How to Conduct a Character Interview, Part One: The Questions

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book marketing, character building, character development, character interview, character sketch, fantasy interviews, How to conduct a character interview, interviewing fictional characters, questions to ask characters

I love interviewing my characters, especially to give those who don’t get an internal voice the chance to express themselves and provide the reader with more insight.

Coming up with a new list of questions with each new book, story, or character either becomes repetitive or draining. This often leads to endless searches on the internet.

So, instead of repeating this process each and every time I want to write a character interview, I decided to compile a list of my favorite questions from the lists I often visit.

This is going to be long, y’all.

 

I took a good chunk of questions from The Writing Kylie below, but she has SO many more for us get to know our characters, but I tried to pinpoint the ones I thought would work best for interview purposes instead of development. There’s even some for villains in the mix:

Do you have a motto? If so, what is it?

Do you have any annoying habits, quirks, strange mannerisms, or other defining characteristics?

How would you describe your childhood?

would you describe your childhood?

How much schooling have you had?

Did you enjoy school? If not, why did you struggle?

Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

Did you have any role models? If so, describe them and why they were your role models.

How did you get along with the other members of your family?

What did you want to be when you grew up?

When and where were you the happiest?

When did you have your first kiss, and who with?

What do you consider the most important event of your life so far, why?

What is the most evil thin you have ever done so far?

Do you have a criminal record?

What is your greatest regret?

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be and why?

Are you optimistic or pessimistic?

What is your greatest extravagance?

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

What is the most evil thing a human being could do?

Under what circumstances do you find killing acceptable or unacceptable?

How do you measure success?

Have you ever been in love?

What is your most treasured possession?

Do you like to read? If so, what?

How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

What makes you life?

How do you define happiness?

How do you deal with stress?

What are your pet peeves?

Which talent would you most like to have and why?

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

What three words best describe your personality?

If you have 24 hours to live, what three things would you do in the time you had left?

If you were to die and come back as a person, animal, or thing, what do you think it would be, and why?

What do you have in your pockets or purse?

What is on your nightstand?

What’s in your fridge?

 

These next three are from “37 Questions to Ask Your Character”:

What is your earliest memory?

On Monday morning, are you excited to go to work, or are you sad?

If you could go back in time for one day, where would you go?

 

The next set are from Helping Writers Become Authors. They have a nice infograph and a character interview sheet that you can print to develop your characters as well. But these are the ones I like best:

What do you like best about the main (other main) character(s)?

What do you like lease about the main (other main) character(s)?

If you could do one thing and succeed at it, what would it be?

What kind of person are you?

Who do you sympathize best with?

 

Here’s another chunk from Gotham Writers. They gave another few I hadn’t seen in the others:

What was your favorite journey?

What is your most marked characteristic?

Who is your favorite fictional hero?

On what occasions is it okay to lie?

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Which words and phrases do you overuse?

 

And another snippet from Writers Write. They, have a great, long term process for understanding your characters:

What was it like being raised about your parents?

What traditions are important to your life?

Which teacher or authority figure had the most impact on your life?

What’s your favorite quote?

 

Here’s Writers Write again, with another list that has a lot of personal prompts for creative nonfiction writing that inspired me:

What’s your best physical feature? Why do you like it?

Which part of school did you enjoy the most?

Would you wish upon a falling star?

What superstitions do you believe in or follow?

What was your favorite toy as a child?

What’s your favorite season?

Do you connect with your zodiac sign?

What would you tell your younger self if you could?

What would a wanted ad for your ideal roommate read like?

Can you describe your personal style?

Do you believe in fate?

What would you like to teach the world if you had a platform?

If you had to wear a sign around your neck explaining something about yourself before somebody spoke to you, what would it say?

 

AutoCrit offers “Four Methods For Interviewing Characters,” which has an interesting example of a free-form interview for development that also showcases the way character answer questions that may pry into topics they may not answer in an expected way:

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they’ve known you for a while?

What’s your idea of a good marriage? Do you think it’ll happen for you?

Do you think you turned out the way your parents expected?

What would you like your tombstone to say?

