Hello, all! As one can probably see from the lack of posts, I took a creative break. Between wrapping up my first full campaign and a creative block due to perfectionism, I had to take a bit of a break to rejuvenate.
Unfortunately: for consistency, my ability to keep up with my numerous projects, and sanity, the AO3 will be pausing until I finish Like A Flame in earnest. Once I finish the final edits of the book, I will be publishing (for free!) on AO3 as well as a physical copy. Feel free to read what’s up there for now.
I have now started two new campaigns (Monster of the Week and Dreadnauts, for the curious) in addition to writing my book and my day job, so I’m definitely not lacking in the creative department! That said, I’d like to get back in the saddle again, starting with some questions.
What’s your favorite way to pass the time?
Working on campaigns or reading research material. When I’m not working on Like A Flame or reading material that helps me write more accurately or to spark the muse, I usually have a campaign or three that I’m working on or actively running/playing. Tabletop is my favorite way to create that’s not a novel since I can’t draw. I also love watching film for research purposes. My newest campaign is about a town in a sleepy 90’s town in the middle of the fictional town of Gypsum, Washington. Fairytales are well and truly alive in the Folly Oaks Forest, so I’ve been reading old fairy tales (mostly Hans Christian Anderson and Brothers Grimm, but also things like Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark and children’s stories like Stone Soup).
Recent films/shows for research purposes have been Twin Peaks (1990), The Brothers Grimm (2005), and Malcolm X (1992).
Recent books I’ve read is a recent draft of Blanc LaBelle and the Innocent Vampire by Nicholas Westbrook and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
Who would you like to have a cup of coffee with?
For authors, Seanan McGuire, TJ Klune, or Terry Pratchett. Klune and Pratchett are both immaculate at worldbuilding and would love to hear more about their process. I adored the Wayward Children series by McGuire and I just genuinely love how she writes. She manages to get you to adore her characters and then (respectfully) traumatizes you.
For fictional characters, Violet Baudelaire. Her ability to coexist with current ongoing trauma and problem solve at the same time is amazing to me.
What are three things you would want to be stranded with?
- Item One: I’m gonna cheat a little and say a collection by an author. My top three would be the Wrinkle In Time series by Madeleine L’Engle, Discworld by Terry Pratchett, or a Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.
- Item Two: A local atlas and spare paper/pen. I love maps and I like the concept of being able to map myself back to society (though in reality I doubt my abilities. I’m very much a city person who can barely navigate without GPS).
- Item Three: Tinderbox and flint or matches. I can personally attest that fires are very difficult to start.
Why are you so obsessed with faeries?
I have always been obsessed with the power of story. Oral history was fascinating to me and I latched onto epics, Shakespeare, and Greek literature in high school HARD. In college, I minored in English lit, but my favorite course was one in Irish literature. I discovered Yeats, my never ending adoration for Joyce’s Dubliners, and the capacity of telling stories out loud around fires. (Vacations as a child were usually camping, so I ended up reading solo by the campfire a lot.)
At some point, I realized that Disney had source material most of the time and they were much darker than the tales that we’ve gotten used to now. In recent years, I got fascinated by being lost in the woods, the fae folk, and living in the woods. Peter Pan is one of my favorite tales, and Finding Neverland (2004) spoke to me a lot as an early writer when it first came out, and even now. Peter Pan was definitely the gateway fairy-story for me. My tastes got more developed as I discovered things like ancient Greek plays and Lord of the Rings in high school. I’ve now done a 180 and returned to the fairytales that first inspired me.
What was your favorite book growing up?
The first book I bound in duct tape (I have four in total) was Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O’Brien. My favorite book to escape to was The BFG by Roald Dahl. I didn’t have the easiest childhood, so being able to escape to a world of giants with fantastical foods with bottled dreams was so vastly different from the reality I was living with.
~ Forest ~
Forest Hackley 
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