(no subject)
So I'm thinking, maybe putting my e-mail address on my fictionpress profile was a bad idea - I've been getting lots of questions lately, and no reviews! So, for those interested, here are a few more answers. Enjoy :)
1. Jasper seems really cool, is he going to be a recurring character?
Yes, he is definitely going to become more important as the current story goes on. He's a lot of fun to write, it's nice having someone new added to the group to see how that changes the dynamic. Also, the fact that he has some weird thing going on with Matt is a lot of fun too.
2. In the new chapter, you talked a lot about Jasper's tattoos. What tattoos does he have, and do any of the other characters have them?
I do talk a lot about Jasper's tattoos, and that's because Matt's fascinated by them, he finds them sexy and cool. Also, a lot of Jasper's tattoos have significant meanings for him, or they relate to a period on his life so they'll be revealed as the story goes on and as Matt gets to know him better. At the minute, I've spoken about the skull tattoo he has on the top of his arm, and he has the words "Live" and "Love" tattooed across his fingers.
And yes, the other characters do have tattoos. Adam has two - the Italian phrase for "Thank You God" on his chest (to the left), a pair of pistols over his hips: one with the Virgin Mary on the handle and the other with a crucifix. Fay has a pair of doves tattooed on his hips. Dave has a Peter Pan tattoo on his chest, with the Peter Pan character having dark hair like Fay and the word "Fay" underneath it. I think those are the only tattoos mentioned in the series so far, but Matt's fascination with them is growing so it's highly likely he'll get one in the future.
3. This is probably a stupid question, but how do you write your stories?
It's not a stupid question at all, it's a very valid question. I don't know really, it depends on the story and the plot etc. Obviously, they each start with an initial idea or I'll be inspired by something. I'll use my latest story, The New Divide as an example. I first started thinking about it while I was about half way through Forever Young. The gay rights movement was really rallying around the Proposition 8 thing, Dustin Lance Black won an Oscar and gave an incredible speech, people like Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz got involved in the No H8 campaign and it just made me think that the gay characters in the story like Fay and Dave's involvement with the gay community hadn't really been shown a lot through the series. And of course, I was angry about the Prop 8 thing and wanted a chance to showcase my views and opinions in a way I enjoyed and found constructive.
The idea of Fay really coming into his own and discovering this new role as a gay rights leader tied in with Matt's character development - he's starting to realise his attraction to men is more general than he thought, he's adjusting to being single, that kind of thing. I wanted, for the first time, to write a story that wasn't focused on just one character, but on two. Fay and Matt were the obvious choices, and their development ran together in a way that I thought would really work.
After that, I started plotting the story out. This isn't as easy as it sounds. Sometimes I do just sit down with a pen and a piece of paper, and write out the story arc but that's really, really rare. What I'd do is piece together fragments of the plot, specific scenes or lines of dialogue. Then I'd kinda "pitch" them to my friends - Nikki, David, Eddy and Sara. They've all been reading my writing for a long time, they know the series really well and they're always open and honest with me (I hope!). Discussing it with them really helps me pull it all together in my head, so I have something more solid.
Then, I just sit down and write it. My imaginative process is all really visual - I play the scenes through in my head like film clips, walk the characters through their actions and dialogue so I can write it down in a way that works but still feels natural and expected. And that's pretty much that.
4. I've always wondered about the musical influences and sounds of the bands that make up the series. Can you go into more detail?
Haha, I can try. It's such a jumble in my head!
There are a lot of musicians in the story - obviously - and they all sound different, play different instruments and ended up where they are in different ways.
Matt got interested in music towards the tail end of "emo" - and I don't mean Panic! At The Disco or whatever. His first musical loves were bands like Bright Eyes, Dashboard Confessional, Brand New etc etc. Then as he got older, he got into rock in a more general way. He loves all sorts of bands, everything from Anti-Flag to My Chemical Romance and Greenday, but he still loves acoustic and pop music. Being from Seattle, he also loves a little bit of grunge every now and then - Nirvana and Soundgarden especially. Matt's a multi-instrumentalist, he plays both guitar and piano very, very well and he can sing too, although he doesn't very often. He likes piano-based rock like Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin, and he loves fun pop-punk like Blink 182 and early Fall Out Boy. He's also a Glassjaw fan (I think I mentioned that a couple of years ago) and he loves Finch as well. When Matt writes music, I always think of it as being a little bit heavy, but very very melodic. His lyrics aren't overly complicated, and neither is his music. He has very broad influences, so as a result Anavrin's sound is very broad.
