19. Favorite minor that decided to shove him­self into the spot­light and why!

Nothing is really going on that's worth writing about in Iowa right now, since class hasn't started, so until something exciting happens all you get to read is writing meme.

My favorite minor character that eventually ended up being heavily involved is Evgeni's father Nicolas in Last Days of the Unreal City. Originally he was not even alive, and then he was missing. I never planned for Jaelle and Evgeni to go meet him, much less for him to have a huge impact on the plot by directing them to a group of rebel fighters. So that was kind of a surprise. It ended up being pretty awesome though, and I had fun writing this grumpy old Russian engineer.

18. Favorite antag­o­nist and why!

This is actually a hard question, because I genuinely dislike every antagonist I write. So far they've all been straight up bad guys too, no tragic antiheroes or morally complex villains. I think that's because if I wrote one of the latter characters, they would end up being the protagonist. So I really don't have a favorite antagonist.

17. Favorite pro­tag­o­nist and why!

You know, I really liked Jaelle from Last Days of the Unreal City. It was fun to write a scientist for once. It was also fun to write her as a bit of a rebel in a strict patriarchal society. I really should go back and do a second draft of Last Days. There's so much in all the characters that didn't get put in the first go round, and I think there's a lot to expand on, especially in Jaelle's case.
I think that Liera in the upcoming novel may become my favorite. Of course, this character and this story have been bouncing around in my head for more than a decade now, so Liera is practically part of me at this point. I'm really looking forward to writing this one.

16. Do you write roman­tic rela­tion­ships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you will­ing to go in your writ­ing? ;)

Oh God, I've tried but I kind of suck. I feel like when I write them that everything rushes along way too quickly and it only makes sense to me and not anyone else who reads it. But I keep trying, because how else will I get better? I don't write anything explicit though, I just can't manage to do that with any amount of realism. I have enough trouble trying to progress the characters from strangers, to friends, to lovers without it sounding stupid.

15. Mid­way ques­tion! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether pro­fes­sional or not!

I really like Neil Gaiman. Sandman was such a huge deal for me. The way he wrote it, and the way the comic was put together (and I have to give the inkers/colorists/etc props for that as well) made it so real to me. It was like I was reading something that I had always known about, but I only knew it unconsciously and it was brought into the light. Everything else he has written has drawn me in the same way, in that I literally cannot put the book down until I am done.
I also admire Robert Jordan's ability to create such a gigantic world in Wheel of Time, especially in a post-LOTR fantasy world. I actually think the WoT world is more complex than LOTR's world, and I can barely keep it straight when I'm reading, so being able to keep all of these threads in order when creating it is even more impressive to me. I also have to say that Mr. Jordan impressed me with how well he was able to write all of his female characters, when I struggle with writing my male characters.

14. How do you map out loca­tions, if needed? Do you have any to show us?

I've only had to do this once, and I actually drew a little map out so I could make sure I didn't accidentally put two places in the same spot or something equally silly. It's hand drawn though, so I don't have it to put up. Maybe I can make a MSPaint version when I write the novel this November? That would be kind of cute.

13. What’s your favorite cul­ture to write, fic­tional or not?

This probably gives me away as a crappy writer, but I haven't ever written any particularly in-depth cultural differences. It would probably make a couple of my stories better, but they haven't moved beyond first or second drafts so I haven't done any cultural explication. Honestly I'm more interested in getting characters and plots first and adding world details later. Plus what I've written so far hasn't been set in ultra-diverse areas to being with. Last Days was either a post-apocalyptic wasteland or a strict neo-Victorian floating city. Terminal Dreams was set in the modern day United States. My NaNo novel this year is set in an entirely fictional world. So I haven't even really written something that had a lot of cultural diversity to initially put in. Not to mention that I'm still at the point where I feel more comfortable writing what I know, so I'm not about to go writing about a culture that I'm not part of and haven't studied extensively.

12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world­build­ing? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?

