Tag Archives: Question and Answer posts

“Catania’s Forest” Questions & Answers

Well, here we are.  A little later than I wanted, but here we are.  Enjoy!

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Who was your favorite character? (Jaidyn)

My personal favorites are Catania and Lythia.  I’m super happy with how Cat turned out (and she’s a lot like me!).  Sadly, you don’t actually get a lot of Lythia in the story, but I really love her.

Who was the hardest character to write? (Jaidyn)

Probably Jéru?  I thought he would be easy and straightforward.  He was not.  I always felt like he was slipping out of character. Tyre’s dialogue was also tricky.

Were there any plot twists? (Jaidyn)

Plot twists I wasn’t expecting?  Jéru giving Catania bread.  The line about her not remembering what bread tasted  like was already there, but her actually tasting it in the story was actually a surprise.

Which character was the easiest to come up with? (Jaidyn)

Like I said in the behind-the-scenes, Tyre came first.  (Catania and Jéru came next.)  Lythia  probably came the fastest–once I realized I needed her, she came pretty quickly.

Was this story harder or easier to write then some of the others? (Jaidyn)

Hmm. . . There was a lot more angst about Cat’s Forest, but there wasn’t as much writer’s block.  At least to the best of my memory. . .

What inspired you to write this story? (Jaidyn)

Like I said, the idea of a Narnian centaur being connected with the Christmas star is what inspired me first.  That’s where the idea of the plotline came from.  There were many, many other things that inspired smaller plot-points.  A lot of Cat’s archery is probably the result of my own hobby (and some of its inspiration probably lies in The Hobbit as well. 🙂 )

Was there anything that you had originally started with, but decided to take out of the story? If so, why? (Jaidyn)

Nothing comes to mind. . .  It was mostly the other way round with Cat’s Forest: random things popping up that I wasn’t expecting.

When did you decide that you wanted to do a retelling of The Little Drummer Boy? (Savannah)

When I first had the idea about Tyre and the star.  I had never even considered re-writing the little drummer-boy before I had that idea.  I’d only really thought about retelling fairytales, like some of my friends have done.

Will you ever expand on Cat’s story (maybe a prequel or a sequel? That would be epic *nodnod*)? (Savannah)

I knew Savannah would ask that, so I’ve been mulling over this answer for a while. 😉 The answer is: maybe.  Strong maybe. I’ve thought about what a sequel would entail–what author could help doing that?  I’m hoping a sequel will happen, especially because it will involve more of the gospel, which would be amazing to try to write about!

Disclaimer: No promises, I don't know if it will come together yet.  As of now, I have no inkling of a plot.

From what I have so far, I think a lot of it will take place in Hynara, not Syrelia, which will be interesting.

Cat would still be the main character, as far as I know, and Lythia will have to be involved, at least a bit.  Tyre has refused to be left behind, and Jéru wants to be in a little.  Actually, Jéru really wants to do something rash and get himself killed.  I keep telling him that’s not allowed and is going to make my readers unhappy (and that–trust me!–he doesn’t want to face Ellen’s wrath), but he won’t listen. It’s like I’m the one human in the cosmos who can’t make him do anything!  Unlike Tyre, who I can convince of almost anything if I’m tactful, and Moth, who does anything I say without a moment’s hesitation.

As for a prequel, I have considered writing a longer version of Cat’s Forest, including her life in the city, or at least her early friendship with Lythia.  I haven’t put a lot of thought into that idea though.

How many months did it take you to write this story? (Savannah)
How long did it take you to write this? (Cerra)

I have “3/3/16” written at the top of the notebook page with the first part of Cat’s Forest written on it, and I finished in November.  Which would mean nine months. . . wow, I didn’t realize it took that long!  Writing always takes longer than I expect.

What was your favorite part to write? (Skylar)

Hm. . . probably the first one with Moth and Horbrid.  I love writing dialogue!  The conversation on the road with Tirim and Tyre was also fun (once again, dialogue!).

Do you like writing retellings or stories you come up with completely on your own best? (Skylar)

Well, that’s a hard question to answer.  Cat’s Forest was actually my first retelling.

(Unless you count The Sacrifice, which I guess was a retelling of St. George and the dragon, though it wasn’t exactly supposed to be.)

I don’t think I’ll ever stop coming up with original stories, but I’m starting to fall in love with retellings.  Personally, I think my strong point in fiction writing is detail, not overall plotlines, so I love retellings, as they give you a storyline to start with, and you get to add the names, the details, the characters, etc.