Fay, on the other hand, loves British music - especially punk. When he was a kid, he loved the Sex Pistols and The Clash. He was also a big fan of the Beatles. But, like Matt, his range has become more diverse as he's gotten older. Fay loves really good pop music, but he's a rock vocalist at heart. He's got a big voice too - think along the lines of Bert McCracken or Chester Bennington.
As a band, Anavrin's sound is based very firmly in rock music. Their music is always honest, open and well crafted. I'd say they probably sound a bit like...a heavier, slightly darker Linkin Park. Something in that general area.
Adam is a completely different matter. He didn't grow up listening to rock music and only discovered it in his mid to late teens. His tastes were very much influenced by those around him at that time, so he's a bit of a mish mash as well. His favourite album ever is The Used's self-titled debut. He also loves bands like HIM. His music is a bit darker than Anavrin's, but he's got a very clear, strong voice so not much screaming or anything like that. Again, they're very general and very broad, so they can't be classified easily past the "rock" label.
Sonny and Skylar's band, Trainwrecks and Firewater again have a very wide range of influences. Sonny loves glam rock - David Bowie especially, but he also loves bands like Queen, Placebo and more modern rock like My Chemical Romance. He adores AFI and Blaqk Audio.
Skylar is a bit trickier. His dad is a famous music producer and so he's had access to a huge amount of music from a very young age. Again, he loves all kinds of rock music. Trainwrecks and Firewater have a distinctive sound in my head - like if you took AFI to a glam-rock rave.
Kian is still really young, so his musical tastes are all over the place. Like his brother, he loves over the top modern rock like My Chem, AFI, Greenday, that kind of thing. He's recently discovered a musical taste for synthesizers and dark electronica, that'll be mentioned in the new story as he forms his new band and they begin working together. But essentially, Kian began playing music on an acoustic guitar, so he'll always have a love for softer music as well.
Jasper is the newbie, and his tastes are going to surprise everyone. Image wise, he falls very clearly into the punk category - he loves The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Cramps and that kind of thing. He also loves The Misfits, Rancid, The Used, My Chemical Romance, Anti-Flag and Billy Talent. Like the others, he likes AFI as well and, in a shock twist - it's revealed he also likes synth heavy bands like Kill Hannah, Blaqk Audio, Innerpartysytem and a British band I adore called My Passion. So even though he seems like a stereotypical punk, he's a lot more open minded than people think. His band, who I think are still nameless, are more of a punk band. Their songs are energetic, angry and politicised, but with a strong melodic undercurrent that means they're not just making a lot of noise.
Ugh, I really intended to do more than that but I can't be bothered. Sigh.
1. Jasper seems really cool, is he going to be a recurring character?
Yes, he is definitely going to become more important as the current story goes on. He's a lot of fun to write, it's nice having someone new added to the group to see how that changes the dynamic. Also, the fact that he has some weird thing going on with Matt is a lot of fun too.
2. In the new chapter, you talked a lot about Jasper's tattoos. What tattoos does he have, and do any of the other characters have them?
I do talk a lot about Jasper's tattoos, and that's because Matt's fascinated by them, he finds them sexy and cool. Also, a lot of Jasper's tattoos have significant meanings for him, or they relate to a period on his life so they'll be revealed as the story goes on and as Matt gets to know him better. At the minute, I've spoken about the skull tattoo he has on the top of his arm, and he has the words "Live" and "Love" tattooed across his fingers.
And yes, the other characters do have tattoos. Adam has two - the Italian phrase for "Thank You God" on his chest (to the left), a pair of pistols over his hips: one with the Virgin Mary on the handle and the other with a crucifix. Fay has a pair of doves tattooed on his hips. Dave has a Peter Pan tattoo on his chest, with the Peter Pan character having dark hair like Fay and the word "Fay" underneath it. I think those are the only tattoos mentioned in the series so far, but Matt's fascination with them is growing so it's highly likely he'll get one in the future.
3. This is probably a stupid question, but how do you write your stories?
It's not a stupid question at all, it's a very valid question. I don't know really, it depends on the story and the plot etc. Obviously, they each start with an initial idea or I'll be inspired by something. I'll use my latest story, The New Divide as an example. I first started thinking about it while I was about half way through Forever Young. The gay rights movement was really rallying around the Proposition 8 thing, Dustin Lance Black won an Oscar and gave an incredible speech, people like Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz got involved in the No H8 campaign and it just made me think that the gay characters in the story like Fay and Dave's involvement with the gay community hadn't really been shown a lot through the series. And of course, I was angry about the Prop 8 thing and wanted a chance to showcase my views and opinions in a way I enjoyed and found constructive.
The idea of Fay really coming into his own and discovering this new role as a gay rights leader tied in with Matt's character development - he's starting to realise his attraction to men is more general than he thought, he's adjusting to being single, that kind of thing. I wanted, for the first time, to write a story that wasn't focused on just one character, but on two. Fay and Matt were the obvious choices, and their development ran together in a way that I thought would really work.
