Interview with Sybra (Starbloods)

Sybra (Starbloods)

Me:

Hey all! I'm back with another character interview and today's is with Sybra from my fantasy series Starbloods.

Sybra:

*staring at my laptop screen over my shoulder* Why is a painting of a human being used as my picture for the interview?

Me:

*sighs* Like I tell my other characters, I just find pictures close to what you all look like. Her facial structure is similar to yours.

Sybra:

*purses lips* Hm. I suppose. Well, if the readers want to see a real picture of me, they can see the Art Gallery.

Me:

Yep. Well, anyway to the interview. Tell us a little bit about yourself, Sybra.

Sybra: 

I'm a nymph and I've grown up in a Nymphian abbey in Ibreain. I'm also an Iadlonu and my iadlonuse is a dragon. I was trained to be both a warrior and a healer.

Me: 

Cool. Tell us more about Nymphs.

Sybra: 

Nymphs are the most powerful healers of our world. We can sense a patient's pain to know exactly where he is wounded within the body as well as on the surface and wound he or she may not even be aware of. We can also manipulate emotions and state of consciousness.

Me:

Interesting. Random question: What is your favorite food?

Sybra:

Hm... Out of all foods? Jam roll pastries the Head Mother taught me how to make when I was a child.

Me:

Cool. And what's your favorite fruit?

Sybra: 

*crosses legs* Pomegranates. I like the juice from them. They're very healthy too.

Meldar:

*walks in with and eagle perched on his arm* Look at this. Isn't he beautiful?

Me:

*widens eyes* Whoa. Um. He is very pretty Meldar, but I don't think it's a good idea to have an eagle in the house. 

Meldar:

*strokes eagle's chest with the bag of his pointer finger* He was hunting from atop the barren trees with ropes connecting them outside and he said he's allies with a white cat.

Me:

*shifts* Well, I'm glad he's not enemies with her. He looks big enough to eat her.

Meldar:

He said he's considered it, but an alliance is more beneficial for them both.

Me:

*sarcastic* Oh yeah... That's comforting.

Sybra:

*looks at eagle, smiles* He reminds me of the sea eagles at home. Unfortunately, nymphs cannot understand birds like sylphs can.

Rouyn:
*walks in* Did anyone see my knife? It was in my pack and now it's gone.

Me:
*shakes head*

Sybra:
I have my own knife.

Meldar:
So do I.

Rouyn:
*blinks at eagle* Where did that come from?

Meldar:
*frowns* I found him outside.

Rouyn:
*rolls eyes*

Me:
*sighs* Well Rouyn since you're here, you have a question.

Rouyn:
*smirks, crosses arms* Good. I'm on the way to having more than that clay-brain, Bryce.

Sybra:
*squints* Who's "Bryce"?

Rouyn:
*glances at Sybra* I'll explain later. Now for the question.

Me:
Lyssa(: asks, Who is Landora?

Rouyn:
*flinches, smiles* Well she is my pegasus and my best friend, but she is missing so I have to look for her. *smile fades*

Me:
*looks away, buttons lips* Well, I think that's all the questions we have today.

Rouyn:
That's all? *huffs* I need more questions to beat Bryce. *looks at laptop* Readers, ask me more questions. Bryce has had a head start.

Meldar:
*looks at laptop* Are there people in there somehow?

Me:
*inhales, lets breath out* I'll explain later.

Sybra:
I'd like some questions too and maybe I can get more than that Pro girl. Nymphs are better than humans anyway. *smirks*

Me:
*frowns* Hey.

Sybra:
I'm jesting.

Meldar:
*shifts weight from foot to foot* I wouldn't mind a question either...

Me:
That's the end of this interview. Commenting a few questions for Sybra, Meldar and Rouyn would make them happy. *winks*

Rouyn:
Helps us get more questions than the Subsapien characters.

Sybra:
Or at least equal.

Meldar:
*smiles* The Subsapien characters are almost as cocky as Rouyn. More questions for us would put them in their places hopefully.

Rouyn:
*shoots a glare at Meldar*

Me:
I hope you all enjoyed the interview. :) You can check out more about Sybra's book in current projects, her book's Pinterest board, pictures I have drawings for the story on deviantART and fan art on my Facebook page. A reminder that there is not going to be a blogpost next week, since I will be out of country, but I will be back with pictures. :D The next interview is still undecided. Would you all like to read an interview with Subsapien characters from Starbloods? Any character in particular? Thanks for reading! :D

You May Also Like:

Interview with Meldar (Starbloods)

Interview with Rouyn (Starbloods)

Interview with Bryce... Again (Subsapien)

Interview with Pro Jamerson (Subsapien)

Interview with Caleb Heagen (Subsapien)

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Summer Summary 2012!

So this Summer has been a pretty good one for me. :) I had a lot of stuff go on and a lot coming with the mission trip and pitching to editors at an upcoming conference, but two big things were meeting two Hunger Games cast members and going to DragonCon with my cousin.