Well, this novel that I'll be writing in the fall is the first one that's really set in a completely fictional world. Terminal Dreams was set in the present day, and Last Days of the Unreal City was also set on Earth, albeit in a post-apocalyptic future. I guess I feel like Last Days needs more revision before I'd feel completely happy with it. There's a lot in my head that I don't think translated well in my first draft. But this new novel is set somewhere completely different, where I had to draw a map and make everything up from scratch, and that's kind of fun and cool. I still don't know how well it will end up translating, but it is neat to build a universe from the beginning.

11. Who is your favorite char­ac­ter to write? Least favorite?

I'm not sure I have a favorite character to write. It's harder for me to write realistic antagonists, so I guess that might be my least favorite to write just because it's difficult. Sometimes I get frustrated when I have a picture or a scene in my head and it's not translating well into words, but that's less a character issue and more a situational issue.

10. What are some really weird sit­u­a­tions your char­ac­ters have been in? Every­thing from seri­ous canon scenes to meme ques­tions counts!

I think I had a scene at one point where the main characters were kidnapped by dwarves and bartered their way out of the situation with a spontaneously appearing duck. I have no idea, I think that came from a goofy NaNo prompt. That's the weirdest thing that's happened. If I write comedic scenes in, they're usually dry comedy and not slapstick. Everything else is pretty serious business.

9. How do you get ideas for your char­ac­ters? Describe the process of cre­at­ing them.

Geez, there really isn't a process. All of my stories just kind of appeared in my head, and the characters just appeared too. I've never really sat down and thought about all the characters I would need beforehand. If I get to a place where I need a secondary character, they just kind of appear. It's very organic, I guess. I have a harder time naming them than anything else, but the personality just appears on paper.

8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?

I write some bizarre combination of science fiction and fantasy, sometimes veering into steampunk/post-cyberpunk territory. I like to combine elements of the two genres-fantasy type settings, for example, and genetic engineering and computer hacking from sci-fi. I do more biological-type science fiction elements just because I'm a biologist and understand that a heck of a lot better than physics.
Obviously I like to read science fiction and fantasy. I grew up on the masters of science fiction and Tolkien. Actually now that I think about it, that's most of what I read. I do like some older horror. Most of the other stuff I like to read is considered classic literature or it's nonfiction.

7. Do you lis­ten to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your char­ac­ters?

I actually do not listen to music while I write. It's distracting to me. I do however, watch old B-movies while I write, because they are entertaining when I have writer's block. Otherwise, I keep it quiet. I tried listening to music for a while, but I would just get distracted and never write anything down, so I quit. Plus I don't get tangled in my headphones when I'm trying to leave the computer.

6. Where are you most com­fort­able writ­ing? At what time of day? Com­puter or good ol’ pen and paper?

I usually write my NaNoWriMo novels right at the computer because it counts my words for me and I do type faster than I write. Since until recently I worked full-time, and I will be a full-time student for the next million years, I usually have to write in the evening. If I'm just working on either outlining future work or just stretching my writing muscles by doing fanfiction, then I handwrite everything. I still do it in the evening though. I only have time to do these things in the evening.

5. By age, who is your youngest char­ac­ter? Old­est? How about “youngest” and “old­est” in terms of when you cre­ated them?

Let's see...my youngest character is Jennifer in Terminal Dreams. She's 14 and is the one that first suspects her older sister is haunting the house. She also gets in touch with the ghost hunting teams. I think my oldest character is Nikolas in The Last Days of the Unreal City. He's in his 60s and works with a group on Earth trying to rebuild the ground cities after the war.
In terms of age of creations, Liera in my as untitled NaNoWriMo 2011 is actually the oldest. I created her way back in middle school, and the story has gone through so many permutations in my head. This year is when I hope to really write down the story the way I want it. Youngest in terms of creation are the cast of The Last Days of the Unreal City. I made them all up last year for NaNoWriMo 2010. 

4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

Oh, I just remembered the first story I ever wrote a few days ago. I was in first grade when I wrote it, so it's hilariously silly. It had something to do with my two best friends at the time, who were both named Mike, and horses were involved. I did illustrations to it as well, and if I recall correctly the horses looked more like camels. But I thought I was sooo fancy and such a good writer. I've gotten better since then, I promise.