 

I relish an opportunity for new and non-traditional questions, and WayUp gave us a few traditional job interview questions and what their answers might be:

Batman vs Spiderman: Who Would Win?

In what ways are you lucky?

If you were a cartoon character, which one would you be and why?

If you were a crayon (or paint swatch) color, which would you be and why?

 

Novel Factory gives us a couple new questions amongst their Ultimate Character Questionnaire:

What would you ask a fortune teller?

If they could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

What is your favorite fairy tale?

Do you believe in redemption?

What is your favorite proverb?

What or who would you dress up as for Halloween?

 

Labotomy of a Writer provides a LONG list of questions with a whopping 253 questions. Here are a few I really liked from it:

Are you spontaneous or do you always need to have a plan?

What do you do when you’re bored?

What time of day or night is your favorite?

What do you think about being supernatural? Is it cool or have you been screwed?

Do you have a mentor? Describe them.

What is something you had to learn during your training that you hated?

How would you convince the opposing side to join your team if you could?

What would you wish for if you found a genie?

What time period would you live in if you could?

 

These come from Roleplaying Tips’ Mother of all Character Questionnaires. This has a lot more fantasy-based world and character building questions as well:

Do you have a notorious or celebrated ancestor?

Do you have a parton Deity?

Do you enjoy “roughing it,” or are you a creature of comfort?

How do you feel about the government (rulers) in general? Why?

If your features were destroyed beyond recognition, is there any other way of identifying your body?

 

Would you rather questions also make for interesting answers from questions, but it’s best to sprinkle these amongst others rather than having a 20-question volley with your character.

 

And finally, since we’re on the topic, here’s one last great resource of questions for fantasy world building from Patricia C. Wrede that is just massive, and I couldn’t do it better justice if I tried.

So, there it is. My list of questions. Stay tuned for part two, where I elaborate on how I choose questions for characters, how I answer them, ways to create a scene or indicate movement during an interview.

 

Got a favorite question that I missed on my list? Leave it for us in the comments below.

Character Interview with Kalib Ganesh

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character development, character interview, ladies man, Little Red and the Surly Bear, Loving Red Saga, Order of the Star, powers of persuasion, The Mark of the Phoenix

Hey, y’all. Ready to meet a newish character from my Broken World series, Kalib Ganesh, Assetato agent.

Alisha: Thank you for coming to meet with me today, Kalib. I know you’re busy, and I appreciate your time.

Kalib: It’s no problem, sweets. I take any chance I can to fraternize with pretty ladies.

Alisha: Oh, you flirt. I’m happily married.

Kalib: Innocent fun is nothing to feel shame over. I will not keep you from your questions. <He gestured with a handroll for me to go ahead.>

Alisha: Good. I feel better focusing on you rather than me. So, first question: What’s in your fridge right now?

Kalib: At home, most of what haunts my frivolously empty kitchen is alcohol and coffee, so a half-empty carton of milk and a few bottles of wine? No blood or other gore like movies tend to depict. Unless the house keeper stashed some away on there.

Alisha: Coffee and wine. I get on board with that.

Kalib: I am a man of excellent taste.

Alisha: What is your most marked characteristic?

Kalib: Why, my charisma, of course. I can charm my way into or out of nearly any situation, especially when sexual prowess is at stake, sweets. I have quite the collection of undergarments.

Alisha: Good to know. Not one of my questions though.

Kalib: It felt like a fitting answer to me.

Alisha: I’m sure. What was your life like before you became a vampire?

Kalib: I was the son of a politician, anointed into the Order of the Star in India. We lived well and worked hard. We were proud of where we came from and what we worked toward.

Alisha: It’s nice to have conviction. What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

Kalib: As I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate if I told you about this young thing I found in northern India just after my transformation, I would have to say Hoggenakal Falls in South India. It’s breathtaking and invigorated with power.

Alisha: I have found water and earth in such force has enormous emotional effects. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Kalib: A good bottle of wine, pale legs and blonde hair spread across my sheets…

Alisha: Speaking of pale and blonde, tell me what’s going on there between you and Maddy?

Kalib: A gentleman does not kiss and tell about a lady.

