I got this question from the underwing challenge and I think it's fantastic. Now it's your turn! What inspiration(s) are there behind the story of Stolen?
You keep sending me difficult questions, and I think you’re doing it on purpose :p
I think the reason this is a difficult one for me to answer is because Stolen started so small. It started with a small “What If...?” idea in my brain and I’ve built everything else out from it.
I wanted to know how a guild master of a thieves guild might react if someone tried selling him his own plans. That was really the whole inspiration for this project.
From that point I built out a world around the characters, filled with races that I wanted to see in a fantasy setting.
Once I realised I had more story than could fit in one book, I built out an over-arching plot to drive the story forward, but that plot was inspired by the state of the world I’d created.
I’m sure there are probably small influences in place, for example my desert elves can move very fast for short bursts, like a desert viper striking out in defence. The eye colours for my Dwarves are the colour of natural gemstones; Green with red flecks like a bloodstone, or split orange and purple like Ametrine.
The small influences are there, for sure, but I can’t really pinpoint any large influence on the overall story. If it’s there, it’s not something I included consciously.
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Hi~ Here for the Underwing Challenge! Hope you're doing well! :D Simple one for today: What scene are you looking forward to tackling the most?
Hi! :D
Oooooo, this is a good question.
For Rage, it's a hard choice, but I'm going to have to go with this one chapter that I'm really nervous, but also really looking forward to writing.
I don't want to give too much away because spoilers, but it's meant to be really suspenseful and eerily out of place and I love it! There's new character "introductions" as well as a lot of lore that's thrown into the mix! Plus, I have a whole thing planned for it, and even if I don't get it done in time, I'm still really looking forward to working on it!
I'll talk about it more in detail under the cut, but spoiler warning:
Thanks for the question!
Context: In the chapter before this, Dillan gets freaked out and tries to leave the Trap World through a The Exit Portal (which was deemed unsafe after the Blackout). However, he is stopped by two older boys. While they talk, they are ambushed and one of the boys is shot by an arrow. Now, he's going back to try and figure out what exactly happened that night.
So, after returning to the Hollowed Room and finding nothing, him and his friend Rosa decide to return home. However, while teleporting, they are glitched into this creepy, abandoned warehouse-like place. In fear, they take shelter to try and figure out what's going on and quickly realize that they aren't alone, and that there might be more to the warehouse then they thought.
Ye! I love it because it's meant to completely throw people off guard and make them question a lot of stuff!
As for the project, I don't want to confirm anything, as I'm not even sure it would be possible for me to do, but I want to make a little demo game of that chapter to try and sprinkle in more lore, as well as just show it in another light!
Hello again darling! Here's another question for you for the underwing challenge!
This time it's going to be about the content of Stolen. What have been your favourite dynamics to write, beyond Stella and Reilly?
I love how you knew that my first answer was going to be Stella and Reilly :D
I actually love writing the banter between Reilly and Dara. Those two are best friends, have been for a long time, but Dara doesn’t let Reilly get away with any of his usual bullshit.
The best thing about their friendship is that, Dara trusts him enough to know that even when she’s pushing his buttons, even when he’s furious with her, she has nothing to fear from Reilly. That there’s no circumstances where he’s lash out of hurt her.
It makes for a lovely dynamic.
The other relationship I enjoy writing has been, surprisingly, Stella and Myris. These two have developed an odd little friendship that I didn’t anticipate, and I’m actually having to adjust content slightly in my second draft to account for it.
I initially anticipated Stella being very wary of Myris because he’s a wizard. With Stella and her Da’ selling fake magical items, she grew up knowing to be wary of genuine spellcasters, and wizards in particular, so I wrote a lot of scenes where she was very wary of Myris and went out of her way to avoid the man, but as the book went on she and Myris have formed this lovely little connection that I’m enjoying dabbling with.
I don’t think I’m going to get a chance to play with it as much as I’d like either, there’s very few opportunities in Book One where it would be relevant, I might get some chances in Book Two but then Book Three will change location and Myris won’t leave the guild.
I’ll have to see what I can do though because I think their slowly developing friendship is too good an opportunity to pass up.
First question for the underwing challenge, what have you found to be the toughest part of your project thus far? Was it nailing a certain character? A certain scene or turn of events? And lastly, what helped you? What was the breakthrough moment? (without spoilers, if any, of course!)
I had to *really* think about this one!
In terms of the project, overall, the toughest part has been keeping quiet about it, because I plan to self publish. I’ve always shared my writing, whether that’s with my mum, strangers on AO3 for fanfiction, even you, and honestly, sharing Stolen with you as I’ve written it has probably been the only thing keeping me halfway sane :D
If we’re talking specifically about the writing though, then I think the toughest part of Stolen so far has been figuring out which point of view to write each chapter in.
