#WordWeavers 19: Could you imagine a story in the same world where your MC is the antagonist?

Absolutely, considering she starts out as an antagonist to many in that world.

To the Black Armada, she’s an assassin come to kill one of their own.

To Azza, she’s hoarding a sword that can heal the sick.

To Ash, she’s a meddling god who causes trouble wherever she goes.

And to Sama, she’s a swindler who refuses to pay up once she’s gotten what she wants out of him.

This. This right here.

I had to share it with my fellow writers.

From here on my blog: https://www.tumblr.com/agoodtuckering/792232980306411520?source=share

#WordWeavers Aug 18 Do you carry any symbols from your own life into your stories?

In the first book, Tobias' main camera is the Nikon D7000 that I use. Sujay's glasses are based on mine. The labyrinth as magical focus is based on an art project that a guy I used to know did, in combination with a meditation labyrinth I walked that one time I ran away to a convent...

#WordWeavers Aug 18 Do you carry any symbols from your own life into your stories?

All the cars my characters drive are cars that were owned by people in my immediate or extended family. All my husband's and my daddy's trucks have turned up in my stories, as have two cars I've driven.

#WordWeavers Aug 18 Do you carry any symbols from your own life into your stories?

I don't think so. There are symbols and symbolism in my stories, but the thing about symbols is that they're not real, right? A black cat may symbolize bad luck in a story, but in the real world a black cat is just a black cat. Symbols and symbolism only really exist in stories, they belong within the realm of storytelling, so I don't see how I could carry them from my own life into my story.

#WordWeavers Aug 18: Do you carry any symbols from your own life into your stories?

This one confuses me. What are symbols from my life? Mundane functional symbols like signage, sure. Also things like wedding rings.

But the symbolism I think of when I think of symbolism in fiction is something that really only applies to fiction. I guess I might see a sunrise and think of renewal, but I won't expect the literary theme of renewal to suddenly apply to my life - I'll just go back to bed.

#WordWeavers 8/18 Do you carry any symbols from your own life into your stories?

Yes, they're called "words"

Symbols need context to be meaningful, if you don't spend time establishing that context in fiction, they'll fall flat. That said, I do have a lot of dream sequences in my writing, which are full of symbolism.

Mirrors and prisms frequently appear in a symbolic capacity in my writing, for presumably obvious reasons - transmitting light seems inherently metaphorical to me.

#WordWeavers 18, Do you carry any symbols from your own life into your stories?

I have ideas, then I write them. Sometimes I figure out what stuff means, or deeper reasons for the way it worked out, but I don't plan it. All of it comes from the same messy lump of gray matter, so - there's bound to be symbols.

#WordWeavers MC POV: If you could try one food you've never tried, what would it be?

Okay, don't laugh at me. But the one mom-thing my mom did was read me The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Well, parts of it. She kind of ran off track. But before she did, she read about the White Witch and Turkish Delight. It's candy, I think. The little kid Edmund loved Turkish Delight. I'd like to have some Turkish Delight.

Etoile in When We Were Murderous Time-Traveling Women

#WordWeavers 18. Do you carry any symbols from your own life into your stories?

i'm not the sort of person who attaches symbolic meaning to the things that happen in my life. life is different from stories because it has no author, and there's no hidden message behind it all. life is just a bunch of stuff that happens.

#WordWeavers 8/17. MC POV: If you could try one food you've never tried, what would it be?

Carlton Dixon--Maine Lobster roll
Merrilyn Beck--escargot
Cassie Beck--Chinese food

#WordWeavers Day 17: MC POV: If you could try one food you've never tried, what would it be?

Ian: I would try sitting down for a meal.

#WordWeavers 17Aug—MC POV: If you could try one food you've never had, what would it be?

Serge: I want to try that cheesy, saucy, bread cake.
Francis: Wait, what?
S: Yeah, it's like bread, with sauce and cheese on top. You can add meat and veggies, too, I guess.
Yara: That sounds interesting.
Jaslan: But you said it's cake. Is it sweet?
S: Dunno.
F: I can't imagine it is.

*they ponder for a moment*

S: What's it called again?
Me: Pizza.
S *points at me with intention*: That's it! I want pizza!

#WordWeavers Aug. 16 - Who is your most flamboyant character, and is it more visual, behavioural, or something else?

In the big WIP it's definitely the noblewoman MC, who has the wealth to dress in vivid clothing (dyes = expensive!) and eye-catching jewelry, and a huge eye-catching body to show them off on. She's a flashy and confident beauty who is comfortable taking up social as well as physical space, and is always reaching out and talking to people, pushing some project, or hosting & entertaining, making her impossible to ignore. She also likes to have music and drums playing when she's out & about (again, expensive!), which draws quite a bit of attention.

#WordWeavers Aug 16: Who is your most flamboyant character, and is it more visual, behavioral, or something else?

Kenny, who after the end of the world, takes over the bar he used to be a busboy at and makes it apocalypse themed. He dresses like a blood-splattered demon, quite convincingly. He's actually a very chill person but looks terrifying.

#WordWeavers 16 Aug
Who is your most flamboyant character, and is it more visual, behavioural, or something else?

Got to be Marco Aleyandro de Hormada, singer, gambler, thief, teller of tall tales, emotionally sincere but ultimately unreliable seducer, wanderer, greatest and most notorious trovador in the world [citation: his own account of his deeds]

He's only present as Main Character of his own tales in The Trovador, and everyone else's opinion of him Marya hears is … not great.

#WordWeavers Do you plan your themes, or do they arise naturally as you write?

Themes are not planned. Themes are who you are as a person. Ursuala Le Guin explains this eloquently in the intro to The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, just write, and your themes will come out.

#WordWeavers Aug 15: Do you plan your themes, or do they arise naturally as you write?

I feel like everything I do in writing or life is just an extension of the same theme.

#WordWeavers Aug 15
Do you plan your themes, or do they arise naturally as you write?

Themes? A bit of both, I suppose.

At first I always recognized my themes by looking backwards at the finished story. But the more I write the most I'm able to recognize and plan for specific themes.

I don't always choose to. Very often I just start writing and see what happens, watching the themes arise as the story comes together. But there have been a few stories, like The Price of Survival and Planting Life in a Dying City, where I had themes in mind as I started writing.