Alisha: You have done nothing but.

Kalib: Vague details that do not pinpoint anyone. I can paint quite the picture without offense.

Alisha: If you say so. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Kalib: Absolutely, but it rarely lasts longer than a couple of days at most. At least, in my experience.

Alisha: What is your weapon of choice and do not make any phallic references is you please.

Kalib: I am a fan of the sword, and I have dabbled quite a bit in throwing stars, but I prefer my powers of persuasion. <Smoke lifted off of him, sweet and dirty all at once.> It’s quite a helpful tool.

Alisha: That’s one I haven’t seen before. How does it work?

Kalib: I must simply want something badly enough, and I make it mine.

Alisha: I hope you don’t take that power lightly. What is your favorite proverb?

Kalib: “It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.”

Alisha: I like that. Last one, when did you last make a promise?

Kalib: Mere months ago, to a woman who deserves much more than I can promise, but I offer nothing more than I can deliver.

Alisha: Back to those cryptic details, huh?

Kalib: I believe you are out of questions, sweets.

Alisha: That I am and time. Thank you again for taking a couple of minutes to sit and talk with me today, or it might be better to say flirt with me, but I’m sure that’s nothing personal.

Kalib: Oh, no. Not at all.

Well, everyone, that is Kalib, he’s made a few cameos in a few stories so far, and I can’t wait for you all to keep learning more about him with me.

 

Want to see him in action? Take a look at LOVING RED, THE MARK OF THE PHOENIX, and LITTLE RED & THE SURLY BEAR, coming this June!

Obnoxious Character Planning: INFERNO Character Personality Types

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blood phoenix saga, Blood Phoenix: inferno, character development, INFP, Myers Briggs personality model, personality types, writer planning, writing tools

So, I’ve been on a planning kick lately, showing the intimate details of how I prepare myself for a big project, like a book. I’m going to be honest, the way I prep myself changes each time, and this go around, I might have gone a little crazy with notes and etc.

But here’s a bit of my rationale. I’m working with a series. While I have limited myself to five books for Ria’s BLOOD PHOENIX saga, I do have a slew of other characters, books, and stories within this world, so I need to start keeping track of little things that will connect and manifest throughout.

Now, this is a little wild for planning purposes, but I thought it was so much fun to peg down each of my characters by personality type, so here’s my list:

One of the interesting things I discovered from doing this is that Ria’s personality, although remaining the same amongst most of her previous lives, did change on a few. Even with reincarnation, culture and genetics played a role in how they behaved. Since Ria’s past lives impact Ria’s present quite dramatically, I hope can keep them separated enough to do them justice.

Another interesting note about personality types is that even with the same four-letter determinations, their personalities are not precisely the same. For instance, Ria, Mark, Colista, and Layla have the same categorization—INFP, but each of their descriptors are different: the Spunky Kid, the Lost Soul, the Waif, and the Nurturer, which comes not from the Myers-Briggs model but from the character archetypes of heroes, heroines, and villains, although honestly, none of these four are villains in the slightest.

But INFP clearly fits all four: poetic, kind, and altruistic people, always eager to help a good cause. They are the most idealistic, have strong personal values, seek order and peace, are creative, non-directive, and reserved with people.

Anyways, I could devolve into a rambling about personalities and the types of how each connects, but I’m not going to do that. I merely wanted to share how assigning base personality types helped me differentiate characters and keep them true to their original dispositions, even as they evolve as people.

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So, I want to know what kind of categorization, notes, and tools do you use to develop and/or maintain your characters? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Character Interview with Adomous

Tags

Adam and Eve, character development, character interview, G.O.D., Lilith, lucifer, Paranormal high school, The Garden of Eden, The Girl with the Glowing Hair, The Lily Graves Series

Hey, y’all. Time for a character interview with the mythological, Adomous. He tends to be infuriatingly high and mighty, so let’s see if we make it through this with all our skin.

Me: Hi, Adam. Thank you for coming in and answering some questions today.

Adam: I’d say that I try to be helpful, but I don’t want to earn the wrong kind of reputation. Then, the old cronies crawl out of the woodwork to ask for something, and I’m trapped.