At a nearby Walmart, there was a Hunger Games DVD release party and two of the cast members were there, Ethan Jamieson (D4) and Ian Nelson (D3). (Why did that sound like the beginning of some fairy tale? Lol)

After almost two hours waiting, I finally got their pictures...

Ethan Jamieson (left) & Ian Nelson (right)

And their autographs...

Rouyn-Plushie wanted to showcase. He's Team Katniss. ;) Ethan and Ian were both very nice and it was great meeting them. Totally worth the wait.

Saw Stan Lee...

And dressed up as Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender (the cartoon not the movie)...

And got some pics with some other Avatar characters...

And I dressed up Rouyn-Plushie after I got home for you all's amusement ;)...

He wasn't happy. ;) Also FYI I'm actually a blonde. The brown hair's a wig lol. 

I'm still working on rewriting Subsapien Biomech. About that contest, I didn't win, but there's always another one. :)

Not this week, but the next week there will be no post because I will be out of the country on my mission trip to France. Prayers would be appreciated for safe travels. :) I will be back with loads of pictures. :D

I hope you all are enjoying this blog. :) I want to make it enjoyable for you to read. I'm coming out with another character interview very soon. :) Thanks for reading! :D

Are you enjoying the interviews and the chapters? How was my first attempt at writing advice? Is there anything you would like me to blog about in particular? A particular struggle you're dealing with in writing? I can do my best to give some advice. A particular character you'd like to see an interview with or another interview with?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Character Chatting: How to Do It and How it Benefits Your Writing

Most of you reading this are probably thinking, "What the heck is 'Character Chatting'?" I thought the same thing when I first heard about it, but let me tell you it is a very fun, helpful, and addicting activity for writers. My friends and I who do it find it helpful to test run our ideas; develop settings and characters; tap into the subconscious; and get our heads back into the writing mode after a hiatus.

Here's how it works:

You need:
1.) A laptop or computer
2.) A writing buddy with a laptop or computer
3.) An internet connection
4.) A Yahoo!, Facebook, Gmail account or any online account with an instant messenger

Basically, you chat with your writing friend on these accounts as your characters. You chat like they'd talk and move. My friends and I put actions and description between asterisks to separate them from speech. There are two ways to character chat that I've discovered. I call them the Yahoo! Method and the Facebook Method.

In the Facebook, you put the character's name before colons to define the speaker.
For example:
Sarah: *smiles* Hey.
Marty: How are you?
Sarah: *shrugs* I'm okay.
Marty: *sits beside her on the bench* What's wrong?
Sarah: Nothing.

My personal favorite is the Yahoo! Method, because instead of having to type the characters' names all the time, you pick colors for each character, which makes the chat box pretty. ;)
For example:

Tips: 

1.) Have a plan! - Plan out a basic idea with your writing partner of what your characters are going to do. For example: Have a bad guy of your partner kidnap one of your characters, so your characters and her/his characters have to rescue them.

2.) Let the subconscious take its course! -  Don't be afraid to go off plan, because the new plan may be much better than what you intended, which also goes with writing your novel. 

3.) Force yourself to show! - If you've been studying the craft of writing for any length of time you've probably been advised to show not tell. My friends and I character chat with no interior monologue from characters to force ourselves to show our character's emotions. Interior monologue is good in books, but I think it's best to omit it in character chatting.

4.) Mix genres! - Let's say you write fantasy and your friend writes historical. Combine those characters and you could get an amazing adventure going on. :) How would a pioneer girl react to the supernatural powers of your wizard? How would your fantasy prince react to technology of modern day? Character chatting with characters of different genres can help you think out of the box for your writing.

5.) Visit each other's worlds! - You know that one setting in your book where you just can't get a clear picture? Try making your characters in the chats go there. This can stimulate you describe that area and help your brain kick into gear and finally clear the fog for that town, castle, or forest. Doing this also helps develop culture since in chatting you must describe it for your friend so they know what's going on. What terms do your people in the elf village use or your sci-fi freedom fighters?

6.) Save your chats! - You did all this awesome character chatting and now you don't want to let it go get lost in cyberspace. Keep them in a document so you can look back at them and remember that little idea that you thought up or that line of dialogue you want to steal for your novel. Yahoo! has a long chat history and you can copy and paste from the Conversation History. 

Tip: Holding down Ctrl then pressing C copies text after selecting and Ctrl then pressing V pastes it super fast.

My friends and I have thought of a particular method for our character chatting, but do what you feel comfortable with your friend or friends if you dare to try three-way. Try thinking of this like training for writing, but don't let it distract you from your regular writing too much. For me, character chatting has helped develop my settings and characters immensely. Bryce and Able would not be the same without it. ;) Trust the subconscious. It will surprise you. :)

Do you have any questions about character chatting? Have you ever tried it?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)