Are you planning on posting another story anytime soon ?? (Skylar)

Currently, there is no story for the blog actually in the works.  But there will most likely be one soon, because I can’t help myself, and I know you guys will pester me about it, like you always do.  You’re hard to resist.

What part was your favorite? (Cerra)

I’m pretty happy with how the last couple parts turned out, and the part with the fight on the road makes me happy, because so many of you liked it.

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And that’s it.  Thank you all for asking great questions (they were fun to answer!), and for reading my story and giving me feedback!

It was super encouraging to know you all enjoyed reading Cat’s Forest!  How many of you would be interested in reading a sequel, if I wrote one?

“The Sacrifice” Questions and Answers

Hey, readers!  I’m here to answer all the questions asked about The Sacrifice in the comments of this post.  I’m really excited about sharing this. 😉

 

“Do YOU have a favorite character?” by Savannah

Probably Gimel or Penelope.

“How do you pronounce Gimel’s name?” by Savannah

Well, like I said, it’s a Biblical name.  I have no idea how you’re supposed to pronounce it!  I have been saying “GUY-mel”.

“… is there the possibility of a sequel? ?” by Savannah
“Will you be writing more, like a sequel, of the Sacrifice?” by Ariel

“That’s highly restricted information you’re asking for”, girls.  Okay, fine, I’ll tell you: Yes.  There is a great possibility.  No promises, ‘kay?  But there is definitely the possibility.

“Which was your favorite part to write? Which was your least?” by Savannah

Well, like I said in the Behind-the-Scenes post, a lot of the first parts with Sir Richard were hard to write.  It took me quite a while to think of a good ending too, but once I figured out what I wanted to do it came pretty fast.  The easiest ones to write were all the conversations and fights with the dragon. 😉

“If you could literally meet one of your characters in The Sacrifice, who would you pick?” by Savannah

Uh. . . wow!  That’s hard!  Probably Penny or Henry. 🙂

“Which character would do the best if they were suddenly put into the modern world?” by Savannah

How’d you think of such hard questions, Savannah?  I want to say Sir Richard, as he’s been in a lot of weird situations and he’s good at thinking on his feet.  But he has put a lot of confidence on the Sword of Ereth, and that might cause trouble in a modern world.

“Who’s your favorite person out of the whole royal family?” by Jaidyn

Um. . . I don’t know!  I like them all.  Probably Penelope or Henry, but that might just be because they’re main characters.  King Cedric was pretty fun to work with though!

“If you went into your story and wanted a tour of the palace, who do you think would be the best tour guide?” by Jaidyn

Hmm. . . Probably Henry?

“Who did you most enjoy writing?” by Ariel

Penelope and Abadalyx. 🙂  But like I said earlier, the King was pretty fun too!

“Who do you like better out of Cyrus and Snowflake?” by Ariel

Wow, I really had to think about this one!  Probably Cyrus.  Yes, I’m playing favorites.  Please don’t be offended, Horse-people, dogs are my favorite animal.  I do really like how Snowflake turned out though.

“If you could actually BE any of the characters in your story, who would you choose to be, and why??” by Skylar

Penelope, because 1) she’s a girl 🙂 and 2) she’s a princess!  How fun would that be?  There is the whole dragon-issue, but at least there’s a happy ending, right?

“If you could be best friends with any of the characters, who would you choose???” by Skylar

Cyrus?  Or does it have to be a person?  Out of the people, Penelope.

“Which one of the characters could you most see having a spin-off story?” by Skylar

Oh my word, you guys want all the spoilers!  Okay, I’m feeling nice: Sir Richard.  I’m thinking about writing a story about all his adventures with his sword in other kingdoms, before The Sacrifice takes place.

“Which of the characters was easiest to name??” by Skylar

Penelope, Henry, and Gimel’s names came pretty fast.  And as soon as Spencer suggested the name Abadalyx the Insatiably Greedy, I knew it was perfect.  All the horses were easy to name too.

“Which of the characters was hardest to name??” by Skylar

Cyrus was hard to name, and I almost went with some of the names Spencer suggested for him, but in the end went with Cyrus because it was a Biblical name like Jael.  The King and Queen were also hard to name–so hard I needed two whole blog posts asking for help before I got them both named!

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And I think that’s it.  Thank you to everyone who asked questions–you had some good ones!  I hope you had as much reading this as I had writing it!

Happy Friday!