Ask the Author: S.D. Nightshade
Answered Questions (9)
S.D. Nightshade
To be seen as I am, and not as people assume - oh, that is a daily mystery! I'm entirely at peace with myself and all creation around me (once you discern the things you can change from the things you can't, the rest settles into place fairly quickly.) But a lot of people live in shadows and insecurities, assuming a lot about people & situations around them simply because they don't ask.
This could make a great story plot! Picture gossip spreading presumptions about a new entertainer in town who just seems "too good to be true." Creepy paparazzi start prowling around her (my) home, eager to "expose the dirt", & they start spreading rumors & fanning the flames to one-up each other, until all kinds of creepy people start hiding in the bushes around my yard, or peeking through windows at night. Or better yet, at the climax, fanatics could even resort to breaking & entering - or stalking me on evening walks to create their own embellished stories. Fact-based fiction that turns into my private life into a nightmare simply by everybody feeding off of each other's fears...
Okay, now I'm getting chills!
This could make a great story plot! Picture gossip spreading presumptions about a new entertainer in town who just seems "too good to be true." Creepy paparazzi start prowling around her (my) home, eager to "expose the dirt", & they start spreading rumors & fanning the flames to one-up each other, until all kinds of creepy people start hiding in the bushes around my yard, or peeking through windows at night. Or better yet, at the climax, fanatics could even resort to breaking & entering - or stalking me on evening walks to create their own embellished stories. Fact-based fiction that turns into my private life into a nightmare simply by everybody feeding off of each other's fears...
Okay, now I'm getting chills!
S.D. Nightshade
"Oh, we're way beyond werewolves or legacies now, Maselot. My blood only hungers for yours, and I'm tired of waiting."
S.D. Nightshade
Outside of my own worlds? Tron's "Grid". I mean, obviously this is a hard question to limit to one answer, but The Grid on Tron just endlessly fascinates me. I mean, to interact with programmed representatives of people, getting weird slices of IRL acquaintances? Let alone to see and feel so many familiar details of landscapes, cityscapes - and the foods & drinks??? How bizarre!
S.D. Nightshade
Writer's block is the opposite of creativity. So all you really need is to refill your creativity-generator. For me, reading captivating books, watching intriguing movies, playing fascinating video games, or listening to enchanting music not only recharges my creativity's battery, but creates moods where the forge begins smithing another adventure! Creativity creates creativity.
S.D. Nightshade
You can do anything. You can go anywhere - or any-when. You can describe worlds, histories, fates that never were, with enough creativity and detail that your readers feel like they've lived there, known your characters personally, and have survived every adventure you throw at them! And, if your readers ever need to return to their homeworld (to answer your spouse or children, return to work after break, or run errands), they can set a bookmark until they return to your portal to What If?...
S.D. Nightshade
Live life! Explore! Talk with interesting people who've had interesting adventures! Keep your eye out for any story, character, setting, or event that just makes your soul ring or sing! Explore whatever holds your attention - treat it like a treasure chest you just discovered. Now you just need to pick the lock, open the lid, and search out its secrets. Then just write about what you find!
S.D. Nightshade
The A Carved In Stone series continues! When Dr. Penthor faces her fate without flinching, she knows the truth must be a surprise. But she has no idea just what surprises await her. Even facing off with Caimbriss, she's still discovering her "deep core." Now, in The Hunted, she has to face the fact that life doesn't just happen around her - sometimes she is the cause, and other times she is the effect. But controlling one's fate can be such a fickle test, of character, of friends, of consequences...
S.D. Nightshade
I've always loved to read. Growing up, A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite book. Dean R. Koontz was my favorite writer as a teen. But by young adulthood, there were great stories in books and film that twisted in directions I couldn't accept. They inspired me to begin writing my own endings to great stories that "should have ended" a different way. Ever since then, I started writing my own stories.
S.D. Nightshade
As a fan of all mysteries of science, exploration, and discovery, I'm always looking for interesting ideas. In the A Carved In Stone series, I combined ancient artifacts leading to scientific discoveries. The roots of these ideas actually came from my childhood, when I first watched Indiana Jones, then combined that with the video game series Mass Effect. The result is endlessly fun and surprising!
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