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Sunday, February 20, 2022

Author Q&A: The Returnination Edition

Haven't had one of these in...yeah, I actually don't remember, so...go ahead and ask whatever.

Prepare to be hit with the RAFO (Read And Find Out).

And also realize that we're talking over a million words of content here across 13 novels and I might not remember everything correctly off the top of my head, but I'll try.

And if you're a Goodreads user, head over to the blog to ask your questions there!

2/22 Update:  Taking some time off the net to try to focus in on WAR TO END ALL WARS over the "check your sales and adverting every hour" addiction I'm yet again developing.  Keep asking and I'll get to them all in due time!

2/27 Update:  AM very much addicted to checking sales, advertising numbers, and the news out of Ukraine, plus my back is being a bastard, so...we're going to wrap this up!  I'm spending a week with the laptop in the closet to reset my brain and then I'm going to get into WAR TO END ALL WARS.  Love all of you for sticking with me and happy you're still so engaged and interested in where the story is going!  But it's time for me to get back to writing and not basking in that new release glow.

37 comments:

  1. Has it been your experience that, as you write, your characters tend to have their own ideas about themselves? Ideas that perhaps are different from your original imagining of the character?

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    1. An outline is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules and all that.

      I purposely don't constrain myself during writing to a fixed A --> B ---> C style. If you plan in the expansion and contractions then you allow for inspiration and you give the characters breathing room to go where they may.

      Obviously there are fixed points you work your way towards and really the biggest effort I put forward is owning those moments so they feel natural and not forced.

      I don't ever want you readers to go "oh this is what RR wanted to happen so it happened". I put a lot of thought in before I even sit down in front of the computer to imagine the different courses conversations and scenes can take before you get the first draft and then things change in editing too. Even then, things can be pretty frayed at times and I wish I'd worked a problem more. Having students murdered without making the Asylum faculty completely idiotic was probably the hardest and even then there's a part of me really frustrated by the fact that having already told the reader it's Isabel makes how that all played out look very unfair to them.

      I do know what you're talking about. I don't know if it's just that I'm so many novels deep into being an author at this point that I've kind of pre-baked around the scenario so that it doesn't happen as often, but I do remember very vividly when I was 18/19 working on a fantasy novel at the time and I just realized there was no way this pious character would take something that was stolen even though it was very serious to the plot, so that became its own subplot on how do you get there and hey, when he finally does it there's going to be a big moment too.

      A good early lesson that making inspiration work FOR me and not being rigid is the way I want to write.

      With the Tapes its much more...scenes growing or me deciding on a hard cut if something is boring, or realizing 12 school stories is too many, much more about structure and plot than character. Also, events have played out way faster than I originally planned, you weren't supposed to even meet Meteyos or see the Geo Realm until FM6 and instead they came in much, much earlier.

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    2. Which is why I (mostly humorously) say "I don't DO outlines." And then make a warding off evil gesture. True that once you have lived with the characters in your head- and on the page- for a long time, you know them better. Not that they can't surprise you, just that there are fewer moments of having them rebel against their interlocutor.

      One of the great pleasures of writing (for me) has been recognizing a problem and finding a way to write the solution into the story, instead of scrapping everything and starting over.

      With the KH novels (and shorter pieces too), I am awed and inspired by the care you have taken so that the plot, the events, and the characters "work." A feature that I seek in my preferred reading is that it be "character driven." Not that the plot isn't important and compelling- but... rather like the remark that watching this or that actor reading the telephone book would STILL be engrossing. Your books strike that gold standard of exciting plotting involving characters who make us "feel."

      And yes, sadly, sometimes "CTRL-X" is a writer's best friend...

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    3. Just make sure you paste it in a separate file, never know when you might want something back!

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  2. Will there be anyone else narrating sessions besides King Henry? Maybe his wife might join in occasionally, after they marry? (Here's hoping it's Val, they're so cute together)

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    1. I don't know what specific hints I'll drop about the future timeline, but I don't think that's in the cards. The plan is to have third person POV prologues and epilogues heading forward post school story finishing, so do expect to see more MancyVerse outside of KH's lens.

      That's actually how Everchanging Dilemma got its start, but I changed the story you fans are getting for FM7 and wanted to change the prologue too, so...needed to put Isabel's bit off by itself.

      Granted the original plan was Zach's birth and it very much grew in the telling!

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  3. Current King Henry seems kind of bleak and sad, especially in the Pit of No Return. He says that he has such happy moments, like with (his) Valentine, but not hours, that now his family is what keeps him fighting.

