlie in Weird, USA is covered in tattoos and dyes her hair fire engine red to match her outspoken, fiery temper. And Robbie (also of Weird, USA) has distinctive Vulcan-like eyebrows that lead to a lot of teasing and humor.
COLLEEN: It honestly depends on the character. I usually have a pretty strong visual for the characters almost as soon as I create them; the image of them comes with their personality and name. Then it's just a matter of putting that image into words.
STEPHANIE: It depends on the story. In Faerietale, Wendy is a dimension-traveler with fully black eyes; her eyes are brought up more than once because they're an extreme oddity in most any world she goes to and she has to take measures to hide them. I'll toss in short descriptors sometimes-- mostly hair and eye color, height-- but I don't usually go for the paragraph-long elaboration on exactly what someone looks like and what they're wearing.
I'll generally get a feel for a character's 'voice' first and their appearance follows after that. And some of it is "this'll look really cool when I ask Mandy to draw it". :)
27. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities?
ANGIE: The Lito: Poor Hephaestus is crippled thanks to Hera's ire. Bellerophon has to use a cane and is in constant pain thanks to his own hubris. Dionyius is a habitual drunk, naturally. Morpheus is manic depressive.
Weird, USA: Danny is living impaired (poor guy).
COLLEEN: A few with physical disabilities, but none with mental disabilities; I'm not so comfortable with that. Anadil loses her voice because she swallowed too much smoke while rescuing her hero, Mordecai, from a flaming airship.
STEPHANIE: Aikaterine from Atmidos is attacked and blinded; she now has to work out life without her sight. I'm not sure if the term for them is really 'disabilities', but Aikaterine has a pretty bad case of PTSD, and Lauren from Jia's Charms has depression.
28. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
ANGIE: ALL. THE. TIME. I think about my characters and stories when I'm driving, in the bath, at work, just before bed. I always have to have at least one notebook and a good pen at all times to jot down ideas. And I'm inspired by all sorts of things: people, music on the radio, overheard bits of conversation.
COLLEEN: I think about writing all the time. If I'm staring off into space, chances are I'm making up a story. I also usually have a notebook on me, in case inspiration strikes.
STEPHANIE: Constantly. I'm rarely without a notebook; I'd carry one to class in high school and college, and now I carry one in my purse. When I worked at the donut shop, I'd use Post-It notes when we had a lull. Sometimes I'll see a news story that inspires an idea, and sometimes I'll see a person who really looks like one of my characters.
29. Who is your most unlikely (yet still realistic) couple that you have NOT written?
ANGIE: I honestly thought about doing a Hermes/Pandora piece set prior to The Cat or Bello - maybe Pandora went to The Lito with Hedone for a party, got drunk, thought he was cute... And I still haven't brought in Jason and Medea.
COLLEEN: Hmmm. That's a hard one. Possibly Chen and Thriar Polt, though they technically exist in different universes; they've both done something truly, horribly wrong to the ones they love, and neither of them remember it anymore and will rediscover it accidentally.
STEPHANIE: Probably Tinker Bell and The Prince, from Faerietale. Unlikely because she's got it bad for Peter and he's involved with his harem. Also, the little matter of how they haven't met. But they do have similar arcs, and both definitely have a mischievous streak. Given a different storyline, I could see it.
30. If you could collaborate with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
ANGIE: SIR TERRY PRATCHETT. Or Neil Gaiman. OR, OH, George Romero! We could write a zombie screenplay together!
COLLEEN: Oh dear. I think I'd have to say Sir Terry Pratchett. I just so admire his wit and the worlds he creates.
STEPHANIE: 0___O So. Many. Choices. I think I'd have to go with Jeff Strand, because I've loved all of his books/short stories and he has a really humorous, fantastic writing voice.