Me: Don’t worry, I won’t expose your secret. Let’s jump in. Yeah? What’s in your refrigerator right now?

Adam: Wine and leftovers—coconut curry over rice, more specifically. And creamer. For my coffee in the morning.

Me: That’s it? Really?

Adam: At the moment. The wine does take up quite a bit of space.

Me: Okay. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Adam: Crawling out from under the old G.O.D. It took millennia, but it is certainly the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.

Me: G.O.D.?

Adam: It’s a title, sweetie. And that’s all I can say to someone with your clearance level.

Me: I’m pretty sure I have…

Adam: You don’t.

Me: What is your most treasured possession?

Adam: Something I treasure enough to not reveal what it is. That way, no one can use it as leverage against me.

Me: Why do I feel like I’m talking to Evan again?

Adam: Because you have a death wish?

Me: When and where were you the happiest?

Adam: When I was in the Garden of Eden with Lilith—before she was banished.

Me: Not with Eve?

Adam: I enjoyed spending time with Eve, too, but it wasn’t the same.

Me: What do you most dislike?

Adam: Why evil, of course. It is my job to enforce morality.

Me: How do you feel about your new charge, Lilith Graves?

Adam: I don’t think I can provide a sigh deep enough or long enough to express just how I feel about that young lady. She’s insubordinate and bull-headed. Eternally frustrating with a heart too big. She’ll get herself hurt.

Me: Why did you agree to take the job? There’re hints that you work with her mother?

Adam: I do and have for a long time. She made me what I am, and her trust in me is why I train Lily. I took the job as a favor. To protect her.

Me: Good answer.

 

 

All right, Adam might be a bit sour, but I have a feeling there’s a good heart hidden in there somewhere. I hope you get to know him better in THE GIRL WITH THE GLOWING HAIR.

Learn more about the series with Lily’s Ethology Lessons and other character interviews.

 

Editing Advice: Over Describing

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character details, character development, interacting with scene, narrative telling, over describing, show don't tell, step-by-step action, The Writing Process, writing props, writing tips

Yes, I’m treading into dreaded territory again. Our favorite axiom as writers: show, don’t tell.

Well, I hate to make it more complicated, but sometimes, showing too much becomes telling.

I could show this to you in a lot of ways, but let’s hone in on one: dropping too many details all at once.

Now, it’s easy to admit that I have issues with scene development. I’m not a fan of dumping all of the spatial information right up front unless it directly connects with the tension. Instead, I like to suggest filtering details through a scene so that the characters can interact with what’s around them rather than being told what’s where.

This is part of stylistic preference, and I don’t want to tell anyone that theirs is wrong. It’s just the way I prefer to both write and interact with the story as a reader.

But let me delve even deeper to one of my giant pet peeves—something that affects the trifecta of writer, reader, and editor. I’m serious; I skim past this stuff when it’s in a book, and I hate the waste of words.

That’s the uber-detailed depiction of a character. Eye color, hair color, skin color, height, weight, clothes and the way they fit, shoes, nail color, their half-hearted smile and cupid lips, the button nose…are you getting sick of me listing details yet? I’m sure sick of it.

My feelings aside, I’ve read some interesting research and heard theories from countless writing professors that say the same thing. Too many details like this all at once creates a blank spot in our memories for the character because we can’t remember them all. They get jumbled together with all of the other characters and their giant lists of features.

The best way to circumvent this is to pick and choose which details set the character apart from the others.

A character with rainbow eyes? Sure, mention those. That’s not typical.

A scar on their lip. Go for it.

Are they always flipping their hair from their eyes to no avail?

Got a ring on their finger that they turn when they’re anxious or nervous?

Their height make them loom over everyone?

Always tugging at the cuffs on their shirt?

See how these create images, props as they were, to identify a character without the whole shebang? Pair these with their distinct attitude as described by their dialect and general actions, and this is an excellent way to develop character without relying on over description. But be sure to use them with purpose.

Besides, readers are smart and fill in a lot of the blanks themselves. The way I imagine Boden isn’t the same as the way every reader I’ve come in contact with does. And you know what, I’m okay with that. Their version involves them in my world. I’m honored they want to spend time there.