3. How do you come up with names, for char­ac­ters (and for places if you’re writ­ing about fic­tional places)?

Well, I don't really have a set process. Usually they just sort of magically come into my head. Occasionally I'll borrow a name from somewhere else, but I never straight up use a character's name unless I'm writing fanfiction. But most of the time names just randomly pop up when I need them. If I really needed a name and nothing was coming, I'd probably google around a bit until I found something that sounded good.

2. How many char­ac­ters do you have? Do you pre­fer males or females?

I don't even think I can count the number of characters I have. There are loads in each story. Most of them are secondary/background characters, but they're there. Almost all of my main protagonists are female, because I'm a girl so it seems easier to write women, although I do have a couple of male main characters. I've never written a story from an all-male perspective though. I feel like I wouldn't know how.

1. Tell us about your favorite writ­ing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.

I think that my favorite thus far was my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel, entitled Terminal Dreams. It's about a haunting and ghost hunts from the ghost's point of view. I got the idea while simultaneously doing homework and watching Ghost Hunters and wondered what the ghosts thought about the guys doing this stuff, if they were there. The universe was present day, and the nice thing was that I didn't have to do a lot of background research beyond what types of things people use for ghost hunting. The background research on my current project is killing me. Anyway, I think this is my favorite because it came together so well, and it is my first complete novel. This year's, once it's done, may become the favorite because it's been kicking around in my head for so long, but for now Terminal Dreams takes the cake.

30 Day Writing Meme

 I'm going to embark on another 30 day meme; this time it's not general questions but instead deals with writing. Since I have written a couple novels and am gearing up for the third in November, I thought it would be both interesting and useful to get me into novel writing mode. Here are the questions:
1. Tell us about your favorite writ­ing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
2. How many char­ac­ters do you have? Do you pre­fer males or females?
3. How do you come up with names, for char­ac­ters (and for places if you’re writ­ing about fic­tional places)?
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
5. By age, who is your youngest char­ac­ter? Old­est? How about “youngest” and “old­est” in terms of when you cre­ated them?
6. Where are you most com­fort­able writ­ing? At what time of day? Com­puter or good ol’ pen and paper?
7. Do you lis­ten to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your char­ac­ters?
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
9. How do you get ideas for your char­ac­ters? Describe the process of cre­at­ing them.
10. What are some really weird sit­u­a­tions your char­ac­ters have been in? Every­thing from seri­ous canon scenes to meme ques­tions counts!
11. Who is your favorite char­ac­ter to write? Least favorite?
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world­build­ing? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
13. What’s your favorite cul­ture to write, fic­tional or not?
14. How do you map out loca­tions, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Mid­way ques­tion! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether pro­fes­sional or not!
16. Do you write roman­tic rela­tion­ships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you will­ing to go in your writ­ing? ;)
17. Favorite pro­tag­o­nist and why!
18. Favorite antag­o­nist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove him­self into the spot­light and why!
20. What are your favorite char­ac­ter inter­ac­tions to write?
21. Do any of your char­ac­ters have chil­dren? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your char­ac­ters that you’ve never writ­ten or told any­one about before! Seri­ous or not.
23. How long does it usu­ally take you to com­plete an entire story—from plan­ning to writ­ing to post­ing (if you post your work)?
24. How will­ing are you to kill your char­ac­ters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most inter­est­ing way you’ve killed some­one?
25. Do any of your char­ac­ters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your char­ac­ters? Do oth­ers draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite pic­ture of him!
27. Along sim­i­lar lines, do appear­ances play a big role in your sto­ries? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about design­ing your char­ac­ters.
28. Have you ever writ­ten a char­ac­ter with phys­i­cal or men­tal dis­abil­i­ties? Describe them, and if there’s noth­ing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writ­ing? Ever come across some­thing IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final ques­tion! Tag some­one! And tell us what you like about that per­son as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!