Random Questions With Authors (sfw): Question #48

Erutaerc 2024-06-25 22:38:52 UTC #133

I couldn't answer. All my characters are creatures, so It'd be kinda weird to call any of them "attractive."
Wolliw probably has the most "book smarts", but Nur and Eris have a special kind of intuition, an internal "thinker" that leads them into the strangest of places.

Leyelle 2024-06-26 15:05:39 UTC #134

36: How old were you when you started writing?

As far as I can tell, I've been writing stories my entire life. I used to waste all my dad's printer paper illustrating my own books when I was so small I can't even remember how old I was. And I had so many Microsoft word files follow of children's stories, and books where the writing was totally inspired by the audio drama series I used to listen to, but I was 15 I started writing professionally. I got published for the first time in June of 2020, and since then I've been published (or slated to be published) five more times. Twice more for essays, once for a science fiction piece, once for my winning short story in the H.G. Wells Short Story Competition, and once for a poem in L.I.G.H.T. magazine. And I also have my three serialized novels "Rigamarole" "Damsel in the Red Dress" and "A Dozen Morning Glories"

All and all I don't have many years under my belt yet, so it's not the best for resumes, but I'm trying lol.

simpleSH29 2024-06-26 17:04:22 UTC #135

I was about 6 yrs old when I wrote my first two children's book-sized books for my parents. I wrote a book for them on Mother's Day and Father's Day that year. I continued writing short stories here and there during my free time. Then, when I was 19, I discovered fanfiction and my life changed forever.

I started fanfiction between college classes as a creative outlet and actually met my bestie on fanfiction (dot) net. I wrote fanfiction for a few years, mostly during fanfiction (dot) net's prime and when AO3 was becoming popular. I stopped for a little while because I hit a mental roadblock (depression) and dropped out of college but I still wrote down ideas here and there. I started writing a few short stories and oneshots when I went back to college.

Last year, I was taking a poetry class and started writing haikus as a form of therapy. I had written a lot of them so I started posting on Tapas because why not?

This year, I released my fantasy novel and I'm proud that I've kept up with the updates (<<<ignoring all the "on hiatus" fanfics she never finished writing).

Leyelle 2024-06-29 16:33:04 UTC #136

37: Do any of your characters look like real people you know, know of, or happen to have run into? If so did you meet them before or after you designed the characters?

A few of my characters are inspired by real people I've seen before in photographs and such, but most of them I don't know by name. My FL Alicia happens to be unreasonably like @beebutterbee for some strange reason though, and Kattar is partly inspired by Hwang Hyunjin, though all and all, he doesn't look very much like him beyond the round face and long hair. They both have small eyes, but they don't share an eye shape.

Essence's complexion is inspired by Nyakim Gatwech, and her build was inspired by African professional runners, but not one I can name specifically. Dominic's build was based on natural body-builders from the 20th century. Honey looks sort of like the journalist Herinne Ro and Tiffany Young, but not too much like their of them. Cocoa looks unreasonably like Beabadoobee but that was not intentional lol.

Tiffany just looks like a fairer skinned version of J Maya. My little sister thinks my drawing of Shaun looks like our mother.

skidiggy 2024-06-30 00:00:05 UTC #137

Excellent question. I get asked this every now and then about Apparent Secrets. I tried to go way out of my way to have my characters not resemble specific individuals. If anything, physical and personality traits are dispersed so much that any resemblance to people living or dead would be spooky, and unintentional. The closest I would ever come to referencing a person would be for poses (I can't draw hands or hair all that well).

Leyelle 2024-06-30 11:52:56 UTC #138

Most of my characters are at least loosely inspired by combinations of people i've seen before, probably largely because I want them all to feel like someone you could really meet in your city, or run into at a grocery store. I actually get a surprising amount of inspiration just by seeing people throughout my city and such (might be why so much of my cast is Hispanic, because that's the majority of what I run into lol)

Leyelle 2024-06-30 12:18:17 UTC #139

Which of your characters has the most interesting speech pattern/way of speaking (in your opinion?)

Everyone speaks differently than each other, right? How does that show itself in your stories?

Who has the most interesting speech pattern or way of speaking to you, in your stories.

I'd almost say it's hands down Melissa in "Damsel in the Red Dress" but I also just really love writing Mrs. Moon. With the sheer amount of babying and cooking over people that makes it into the way she speaks to basically everyone, it's so much fun to just hear her accent in my head as she calls everyone by a term of endearment in basically every sentence.

But still, Melly is just so crazy and chaotic and could ramble on for ages, which is super fun to write, IMAO, so I think I'll make it a tie between the two of them.