The book is told through dual point of view, 3rd person close/limited from either Stella Korazon’s view or Reilly Mosswolf’s. While most of the time I’m telling the story through Stella’s perspective, there are some scenes and chapters that resonate better from Reilly, or potentially, there’s something in the scene that I want the readers to see, that Stella simply wouldn’t pick up on.
Figuring out which point of view to use for a chapter has often been the hardest part for me, and several times I’ve been writing away only to hit a solid stone wall of pain and nightmares (A Writers Block)
What’s helped me, every single time I hit a block in Stolen, was to go back to the start of the chapter and rewrite it from the other protagonists point of view. Every single time, without fail, this has turned out for the better.
Most of the time I was only a few hundred words in, but Chapter 15 of Stolen I actually got nearly 4,000 words into the chapter before I realised why I was struggling, why it sounded dull and boring and why I hated it with a passion.
I still have the original version stored away, as a reminder! Have an excerpt as a bonus, and as an example of what I mean...
[Spoilers Below Cut]
Except from Chapter 15, Original Version, Stella’s Point of View
"Ready?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in question as she stared down at the man for once, his dark eyes almost as bottomless at the guild ring he wore on his hand. His eyes held a warmth, however, that the stone lacked and Stella let herself smile slowly as she held his gaze.
"Do let me know if I need to come up with some way to... distract you," she murmured, her voice lowering, and lashes dipping slightly as her lips lifted from a soft smile to a full blown smirk.
She spotted the surprise flash across his face, and then the consideration as he tried to figure out if she was teasing again, but he played along when curiosity won out, and Reilly's head tilted to the side as he considered her carefully.
"What, exactly, did you have in mind?" he asked slowly, staring at her like she was a puzzle, "because I distinctly remember you turning a rather fetching shade of bright red a few minutes ago-"
"You don't need to be naked to be distracting, Reilly," Stella cut him off, but her voice was still a soft purr, and when she let her tongue moisten her lips before continuing she spotted the slight flicker of his gaze and knew he hadn't missed the motion.
"For example, I could tell you all about your accounts books... I'm sure that would lull you into a meditative state," she began, shifting closer and suddenly finding his hand on her elbow as he continued to watch her like she was a stranger, but he didn't stop her from bending her face closer to his own as she continued.
"I could tell you how horribly uncomfortable the bed in your office is," she almost whispered, "how I tossed and turned all night... or..."
When Stella was certain she had his complete attention, she let her forehead rest feather-light against his own...
Except from Chapter 15, Rewritten Version, Reilly’s Point of View
"Ready?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him in questions, and smiling slowly "Do let me know if I need to come up with some way to... distract you."
Reilly felt his breath catch at the suddenly soft expression fluttering over her features, eyelids heavy and voice purring, he considered her for a long moment, trying to figure out if this was an continuation of her earlier teasing, or if for some reason the woman was genuine. It worried him slightly that he genuinely couldn't tell, so he decided to err on the side of caution and assume the blonde was teasing.
"What, exactly, did you have in mind?" he shot back, lips twitching with a small smile, "because I distinctly remember you turning a rather fetching shade of bright red a few minutes ago-"
"You don't need to be naked to be distracting, Reilly," Stella cut him off gently, and something in her voice sent his heart hammering in his chest, onyx eyes zeroing in on the way she moistened her lips and leant closer.
There was a voice screaming in the back of his mind that this was a bad idea. There were reasons he didn't start relationships with anyone inside the guild. He had no interest in someone getting this close to him. She was technically under his protection and it was an abuse of power.
"For example, I could tell you all about your accounts books... I'm sure that would lull you into a meditative state," she continued, and Reilly swallowed hard, but none of the many varied excuses his inner voice was shouting stopped his hand from lifting to rest lightly on her elbow, neither pulling her in nor pushing her away, and his simply found himself watching her. Allowing the woman to spin her web and draw him in as she bent closer to his face.
"I could tell you how horribly uncomfortable the bed in your office is... how I tossed and turned all night..." she almost whispered, the words conjuring to mind the fact that she'd slept in his bed, summoning the thought of her scent mingling with his own and suddenly Reilly was struggling to remember why he was resisting the urge to kiss her.
He knew there were a dozen very good reasons, but they seemed half a world away when she let her forehead rest featherlight against his own, his eyes falling closed for a moment at the soft touch, even as his thumb moved to lightly stroke against the soft skin of her arm.
"Or..." Stella continued, and Reilly, let his eyes slide open to lock on hers again...
Hey!!! Here's a question for the underwing challenge: I really like the detail about Reilly's tattoo from his forest elf heritage! Does it appear over time, or did he get it tattooed on his skin? Do all forest elves get a similar thing? Can it be 'read' by people if they learn the language?