My last note, over description can happen in action as well. Something I often refer to as step-by-step action. The needless description of every movement a character makes to be sure we see it exactly as the writer does. Let’s just say, it becomes telling real quick.

Let me know if you want a full review of this in a future post. I’m sure I can go on about it for a while.

Got a way you love to identify your characters? Share them in the comments below!

Linda G. Hill, a Featured Spotlight

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book research, character development, good read, gothic, must read, Mystery, paranormal romance, stage magic, WIP, writer's block, writing motivation

If you haven’t heard of the On Fire anthology, this mini-interview and excerpt series will showcase the amazing authors I get to work with and their writing. Meet Linda.

What motivates you to write?

People motivate me to write. Human behavior fascinates me endlessly: I can spend hours writing scenarios in which characters react to their surroundings and one another, just to work through what makes them tick.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I deal with writer’s block by having a shower. I’m always amazed by how many other authors say they find inspiration there. Must have something to do with not having anything to look at but tiles…that’s my best guess anyway.

What interesting thing did you learn while writing your last story?

My current WIP, the third novel in my paranormal romance series, “The Great Dagmaru,” takes place, in part, in Ottawa, at the National Arts Centre. I was lucky enough to discover that they had an open house of sorts, where they allowed the general public access to the stage, the dressing rooms, the prop rooms and rehearsal halls – basically the entire building. During my self-guided tour, I had the opportunity to meet the stage manager and discuss a scene in my novel where my main character, a stage magician, has horses on stage. I was able to obtain the logistics of getting the animals into the building, and I had the chance to see the loading docks for reference. I found out they had an elephant on stage there once, so the horses weren’t as much of an issue as I imagined they’d be when I wrote the scene.

 

From “The Flame on Lick’s Island” by Linda G. Hill:

I wasn’t confident walking into Penny’s shop. Of the four ladies standing behind customers, talking to them in the mirrors, three were barely into their twenties. White-haired, Penny’s former beauty radiated past her wrinkles when she smiled at her client. At the jangling of my entrance, she dropped her comb, pausing on me a beat too long before she bent to pick it up and sink it into her jar of Barbicide.

“Can I help you?” She plucked another comb and ran it under the tap.

“I’m just here for a cut,” I said.

One of the other girls did my hair, but Penny’s attention made me uncomfortable. Before leaving, I asked for a word. I was surprised when she suggested a cup of coffee.

We sat in the familiar diner.

The staff eyed us.

“I heard Lick’s was passed on as an inheritance. Was Kristie a close relative?”

My turn to gawp. “We weren’t related at all. Hubert was my husband’s uncle.”

“You’re joking. You’re the spitting image.”

Unnerved, I twisted a napkin in my lap. “It must be a coincidence.”

Penny shook her head. “I’m guessing you want to know about her.”

“How did you know?”

“Because Kristie is still out there, on the island.”

My shoulders jarred against the metal seatback.

“I’m right, aren’t I? People like Kristie don’t just go away when they die. And after what Hubert did… He must have loved her, though.”

“What did he do?”

“Hubert had an affair. When Kristie found out, she had her third miscarriage. Nobody even knew she was pregnant that time. She lost all of them out on the island. Hubert took care of her body, but her mind…that was a different matter.”

“I understand you used to go out and do her hair.”

“Yeah. And she’d talk to me when I did. Then one day, I had an appointment. I got out of the boat on their dock—it was a hot day, just like this one.” Penny sipped of her coffee.

Out the window, the traffic stopped and started at the corner.

“She’d cut it all off. That wasn’t the worst of it. I can’t talk about the last time I saw her.”

I had the diary; I’d find out myself.

“It was a long time before I went out there again. Years.” She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed her eyes. “When I did, Hubert told me she was gone. I was the first in town to find out.”

“He didn’t hold a service or anything?” I asked.

“She had no family, and I was the closest thing she had to a friend. People asked the doc about her occasionally, but she kept to herself, so no one pried.”

That poor woman.

“So that’s it.” She looked me in the eye, her voice suddenly cold. “Was there anything else specific you wanted to know?”

