David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! discussion
Author Q&A
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C.J. Redwine (author of the Defiance trilogy) Q&A Event--Jan 19-22nd
Does it was hard for you todo chose the names of the characters and the name the city?
When you read do you limit yourself todo read books with the same genre you like por do you like to read other genres?
When did you discovered you wanted to be an autor?
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1. Ryan--Will you make an another trilogy/series/standalone after the Defiance trilogy?
My next series is actu..."
Oooo exciting! I love fairy tale retellings, especially when they start getting into different genres (Like the Lunar Chronicles )
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I've been making up stories since I learned how to read. I us..."
AMAZING story!
In just five words, how would you describe your series? <\b>
Oooh, your next series sounds good! :)
what is the best writing advice you could give someone who is feeling uninspired?
9. Jenn--Who is your favorite author?Oh man ... I love so many, it's really hard to choose. I'm going to go with the first author who truly opened up my imagination to endless possibilities -- C.S. Lewis
10. Mary--What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment? The toughest criticism was when a published author read the first 7 chapters of the first book I ever wrote (as an adult) and then sat me down to tell me that while it sucked, there were moments within it that showed that I had talent. I just had to learn my craft. She then proceeded to rip every chapter apart and show me exactly where my craft was lacking. That conversation put me light years ahead of where I would've been if I'd kept slogging along on my own, and I will always be grateful for her honesty.
The biggest compliment came from a teen who'd led a very difficult life and was currently in foster care. She said that she saw herself in Rachel, understood Rachel's deep anger and the choices she made because of it, and that she was invested in seeing if Rachel found her way out of her self-destructive behavior. If no one else ever reads or loves Defiance, I will be fine with it because the story touched that girl and helped her identify with someone outside of herself.
11. Brooke--How long have you been writing?I've been writing stories since I learned how to read and write. I used to write my own fairy tales ... I was (and still am) obsessed with fairy tales. It feels like my life has come full circle because I was once a little girl carefully printing my stories about princesses, dragons, and wicked queens on wide-ruled paper, and now I'm being paid to do (a much bigger version of) the same thing!
12. Holly--Where did the story for the Defiance trilogy come from?For years I'd had the idea of a nearly indestructible Leviathon-like creature who lived deep underground, but I didn't have a world or a story for it. Then one day I was looking at Pinterest and saw a picture of a fortress. It reminded me of an ancient city-state, and I thought "Wouldn't it be interesting if we lived in city-states again? Why would we do that?" and the ferocious Leviathon-like dragons who lived underground collided with the picture of a fortress and became the start of Defiance.
13. Holly--Do you have to plan out the stories or do you just go with the flow and let the characters decide?Both. I write a detailed synopsis beforehand so that I understand the shape of the story, and so that I know the backstory and am sure that I have enough pivotal moments throughout the story to make it all work. What happens to take my characters from one pivotal moment to the next is something I discover as I write. :)
14. Holly--Do you ever get writer's blocks? How do you deal with them?I do have times when the story just isn't flowing. The way I deal with it is to figure out the source of the problem. Maybe I've gone in the wrong direction, and I need to step back and do something mundane (like take a walk or drive around) and let my mind wander until I see more possibilities for the story. Maybe I need to talk out the issue with another writer. Or maybe I'm drained creatively and need to refuel. For me, that often looks like going to the movies. Nothing inspires me to write stories more than seeing amazing stories come to life on the big screen!
15. JP--Do you ever feel bad about killing off characters, or do you just think it's necessary?Both! I never go into a book intending to kill off anyone but the villain, but ... things happen. Sometimes you have to strip away all additional resources to get the hero to shoulder the full weight of the quest (such as Dumbledore dying so that Harry would be forced to look for the Horcruxes himself). Sometimes the hero has to lose someone important to him to move from apathy to action against the villain. And sometimes the villain has to kill someone the reader cares about so that the quest becomes highly personal to both the hero and the reader.
Is there a set schedule that you follow when you write? It must get complicated keeping all those minute character and world-building details straight from one book to the next. How do you keep track of all those small details? Do you use spreadsheets? Files? Some other method entirely? Thank you.
16. JP--Do you have a favorite scene from the Defiance trilogy?Oh wow ... I don't think I can pick just one! How about one from each book? Rachel and Logan's first kiss in Defiance, Quinn explaining his past to Rachel in Deception, and Rachel's and Logan's reunion in Deliverance.
17. Katherine--How long did it take for you to have all the details of the world building worked out to start the series? I actually didn't have very many of the world building details worked out when I started writing Defiance, so my first round of edits was highly focused on figuring out all of those elements for the entire series.