Ah! Thank you! This is actually a very interesting question for me to answer!
Most Forest Elves are born into a clan, and when they come of age they get their family history, and a little of the clan history where it’s relevant to their family, tattooed from shoulder to wrist in written Elven. It can be read by anyone who knows written Forest Elven (which is a distinct dialect from Desert, Plains, or Snow Elven).
The tattoos are formed using a special ink made from plants but the recipe is a closely guarded secret of each individual clan. The colour of the ink alone usually tells other Forest Elves which clan your family comes from, or at least the most recent generations.
It doesn’t appear over time, and it’s usually the head of the family’s responsibility to keep tract of important events and changes, and then inform the clan leader of the changes to the tattoo when the next person in the family is old enough to receive theirs.
Reilly’s, however, are a tiny bit different.
Forest Elves require permission of the clan leader to leave the clan for any reason, the clan is the most important thing, and the Forest Elf clans have grown even more protective since the Desert Elves were massacred several hundred years prior.
This may be a little vague as it’s treading close to spoilers territory but; Reilly’s father asked to leave the clan with his wife and children, and to settle somewhere else, but was denied permission. He chose to do it anyway but this meant that he and his family were considered to have ‘abandoned’ the clan.
Reilly, and his sister Eryn, were no longer considered part of the clan, and therefore not entitled to the tattoo’s detailing the family and clan histories.
Reilly wanted them to honor his fathers memory though, so he created his own using normal black ink. Reilly’s tattoos are in Forest Elven, but they are copies of what he can remember of his fathers tattoos, plus and his own additions. The important things he’s experienced since his parents deaths.
Eryn also chose to have them added, but she only wanted the family history from when they split from the clan, rejecting the clan in the same way the clan refused to accept them.
No forest clan would recognise Reilly’s tattoo’s as coming from a clan.
.... and after writing “clan” that many times, I feel like I need to name some of them, just to make it easier to talk about :D
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hey!!! so for one of ur underwing challenge questions, i was wondering about how you found your faceclaims so far? did you have them as an idea for a faceclaim at the start of making the characters or did you happen to find them later?
Faceclaims vary for me honestly.
I always had a very solid idea in my mind of what I wanted Reilly to look like, and really the only person I can ever imagine playing Reilly is Ben Barnes. The shoulder length black hair, slight beard, and most importantly those dark might-as-well-be-black eyes. For Reilly those features are all integral parts of him. The black eyes are a mark of his mothers Desert Elf heritage, the beard helps him pass unnoticed, the long hair means he can bend and it helps him hide his features from pursuing guardsmen. None of those features are things I could change, and still have Reilly be Reilly, so Ben Barnes as his face claim was not only my best option but also my only option.
To be honest, when it comes to Reilly’s face claim, I’m not even 100% sure which came first. My love of Barnes as Caspian in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, or the creation of Reilly Mosswolf.
Stella is another strange one as Amanda Seyfried, in small part, sparked the seed that grew into Stolen. She did a photoshoot where she was leaning against a wooden surface that sort of looked like a bar, and it got me thinking about what sort of secrets could be whispered behind the barrier that her long hair provided.
So my main two, the face claims sort of came about at the same time as the creation of their characters, in one way or another.
For the other characters in Stolen, I do have face claims but they’re usually “If you could cast your dream actor in this role, who would it be”. I don’t adhere strictly to them, and they definitely came after the creations of the characters.
Most of the time I will create a character, find an actor I’d love to cast as the character in a movie or tv show, and then try to create a weird mix of the person in my head, and the actor I’d cast, in Artbreeder, and then I’ll use the Artbreeder image as a character reference guide, when describing them in the book.
Dara, for example, I always knew she was tall, broad shoulders, honey blonde hair in natural loose curls to her jaw, blue eyes. Stunning. So when I went looking for a face claim, it was the height I was mainly searching for because If I was going to cast someone, that’s her main defining feature. I eventually settled on Gwendoline Christie for Dara, and then tried to recreate her face, and Dara’s features in Artbreeder.
As for how I find my face claims; Fanpop. I go to Fanpop and search through their celebrity listings. I’m not a big celebrity follower, so having an archive of famous faces helps me spot someone who might work, and then I google their name for better pictures.
Hi there! Final day of the Underwing Challenge, and I'm here to ask a very simple question: What are your writing plans for the near future? Participating in Camp NaNo? Gearing up for some sweet pride snippets for June? :O
Hi!
My plans for writing and pretty simple. I'm going to try to keep working on my chapters! (Hopefully so I can get a more consistent upload schedule-) With summer coming up, I'm hoping to get more time to do that... I also plan on developing a few of my others stories a bit more!
Thank you for all your questions over the course of this challenge! They've been really fun to answer and they made my day everytime I got one! :D
