B? D! (for Devil's Hell/Inferno) F! Oh gosh, K for sure. Q *hint, hint* and, of course, S and T.
B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?
In terms of plot and action, not really no, my life doesn’t really include assassins and multi-species war but I do draw on personal emotional experience to ground character development and presence in reality. For example, descriptions of pain come from my experience since I had a chronic illness (ME) for 5 years and have had a migraine since September, so paying attention to the feel of such things makes for a more original and evocative expression, I think/hope.
D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with Devil’s Hell/Inferno?
I write to this amazing mix of scores and I’ve noted in Inferno that several Shawn Colvin songs give me Matt/Jess feels. I also think this amazing Eskies song is a great metaphor for the presence and pull of violence in Matt’s life too. Plus Iain, the singer, looks like Elden Henson, which is cool.
F: Share a snippet from one of your favourite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
THAT IS HARD TO ANSWER MY GOODNESS but here’s one that stuck out to me:
“My dear people,” she called out, her voice as warm and welcoming as an evening fire. “I thank you for meeting with me. We have much to discuss and the sun will not delay its setting, even for a queen.” A very forced chuckle rippled through the crowd. “You have come here in fear and anger, and rightly so. The rumours running like rats through Shanvalya are as poisonous to our city’s health. I pray, hear me, and my words shall be your antidote. But, my good friends,” she added, tightening her expression in what those beyond the great fountain would interpret as a smile, “I do not expect you to listen to me over a growling stomach. We shall talk over dinner, as lords and ladies do.”
So this is the second chapter from the antagonist’s perspective, Axia, the Archer Queen. She’s addressing 500 poor, scared people in the capital city of the oldest human realm, from whence the looming war is stretching. Axia never smiles but pretends to in this scene. Her thoughts show her contempt for the people – she sees kids climbing on statues to see and remembers when she had to do that too, when she was a malnourished orphan with guttercough desperate to know the life of the lords and ladies. Axia’s one of my favourite characters ‘cause she is the hero of another story and it’s only in this that she’s a villain, years after she became queen. This marks the start of a speech that was really hard to write: it introduces the reader to the foundations of the war, the enmity between two races, shows that Axia is clearly up to some shady shenanigans but also that she truly believes in what she’s doing and that her logic makes sense (but is missing a few crucial steps). She ingratiates herself to the crowd so well and manipulates them effortlessly – despite having just had a panic attack before coming on stage ‘cause she’s afraid of public speaking and has severe dyslexia and couldn’t read her speech. There’s lots going on and even more that has to come across very organically and economically in this speech so crafting it took some doing. I based her rhetoric in this scene off Trump and Hitler and so far everyone who read it commented some variation of “she needs to die now please” so I’m very pleased with it so far!
"My family is worth the legacy that will outlive us," she said, her voice cold and steady. "Yours will be forgotten once your son is dead."
Which the protagonist, Nyra, says to the one man she trusted above all others as he bleeds to death having tried to kill her and professing that his son is going to kill her father. It’s just such a queenly, killer line and it’s a flicker of the confidence and surety Nyra grows to have.
K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?
Oof. Well about 0.02 seconds after thinking up a character who’s dream is to be in the elite royal guard I decided when and how he was gonna have his right arm (yep, his warrior’s arm) amputated sooo that’s pretty angsty. Also all the stuff that happens to Matt in IGH is, y’know, a lot. Plus I have a fic-in-waiting where Matt gets beaten almost to death by fisk and then strung up on a crucifix, soooo. Yeah. I’m a whump goblin.
Q: How do you feel about collaborations?
Never done one (college assignments and short films excluded) but I’m really intrigued by how two writers would work together and would definitely be up for it in the future.
S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?
Does blood count? Whump? Angst of almost any kind?
T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?
Shipping actors together, especially at cons and such to their faces.
Thanks bae :*"Melkin will show you, girl," Riggs whispered, strength draining from his voice. "He'll show you what a real r-ruler is. He-he'll show you – w-what you and y-your – f-family is worth." Nyra knelt beside Fallira, embracing the brittle calm consuming her. "My family is worth the legacy that will outlive us," she said, her voice cold and steady. "Yours will be forgotten once your son is dead."