18. Ryan--Which book was the longest it took you to finished it?Deception. Rough draft to polished final book was nearly a year and a half. I had to tear it apart and rewrite it 5 times.
19. Opal--Do you have any people from your past who were writers? Not in my family. I didn't really have friends throughout high school and college who were writers either.
20. Opal--Do you wish to be a writer until the day you die?I do! I can't imagine not writing. It's been an integral part of how I express myself since I first learned how to read and write. I don't necessarily care if I'm published until the day I die, but I will still be writing.
21. Lauren--Do you have any playlists for characters, scenes, or the series in general? Did any particular songs, artists, or albums inspire anything about the series?I do! Playlists are a huge part of my writing process. I use different songs for each book. For the Defiance series, I used several instrumental songs from City of the Fallen along with songs from artists like Evanescence, Bebo Norman, and Coldplay. One song that really captures the feel of Rachel by the end of Defiance is "Star-Crossed Wasteland" by In This Moment. Gives me chills every time I hear it.
22. Kami--What message do you hope your fans take away from your books?From the Defiance series, I hope readers see that healing and redemption are possible after trauma/tragedy, and that we should never lose hope.
Would you ever consider writing in another type of genre?
C.J. wrote: "22. Kami--What message do you hope your fans take away from your books?From the Defiance series, I hope readers see that healing and redemption are possible after trauma/tragedy, and that we shou..."
Wow, I really like this answer!
Do you have a set word count you like to hit each day? Do you have any tips on managing both a family and a writing career?
Do you have any strategies for breaking writers block?
23. Raquel--I thought the parts of the book where there is grieving envolved were very honest and I felt it took a lot of sensibility to write them. Did you do any research for them? How was this process (of writing people in grief) for you as an author?Thank you. I paid careful attention to the grief scenes because I really wanted readers who needed to see themselves in the pages to recognize something authentic. I had to go to very dark places in myself and my own past so that I could remember what it felt like, and how those emotions registered in my body. I didn't want to rush past the aftermath of trauma, because my childhood was traumatic, and I never saw that accurately portrayed in books. It always seemed like the heroine was never as completely undone as I felt, and that meeting the right boy or getting something she wanted fixed everything, and the trauma faded. I wanted to write a story in which grief and trauma linger and slowly morph into something else--something unhealthy at first because we don't always know how to make healthy choices for ourselves when we're hurt, and then later into something that could eventually become healing. And I didn't want the grief and the aftermath to go away simply because Rachel fell in love, because that just isn't truth.
24. Xandra--Which character do you relate the most to?That is a surprisingly difficult question! There are bits of me in every main character, but none of them are actually ME so ... I guess I'd say Rachel because I spent the most time in her head, and because while her personality and choices are very different from mine, her emotional journey was very similar to mine.
Thank you for the answer, but mostly, thank you for your books! I really felt exactly what you meant. I love that Rachel loses herself, because we all do sometimes in life, especially in the face of great sorrow. And I'm glad she found her way back! It was beautiful to read!
25. Shantavia--Why did you choose the publishing company that published your books? How many companies did you go through before finding the right one? What was it like as an author trying to get their books published? What have you your inspiration to become an author? I'm going to answer your questions in reverse order. :)
I don't have a good answer for what inspired me to become an author because I truly have no memory of not writing stories as a way to either interpret my world or create a new one. I was always writing--it's my true voice--and I never imagined I wouldn't be writing until the day I died. It wasn't until I was an adult that I actually began to conceive of myself as a published author and decided to pursue that, but what inspired that decision was a cancer diagnosis at the age of 30. I realized as I was facing a surgery that would reveal just how far the cancer had spread, that my only regret was that I hadn't pursued publication. Once I was in remission, I started writing my first full length novel with the intent to get it published. (I did NOT get it published because HOLY LACK OF NOVEL WRITING SKILLS, BATGIRL, but it started me on my journey.)
Trying to get published was a constant exercise in both humility and perseverance. I was turned down by everyone in publishing. Twice. And this was after I had an agent. I had to keep believing in myself and in the next project I wanted to tackle. Spending years in the trenches learning my craft and then two more years as an agented writer who couldn't sell a book to save her life was actually a GREAT experience and did more to prepare me for the realities of publishing than if the doors had opened easily for me.
After two years of being told no, and two different stories that didn't sell, I turned in Defiance (my first attempt at a YA). When it went out on submission to editors, I figured I'd hear a slew of "no" across the board again, and I was already sitting down to choose the next story to write when my agent called with the news that four different publishing houses wanted it. It sold at auction a few days later.
