After many months of mistakes and banging my head against the wall, I came up with a few principles related to creating fictional worlds. I’ve never written them down before and they’re by no means perfect, but they may help you craft your own world or at least generate some thoughts on how you would approach it.
How did the author go about choosing the names for her characters? If the author could have dinner with one or more of the characters from this book, which of them would it be? What would they talk about? What advice does Lenore Gay have for authors who aren’t yet published?
𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴 is my fourth book and third work of fiction. While characters in my first two mysteries have had idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, Murphy Murphy (the detective at the heart of my new book) is more defined by them than the others.
In today’s world, most people have an email account. And in each email account there is a spam folder where all of the junk mail is supposed to go. But just as no human is perfect, neither is any email account.
Phobias are wonderful to afflict your characters with. A phobia makes them seem more human. Possibly, a phobia will make your readers, especially those with phobias of their own, feel closer to one of more of your characters. Depending on what phobia you choose to bless, or curse, your character with, he can end up…
Did the author write about how Emily made her herbal remedies from her own knowledge or did she have to research how they are made? If she could choose to spend one hour with any person, dead or alive, whom would she choose? If she had the chance to have dinner with one of the…
What was the inspiration for this book? Are dragons a hobby of his? Did writing the torture scenes ever make him cringe? How much research did he have to do? What are his thoughts on self-publishing? What was your inspiration for this book? I have an unhealthy interest in cryptozoology and have studied it extensively,…
Where did the inspiration for Let There Be Linda come from? Were the crazy characters based on people he had met? Did he have to do any research for this book? What are his thoughts on self-publishing? What was the inspiration for this book? I have no idea where the story came from. But the vibe,…
Zombies are a dramatic backdrop to everything else going on in Pete’s troubled life. How far will he go to ensure the survival of the woman he loves, even when she doesn’t love him in return? Pete, his wife, and his daughter are at the center of this story. Pete and Caroline are having some…
How many chances will you take on Take a Chance Day? Will you visit a mad scientist on World Laboratory Day? On Talk Like Shakespeare Day, will thou talkest like Shakespeare? What will you see up above on Look Up at the Sky Day? On Reach as High as You Can Day, what will you…
