Estela Vieira
asked
Charlie Jane Anders:
I just finished reading the brazilian copy of All the Birds in the Sky and I'm mind blowed by it... I'm just wondering, how the idea for this book came to you? The characters from the book were inspire on real people from your life? Anyway, thank you so much for open my mind and my heart with this impressive story. It has making me reflect a lot, which is my favorite part about reading anything!
Charlie Jane Anders
Oh yay thanks for reading TODOS OS PÁSSAROS NO CÉU! I am learning Portuguese right now so I am thinking of trying to read the Brazilian edition myself soon enough. I'm so glad you liked the book, and it made you reflect. That is amazing!
The idea for the book came to me when I was in the middle of trying to write another book, an urban fantasy. I had this idea for a book about a witch and a mad scientist.
At first I thought it would just be a zany comedy where they were enemies or rivals. It would be just lots of battles between magic and science. But then I started to think of it as more of a relationship story and I tried to develop the characters more and turn them into real people.
The characters weren't based on anyone in particular in real life, but I borrowed little things here and there from people I know. Patricia and Laurence both have a lot of me in them, and they also have little details that come from people I care about. But mostly I just worked super hard to try and get into their heads and understand what they were going through and what they were feeling throughout the book. Writing is a lot like acting sometimes, and you kind of have to get "in character" when you're writing someone's personal life. For Patricia, it was really important to capture her passion and her desire to become a witch, and for Laurence, I tried to capture all of his anxiety and curiosity and playfulness.
I hope this answers your question!
The idea for the book came to me when I was in the middle of trying to write another book, an urban fantasy. I had this idea for a book about a witch and a mad scientist.
At first I thought it would just be a zany comedy where they were enemies or rivals. It would be just lots of battles between magic and science. But then I started to think of it as more of a relationship story and I tried to develop the characters more and turn them into real people.
The characters weren't based on anyone in particular in real life, but I borrowed little things here and there from people I know. Patricia and Laurence both have a lot of me in them, and they also have little details that come from people I care about. But mostly I just worked super hard to try and get into their heads and understand what they were going through and what they were feeling throughout the book. Writing is a lot like acting sometimes, and you kind of have to get "in character" when you're writing someone's personal life. For Patricia, it was really important to capture her passion and her desire to become a witch, and for Laurence, I tried to capture all of his anxiety and curiosity and playfulness.
I hope this answers your question!
More Answered Questions
Nicky Shields
asked
Charlie Jane Anders:
When did you write All the Birds in the Sky? The parts where you predict this near future seems like it may have been written a long time ago. It seemed like The Caddy would just be a phone app, and the projects Laurence was working on (like an Open Source Operating System) are dated. Or what happened to Linux in the future? And who's impressed by a 19" monitor? Was it written a long time ago? Asking for a friend!
Ashleigh Mitchell
asked
Charlie Jane Anders:
Would you please explain "eat way too much spicy food."? I have never heard of such a thing! :D
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I can't wait to read more of your work. All the Birds in
the Sky, was a breath of fresh air in my literary ...more
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