I chose the Harper Collins imprint of Balzer+Bray for several reasons. One, I really, REALLY connected with the editor, and felt we would work well together. (Spoiler alert: we totally do.) Also I loved the smaller, more intimate atmosphere of the imprint, and felt that I would find a good place to grow as an author there. (I was absolutely right. They are fabulous.)
26. Xandra--Which character was the most difficult to write? At first, it was Logan because it took a long time for me to get inside his head. And also he likes to be analytical and scientific, and you couldn't use those words to describe me on my best day. So that was a challenge.
But then once I really understood Logan, he became really easy to write, and the biggest challenge was The Commander because I despised every single second I had to spend in his head. He made my skin crawl.
27. Fallon--What was your favorite read in 2014?Ooh, tough question! I read some amazing books. I'm going to say The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by MG Buehrlen, which is a time travel, lite sci fi, FANTASTIC novel that just absolutely swept me away. It's so smart and beautiful and brilliant and compelling.
28. M. Andrew--In addition to fantasy, do you have any other genres you are interested in writing or wish you could write in?My wheelhouse is speculative fiction. I write YA fantasy and adult urban fantasy because apparently I like to give myself ulcers over world building. However, I adore contemporary and Regency historicals. I'd love to be able to write those, but I'm here to tell you that EVERY SINGLE TIME I sit down to write a story that doesn't have any fantasy or supernatural elements in it, a witch or demon or troll or ogre or dragon shows up by chapter five because ... I'm a speculative fiction writer. :)
I also really love reading horror, and I actually think I'd be a really good horror writer. I don't flinch from writing violence and gore when it's needed (though honestly, those are just the window dressing for horror. The genre is a beautifully incisive exploration of what it means to be human.), and maybe one day if one of my story ideas tends too far away from fantasy and into horror, I'll just take the plunge for that story only, but I grew up with my imagination firmly rooted in fairy tales, Narnia, and Middle Earth, and I don't stray too far from my roots. :)
29. Beth--What was your favorite scene to write? The most difficult?My favorite scene to write was Rachel's and Logan's first kiss. They went through so much to get there, and it was so nice to let them (and the reader) breathe for a bit and enjoy something beautiful and awkward and pure.
The most difficult by far was the wagon scene in Defiance. I don't want to be super specific because it would spoil the book for those who haven't read, but if you've read Defiance, you know the scene I'm talking about. It was horrible to write it. I knew it was going to break Rachel, and I had to go back to the point in my childhood when trauma broke me and remember how it felt to be unable to comprehend it. To be unable to allow the true depth of my emotions to hit me because I might not survive it, so I disassociated myself from what was happening. Rachel did the same thing, and writing it flowed so fast and easy for me, but the emotional cost was tremendous. I finished the scene, and knew I'd accomplished what I wanted to in that scene (and I never changed it, through all the rounds of edits I did), and then I closed my computer and didn't return to the story for days because I had to get my emotional equilibrium back.
Raquel wrote: "Thank you for the answer, but mostly, thank you for your books! I really felt exactly what you meant. I love that Rachel loses herself, because we all do sometimes in life, especially in the face o..."I'm glad that spoke to you!
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This answer is SO INSPIRING to me, C.J. I just wanted to say thank you for telling your story, it means the world to me :)
David wrote: "C.J. wrote: "25. Shantavia--Why did you choose the publishing company that published your books? How many companies did you go through before finding the right one? What was it like as an author tr..."I'm glad it inspires you. I think it's so easy in this business to be inundated with success stories (because honestly, who likes to talk about all the MANY times we fall on our faces in publishing?) that we begin to feel like we're the only one who is struggling just to get on the map. I think if I'd sold at auction before spending years getting turned down by everyone, their roommate, and their uncle's dog, I might have thought success was a given and that the road would be easy from there. Instead, I already knew that success has to be defined in small milestones, and that I can only stress about the things in my direct control. And I'm constantly grateful to be writing another book under contract because that could go away tomorrow.
30. Shantella-- How do you generate your plot ideas?I am going to try to do better than say "I don't know" here even though ... I kind of don't know. My mind is always working overtime, taking in observations and then speculating and asking "what if?" and before I know it, I've got an interesting idea for a story. It can happen when I see a street sign that would make a fun book title and begin wondering what that story would be about. Or when I see an abandoned building and begin to imagine who used to live there and who lives there now and why.
In my school presentation, I tell students that if brains are like well-structured buildings with organized corridors that send information in a neat, orderly path to the intended destination, my brain (and the brains of many writers) is missing a lot of walls. Information, observations, and ideas go into their intended corridor and then flow over three hallways to collide with something I saw five years ago and the song lyrics I'm currently listening to, and BAM! a story idea is born.
