sroloc--elbisivni asked: multiples of 5 for the ask meme?
Yay! From this ask meme.
5) character you were most surprised to end up writing
Whenever I end up writing someone genuinely nice, I’m totally baffled. Like, okay, in my Falls the Shadow novel, one of the Four Horsemen is named Kit (Famine) and she’s just flat-out a genuine sweetheart. Will Hargrove, from my unfinished novel Emrys Ascendant, is Too Nice for any of this supernatural shit to be happening to him. Or Lessa, from Polaris? Like, yes, she can murder a dude with lightning, but also cartoon birds probably braid her hair in the morning.
10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?
Background noise, always background noise, I hate silence, I build incredibly expansive and intricate playlists for my various novels. And if I’m around people, they have to be background people–I write really well in coffee shops, libraries, ice cream stores, that sort of thing.
15) why did you start writing?
I always told stories, you know? I was really into playing pretend as a kid, and I started memorizing fairy tales and folklore as a very smol bean. And then when I was like eight or nine, my beloved aunt (sarcasm) told me that I was too old to play pretend and I needed to stop living in my own world and get my head out of the clothes and grow up. I was a pretty messed up kid, so naturally I took this as gospel, but I still had stories to tell, so I started writing them down. Flash forward a decade or so and I’m putting out about a novel every 18 months.
20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?
Both! When I have a few hours I can scrape together without feeling like I’m volunteering to have more dirt shoveled down onto my coffin (literally fuck college so much), I can write straight through that whole time period without trouble. If I have a whole day, I’ve been known to forget meals or sleep or water. On the other hand, I also carry a notebook and scrawl down bits of scenes and conversations whenever I’m sitting and waiting for things. Whenever I’m talking to someone who says something like “I’ve always wanted to write a novel but I don’t have time” my response is usually “No one has time, you usually make time.” I mean, I sure as hell don’t have time to write novels, I just kind of do it anyway.
25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of
Okay I know this is more than a few sentences but I am!!! Literally so proud of this!!! It’s from a story I just now started about…um, basically a story about how I never got over my smol bean rage about the whole “Getting kicked back into the real world as a kid again after growing up in Narnia” schtick.
“A
drink for the Wanderer,” I said, switching from the bland notes of English to
the hard lilt of Alleiran and pouring out a dribble of scotch into the northern
mug. “To fire, to travel, to lies and
battle. Bring us home alive and send us
out again.” The familiar benediction warmed
something cold in my chest, left me trembling on the dangerous edge of
tears. “Bless your servant, Wanderer, for
I am far from home and have no war to fight.”
The last part of the prayer was personal, individual. I had been making the same simple request for
years.
I
passed the bottle across the table and he took it, tipping it not quite far
enough to pour scotch into the southern mug.
“An empty cup for the Lady of Stars,”
he said in Alleiran, subdued. “To storm,
to sky, to the fallen light. Raise us up
and let us fly.” He paused and let out a
breath that shook, closing his eyes as if he couldn’t stand to look at me
during the personal prayer. His prayer
had been the same as long as mine had. “Bless
your servant, Lady, for I have done great harm that cannot be repaid. Watch over my sister as she walks between
days, where the living cannot go. Grant
me clarity, guard my sanity, show me a bright path.” He opened his eyes and offered me the bottle,
adding quietly, “Save us from the past.”
