Raven: Hey folks, I’m your snazzy moderator and transcriber for the afternoon. I’m a multi-award winning science fiction and fantasy author and artist who has been published on the moon (No, really!). As I sit here, most of the world is on lock down or quarantine as the Covid19 pandemic rages. Being high risk, I’ve been self-quarantined for four weeks now, and I miss game night with my friends. I know I’m not alone though. Tell the readers about yourselves. How are you handling all this?
Leah: I’m Leah, horse-psychologist and polymath, and I’m surviving.
Stephen: Ugh. I am not designed for social isolation. Time to catch up on shows and such is cool, but time is just draining. I also hate talking about myself.
H.M.: In 1984, I was born a geek, continued being a drama/art/English geek throughout my many years of schooling, and figured I might as well keep the streak going. That being said, I’m fantastic. I have time with my kids, pup, and husband. I only wish for more writing time, but the kids still think I’m cool, so they want my attention. They will learn…
Melinda: I write fantasy stories about a fun bunch of characters who refuse to stay inside my books. Speaking of…I’m currently hiding from a bunch of them. I know what you’re thinking, but they’re not fictional. They’re real, and they’re in my apartment… They want more page time! Oh, how am I doing? Not too bad, thanks for asking.
Anela: I’m an author of speculative fiction (usually with a little romance and a lot of sarcasm), currently working on new fantasy books, and washing my hands. Today I’m feeling medium-rare.
Raven: I imagine when we look back at this conversation, it’ll feel weird to think on how having so much time could be both good and a curse. Some of you have been using the time for writing, while others have spent it with family or catching up on hobbies and cleaning.
Lee: If there’s an apocalypse on, I’m going to clean.
Alesha: Why? I don’t like cleaning when the world isn’t ending!
Lee: No one wants to be in an accident and found in dirty clothes, right? Well, I don’t want to have a dirty house. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Toasha: Marie Kondo forever! This brings joy to my life.
Raven: Speaking of organization and being concise in your life, if you could describe your writing in one word, what would it be? (I’m going to stick to some of the more unique answers on this one.)
Gwendolyn: Surprising.
Anela: Hopeful.
H.B.: Gritty.
C.K.: Sprawling.
Raven: Many of you who I didn’t quote, mentioned your writing being character-driven or story-driven, or fantastical or tech-driven, which fits the speculative fiction genres well.
Toasha: I think by definition, fantasy is fantastical. If it isn’t, it might not be fantasy. Same as how we expect science fiction to have advanced technology. It’s not surprising to hear those words come up in describing one’s work.
Raven: True. Readers have certain expectations when they pick up a genre story. Part of why we enjoy the books we do is because they either fit or bend those expectations in a unique way. One question that gets asked of writers is the dreaded deserted island question. You know the one—“If you were deserted on an island with three books, which would they be?”
Erik:
Raven: Some people pick useful books, texts that would help them survive, while others stick to the enjoyable texts that would give them comfort. Where do you find yourselves on this? I know I’m probably bring a mix of the two.
H.B.: I’d bring Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Stand, and The Complete Works of Shakespeare.
C.S.: I’m a mix, too, as I’d bring The Bible, for my soul; a comprehensive herb and plant encyclopedia, for my health; and a blank notebook to keep me amused.
Stephen: Helpful all the way: Boy Scout’s Guide Book. The Lost Ways. An empty 5-section engineers’ notebook (those are books that have college ruled paper on one side and graphing paper on the other).
Gwendolyn: Do I have to choose only three? That’s cruel and unjust! The first book I would bring is Exiles: The Ruins of Ambri by Melanie Rawn. It flips gender roles on their heads, has compelling characters, and so many blindsided twists and turns that it’s hard to put down. My second book would be The Stand by Stephen King. I’ve read it four times, and every time I read it, I find new details that I somehow missed before, and it gets better with every read. For my last book, I would try to sneak in the entire Cradle series by Will Wight! Action, the underdog winning the day creatively, and a good dose of humor make the entire series worth reading over and over again.
Raven: I haven’t read Exiles: The Ruins of Ambri in a long, long time. Now I feel the need to go back and reread it.
Leah: I’m with Stephen as I’d want to survive, so I’d bring a guide to complete cabin-building, an electronics textbook, and a book on astronomy.
Anela: Why not just ask me which of my children I love best?
Raven: Okay, okay, we’ll move on from the cruelty question, and on to something completely random. What’s your favorite season of the year and why? For this, we’ll do a quick poll as well.
Spring: 4
Summer: 4
Fall: 9
Winter: 4
Raven: So most of us prefer fall. Interesting.
Tiffany: I prefer spring as it’s somewhere in between hot and cold. You have nice weather without it being too hot or freezing cold.
Barbara: Autumn! I love when the extreme, chaotic activity of a hot and thoroughly enjoyable summer relaxes into the last warm breeze and newly crisp evenings of Autumn. The world takes a few languid last breaths and offers up bounteous crops and lovely autumn flowers, then resigns itself to a cold and cleansing winter, hunkering down until the glorious renewal of spring.
