The Readers Have Spoken

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And here it is, my first Q&A. Shout-out to…well, Kenzie, who humored me and asked some questions. 😉

The topic was WIP’s: any questions related to plot, characters, story development, my writing history, future plans, etc. As promised, Kenzie “splattered my face” with questions, so here we go!

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Q1: Out of all of your current WIP characters, which one is your absolute favorite to write and why?

Lir. Hands down. Because he’s a bit like many of Gerard Butler’s characters (not the Phantom) and a bit like Wolf from TLC*, meaning he’s exuberant and sweet and totally deserving of more than the lousy backstory I have given him. He’s effortless to write. I thought I would struggle with a mute character, but Lir’s dialogue comes easiest. And I’m uber excited for where his story line goes.

Q2: How did you come up with idea of magic being linked to music for Undersong?

I…honestly don’t remember. I know the concept was inspired by a lot of the stories I consumed as a teen – the creation of Middle Earth with music, Louise Marley’s Singer in the Snow, Rapunzel in Tangled singing to jump-start the glowing hair, and a story I found while lurking through writer blogs back in my blogger.com days. I wanted to come up with a unique-ish magic system and it felt right. The problem is that I know nothing about music theory.

Q3: If it turns out that Soar doesn’t make it into Pitch Wars (spoiler: it didn’t), are there any special plans you have for that book later on? I know you’re going to be working on Undersong and Dark and Deep for a while, but are you still going to pursue publications with this book, too?

At present, I have no plans. I do have a smashing query letter, so I may put the story out there one day. I haven’t decided yet. Honestly, this is one I might look into self-pubbing.

Q4: If Enny were a cookie, which cookie would she be?

A raisin oatmeal cookie, because no one quite knows what to do with her, but everyone has strong feelings about her role in the world.

Q5: Does Undersong have mermaids???? That aesthetic is do beautiful and for some reason it feels like it should have mermaids….

Q6: How drastically do your story plots change from draft to draft? I know this question doesn’t really pertain too much to Undersong, since you’re still drafting it, but for Soar and Dark and Deep, have there been any drastic changes between drafts???

With Soar, there are very dramatic changes between drafts, especially between the first and the…*counts on fingers* sixth. Since I wrote it completely by the seat of my pants, I was still coming up with plot twists and whatnot long after the first draft, so I had to go back and make major changes to accommodate said twists and betrayals and characters.

Dark and Deep‘s changes have so far been more subtle, if you don’t count where two characters went from being siblings to being romantic interests…..

*I totally blanked on Wolf’s real name, but even after googling it I’m still confused. I don’t know him as anything but Wolf.

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So thanks, Kenzie! ‘Twas fun to answer your burning questions! (The last question will be addressed in a post later. Probably. Hopefully.)

Let’s hear it!

Tell me about your stories! What’s one of the coolest concepts in your WIP, and how did you come up with it? How drastically do your stories change between drafts? Who’s your favorite (or at least current favorite) character to write? If your main character was a cookie, what would they be?