#oheoo

2: What’s your preferred reading genre?  Okay, this one is a definite vote for fantasy.  My parents are both bookworms and, as a general rule, fantasy is their preferred genre too--which explains why I read and reread Tolkien (LotR) and Feist (Riftwar Saga) a lot while growing up.  I love everything about fantasy, there’s nothing that’s off the table.  A lot of old fantasy has escapist elements which appeals to me, but I also love the cultural elements--basing systems off certain cultures or mythologies, or reading about completely new/fictitious cultures.

3: What’s a trope that absolutely speaks to your heart?  Pyrrhic victories!  Not a trope that I consume a lot of, but one I absolutely love creating.  Considering I play a lot with black and gray morality in my writing, it’s unfortunately the case that the costs usually end up being higher than the reward.  I also love character deaths, which contribute to pyrrhic victories too. 

4: Is Science Fiction also Fantasy? Discuss.  So, for me, this is like... squares and rectangles.  All SciFi is Fantasy, but not all Fantasy is SciFi.  In my opinion, fantasy really just means “a story set in a fictitious world”.  SciFi, no matter how probable it can be at times, is set in a fictitious world.  Even near-future or contemporary SciFi still involves changing an element from reality that makes the setting fictitious.  But not all Fantasy is SciFi, because SciFi to me means “a story set in a fictitious world that focuses on or highlights elements of which science is a core component”.  Sure, all fantasy stories will have scientific components--I’ve yet to find a story that doesn’t play by some rule of physics/chemistry/etc--but most of the time, if you’re reading a fantasy novel about dragons, the novel doesn’t go on about the anatomical structure or biological functions of the dragons, right?  The scientific component is technically there, but completely ignored.  A SciFi story is a fantasy novel that would/does go into those components.  That’s just my two cents idk

5: What’s the synopsis of your WIP? Ahh, I’m just going to include super short mini-synopses of my two big WIPs...

For Alight in Ashes... 

In a society constantly uprooted by revolution, humans have been designated as the inferior species and are beset by disease, slavery, and genocidal Hunts.  Cassandra, a petty thief, is determined to prove that humans are capable of fighting back, regardless of the cost.

For Eosophobia...

Rumors of a cure for the engineered supervirus Dawn have begun to circle the forested region of Cascadia, dragging out the remnants of human civilization from hiding–and also their mutated cousins, Biotics.  With competing groups desperate to get their hands on any possible cure the Columbia Gorge transforms into a battleground waiting to explode. 

6: If you could speed date any literary character who would it be?  Mara.  Oh my god.  I would marry her.  I haven’t read The Empire Trilogy in years, which is my loss, because it’s fantastic and I have such a crush on the protagonist/MC, Mara.  She’s such a powerful character, and I love how ambitious and resourceful and reckless she is, in a way.  

7: If you were a literary character who would you be?  Haha, okay, I’m totally Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.  Not the “super rich” part, which is unfortunate, but the arrogant, prideful, honest part?  The best-known-for-my-poorly-worded-and-soul-crushing-love-confessions part?  That’s me. 

8: What’s a big theme you notice in your writing? Moral subjectivity!  I love bringing it up in my writing and reflecting it in my characters.  I just have fun with making readers root for someone who goes against standard morality--rooting for villains, or dark anti-heroes, etc. It’s my goal to write characters that are so likeable or powerful that my readers will root for them, no matter how the odds look or what actions “need” to be taken. 

9: What is a theme you hate seeing in writing?  I hate “love conquers all”, which is somewhat ironic considering I’m a self-described romantic.  But I’m a strong believer that love only works if you’re willing to put in the necessary work that a relationship requires.  I’m tired of love being portrayed as “if it’s meant to be, it will be”.  It’s not inherently a bad theme, but one that’s vastly overused.

10: What was your opinion of your last high school Literature teacher?  I... honestly don’t even remember his name.  He was a nice and reasonable guy as a person, and was pretty laid back for the most part.  But he felt out of touch with his students--I don’t remember ever being invested in his class (to be fair, high school was all easy As for me (that’s not bragging, I went to a really shitty high school where they were just trying to pass as many of us as they could because graduation rates were atrocious. haha and then i dropped out but whatever)).

My Questions for Ya’ll

1. Do you have any writing habits or rituals?

2. If you had to be one of your characters for a day, who would you choose to be?

3. Character death, yay or nay? 

4. Which tropes, if you’re aware of any, are in your WIP?

5. Favorite hero from any book/movie/etc.? 

6. Favorite villain from any book/movie/etc.?

7. What’s your favorite part of the writing process? 

8. If you were locked in a room with your OCs, how would you fare? 

9. What scene in your WIP are you most excited about?  Why?

10. If you had to use a different title for your WIP than the one you’re currently using, what would it be?  If it doesn’t have a title, choose an alternative name for your MC.