Alesha: How can anyone follow an answer like that? I mean, if I say “I like fall,” that somehow sounds totally inadequate.
William: I’m brave, so I’ll answer! I like fall because it’s a transitional period, and the colors are amazing.
H.M.: I love the smell of wet earth and decomposing leaves. I love to scoop out the slimy guts of cold gourds and bake the slippery seeds to a crisp. I love the feeling of ghosts on the breeze. Fall, of course, is my answer. The season of layers and spooky stories.
Raven: Something about that answer could almost sway me, though I’m a winter baby myself. Something about the crispness in the air, and the bareness of winter trees… It wakes me up to the knowledge that we are a small part of a much larger universe.
Lee: I like that. In mythology, winter has always served to teach others about death and rebirth, the chance to begin again with a clean slate.
Raven: Speaking of clean slates, when you start a new book, story, or whatever—it is a clean slate. You have to create all new characters and worlds. Some authors start as pansers and write by the seat of their pants (e.g. no outline). Some are plotters and plan their writing before they begin (outline). Are you a panser or plotter or somewhere in-between/a mix of the two? Let’s get a quick poll on this one too.
Pansers: 6
Plotters: 2
Mix of both/in-between: 13
Raven: So most of us use a mix of the two techniques. I figure that might be true for most authors.
C.S.: I’m an in-between; I call it a “jazzer,” since I describe it as writing with jazz hands.
Erik: I’m officially stealing that.
Lee: Not if I stole it first.
Joy: Um…I wear shorts. I jot down a quick four sentence outline, then I dive in. From there, I outline as I go.
Raven: Does anyone here use zero-drafting? My zero-draft is a mix of outline and snippets of dialogue or description. Whatever pops into my head. It usually ends up about 30-40,000 words long, and I use that as my loose outline. But I’m up for changes as they appear since we all know
characters sometimes order us in a different direction than we (writers) expected.
Toasha: Absolutely. Especially if they are dragons.
Raven: Speaking of dragons…
Stephen: A muse. I want to inspire people to excellence.
Joy: A dryad because I love being alone in the forest, surrounded by trees and all of nature.
Majanka: Hopefully a vampire, because I’ve always been fond of those, although they’re a little bloodthirsty.
Devorah: A dragon. I have one, you know. He goes on tour with me.
Leah: Dragon here, too. It’s all about the eyes…
Raven: Wait, how many of us would say dragon?
C.K.: Well, technically I’d be half-man, half-dragon.
C.S.: I want to be a supermodel who can eat like a sumo wrestler. I think I would enjoy that.
Raven: I think we’d all enjoy that! Maybe that’s a superpower you could have. Speaking of eating, I had another author ask me this question the other day. I couldn’t answer it without a ton of thought, so I’ve been horrifically mean and have been asking it of every author I can. If you had to go the rest of your life without cheese or chocolate, which would you choose to give up?
Cheese: 10
Chocolate: 8
Both: 3
Raven: While I agree with you all on giving up cheese over chocolate, I’m surprised at how many of us would do that! Chocoholics unite!
Joy: I disagree and say cheese! Okay, all my fellow Wisconsinites, don’t hunt me down and smear cheese all over my car because I’m a traitor.
Gwendolyn: Asking me to choose between cheese or chocolate is cruel and unusual. I love chocolate and triple X sharp cheddar. Those are gifts from the gods! Can I trade back and forth? Only have chocolate one week, cheese the next? If push came to shove… I guess I would choose to keep cheese because I cover everything I can with it! I’d give up chocolate.
H.M.: Cheese, but I’d be none too happy. I feel like I might be violent without chocolate in my life.
Raven: Same. Especially during a pandemic where there’s no toilet paper, flour, or yeast to be found anywhere.
Melinda: I’d ditch cheese, too. I had to give it up years ago because of digestive issues. Pass the chocolate, please, but make sure it’s the dark one.
Majanka: Such a tough one. I love both! But I would have to say chocolate, because imagining spaghetti or lasagna without cheese is impossible.
A.R.: Mmmm…good question. I’m going to say chocolate. I actually gave it up for almost two years. I love cheese more I think.
Raven: Okay, how in the world can you live with giving up both?
Alesha: Me. I work hard to eat healthy!
Raven: That you do! I know Alesha listens to music while working out at the gym, but what about music when writing? Do you listen or no? I know some authors have entire playlists published in their books.
Write with music: 10
Write without music: 3
Both / It depends: 8
Anela: I play songs with certain moods before writing to get my head in the right place. During writing, I need silence. Or a YouTube playback of thunderstorms.
Devorah: I write with music, specifically jazz fusion instrumentals for white noise.
Tiffany: Depends on what I’m writing as sometimes I find music too distracting, especially if it’s music with lyrics. Although I do sometimes listen to instrumental music if I need to get in the mood for a sad or action-packed scene.
Majanka: Without music. I can’t concentrate when doing two things at once.
Toasha: Me either.
Melinda: I write with music that has no words because I focus better with a soundtrack for the scene I’m writing.