Leyelle 2024-06-30 12:48:47 UTC #140

For sure it's Essence. She's so complex that I feel like I'm never done learning to understand her. I'd spend a year getting to know her honestly, and probably still feel like there is more I need to know, so there is nothing to do but write.

Probably Shaun. She was originally written mostly to show the readers what Essence was like in yet another way, but as I worked more on the story and redid the ending, she gained more relevance, and she's gaining more and more over time, because the more I write, the more ideas I have for ways to include her into the story. She's just a really fun character and I enjoy writing her. I hope everyone will like her too XD.

This is hard to judge I think, but it might be Shaun. I really enjoy writing the way she talks. She's a little extra, but well-meaning.

rainwang 2024-06-30 14:24:54 UTC #141

Most of my characters are inspired by real people I know, or maybe a mix of them and some famous people :)) I know them even before the characters came to my mind.

Find out more about the Poppy Contract in Azure's second night in the Nunnery!

Letter Addressed To The Fire is a story told through documents, files, articles, newspaper clippings, journals, diaries, letters, and the likes, aside from the perspective of the protagonists. It explores loneliness and finding solace in a person amidst chaos and rivalry. See whether their relationship remains platonic by the end...

Please give it a shot! Thank you!

Leyelle 2024-06-30 19:24:27 UTC #142

mine is a mix. some people I've met or seen, some celebs, some just my imagination, sometimes characters

Leyelle 2024-07-04 15:51:52 UTC #143

39: If you could have any of your stories turned into another format, which would you choose?

I think DITRD could make either a good series of movies or a series. Since there are several books planned though, it would probably be better done as a series, unless I only make a movie for the first book. This isn't the MCU lol, so trying to make a long series of movies is probably not going to work out the best lol.

I don't think that an animated series or comic would suit it either but it certainly could be interesting.

Leyelle 2024-07-06 16:58:06 UTC #144

40: Have your scenes ever completely changed tones from the one you had planned?

This has happened with a number of my scenes, most notably "Black Bile" and the one that came out yesterday "Sidewalk Chalk."

It was originally just supposed to be a sweet little chapter giving Alicia and Kattar a chance for some stress-free romance. Instead it has become one of the most emotionally intense chapters in the book so far, but it's also one of my absolute favorites as it shows such a range of emotions between the two characters in such a short space of time that all make sense and flow seamlessly into each other. Irritation, hesitation, romance, embarrassment, anxiety, worry etc.

Leyelle 2024-07-06 19:29:48 UTC #145

I'd love a movie or short series made for "A Dozen Morning Glories" but a short animated movie or series in an anime style might work for it too.

Leyelle 2024-07-07 13:56:17 UTC #146

41: What is the scariest part of writing in your opinion?

For me, it's any time I get into medical technicalities. I don't know a lot about them, and all the research in the world doesn't make me confident that I'm doing it right. I'm probably not even doing enough research. It's daunting.

skidiggy 2024-07-11 00:41:40 UTC #147

For me, the scariest part of writing is when I get stuck / write myself into a corner. That's the worst, and sometimes keeps me in a slump for a while. If I'm stuck for more than a day or so, I'll write a different chapter and circle back to what I need to work on.

sophialyn 2024-07-11 06:12:23 UTC #148

If I could change the format of my graphic novel I would LOVE for it to be a spiderverse style animated show series (I love movies but each chapter should be its own episode)
I play around a lot with the formatting and the tonal change through the panels, it would be cool to change animation styles based on the genre I’m parodying or the era I’m jumping to!
I also have my picks for VAs so I’m READY

Leyelle 2024-07-11 13:10:18 UTC #149

yeah, this is pretty scary too, ngl. But fortunately the world is full of inspiration that can help us out of that rut.

Mansi_Gu 2024-07-11 15:27:28 UTC #150

Agarath and Aiden. This duo is smart and wicked. But, somehow, I also like the way they are built. Agarath, for example, is a morally gray character with bits of madness. I'd say they're the type of villains you think: "No, he wouldn't do that," but they do, and do their best impress you negatively

Mansi_Gu 2024-07-11 15:31:39 UTC #151

Writing in two idioms ️
There are some parts I like to write in my mother language, and there are other parts I like to write in English - not only to make my translating easier. For example, when describing things that need a thorough description and more depth, I write it in Portuguese. It goes for feelings and sweet moments as well. During this process, I brawl with grammar in both languages

Leyelle 2024-07-16 14:51:12 UTC #152

42 Who is your most emotional character?

In the world of "DITRD" it's Alicia. It's because she feels her emotions so strongly that it's so hard for her to function when things go poorly. It's also the cause of her whole meltdown in "Snow Man pt. 1"

In the world of "A Dozen Morning Glories" it might be Essence's mother Dorine.