Author Interview With Myself
Written & annotated edition
This is a bit of a fluffed-up transcript of a recent 5-part video series I did where I interviewed myself (link to the full video at the end of this post). I will expand upon a few answers in this blog, so it should be a little more cohesive. Do keep in mind I’m ADHD, so I bounce from topic to topic.
With that said, enjoy!
Q: What inspired you to write these particular books?
A: What I’ve written is The Five Realms trilogy with its companion novella, The Restless King. I started writing Catching Pathways, the first book, in 2019. Funny story, it was actually right after I was diagnosed with ADHD and I got onto the correct medication that I started writing like crazy again.
I have been writing since I was a little girl, but it’s been a while. I’m not so little anymore.
And, so, I got on my ADHD meds in 2019 and within about 8 months I had written, edited, and published Catching Pathways.
What inspired me to write the stories was I read a lot of stories where the protagonist was pulled into another world, and I always wanted to know—well, what happens after they grow up? What happens, especially, if they found out that what they were doing was wrong?
Which ends up being a central question of the first book here.
That Maeve, who had been pulled into the Realms as a teenager and did this whole epic quest, de-throning the Fae king and crowning a human sorcerer friend of hers… and then it ends up that he [the sorcerer] went completely batshit. So, Mr. Deposed King comes to get her and is like, you done fucked up let’s see if we can fix this.
Edited note for written edition: The TL;DR version is that I was inspired by the idea of what it would be like to go back to a world of fantasy, after having thought it was long in your past. I wanted to know what someone would do if they realized they’d been fooled before, and they now had to rectify their mistakes, not because they were bad, but just because they had the incorrect information at the time.
Q: What do I hope readers are going to take away from my books?
A: My primary motivation for writing is to entertain people. To provide the escape that one needs in order to remain sane in the current climate.
I really hope, honestly, that readers take away the sense of no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, there’s always the ability to change, and there’s always the ability to do better.
Q: What’s one thing I know now that I wish I had known when I started writing?
A: In thirty years, this book (holding up Catching Pathways) is actually my 14th finished novel? You’re not going to see the first 12! The 13th got published but pulled. Number 14 here? Let’s put it this way, every story is different. Every single story has its own demands and its own challenges.
I think the primary thing to remember when you’re engaging with something like a story is that you’re really engaging with something that’s like a living, breathing, sentient entity. You have to respect it. You have to acknowledge it. You need to collaborate with it.
I have not had a stable enough life, novel to novel, to know what really works and what doesn’t, because my life has been a chaos fest. So… yeah.
Edited note for written edition: There are many cultures and people who believe that creativity is something outside of ourselves, and that’s what I’m referencing in this answer. I believe in it, myself, though I think it’s a combination of internal and external that makes a true creative piece.
Q: Did I use an outline, or do I go off the seat of my pants?
A: I’m an in-betweener with a lot of things.
Every single time I’ve ever done an outline, chapter beats, scene beats, and really tried to nail down exactly where the story is going before I start writing it… every single time I do that, I start writing the story, the characters get their own thoughts into their heads, and off we fucking go.
I’m what I like to call a ‘plantser’, a plotter and a pantser.
There is something to me intrinsic in writing that I shouldn’t know everything about the story when I start out. That there should be things that are surprises to me, because then they’ll surprise you.
Edited note for written edition: I do have a general plot for each story, yes, but what comes out at the end is usually completely different from whatever plotted idea there was originally, and whatever the finished product is? It’s better.
Q: How many drafts did I go through to get to the finished product?
A: Catching Pathways: 3
Catching Embers: 6
Catching Shadows: 10!
The Restless King: 5?
A lot.
Q: What advice would you give aspiring authors in your genre?
A: Don’t be afraid to read what you’re writing, your genre, the type of story you’re writing? Don’t be afraid to read those types of stories. Part of why we write what we write is because we enjoy it. So don’t lose that joy, of enjoying your particular niche.