“What do you know about the candles? Kristie seemed to like them. I keep finding puddles of dried wax everywhere.”

“She made them. The last time I was there, one was in the window by the front door of the house. Hubert had it lit like he was waiting for her to come home. Poor asshole.”

“Do you think she had anything to do with the fire in the apartment, here in town?”

The look in Penny’s eye made the temperature drop a degree, chilling my bones. “I have no idea.”

She paid for our coffees and left.

 

Linda G. Hill is a stay-at-home mom of three boys and the guardian of one beagle and two kitties. She concocts tales in her head 24/7 and blogs almost daily at lindaghill.com. Linda’s newest release, The Magician’s Curse, is the first in a series of Gothic paranormal romances. Also available on Amazon and Kobo is her romantic comedy novelette, All Good Stories. She lives in Southern Ontario, Canada.

ON FIRE is available now: Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and the Transmundane Press store.

Interview with Fannar Einarsson: the IMP

Tags

character development, character interview, element manipulation, faerie council, frost, IMP, internal affairs, legacy, magick, snowflakes

Welcome, Fannar. Thank you for coming in to answer some questions.

A pleasure. I live to serve.

Not used to that one, but I’m still glad to have you here. I hear you have an interesting power that takes a hefty toll.

Indeed. The manipulation of elements can be quite draining. I freeze water. It, in turn, freezes me. It wasn’t always that way, bit it is now.

A birdie told me that you and your brother have a bit of a feud. Can you tell me about that?

He’s the reason my powers hurt me as much as they do. Because he skirted his responsibilities and needed someone to save him.

What role do you play in the council?

I run the Northern Division of the Internal Magick Protection units. Checks and balances. Ensuring protocol is not only followed but fair.

Did you always want to be a part of the council?

<He laughs.> No. I messed up pretty badly when I was younger…had a lot of making up to do.

I hear you have an interesting collection, what’s it of?

You hear a lot of things.

I do. It’s like a magickal power.

I have a couple thousand preserved snowflakes. It’s a bit of a niche, took a lot of practice to perfect, but it helps to channel our most basic natures.

Can you tell me about Alvilda?

She was special, but she had a self-destruct button. Too much energy to contain. <Emotions warred through his face.> She changed the way our mound runs now, about what we prioritize, about how we teach our children.

I’m glad to hear she has a legacy.

Me, too.

What was the first bit of magick you learned?

Keeping my food from burning my mouth. Took a long time before I got to eat warm food again.

Samurai or Ninja?

Ninja. It’s better to be fast than strong, and every fairy will tell you the same.

If you could change something about yourself, what would it be and why?

I’d be able to feel warmth again.

I hope you do, someday. Well, that’s it. Thanks for placating me, and I hope you come back to visit soon.

 

Want to know more about Fannar? Check out his official character page or watch him work in “The Mark of the Phoenix.”

Megan Dorei, a Featured Spotlight

Tags

character development, chase, flammable, heartbreak, insignia, marketing techniques, must read, on the run, triggered, writing advice

If you haven’t heard of my new project, the On Fire anthology over at Transmundane Press, this mini-interview and excerpt series will showcase the amazing authors I get to work with and their writing. Meet Megan Dorei.

How long have you been writing?

Since I could hold a pencil. Before I actually learned how to write I drew stick-figure stories with crayon, then stapled them together to look like books. Stacks and stacks of them. A third of the structure of our apartment was made of makeshift paperbacks.

How do you choose your character’s personalities and names?

Occasionally a character will come to me before the story, but most of the time it’s the opposite. Molding a character has a lot to do with the plot, what it will require of them, how it will push them. It’s probably my favorite part of the process.

What marketing techniques do you find most effective?

Unfortunately for me (a self-proclaimed hermit), networking is a great one. It always makes me nervous trying to find a balance between plugging and spamming… Plus, you know, the whole human interaction thing.

 

From “Chrysopoeia” by Megan Dorei

Holding her breath against the beef-thick air, she readied to head back to her booth when two men came in from outside. Familiar by their finely-tailored suits, though she didn’t recognize the faces. Bearing the insignia she’d helped create on their lapels. She stopped so suddenly, she bounced back a step.

