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@wingiby-iggiby

, the harp is such a beautiful instrument! And yes, I can read music, but I’ve only memorized one song (well, most of it); do you have a lot memorized? And reading music is so hard, especially when those notes go way up or down, LOL

LOL, nope! Just this week, my harp teacher asked me to play a song from memory. (I know it really well, I can play it perfectly without even thinking about it) and I couldn’t do it at all XD If I focus on memorizing one I could, but I haven’t for quite a while. Though, muscle memory is a blessing. I can’t even count the times it kicked in in the middle of the song although I was zoning out and my fingers just remembered what to do XD
LOL, yes! I usually have to squint at those a lot XD I always get them mixed up XD

No, I didn’t! That’s so cool! I think my favorite type of music to play might be theme songs, but I like swing too, bc swinging notes is just “jazzy.” Then again, I feel elegant playing classical, lol What about you?

YES! Swing is the best! I have been known to put swing in pieces that don’t have it because it’s more fun XD My harp teacher thinks that’s hilarious XD

I’ve tried in vain to like classical music, but it’s hard and I get bored XD I think my favorite is definitely folk, especially Celtic and South American. It’s just too much fun! My favorites are by Ortiz. (Oh, his books are for piano too! I have the International Rhythmic Collection parts one and two.) My favorite songs are Habanera Gris and Danza de Luzma. Look them up, they’re really pretty! What are your favorite songs to play?

Well, if you do write ’em, I’ll read ’em! (and tell Liorah Brooke says she needs to share 😛 )

Thanks, I’ll remember that! LOL, I’ll tell her, but will she listen? XD

All of your characters sound SO AWESOME! I would totally love to meet all of them, and if you ever publish those books, let me know! Could you tell me more about Chantara and Ziyad (if you don’t mind)? They sound really interesting! Do you have a method for coming up with characters, or do they just sort of “pop” into the story as you go?

Aww, thank you so much! Publishing isn’t the current plan, but I’m having fun with it 🙂

OOh, of course!!!

I can’t tell you any details about Ziyad because it’s kinda spoilers. He has kinda a tragic backstory so he has his…. issues. And because of character agency, that means he’s made a lot of really bad choices XD He’s honestly a mess, but he really tries and I love him for it. I think he has a genuinely good heart and good intentions (mostly) but he’s been dealt a really bad hand and he can’t seem to escape it.

He isn’t a POV character, so I know less about him than you’d expect XD

Chantara is in a kinda similar situation, actually XD I can tell you more about it because it isn’t some big reveal. She’s an assassin and she regrets it every second of her life XD She has more empathy than you’d expect, so it’s extremely traumatizing for her. She’s been so thoroughly messed up she’s become a villain.

But unlike Ziyad, she doesn’t try to start over or get a better life. She’s decided there’s no way out of it so she might as well make the best of it, no matter what that entails. In her case, that entails a lot of murder.

She’s very manipulative and sly, and an amazing liar. But I think my favorite part about her is that she has some good in her. She’s very loyal and close to her friends, and she takes things to heart a lot. I have her in the Villain’s character castle so I write a lot of her POV, and it’s fascinating to see how she’s constantly at war with herself. She’s the kind of side character who could get an entire spinoff to herself XD

Method for coming up with characters…. Well, it usually starts with a concept. Sometimes the concept is a part of a character dynamic like “Annoying kid and world-weary mentor”.

Like, I have a side character (One of Chantara’s friends) who started with the concept of a really cheerful, funny, nice person who’s also basically a psychopath but doesn’t realize it. XD (He’s fun! XD)

And then I’ll usually fit that character somewhere in the story and give them a role, and then I try to figure out why they became that way. And then I figure out what they’d do in the story. Their appearance develops somewhere along the way 🙂

How about you? How do you do it?

I really love Chaha, the MC. She tends to say the wrong things at the wrong times, and she fakes optimism while inwardly wailing about anything that might go wrong. She also wails about her oily hair. She tends to be impatient, but is really caring and braver than she thinks. I haven’t gotten her all figured out yet, bc I’m still figuring out the first chapters of the book XD

LOL, wailing about your hair is a universal experience XD There’s a fine line between “Messy romantic waves” and “birds nest” and I use it as a jump rope XD She sounds awesome! I think I’d love her!

And then there’s Chet, the cowboy. I feel really bad for him *sigh* He fell into the wrong company and did some bad things *another sigh* He’s sort of like the lion in The Wizard of Oz, in that he believes he is courage-less, and so when he stands up for his friends and then *starts sniffling* I’m just going to go cry into my pillow now. . .

He sounds like Ziyad! I love characters like that! They’re my absolute favorites! (Next to the sassy ones like Li’ah XD)

In short, I just love all of them, so it would take forever to explain, haha, but I do like Nakkali too, because he is so interesting and stern and imposing and has a negative character arc *laughs evilly*

Negative character arcs are awesome! I love them, I have one I’m planning and it would be so cool!

For both of those reasons combined XD Sometimes, though, ideas from those stories will make their way into my new ones, so its interesting.

Ooh, that’s cool! I love it when that happens! I do the same thing! Like, the character I described above, Chantara’s friend, he only has like two scenes, so his character concept is probably going to be recycled into the Edwardian story!

Oh man, that sounds so EPIC!!! I can see why you’re having a hard time avoiding it, lol If you ever need to rant about it to someone, I’d love to hear it!

Thank you! I’m so excited about it! It has the coolest aesthetic, it’s kinda Art Noveau and Rococo mixed up, to fit the combination of 1700s and Edwardian. Like… think Pirates of the Caribbean meets Phantom of the Opera XD It’s just the coolest!

The pirate idea is definitely still a large part of the plot! I love it, it’s just so fun! But now it’s basically pirates vs. secret agents in a heist setting, so that’s going to be chaos XD And there are a few side characters who were circus artists, a sharpshooter, an escape artist, and an acrobat. (And the sharpshooter and the other two are on opposite sides and hate each other.)

There will be at least one masquerade ball, and research involves how to pick locks, weaponize jewelry, and how corsets could turn bullets.  I have no idea what I’m doing but I love it!

Okay, that was a mouthful. I hope you were able to swallow that without choking, XD I just love how we can talk and talk about our stories on here, and as fellow writers, we all get it!

Yes! I remembered something about a tiger XD That sounds amazing!!! Wow, I love the premise! What’s your favorite part about it? How far into it are you? I don’t remember, are you a plotter or a pantser?

Also, yes! Connecting to other writers is the best, they all just get it! I have to keep myself from talking in detailed jargon about my WIP to everyone else, let alone writer humor. Like: “Oh, I’m going to murder a character this afternoon, wish me luck! XD” or “Do you think he’s miserable enough? I think I can make it worse…” and talking with great enthusiasm in upsetting detail about stuff like poison LOL XD Apparently, other people don’t get that XD