31. Samantha--I was wondering if the books become a movie who would you want to play the characters and why? I'm pretty open to the casting of Rachel and Logan because the actors I originally associated with them when people first started asking me this question after Defiance came out are possibly too old for the roles now. (Danielle Panabaker for Rachel and Chris Pine for Logan)
For some of the secondary characters:
Quinn: Kiowa Gordon
Willow: Vanessa Hudgins
The Commander: John Noble or Bill Nighy
Melkin: Jeremy Irons
Ian: a young Jude Law
I would love to see your trilogy be made into movies...what are your thoughts on seeing your books on the big screen? Who would you like to see play the characters from the trilogy? Are there any plans even being mentioned to turn this amazing trilogy into a movie trilogy (or into 4 movies as many of these trilogies end up being)?
C.J. wrote: "30. Shantella-- How do you generate your plot ideas?I am going to try to do better than say "I don't know" here even though ... I kind of don't know. My mind is always working overtime, taking in..."
Interesting to see that I'm not the only one out there with a brain that works overtime!
32. Natalie--Who would you want to co-write a book with?I've actually co-written a book with the very talented MG Buehrlen. It's a middle grade fantasy that we're currently revising.
33. Natalie--What was the most uncomfortable scene you had to write?The scene near the end of Deliverance where Rachel is being tortured by another character (I don't want to be too specific because spoilers). It was awful, and I really, really hated it.
34. Mary and Lacey as similar questions--As a writer, are you a plotter or a panster (i.e. writing by the seat of your pants)? I'm constantly evolving. I started as a pantser, but got really tired of writing myself into corners, having plot arcs get run over by a bus halfway through the story, or getting stuck in the middle because I had no idea what would happen next. I will never be a detailed outliner or a spreadsheet person because a) my brain just doesn't work that way and b) I would be so BORED if I knew every little thing that was going to happen before I wrote it, so I've found a happy medium. I write a detailed synopsis first, so that I understand my characters, my world, my backstory, and the over-arching plot arcs. I plan out my pivotal turning points in the story. And then I write toward those turning points and have the delightful adventure of finding out how my characters get from point A to point B.
35. Stephanie--I know that the group crosses over into Kentucky on the journey to Lankenshire. Does that mean Baalboden is located in what was Tennessee? If so, where does that peg Lankenshire to be and was Tennessee chosen because it is your home state?Baalboden is located near where Jackson, Tennessee is (about halfway between Nashville and Memphis). Rowansmark is just over the Louisiana border. And Lankenshire is a little ways across the border of Kentucky and Ohio (Ohio side). :) I chose to place Baalboden in Tennessee because it's my home state, and because I've traveled around the south so much that I feel very comfortable writing settings that stretch from Louisiana to Ohio. (not that Kentucky and Ohio are in the South, but still.)
36. Gabriela--Does it was hard for you todo chose the names of the characters and the name the city? Sometimes. Some character names were easy and instant, like Quinn and Willow. Some took research and thought, like Ian and Logan. The city names took a lot of thought. For the most part, I based them on their leader's name. One time I was desperate for a city-state name and was driving my son to a friend's house when I saw a street sign that said Chelmingford Avenue. I thought that would make a great name, so in Deliverance, one of the city-states Logan visits is Chelmingford. (Side note: I got THE SHADOW QUEEN's title by misreading another street sign so ... apparently, this is now a thing with me.)
37. Gabriela--When you read do you limit yourself todo read books with the same genre you like por do you like to read other genres?I absolutely never limit my reading material. :) I read widely across many genres because I want to learn and study the craft of writing, and because I find inspiration in other genres that I can then bring back to my own. But I also read a lot in my own genre because I want to know what's going on within it and be familiar with books I can recommend to my readers.
Right now, I'm reading VICIOUS by V.E. Schwab, which is an adult urban fantasy and is spectacular. I so recommend it! I literally have 2 full bookshelves of TBR books, plus another 50+ on my Nook, but the books I've pulled out of that pile and placed next to my bed for upcoming reading after VICIOUS are Dr. Sleep by Stephen King, A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU by Claudia Gray, DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver, and THE MAP OF TIME by Felix J. Palma.
38. Harlee--In just five words, how would you describe your series?Inventions, Sword-fights, Dragons, Treason, Kissing =D
David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite!
Books mentioned in this topic
Defiance (other topics)Defiance (other topics)
Deception (other topics)
Deliverance (other topics)
CJ,
*Spoiler*
I know that the group crosses over into Kentucky on the journey to Lankenshire. Does that mean Baalboden is located in what was Tennessee? If so, where does that peg Lankenshire to be and was Tennessee chosen because it is your home state?