29 March 2019

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

I’m Swiss so chocolate runs in my veins, so that’d be it. A really creamy one, with chocolate chips inside.

Which mythological creature are you most like?

Oh, that’s a good question. I love mythologies and studying them is a hobby of mine. Not really sure what you mean by “creature” though, so I’m going with the wide meaning of the term… as in any living being and not just monsters. In that case, I think I’m Scheherazade from the 1,001 Nights.

Scheherazade was a clever storyteller, and she used her talent to save her life. She told the king a gripping story, but stopped in the middle as dawn was breaking. So, the king spared her life for one day to finish the story the next night. The following night, Scheherazade finished the story and then began a second, even more exciting tale, which she again stopped halfway through at dawn. Again, the king spared her life for one more day so she could finish the second story and so-forth for 1,001 nights.

First book you remember making an indelible impression on you.

Stephen King’s IT—but that’s because I was way too young to read it. It’s a great story, and I re-read it a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. But it’s also very twisted and I was too young for that the first time around. That did teach me something about the power of words, and how they can leave a mark.

How do you develop your plot and characters?

I’m a character-oriented writer so I start there. I flesh out my characters, who they are, where they’re going. Stories, to me, are an emotional journey to take your characters from emotional point A, to emotional point B. They need to grow and mature throughout the story, for it to be interesting.

So that’s where I start. When I know what I want them to do, I craft a story that allows them to achieve that emotional growth. And then I outline everything, before the actual writing begins.

Describe your writing space.

It’s just me and my laptop, really. And the many folders I have on my hard drive with all the stuff I need. There are folders focused on the characters, some with reference pictures or extracts from research books I read, some have the story arcs and plot twists and stuff.

Originally posted @ New In Books