Of course, they were looking for her. She was stupid for not thinking of this.

Her mind raced with the same bleak friction as one who runs despite an approaching dead end.

No way out the front entrance.

Assuming the back door was through the kitchen, she would have to make it past the men either way.

No windows in the women’s bathroom, and probably none in the men’s.

Saliva thickened to flammable jelly in her throat. The Flame burgeoned at the bottom of her belly, stretching to hook a claw into her esophagus. She shuddered with the fruitless effort it took to cage it.

As the men surveyed the diner, recognition lit their faces. Her heart slunk into her belly and was devoured by flames.

She knew of one way out.

Their hands twitched to their belts in synchrony, and the guns tucked there flashed like eager stars, the cold fire Ayden harbored in her own chest. But the rest of her was alive with heat, desert fumes that writhed just beneath her skin, and she ached to let it out, she burned.

“Ayden, get your hands up.”

Resentment sparked. They called her by her first name like they knew her, like they were old friends…

Her body clenched, and the men were too late to pull the trigger. The screams of the diners cut off in a nebula burst. Incineration. It rushed out of Ayden’s pores like volcanic spew, blistering, bittersweet agony that shook her to her bones.

Spent, she fell to her knees. The flames towered above her, triumphant beasts licking the ceiling. The bewildering heat didn’t burn her—a dire vessel with the coals set free. Too cold to burn.

 

Megan Dorei is a part-time housekeeper who spends her free time writing, thinking about writing, and listening to music to reinvigorate her writing. She is a horror devotee, beer enthusiast and lover of all things retro. She has been a contributing author to Sirens Call Publications’ Bellows of the Bone Box and Mental Ward: Stories From the Asylum, Storm Moon Press‘ Big Damn Heroines, Dark Moon Digest #14, Flame Tree Publishing’s Gothic Fantasy: Dystopia Utopia, and most recently in Mad Scientist Journal: Summer 2017. She lives in Lawrence, Kansas with her fiancée and a ghost that insists on hiding their remotes.

ON FIRE is available now: Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and the Transmundane Press store.

Alisha Costanzo, a Featured Spotlight

Tags

blood phoenix, Broken World, character development, developing dialogue, good read, must read, on fire, phoenix, writing advice, writing tips

If you haven’t heard of my new project, the On Fire anthology over at Transmundane Press, this mini-interview and excerpt series will showcase the amazing authors I get to work with and their writing, usually. This time, you get to meet me, Alisha Costanzo.

What advice do you have for beginning authors?

Just write. Don’t let anyone tell you what to write or that what you write isn’t worth writing. Just write.

Which of your characters was the hardest to write about and why?

In Loving Red, Kaia was my most difficult because of how different she and I are. She’s far more capable than I am in the wild, untrusting, and a faithful Christian. I asked the woman who created the character with me in role playing a lot of questions to be sure I did her justice.

What do you think your main strengths and weaknesses are as an author?

My main weakness as an author is scene set-up. I always feel as if I’m blathering on too long when I’m describing a setting. I’ve been working on this for years and am developing a style that allows me to give snippets of sensory detail rather than dumping it all at once. My strengths are character development and dialogue. I love to give my characters different voices that make them distinct, like Boden’s lack of articles and how he misuses prepositions. I also like that all of my characters are broken in various ways.

 

From “The Mark of the Phoenix” by Alisha Costanzo

Aderyn chased the headlights across the ceiling and the fleeting feeling of Tatiana’s touch along his skin. He ached. So badly.

Digging the pipe from his satchel, he broke and sprinkled a nugget and burnt it under his thumb. The smoke eased the ache in his shoulders and back, but his chest blistered inside from the fear of rebirth. Of disintegrating into ash and dust. Of painting the cosmos with fire and losing himself.

A long life without love meant little.

Another puff sank his elbows to his knees, numbing limbs and leaving that sucking blackness in the center of his chest.

He deserved the girl.

Another puff.

Didn’t he?

