GUYS HELP ME OUT HERE

[apiphile]

I HAVE THE PARANOIDS ABOUT THIS BOOK.

PLEASE ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT A) THE PLOT AND B) THE CHARACTERS OR C) ADDRESS QUESTIONS TO THE CHARACTERS SO I CAN GET A GRIP ON THEIR VOICES.\

You don't have to give a shit about the answers, just ASK THINGS. (PS please no "what lolcat meme are you" or owt, 'tis a fantasy novel and there is no intertubes).

Comments

[chess]

Some questions for the characters, off the top of my head:

Someone bumps into you at a social occasion and asks what you do for a living to make small talk. How do you reply and does the conversation get going or die in a ditch? What kind of social occasion are you likely to be at, anyway?

You are in a dark forest, well off the beaten track. The night is closing in and you are sure that you can hear wolves. How much of a problem is this to you and how well do you survive the night? How might you be likely to get into this kind of predicament, anyway?

Did you have any kind of formal education? Were there any people in your life who stood out as excellent teachers who shaped you into the person you are now, or possibly awful teachers who did likewise? Tell me about them.

[apiphile]

Blargh character voices blargh work

[chess]

Work you asked for :p

[apiphile]

No I mean I'm at work hence comprative brevity of answer.

[strangefrontier]

Each character is subject to a Kafkaesque arrest and given no information about why they've been detained. How do they react? What transgressions do they think they've been arrested for?

Are there any characters that frothing SJers would heartily approve of? If so, change that.

Are there any specific plot points/scenes that you're really looking forward to writing?

[apiphile]

1. Hana would assume it was in some way connected to the family who have taken over her own country, and some influence that they have in Albion; she would make requests to speak to the contacts that she has, and comport herself with dignity. She would also probably forget to contact Hajar.
Hajar: Would assume it was either related to her mother, or to Ben, and react accordingly by refusing to talk about anything to anyone at all ever.
Ben: Would be utterly convinced it was to do with his advocacy and fly into a rage branding everyone a coward and a bastard and make attacks on the character of everyone from the jailer to the Governance himself but crucially would do fuck all to get himself out of thereFerdinand: I suspect he would assume this was related to his relationship with Hugo, and that he was therefore to be hospitalised. He would try to make denials/enquiries and possibly, I think, to break out. He's not as compliant as he believes himself to be

[strangefrontier]

Remember your answer to question 3 when you have WRITING IS HORRIBLE AND HARD AND I HATE IT ALL moments. You have delicious character death to look forward to!

This is all very tasty and intriguing. Really looking forward to this book. Still need to see when I can squeeze the latest one into my budget.

[apiphile]

Psst, I'd hold out a bit on that if I were you as I'm probably going to do a January sale on them again this year. :)

[apiphile]

1. Hana would say, and mean, that she would wish for the return of her family and status. Radigis would say that he wishes for a fairer Albion but mean that he wishes for power. John would say he wishes for peace and seclusion with El Alacran, but if he had the imagination for it I think he would wish for them not to need the seclusion. El Alacran has a whole bunch of things he would wish for but they boil down to EVERYONE STOP BEING AN ASS TO EVERYONE ELSE, although he'd say he wishes for an end to the interfactional conflict in his own kingdom. El Miriapodo would say that he wishes for a victorious end to the fighting, which is the complete opposite of what he wants as he is certain that if they win he will be obsolete; I suspect he wishes for better resources and more trustworthy captains. Qingting wishes internally for Aerdis's arm back, and externally for Aerdis's happiness; Aerdis would say she wishes for the safety of the city but yeah, she wants her goddamn fucking arm back. I think if Ferdinand were given a wish-granting

[morecake]

Does the plot follow a fairly clear line from the beginning, or are there twists? If yes, how many twists?

What background did each of the characters have? Is it actually plausible and is it likely that, with those backgrounds, they would find themselves in the situations they are in?

[apiphile]

There are betrayals, but I doubt they're the same thing as "twists

[ruthi]

Where does the plot begin? Is it a plot or a conspiracy?

[apiphile]

I suspect it begins with the skin-stealer's appropriation of Hugo, and Ferdinand noticing. And no, it is definitely not a conspiracy.