That Writing Meme


What's the last thing you wrote?
Wait... gotta break this one down: Last thing I wrote down, was Google directions to get me home from spiderine's house. Last fiction-related I wrote were some notes on Edinburgh in the TF notebook. Last actual fiction I wrote was a Snarry scene between Ron and Snape, which I'm not likely to go back to, or finish. Last fiction I finished was Disenchanted, back in December.

Was it any good?
Well, it didn't rock anybody's world, and the response to it wasn't anywhere in league with what some other stories of mine have gotten, but I can go back to it, re-read it, enjoy it, and not feel remotely dissatisfied with it, even after all these months. I guess I have to say it was good. Not great, but good.

What's the first thing you ever wrote that you still have?
Ghod... that's a thorny question to a Multiple who hoards every notebook she's ever used! I've still got Wolfwing and Falconpaw (Be VERY afraid!) I've still got nearly all of Golden Age, both my work, and all the rest, since the Tome somehow wound up in my care. I've got the poem I wrote in 11th grade, which won the statewide poetry award for my class. I've still got the 'literary magazine' that my creative writing class in 9th grade did. I even think I might have some of the truly AWFUL ranty poetry I wrote as an emo-nutcase-kid. I tell you, if people knew which drawers or notebooks to peek in, I'd be in hellish danger of blackmail in perpetuity!

Write poetry?
*Looks at answer above, then lies.* No.

Angsty poetry?
Especially never that! *Rolls eyes.*

Most fun character you ever wrote?
Papa Ling, the demon vagrant / information broker

Most annoying character you ever wrote?
Jinpei, from Gatchaman. Full, fecking stop! Seiya came a close second though.

Best plot you ever wrote?
Blood and Fire, to date. Actually, Guardian Angels was more of a brainfuck, but not because of plot reasons, and so few people have read that one, I don't know that it entirely counts on the same scale.

Coolest plot twist you ever wrote?
That Belle's Reflection had to be destroyed, and used as a critical element of the potion that would destroy her enemy's army.

How often do you get writer's block?
It would take less time to sum up how often I manage to get 'round it without major trauma!

How do you fix it?
There is no one true way, but often water helps, sometimes immersion in an unrelated genre, switching to a different story, ritual sacrifice, and if all of that fails, shaking the plot outline so hard that it comes apart at the seams, and shows me the stone it's got lodged in its hoof, so I can pry it out and get back underway. (And how's THAT for the mother of all mixed metaphors!)

Do you type or write by hand?
Daily.

Do you save everything you write?
Compulsively.

Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
I don't abandon ideas, and I don't abandon stories. I just set them aside until I can figure out how to finish them. Sometimes entropy writes over my memory of what I had meant to do, or the characters don't have the same gravity as they once did, but if they're good ideas, they turn up in something else, generally.

What's your favorite thing that you've written?
*Wry smile...* The next one. What? Oh, all right. The story I've written that came out closest to precisely, absolutely as I'd hoped it would, is Blood and Fire. I think it's my best story to date, but I'm the writer, so I'm biased.

What's everyone else's favorite thing that you've written?
A quick google search on my handle reveals that Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is just about neck and neck with Everybody's Fool for number of rec-lists they appear on, but Tower of Air is a close third.

Do you ever show people your work?
*Cuts glance at the Skyehawk and The Archive at the End links just over there...* No, never...

Who's your favorite constructive critic?
Nobody gives better squee than amanuensis1!

Did you ever write a novel?
Technically, three so far. The first is unutterably dreadful, and constitutes a hefty chunk of my First Million Words of Utter Crap, but as it was written in high school, that is only right and just. The second is a bit of a mess that cannot be shoehorned into any two genres, and is about twice as long as any first novel since the 1900's, but it is not abandoned, just set aside until I've got the door open with another book, and will be able to get publishers to look past the marketing weirdness involved in selling it. The third is Everybody's Fool.

Have you ever written fantasy, sci-fi, or horror?
Have I ever written anything that wasn't several of the above?

Ever written romance or teen angsty drama?
*Fingers to breastbone...* Moi?

What's one genre you have never written, and probably never will?
Never say never. That said, the least likely is Western.

How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Temporary memory is insufficient to complete this task. Please reboot.

Do you want to write for a living?
Well, if I don't make the first cut for the All Black's starting lineup, I suppose I'll have no other choice...

Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
In a way, I suppose. It was fiction though, so I'm not entirely sure it counts.

Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Arizona State Young Poets' award, and a fistful of various fan awards.

Ever written something in script or play format?
Erm. Yes, when I was ten years old, I wrote the school play. It was a dreadful collision between Lost In Space, Star Wars, and the Nativity story. I was an exceedingly strange child. Even stranger was the fact that the school put that travesty ON!

What is your favorite word?
All of them.

Do you ever write based on yourself?
I'm a Method Writer: to some extent, everything I write is based on some aspect of myself!

Which of your characters most resembles you?
Belifaha'ane.

Where do you get ideas for your characters?
I put three drops of my blood into a dish of milk at the very peak of each total lunar eclipse, and the story faeries give me ideas. (Seriously, is it even possible to answer this question without sarcasm?)

Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Some of my best stories come from the Dream Faeries. No, I'm totally not playing now! What?!

Do you prefer happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
Situationally, all of them. Let the punishment fit the crime, baby!

Have you ever written anything based on an artwork you've seen?
Technically, yes. It was a St. Seiya story, based very loosely on a set of character illustrations in the back of a yaoi doujinshi I'd seen at a friend's house.

Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Convulsively. Unfortunately, that does not equal 'consistently', nor even 'accurately', which is why a loving Goddess created Betae.

Ever write something entirely in chatspeak?
No.

Does music help you write?
More than air.

Are people surprised and confused when they find out you write well?
If so, they haven't ever let on to me.

Quote something you've written.
Here's a snippet from Changeling, which is part of the Buy, Sell, Trade universe, and will be getting a much better title before it ever sees print...

It was the way among changelings; You might know a fellow to be more, or less than he seemed, but out of courtesy, you behaved as though whatever the changeling chose to show you was the true way of things. You may know that the maid you danced with beneath the Queen’s Thorn had been the horse you rode into battle the day before, but you took care that whilst she flirted and smiled, no mention of hoof or saddle should come into the conversation.