#peter clines

whos who + speedpaint under the cut

Early praise for my new novel Strange Animals! Cozy. Creepy. Cryptids.

This is why the (five?) good ones are all big-two elseworlds that can bank on the audience having a pre-existing emotional connection to the character stable being used, but that carries the double-edged sword of the audience knowing that the story doesn’t actually count.

I’ve already answered two of these, but I’ll try to give different answers!

4. What show/book/movie etc. was your comfort and/or escape this year?

In my first answer, I said Stranger Things, Teen Wolf, Black Sails, and some books/graphic novels. So… I’ll add to my books – again, I mostly read these in the first half of the year. I reread the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix and it is definitely one of my comfort reads. I originally read this series out of order – Lirael first and Sabriel second, so I’ll always have a soft spot for Lirael and the Disreputable Dog (especially because I read this as an angsty teenager). Nix wrote a fourth and fifth book in this series somewhat recently, and I absolutely love them. Clariel has an ace main character and I really like her story – even if she is an anti-hero. I love the way he concluded this series. So, these are definitely comfort reads for me.

7. Which character did you relate to most this year?

This is so tough! When I’m writing, I tend to project a lot onto my characters – so Steve or Billy will end up dealing with depression in some of the same ways I do. However, in actual canon things, it’s hard for me to relate a lot to characters. I tend to admire/enjoy characters that are very unlike me (because they have characteristics that I wish I had myself). For example, I love John Silver from Black Sails because he’s able to think on his feet and observant enough that he is able to understand people’s motivations (and then use that to his advantage, which is not something I would do). I’ll probably end up giving this more thought and come up with other characters I relate to. That being said, I mostly watch or read stuff to escape daily life (and the thoughts in my head) so I tend to not watch things that will make me think of myself.

9. Recommend something that you really enjoyed in 2020.

I answered this previously and recommended a bunch of fanfic. So… I’m going to recommend Black Sails (which I know you’re already watching and we are squee-ing about), The Queen’s Gambit, Cobra Kai, Dash & Lily, The Magicians, Good Omens, The Witcher, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Sex Education, Dark, Penny Dreadful, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Enola Holmes, and many others that I can’t think of because my memory is really bad.

2.  Did you re-read anything?  What?

I did actually re-read a lot more than I was expecting!  Some of the re-reads that stand out to me are:

- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir (which I actually read three times this year)

- The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan (definitely a comfort read)

- Fangirl & Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (absolute magic and amazingness)

- Made You Up & Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (favourites and definitely comfort reads)

- Ninth House & the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (LOVE Ninth House - can’t wait for the sequel)

- The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas (Compelling, but I definitely got burnt out on the story and characters the more I read - but I love the universe building).

- 14, The Fold, & Paradox Bound by Peter Clines (I really enjoy these for their Lovecraftian/counter-Lovecraft elements)

- The Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire (This series is amazing and I can’t wait for the next one to come out in 2021!).

Wow, okay, I re-read a lot - 2020 was a year for reading old favourites for sure.

5.  What genre did you read the most of?

Definitely fantasy/sci-fi/horror (as is standard for me).

10. What was your favourite new release of the year?

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I pre-ordered this one and was absolutely devastated when the release date was pushed back.  I was so excited to finally get it.  AMAZING.  Can’t wait for Alecto the Ninth!

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Ooooo this is a tough one.  I hate saying that books disappoint me because I love books and I think almost every story has value.  However, having said that, there were a couple that I feel like I was a bit disappointed in.

- The Old Haunts series - I bought the single issues for this (so invested about 5 months), and it just floundered and I felt like it had so much promise and just fell flat.

- These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling - another one that I thought had such an amazing premise but then just fell flat for me.

- Honestly, also Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (just the first one) - I just didn’t find any of the characters relatable.  They were too perfect and didn’t seem real but I did think that they got better as the series went on.