After that, I started plotting the story out. This isn't as easy as it sounds. Sometimes I do just sit down with a pen and a piece of paper, and write out the story arc but that's really, really rare. What I'd do is piece together fragments of the plot, specific scenes or lines of dialogue. Then I'd kinda "pitch" them to my friends - Nikki, David, Eddy and Sara. They've all been reading my writing for a long time, they know the series really well and they're always open and honest with me (I hope!). Discussing it with them really helps me pull it all together in my head, so I have something more solid.
Then, I just sit down and write it. My imaginative process is all really visual - I play the scenes through in my head like film clips, walk the characters through their actions and dialogue so I can write it down in a way that works but still feels natural and expected. And that's pretty much that.
4. I've always wondered about the musical influences and sounds of the bands that make up the series. Can you go into more detail?
Haha, I can try. It's such a jumble in my head!
There are a lot of musicians in the story - obviously - and they all sound different, play different instruments and ended up where they are in different ways.
Matt got interested in music towards the tail end of "emo" - and I don't mean Panic! At The Disco or whatever. His first musical loves were bands like Bright Eyes, Dashboard Confessional, Brand New etc etc. Then as he got older, he got into rock in a more general way. He loves all sorts of bands, everything from Anti-Flag to My Chemical Romance and Greenday, but he still loves acoustic and pop music. Being from Seattle, he also loves a little bit of grunge every now and then - Nirvana and Soundgarden especially. Matt's a multi-instrumentalist, he plays both guitar and piano very, very well and he can sing too, although he doesn't very often. He likes piano-based rock like Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin, and he loves fun pop-punk like Blink 182 and early Fall Out Boy. He's also a Glassjaw fan (I think I mentioned that a couple of years ago) and he loves Finch as well. When Matt writes music, I always think of it as being a little bit heavy, but very very melodic. His lyrics aren't overly complicated, and neither is his music. He has very broad influences, so as a result Anavrin's sound is very broad.
Fay, on the other hand, loves British music - especially punk. When he was a kid, he loved the Sex Pistols and The Clash. He was also a big fan of the Beatles. But, like Matt, his range has become more diverse as he's gotten older. Fay loves really good pop music, but he's a rock vocalist at heart. He's got a big voice too - think along the lines of Bert McCracken or Chester Bennington.
As a band, Anavrin's sound is based very firmly in rock music. Their music is always honest, open and well crafted. I'd say they probably sound a bit like...a heavier, slightly darker Linkin Park. Something in that general area.
Adam is a completely different matter. He didn't grow up listening to rock music and only discovered it in his mid to late teens. His tastes were very much influenced by those around him at that time, so he's a bit of a mish mash as well. His favourite album ever is The Used's self-titled debut. He also loves bands like HIM. His music is a bit darker than Anavrin's, but he's got a very clear, strong voice so not much screaming or anything like that. Again, they're very general and very broad, so they can't be classified easily past the "rock" label.
Sonny and Skylar's band, Trainwrecks and Firewater again have a very wide range of influences. Sonny loves glam rock - David Bowie especially, but he also loves bands like Queen, Placebo and more modern rock like My Chemical Romance. He adores AFI and Blaqk Audio.
Skylar is a bit trickier. His dad is a famous music producer and so he's had access to a huge amount of music from a very young age. Again, he loves all kinds of rock music. Trainwrecks and Firewater have a distinctive sound in my head - like if you took AFI to a glam-rock rave.
Kian is still really young, so his musical tastes are all over the place. Like his brother, he loves over the top modern rock like My Chem, AFI, Greenday, that kind of thing. He's recently discovered a musical taste for synthesizers and dark electronica, that'll be mentioned in the new story as he forms his new band and they begin working together. But essentially, Kian began playing music on an acoustic guitar, so he'll always have a love for softer music as well.
Jasper is the newbie, and his tastes are going to surprise everyone. Image wise, he falls very clearly into the punk category - he loves The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Cramps and that kind of thing. He also loves The Misfits, Rancid, The Used, My Chemical Romance, Anti-Flag and Billy Talent. Like the others, he likes AFI as well and, in a shock twist - it's revealed he also likes synth heavy bands like Kill Hannah, Blaqk Audio, Innerpartysytem and a British band I adore called My Passion. So even though he seems like a stereotypical punk, he's a lot more open minded than people think. His band, who I think are still nameless, are more of a punk band. Their songs are energetic, angry and politicised, but with a strong melodic undercurrent that means they're not just making a lot of noise.
Ugh, I really intended to do more than that but I can't be bothered. Sigh.