Ask the Author: Inna Hardison
Answered Questions (8)
Inna Hardison
Jude St. Francis & Willem Ragnarsson from A Little Life. My favorites change based on what I read, but this has been an uncontested favorite for a while. There is so much vulnerability and kindness in their relationship, I don't think I'd ever experienced anything quite like that in anything I'd read (or watched) before.
Inna Hardison
Hi Justin. This is a tough one for me. I didn't grow up reading dystopian per se, not sure it would have even been defined as such at the time, and it seems everyone's definitions of the genre are pretty diverse. But if I were to pick a novel in the genre, I'd have issues with either the plot or the writing. 1984 was believable enough as far as the kind of society that could conceivably happen, but the writing for me was definitely not Orwell at his best. On the other side of that we have A Handsmaid's Tale and The Hunger Games - I enjoyed both for the writing, but couldn't picture the actual dystopian worlds created. If I had to point to the most powerful condemnations of societal ills in literature and their affect on the characters, I'd actually go with Orwell's short stories, specifically, Shooting an Elephant and The Hanging. Have yet to see something as brilliant done in a novel:-)
Inna Hardison
I guess on some level the us versus them sentiments, the racial tensions, all of it contributed to the thoughts in my head. While the book is set far into the future, it does parallel the fears so often exhibited by those seeking power, and the inevitable lines of separation that are drawn between those we can relate to, those who look and speak like us and the others.
But it all started with a very loose concept, and then the books just sort of wrote themselves.
But it all started with a very loose concept, and then the books just sort of wrote themselves.
Inna Hardison
Most of the time, I don't. I have a day job (although I get to do it from home), two kids and two puppies, all of which makes me too busy to breathe and to think...
But in the few moments that I am not buried under all that, it's always the little things. Sometimes it's just a word that pops into my head and starts to unravel into a story.
But in the few moments that I am not buried under all that, it's always the little things. Sometimes it's just a word that pops into my head and starts to unravel into a story.
Inna Hardison
Tell a good story and tell it well. That's it. There are far too many 'rules' out there for young writers, too many guides on what not to do in any genre. Ultimately, if one writes because they have a knack for it and have a story, they know best how to tell it. They've lived the characters they've created. I'm not saying ignore proper grammar and punctuation or anything, but don't change your voice or your characters' voice based on what's popular now or based on what someone else tells you to do. Treat your fiction with the authenticity you would real people, real lives. There aren't rules for that:-)
Inna Hardison
Putting the final touches on the rest of the Alliance Series books so they are ready for the stores, but as far as other writing projects go, I'm working on a collection of very short (under 600 words) stories. It's more prose poetry than narratives. I love the idea of it, telling a story in so few words. No idea whether I'll be inspired enough to make a collection out of it yet.
Inna Hardison
Giving life to characters and settings and ideas in your head. It's a form of magic as well as therapy.
Inna Hardison
I read a lot. When I can't write, I devour everything that I've collected, often re-reading things I've not touched in years. And then I go back and revisit whatever story I'm writing that I'm stuck on from the beginning.
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