The herb knocked him backwards into the bed, drowning him the lack of attachment he had in this world. What would he leave behind? A vague memory for a woman and a child he would never meet? One that would be hunted down to live the same life as him, wandering alone to cleanse the world with fire?

A hard burden for anyone to carry.

But it was his, and he didn’t want to give it up.

 

Alisha Costanzo is from a Syracuse suburb. She earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Central Oklahoma, where she currently teaches English. She’s the author of the Blood Phoenix saga, Loving Red and is co-editor of Distorted, Underwater, and After the Happily Ever After. Lucifer’s Daughter, her new novel, is in its creation for a hopeful 2018 release. In the meantime, she will continue to corrupt young minds, rant about the government, and daydream about her all around nasty creatures.

ON FIRE is available now: Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and the Transmundane Press store.

Sean Padraic McCarthy, a Featured Spotlight

Tags

character development, dysfunctional family, mental health, On Fire anthology, twins, witchcraft, writer's block, writing, zombies

If you haven’t heard of my new project, the On Fire anthology over at Transmundane Press, this mini-interview and excerpt series will showcase the amazing authors I get to work with and their writing. Meet Sean Padraic McCarthy.

 

Are you a full-time author? If you have another job, what is it and would you like to become a full-time author if you could?

I’m not a full time author. I work in the mental health field as a human service coordinator. And yes, if I could support myself from writing, I would; although I would like to teach part time.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I’m always working on at least a few stories—and usually a novel—at the same time, so if one stalls, I just jump to another. I also find that writer’s block is much more torturous when thinking about writing; once you go into your writer’s mind—with either pen on paper or fingers on the keyboard—the answers are usually more accessible.

Who is your favorite character in your current story and why?

Both Sophie and Kinsley.  I love Sophie’s heart and innocence, and I love Kinsley’s alertness, practicality and wisdom, and I love the way the two of them look out for each other.

 

From “A Solstice Memory” by Sean McCarthy

Inside the house the twins stood waiting for me. They’re not identical, but they look alike. Sophie has darker hair, a slightly lazy eye, and freckles on her nose. A little taller. Kinsley is more compact, and more assured. An athlete.

“Dad,” she said.

“Yeah?’

“That wasn’t a dead cat you were burying this morning.”

“What do you mean?”

She beckoned for me to follow her, and slid open the door onto the back covered deck. Cheryl has always kept the back deck looking nice. A bar, and our grill, a teak dining table. More hanging plants, and potted herbs. And on the side wall of the house hangs a collections of faces. Masks. One, wooden, is a tree spirit, a bearded face in the bark. One is Pan, painted dark green, leaves in his hair. One is a gray stone cherub. And one is from Haiti. A tear drop shaped, with a bone through the nose, eyes in panic, and the mouth locked open in scream. Wild strands of hair, standing on end. My brother-in-law, a sociologist, game me that one. He told me it is very old, and one of kind, probably worth a lot of money, so we probably shouldn’t hang it out here, free to steal, but Cheryl insisted we do, insisted we hang it with the others, so she didn’t have to look at it every day.

Kinsley was already down on the lawn. “Come on.”

I looked at Sophie.

“I’m not going down there,” she said. “Not again.”

Kinsley stopped some twenty feet from the shed, from the pet cemetery.

I caught up.

“Look.” She pointed.

But she didn’t have to.

The hand stuck up from the earth. Rotten and gray. The yellow finger nails clawed at the soil.

“He wants out, Dad,” Kinsley said.

“Well, let’s see if we can stop that.”

“You can’t be burying dead guys in the yard. Mom’s gonna get really mad.”

 

Sean Padraic McCarthy’s short stories have been published or are forthcoming in Glimmer Train, The Hopkins Review, The Indianola Review, South Dakota Review, The Sewanee Review, 2 Bridges Review, Prole, Water~Stone Review,  Hayden’s Ferry Review, Shadowgraph Magazine, Fifth Wednesday Journal, and South Dakota Review among others. His story “Better Man”–originally published in december magazine—was  listed as a “Distinguished Story”  in The Best American Short Stories 2015, he was recently named a finalist for the Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction, and he is a 2016 recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Artist Fellowship in Fiction Award. 

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