Q: If I were at a bar right now and four whiskey’s in, what authors would I admit to stealing from?
A: None.
We do pick little bits and pieces off people, and places, and things. I call it ‘Gathering’.
Gathering is when you take any sort of information, stimulus, entertainment, all of that, and you’re condensing it down into you, and through you, you are creating more stuff.
I’m a firm believer that we all kind of recycle material, and in that process of chewing it up, regurgitating some of it, that we are adding something and imprinting something onto it that is particularly us.
Edited note for written edition: But if you want to know my inspirations for my written work, I’d point to Carl Sagan’s entire body of work, C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, and Garth Nix’s Abhorsen books.
Q: Is there a particular scene or a passage in my books that I’m particularly proud of?
A: Yeah.
Yeah, there is.
(Holds up Catching Pathways)
End of the first book. Yeah.
My betas were reading this when I was first considering publishing it, and I actually had one beta reach out to me as they were going through it, and they were like, hey! I just got to scene, you know what, and I need to know, does it work out like THIS? Or like THAT?
They were basically like, you have to spoil this for me right now or I’m not going to continue.
This was before they knew who I was. Have faith that I give you a Happily Ever After, okay? I do give you a Happily Ever After, I just take you on a bit of a journey to get there.
Q: What passages and sections of the books gave you the most difficulty to write?
A: The most difficulty came from this whole (holds up Catching Shadows) fucking thing…
This is the finale.
It went through a lot of drafts.
I think I wrote close to half a million words for this novel, and most of it was really difficult.
When I went from book 2 to book 3, I was basically like I hope you enjoyed all of your reprieves, because in book three, it’s going to be balls to the walls fucking crazy.
Q: What surprising discoveries did you make during your writing process?
A: Who Maeve’s daddy ends up being? That was kind of a big surprise to me.
He’s an interesting character, for sure. He actually has a few chapters in the third book.
Edited note for written edition: That, and the Big Discovery/Epiphany of how The Five Realms tied into the stories I’d been working on since my teenager years, the Dark Wings stories.
Q: How has my writing evolved since I first started publishing?
A: I think that my writing constantly evolves, and has since I first started writing.
I do have some trouble going back to my old work because it’s just like, oh! Oh, man. Cringe.
Those are manuscripts, though, that’s a first draft.
But! When it comes to looking back at the published books? Something like that went through multiple rounds of editing, feedback, and changes.
I actually can re-read the books, and I do. It does feel a little egotistical to be like, yeah I read my own books, but—well, it’s a series so I need to remember what the fuck I wrote.
Edited note for written edition: I honestly think the biggest evolution was simply accepting my writing for being where it is, at whatever point I’m at. Acceptance is huge and a boost to creativity like nothing else.
Q: Do I write for an audience or do I write primarily for myself?
A: I’d say when I first started and I was very young, I was definitely writing just for myself. It wasn’t until I was in High School and I started sharing my work with other people, and started to post writing online, that I started taking in feedback from other people.
It was great because it really helped me improve my writing.
Now, with the fully published books? I did write these with the thought of writing something popular, interesting, and entertaining. I want to entertain people.
My big hope when it comes to someone that read or is reading my books is that they’re surprised. Whatever ‘it’ is. Whatever I’ve done, this time.
Q: Which character out of these books do you identify the most with?
A: I’m more like Jen.
Jen’s like a loudmouth, swearing, queer, fun person. I don’t know. I like her a lot. I would identify more with her than with my main character.
My main character does go through some stuff that is reminiscent of my own life, but she takes it differently, she does different things with it. She doesn’t do what I would have done.
I love Maeve. She’s a great character. She’s a wonderful protagonist to work with, but—she has her flaws.
That is all for the interview questions and answers. I do definitely have trouble staying on-track sometimes, but I hope my additional notes were helpful.
If you want to see the full video interview, you can see it on YouTube here:
https://youtu.be/JNKyLa0NjB4?si=3ewaxFHJptss1CSu
Cheers,
Danielle
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