    He also says 'One of the greatest (mistakes) was that week. Yet, it also contains some of the best choices I’ve ever made.'
    Since those choices lead him to 1)get together with Val, 2) enter politics in the Council, 3) attract huge attention to himself, I just assume that #1 is the best outcome he's talking about (so I also assume they would be happy together and fervently hope that Val is the mysterious wife, prophecies by damned).

    I don't want to get RAFOed to oblivion, so my question are: Are there huge heartbreak and losses coming in the future? Is there an in-world reason why he doesn't spoiler us with his wife's or childrens' names and his current situation or is that just to suspend us readers? Is there any hope for happy end for core characters, like King Henry, Val, T-Bone, Vicky and all the others? Obviously I would like some spoilers, but could you at least hint at the tone the future will take, so we can prepare in advance?

    Thank you for all your work!

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    1. Yes. Yes/Yes. Yes.

      If I do my job, there will be moments when you shriek in anguish and throw your Kindle across the room.

      If I do my job. there will be moments that lighten your heart for the rest of you life.

      We'll have to see if I pull it off.

      I would also point out a bright spot, and I've mentioned this before: the Tapes are not the end of the story. So "Future" King Henry doesn't know the end of the story, he's yet to live it.

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    2. Thank you for the answer. As a fan, I absolutely have faith that you will pull it off! Guess it means it's time to start buying hankys already...

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    3. WAR TO END ALL WARS is school story, so pretty much heartwarming, romance, and pranks all around with the next round. KH mops a bit about breaking up with Eva, but...what's new?

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    4. Ah, I'm really looking forward to it!
      Sorry for gushing my questions here, I've just read all stories in MancyVerse in about 9 days, so everything is fresh and I'm rooting for all the characters. Then I went to this blog and saw that several people think Val will die and King Henry will marry Miranda. Then I reread everything in current timeline... and didn't find anything really. So now I am really anxious about main story timeline and fearful for Try Number Only... They both are so precious, cute together and deserve happiness. Now I will be refreshing your blog every day and reading everything holding my breath until KH's daughter is born...

      Regardless your books are glorious. Thank you for writing them and bringing such emotion rollercoasters to us readers! Hope your health will improve!

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  4. Did King Henry ever actually turn in his hundred of tapes or were they just hidden until his daughter nosed in? Has anyone listened to them before her?

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    1. Ceinwyn, The Lady, Plutarch, and King Henry all have copies.

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  5. Can there be a mentimansy artifact that allows to read/share thoughts or emotions? Can King Henry make one?

    If yes, would he use such a thing to share emotions during sex? I think it's actually a kind of trope in urban fantasy: magic emotion sharing, like mating bonds and such.

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    1. I'm sure you could do quite a lot of interesting things with menti-anima...it does however remain a taboo discipline and KH is pretty busy at the moment with other areas of study.

      As for sex, I suppose that's a way for authors to easily make it romantic and show the two-as-one closeness partners can feel in the moment, it is--HOWEVER---my policy with the KHTs to highlight the more absurdly humorous nature of the act as often as possible.

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    2. Pity that it's taboo. I hope he eventually gets to studying menti-anima and it blows his mind!

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    3. You'll meet all the other Maximi, including the Memory eventually, so...yeah.

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  6. Did Athir suspect that Isabel wasn't alone, so to speak?

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  7. What was the inspiration for the Foul Mouth series? Was it consciously from the start intended to be an antidote to the irritating tweeness of Harry Potter?
    What happens to Isabel now? A form of LWOP?



    By the way, a full English breakfast is incomplete without baked beans and tomato. (Americans are the lost souls who eat pancakes and hash browns for breakfast 🤣🤢).

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    1. Lots of inspiration went into it.

      1. Twilight: Twilight and Twilight clones just kind of ran over Urban Fantasy and smashed what was this really young and interesting and creative genre into dust. Combined with vampires being everywhere just then and they were ALL THE SAME and boring and I really wanted to come up with a new type of vampire that was unique and terrifying again.

      2. Harry Potter: Also Rothfuss, Buffy, X-Men Academy, Veronica Mars...loved stories centering around schools but for some reason the American wizard version never developed and I decided why not take a crack at it?

      Specific to Potter, I was very disbelieving that a boy abused like he was would end up becoming a golden-hearted jock-cop savoir and I wanted a more accurate view on the situation. Which isn't pretty. I'm not KH, but I grew up with quite a few poor kids like KH, if not as extravagantly tempered or as brilliant, etc.

      3. Lost: Two timelines!

      4. Wheel of Time: I wanted to write the Urban Fantasy equivalent. Actually I wanted to write an Urban Fantasy that became an Epic Fantasy still tied to our world by the end of the series. I think you all are finally starting to see the path we're headed down now and its only going to get weirder and crazier from here.