Barbara: Both, really. I have favorite songs that set the mood for what I want to write that day. Sometimes, I sit down in a perfectly quiet house (the kids are grown and off on their own now) and write until I’m exhausted. I love music so very much! There is always something playing in my head anyway, sometimes even in my dreams, so whether or not there is music playing in the room doesn’t really matter. Music and writing will always be a part of my life.
Raven: I’m similar to Tiffany and Barbara most of the time, though if I’m struggling with a scene, I need quiet. I have playlists by mood (sad, celebration, action/adventure, fighting, angry, etc.) that I play so that the music matches the mood of the scene I’m writing. 99% of the music I write to is from movie or video game soundtracks because otherwise, I’ll sing along if it has lyrics. Speaking of movies…
Alesha: Uh, oh. Are we going to have to pick our favorite movie, because you’ve already tortured us with books.
Lee: Agreed! Down with the favorite movie question!
Raven: I’m not asking that, but I am asking a challenging question. If your life was a movie, what movie would it be?
Leah: That’s easy! National Velvet.
Anela: The Neverending Story. I’m so that kid. Head in the clouds, feet definitely not on the ground.
C.S.: It would be an artistic, indie one that would develop a cult following until my already outdated opinions on things would get me canceled.
Toasha: Too soon! #RIPFirefly
Devorah: I don’t go to the movies, so it’s hard to say.
Barbara: Oh, wow. I truly have no idea! But with my luck, I’d end up in some sci-fi or horror flick where everyone dies… ACK!
William: The World According to Garp. Definitely.
A.R.: Ha! Practical Magic. I get myself into some trouble at times, but I always find a way to work things out.
Majanka: At the moment, I’m afraid it would be a little like the movie Contagion, with the virus outbreak wrecking through the world.
Raven: I could see that considering the movie Outbreak is currently trending on Netflix. Eek, this panel wasn’t supposed to turn dark here. Let’s talk about writing again. Describe your writing style in three or fewer words.
Tiffany: A chaotic mess. That’s how it feels at the moment as I’m working on a new book for an entirely new epic fantasy series which is very different from anything else I’ve written.
Lee: Dragons! Magic! YA!
C.S.: Musical stabbing.
Stephen: Character over glamor.
William: Ever-changing.
Melinda: Sometimes snarky.
Raven: I was going to say that! Well, I was going to say: snarky, wry, and thought-provoking.
Anela: Lyricism with sass.
Raven: Love it. Though if I were a romance writer, I’d totally steal that and say “lyricism with ass.” Sorry, that’s my snark poking through. Bad moderator. Bad, bad!
Raven: This brings us to the end of our panel. Any last thoughts or comments for the readers? Perhaps where they can find more information about you?
H.M.: I’m prolific and have tried writing everything from fantasty/sci-fi to graphic novels to political coloring books. So if they enjoy that stuff, they can go to my website: www.hmjones.net.
Leah: If readers enjoy poetic, evocative, and flavorful writing, they can find me at: www.Ghost-Stalkers.com and at my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/leah.vandinther
Devorah: I write to explore the answer to the question “What if this happened?” Readers can join me to find the answers at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006L9BJAO
Joy: I’m a pharmacist, zoo manager, mother, wife, and writer of romantic paranormal fiction, not in order of importance. Come find out more at: http://www.joynellschultz.com
Barbara: Glad you asked! I am presently writing a Shared Setting, a world of my own making which I am sharing with several other writers, (Gwendolyn Woodschild, Leah W. Van Dinther, Ed Greenwood) who are contributing
fabulous ideas to this world at large. We each write our own stories within that world, but frequently share our characters, writing them into the other author’s stories and sharing a cameo/scene/chapter where we choose. It’s marvelous! Our world is an urban, very paranormal setting that started with a simple premise: What do you do when you discover ghosts are real? Then I added magic and ‘what if’s’ and characters and clues and mysteries and… well, you get the idea. You can find us at www.Ghost-Stalkers.com!
Majanka: If you like story-oriented writing, check me out on my website, http://majankaverstraete.com
A.R.: I’m a small town girl trying to make it in the big wide world. Find out whether I’m successful at arjohnstonauthor.wordpress.com.
C.S.: For more information and exclusive content and surprises, find me at http://www.Ko-fi.com/writercsjohnson or https://www.subscribestar.com/c-s-johnson.
Stephen: You can go to https://swallaceworks.com for my primary website, follow me on twitter at https://twitter.com/wallace_author.
Tiffany: I don’t eat cheese much and I don’t like chocolate, but I’m still awesome. Check out my website www.tiffanyshand.com.
William: I am a day dreamer and world builder who loves cats. Join me at: www.kiltedfiend.com.
Melinda: I take long walks with my fictional characters. Join us on the path at https://melindakucsera.com/the-curse-breaker-saga/.
C.K.: I love to write dragon battles, and I drink far too much coffee. Join me at www.CKRieke.com.
Anela: My newsletters always start with a Fun Fact about me (my attempt to be less introverted) and the more I do them, the more I realize I’m…kinda odd? But in a fun way. If that sounds fun, you can find me on my blog: amidtheimaginary.wordpress.com Or via my monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cNQ3iH
Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4) Page 150