Jack Gerner
asked
David Wong:
I finished fancy suits and thought it was great! Does Fancy suits and JDatE take place in the same universe? If so what are the odds that John and Dave would meet Arthur for a black market kind of deal?
David Wong
Thanks! One danger of mixing fictional universes that are different genres is that it can kind of confuse the reader as to what the possibilities are in the more realistic one. I have to admit this kind of bummed me out in the Marvel universe - I liked Iron Man BECAUSE it was a universe in which people only can do "magic" with the help of technology and human ingenuity. To find out that his world is actually full of beings who are magical from birth (and far more powerful) made it weird for me.
So here, if Zoey is going to get out of a situation, you need to know she's going to do it using the rules of the real world, plus some technology we don't have yet. She's not going to stumble across an amulet that lets her travel in time or transfer her consciousness into a different body. It's important to maintain those boundaries, to me anyway, or else it can wind up watering down the whole experience. You also need to know that her enemies are only monsters in the metaphorical sense.
So here, if Zoey is going to get out of a situation, you need to know she's going to do it using the rules of the real world, plus some technology we don't have yet. She's not going to stumble across an amulet that lets her travel in time or transfer her consciousness into a different body. It's important to maintain those boundaries, to me anyway, or else it can wind up watering down the whole experience. You also need to know that her enemies are only monsters in the metaphorical sense.
More Answered Questions
Jeanne Mirodatos
asked
David Wong:
What do you think about the parallels between the way the paris terrorist attacks were dealt with and Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits? I speak more of the aftermath, like how they arrested the terrorists and how social networks hold a major role now in that kind of events. (1)
JOe
asked
David Wong:
I feel like the JDATE series is one of the few fictional universes that feels open-ended, like most anything can, will, and has happened. So what is your process around world building? And do you write linearly or do you work from a broader set of ideas and form a story around those? Please and Thanks.
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