The Writer’s Tag

I was tagged for this literally months ago, and since I need to write a post and am currently brain dead on ideas, I remembered this life saver! It’s a lot of fun (if you’re a writer) and the questions are also fun (if you’re a writer).

Fortunately, I am a writer.

I would like to thank Cassandra, the creator of this glorious tag and also the wonderful person who tagged ME.

Go check out her blog. She’s awesome.

Now, I shall present…

THE RULES:

1. Answer the questions (we’re not there yet. Patience, Grasshopper! Patience!)
2. Thank the blogger who tagged you (thanks again! This was a lot of fun)
3. Tag five more victims bloggers

Okay. On to the questions. Mwahahahaha!

What is your novel about?

All right, here I go.

Darkspire is a YA steampunk with super powers. Aubrey, a teenage scavenger with illegal fire powers, has been on the run ever since her village turned on her. When mercenaries capture her only friend, a ten year old thief with absorption powers she considers her brother, she teams up with Jase, a strange firebrand she found trapped in an abandoned prison who swears he traveled through time, to rescue him.

Aubrey and Jase leave the refuge of the Abandons to seek a ship to Darkspire, the capitol of the world and home to the kidnapping mercenaries. If they get caught, they will be killed, and there will be no chance for escape.

But they have more immediate problems to worry about.

Like the notorious pirate captain who offered to take them there, for a price; her superstitious crew, who are a little too good at finding secrets; and the ruthless mercenary General Ophelia Sulla, who’s still on their trail.

Did you start with the story or the characters?

Neither. I started with a vague idea of wanting to write a world that had been destroyed by someone with super powers. I remember thinking this kind of massive power you see everywhere in super heroes/villains had potential to destroy the planet, and I wanted to explore that.

Eventually I came up with Jase, but it wasn’t his story. So Aubrey introduced herself, and I was hooked. Everything else came after them.

What led you to write it?

I was hopelessly in love with the idea and I really wanted to get more than 6k into a project. Since I am now 40k into Darkspire, I consider it SUCCESS. I probably have 30 or 40k left to go, but I am determined to finish it before April. The goal was before March, but I’ve moved on.

What real-life events or people inspired events or characters in this book?

Um…

Does my total adoration of Marvel and super heroes in general count as an event?

What authors or stories inspired you as a writer?

I read SO MUCH growing up it’s difficult to pick out individuals, but I have to credit J. K. Rowling because I was obsessed with Harry Potter (and still am. Want to hear about Fleamont Potter? Or how much I despise the Cursed Child? Or the American game quodpot? I can tell you).

This obsession came with a budding knowledge of fanfiction, and I went from writing short stories to diving into giant sprawling projects. I never got more than 50k into them, but I wrote around 150k words of pure fanfic over a few years, and it made me realize I could actually write long stories.

What inspired me to make Darkspire a steampunk was Gail Carigger’s Finishing School series and Jim Butcher’s Cinder Spires. I hadn’t read much steampunk before then, and those books made me realize Aubrey NEEDED to be in a steampunk novel.

So Darkspire went from post-apocalypse to steampunk. The super powers stayed, of course.

and Now, I tag…

Kenzie!

May!

Anatomy of a Book Thief!

And You!

*If you were already tagged for this, I’m sorry.

**I know this isn’t five but I have a headache and I want to go to sleep. Shh.

That’s all for today, folks! What inspired your current writing project? What’s your story about? Are you obsessed with super powers? If not, you may be on the wrong blog…