Day 23 of the meme: 23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story–from planning to writing? It very much depends on how long the story is. I don’t really like short stories, so I’m generally looking either at a novel or a novella. In that case it doesn’t normally take…
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not. If I haven’t written it, and I don’t intend to write it, is it really a scene at all? I mean, yes, there was the one where Farrant survived and he, John and Alfie…
I decided that I would like to try the first book of the Dresden files, but I have no more shelf space, and I have my new ereader, so I thought I would get it in ebook format. Bloody hell! They really do do everything in their power to stop you from reading your ebooks…
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them? I’ve written characters who are children (Oswy in the Witch’s Boy who is an 11 year old protagonist), and I’ve written my fanfiction characters as children. I’ve written Farrant running alongside his son’s pony, and Elizabeth Sheldrake with her baby, but…
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write? This one’s fairly easy. I’ve often said that my short stories consist entirely of putting two characters into a room and having them talk. I like to take characters who have very different points of view, who possibly dislike each other and have contempt for everything…
I’ve missed two days of meme this time, so here’s a new record – three at once 🙂 17. Favorite protagonist and why! That’s too hard. I love them all for different reasons. I like Sulien and John Cavendish because their combination of emotional sensitivity and barely leashed violence makes them explosive to write –…
I know I’m not the only Christian who has ever shaken their heads over the Fred Phelpses of this world, read some of the pronouncements of some of the Christian personalities and politicians in the USA and thought to themselves “that’s not what my faith is about at all! What happened to ‘God is Love’? …
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not! I have a kind of holy trinity of writers who I would like to grow up to be. They are, in no particular order, JRR Tolkien – the master of world-building, setting, plotting and invented history. He’s also (IMO) not given…
I went to see “How to Tame Your Dragon” yesterday and was absolutely charmed. I think if you like dragons and heroes who don’t quite fit in because they’re too clever and too wimpy/compassionate for their culture then this one is for you. Toothless the dragon completely steals the show, and I wish I could…
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not? I love the 18th Century in England (tell me something I don’t know!) It’s boisterous, loud, rude, self-confident, quintessentially English in a kind of lager-lout way, and yet at the same time it’s delicate, refined, intellectual, curious, self-controlled and full of groundbreaking new ideas about…
