The War of Memory Project

Happy Holidays!

Question 60 – What are your plans for Christmas Day?

Lounging around the house, doing family things, I suppose?  Sometimes I get called in to the Day Job to work an hour or two, if we’re expecting a big rush of returns — I work at a library, so even though it’s closed, two of us will go in for a couple hours and empty the bins so our drive-up bookdrops don’t overflow.  Otherwise just chillin’.  I’d like to say I’ll get some writing in, but I know myself well to not promise anything.

So far, no Day Job.  Also likely no writing.  Just gonna be laaaaaaazyyyyy….

More: Authors Answer 60 – Merry Christmas from All of Us

Not much to add to this one, frankly:

Question 59 – Have you ever written a character so offensive that you hated or strongly disliked them?

So far in my entire series, I’ve only had one character whom I truly dislike.  Of course, since I wrote him, I’m the one who made him unlikable and reprehensible, so I can’t really say that I hate him — more that he’s serving his purpose in the story.  Everyone is supposed to hate him.  It’s also my job to humanize him, and to understand how and why he took such a wrong turn in his life; I don’t like writing flat villains, and unlike the readers I can see how he could have turned out better.  So really, there’s only distaste and pity and my plans for his demise.

More: Authors Answer 59 – Characters of the Dark Side

I don’t socialize as much as I should.  Though thinking about it, I do chat with other writers on WordPress/other blogs, and work closely with Erica Dakin just about every day, so maybe I’m not as isolated as I thought…

Question 58 – What are some online forums or websites you use to have discussions with other authors?

I’m kind of reclusive, alas — I know I should reach out more, but I’d rather stay in my little writing-cave, ignoring the world.  That said, I hang out a bit on the Fantasy Faction forums, though not frequently; I tend to go months between actual posts.

More: Authors Answer 58 – Author Online Hangouts

Question 57 – What is one question you hate answering about your writing that acquaintances ask you?

My answer:

I don’t really have a problem with any questions, though ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ is a bit annoying.  But I enjoy talking about my worldbuilding and writing process probably more than people appreciate hearing about it, so I immediately override any obnoxious question with my obsessively detailed answer.  Take that, person who dared be interested in my work!  Seriously though, I can’t think of any questions I’d consider ‘bad’ unless someone was purposefully trying to be offensive.

Any of you who know me in Real Life know that I can’t shut up about my work, heh.

More: Authors Answer 57 – Stop Asking Me That Question!

Anyone who’s read my work can probably guess my answer to the question below.  Heck, anyone who just kinda knows me in passing can likely imagine the maniacal laughter this spawned when it popped up in the question list.

Question 54 – It’s Friday the 13th. Horror is a popular genre. Could you torture one of your characters?

To put it briefly: Yes.  Yes I can.

To be more in-depth:

H. Anthe Davis:

Absolutely.  I’ve tortured many of them already — if not in body, then certainly in mind.  Nightmares are my joy.  I particularly like tormenting my leader-type characters by having horrible things happen to their subordinates; one or two instances of that and they begin neatly torturing themselves.  But then, I -am- writing what I would consider fantasy/horror, so it’s a necessity.  There’s some gore but I’ve always preferred the psychological angle.

Others’ answers: Authors Answer 54 – Torturing Our Characters

I do want to note that I’ve been easing into it throughout the series.  It was never my intention to be grimdark — I don’t read that stuff.  I like to consider Book 1 to be about 5-10% horror and the rest fantasy (with a touch of SF), with the level ramping up slowly.  Right now, at Book 4, I am regularly traumatizing the characters — but they’re getting used to it.  They carry on.  (Most of them.)  I’d say the horror level is about…25%?  It will rise a bit higher yet, but it won’t eclipse the fantasy aspect, and I think the worst thing I’ll ever do in this series has already been done circa Book 3.

It’s an interesting topic though, and one of my fellow authors brings up the point that horror pushes characters into a more emotional place…a raw place, and ideally a true place.  Somewhere beyond whatever facade they’ve constructed.

Hilariously, we all kind of agree on this one.  I’m actually running a game for a friend in the Graveborn World Erica and I will be writing in, to help me expand on the concepts and creatures and history, but really….  Just because it has a touch of steampunk and a touch of vampires-and-zombies doesn’t mean I started it to catch the trend.  I don’t mind if we do get swept along with it, but it actually started with…

Uh…

A World of Warcraft character….

Shush!!

Question 53 – There have been a lot of trends in literature, such as zombies, sparkly vampires, and so on. Would you jump on the bandwagon and write a novel with a trendy subject?

Answer: Authors Answer 53 – Jumping on the Bandwagon