      Tons more! But I'll stop before we get to a giant essay and death of the author and all that, right?

      Isabel: RAFO! Is important to note that even after what happened she's still on Team Obadiah...

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    2. A huge part of me is still highly suspicious that Paine will regenerate...

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  8. Thanks! Will we see the next KHP full novel in 2022 do you think? I don't want to tempt fate or nuffink, so say "dunno mate" if you're unsure.
    Just finished the whole series again lying in bed recovering from covid... so need something else to read now.

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    1. I would like it to, but with my back problems its impossible to promise anything at this point, especially if they move forward with surgery. Will be October/Nov if it happens, I imagine.

      Am 60/280 pages into the newest edit, so...it is being worked on!

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  9. Thank you.
    All the best with your back. I have a prolapsed disc and it's the most painful thing I've ever done to myself, so sympathy.

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  10. Hay Dick,
    (sorry, not sorry. For some reason Dick is short for Richard in Brit slang. As you had your 'full English' wrong, I am spreading ghe Paine)

    Anywho.
    Just banged through Everchanging Dilemma.
    Some grammar mistakes: Taught / Teaching jumps to mind. FYI.

    Fun fun fun, all round. Good start is my vote. Welcome back. I am rather happy I kept the faith.

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  11. Are you ready to finally admit that Annie B is both the best female character ever and King Henry's future wife?

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    1. Yes, you got me. I finally give in. Annie B is Best Girl and One True Waifu.

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  12. Why is it that in FM3 KHP says he’s never liked fish (having dinner with the Wards) but elsewhere he loves fish tacos? Is that deliberate, or is it explained somewhere that I’ve missed?

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    1. It's not the fish so much as the sauce he loves. Ronnie Ward vs Cafeteria Lunch Ladies. Little seasoning vs heavily battered.

      I also used too many absolutes in my younger writer days and have been consciously working on not doing it as much going forward.

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  13. My question is audio books

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    1. Not for a long while.

      With my health still being sketchy I'm just happy to be back writing again as much as I can manage and won't be going an any side quests for now.

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  14. This is probably way too many questions, sorry! I'm very curious and a little obsessed. :)

    So, Massey had a board with what he knew about the Maximi and their statuses. He knew a lot, but not everything.

    1. Besides KH and The Lady, are there any other declared Maximi? What's special about 'declaring' that so few of them want to do it? Being Recoginized gets you a spot on the Council, what more horrible consequences will KH face as a result of being Declared?

    2. Does anyone know the identities of all the current Maximi? I'm thinking The Lady might?


    3. Is it unusual for Maximi to sort of clump together--four in one year seems like a lot?

    4. Since being a Maximus can be passed on, like Eva, is it possible to pass it onto someone who is Anima Mad?

    5. Who/when was the Earth Maximus before KH? I'm curious about the others, too, but only if it's significant in any way.

    6. I'm also curious about the tests for the other disciplines--for KH it was manipulation of glass, what about some of the others?

    7. There's extended pooling, split pools, multiple pools--Are there any other forms of anima pooling/manipulation that are still a secret? Anything that even the Learning Council doesn't know about?

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    1. Sorry, that's all vastly RAFO territory. :(

      I can promise *some* more Maximus info in the Vicky novel.

      Sorry.

      So sorry.

      I'm the DEVIL, I know.

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    2. How very Ceinwyn of you...

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  15. Your presence in social media seems very small. I myself saw a post on reddit about "The Everchanging Dilemma" and decided to read the whole series, but it appears there are less than 20 post on reddit about MancyVerse. Is that by choice or because of lack of time? Would you mind fans reposting your blog posts on social media?

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    1. I have zero desire in it. I tried back when I started and it was just completely degrading and incredibly ineffective.

      I just kept having this vision of all these indie authors flocking around passersby throwing their books at as many people as they possible could and nothing at all being read or noticed through the noise. Bit like the seagulls in Finding Nemo, I suppose. Book! Book! Read the book!

      What has worked for me is writing (go figure!) and letting their quality speak for themselves and to have you fans go out and spread the word where you may (by all means, evangelize the Word of the Foul Mouth!).

      Some advertising directly on Amazon, a free day here or there with listing sites, etc.

      I say what I want to say here and that's enough for me. Granted, social media is more ingrained nowadays, but...still...best use of my time is writing or editing. Actually engagement on twitter or facebook...I shudder thinking of the time it would take out of my day. Football Manager already steals enough!

      And, since you're newly converted to the cause, as you'll soon see when I do start writing deeply into a project I will disappear for months at a time from this blog too. Disconnect, focus in, ignore the addictive algorithms and such!

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