Howdy Folks,
So, those of you that have read Frostfire (or listened to Lauren and myself natter endlessly about it), are likely aware that it is a story involving the long development of intimacy and trust between two men. A common question we receive after explaining this fact to someone asking about the story is "why" we wrote a story about two men, and we have two parts to that answer.
My answer comes from what I have seen of the fiction available featuring Male x Male couples. I have a long history of reading yaoi and gay fiction. It is not my sole source of fiction, but I do enjoy it as much, if not more, than the standard Male x Female fiction, especially if it includes elements such as the struggle to be accepted. But I also found that far too many of the fiction pieces featured relationships built on abuse and even rape. I wanted to write a story -- well, let's be honest -- stories featuring complex, but healthy relationships between non-hetero couples.
Additionally, in Lauren's words, we want to normalize. We want to keep writing queer fiction to help create a space where no one feels compelled to ask us why anymore. It is just normal -- in all genres. We hope, in the future, to publish not just stories featuring two men, but many other types of relationships in other genres.
Until Next Time,
Anna
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Sunday, August 12, 2018
The Characters, They Are A Changin'!
Howdy Strangers!
So, admittedly, when Lauren and I start in on a story or a roleplay, there is a bit of a method to it. We usually have an idea first -- a pair of characters we'd like to write, a setting we would like to explore, etc. Then, we usually go and find pictures roughly representing the two main characters we propose to use. So, for your amusement, I present the two images we originally based Barrett and Kyran -- the main characters of our novel FROSTFIRE.
First up is Barrett.
His image in the novel is virtually unchanged. This is pretty much what Barrett looks like -- in our imaginations -- in FROSTFIRE. He has a few odd scars, and some thicker facial hair, but our hunter hobo looks pretty much the same as he began.
Next is Kyran.
Now, if you have seen the special post on our author page on Facebook, or been one of the lucky few to be our beta readers (at the time of making this blog post, FROSTFIRE was not yet accepted for publishing), you know very well that Kyran does not look almost anything like this. Not only is he younger, but is incapable of growing body hair, has much more delicate features, has green eyes, paler skin, has copper instead of red hair, and might be possessed if he ever made an expression like this. The only surviving feature is really the hairstyle in this image. But this was where he started once upon a roleplay sometime in the very early 2000's.
But their appearances are not the only things that have changed. Kyran and Barrett's personalities have gone through some changes as well before their final drafts. Barrett used to be much meaner than he is now. He used to bully Kyran -- they even got into a fistfight in one of the very early drafts of the story! Kyran was originally a little older, but his personality was about the same except he used to look down on Barrett. He considered him dull-witted and rude. Lauren and I always wanted to write a slow-burn romance between the two of them, but initially, it seemed like it would be impossible for the two of them to reconcile their differences, they were so volatile towards one another. Several drafts later, though, and...well, you'll just have to read the book to see the changes.
I do promise to continue to reveal little inside tidbits about the process of making this book become a reality -- the inside jokes that made it into the final draft that make me and Lauren peer over the tops of our laptops at one another and giggle. So stay tuned!
Until next time
--Anna
So, admittedly, when Lauren and I start in on a story or a roleplay, there is a bit of a method to it. We usually have an idea first -- a pair of characters we'd like to write, a setting we would like to explore, etc. Then, we usually go and find pictures roughly representing the two main characters we propose to use. So, for your amusement, I present the two images we originally based Barrett and Kyran -- the main characters of our novel FROSTFIRE.
First up is Barrett.
Next is Kyran.
Now, if you have seen the special post on our author page on Facebook, or been one of the lucky few to be our beta readers (at the time of making this blog post, FROSTFIRE was not yet accepted for publishing), you know very well that Kyran does not look almost anything like this. Not only is he younger, but is incapable of growing body hair, has much more delicate features, has green eyes, paler skin, has copper instead of red hair, and might be possessed if he ever made an expression like this. The only surviving feature is really the hairstyle in this image. But this was where he started once upon a roleplay sometime in the very early 2000's.
But their appearances are not the only things that have changed. Kyran and Barrett's personalities have gone through some changes as well before their final drafts. Barrett used to be much meaner than he is now. He used to bully Kyran -- they even got into a fistfight in one of the very early drafts of the story! Kyran was originally a little older, but his personality was about the same except he used to look down on Barrett. He considered him dull-witted and rude. Lauren and I always wanted to write a slow-burn romance between the two of them, but initially, it seemed like it would be impossible for the two of them to reconcile their differences, they were so volatile towards one another. Several drafts later, though, and...well, you'll just have to read the book to see the changes.
I do promise to continue to reveal little inside tidbits about the process of making this book become a reality -- the inside jokes that made it into the final draft that make me and Lauren peer over the tops of our laptops at one another and giggle. So stay tuned!
Until next time
--Anna
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Character Spine -- Lauren
>Basic<
Name: Lauren Williams
Nickname(s): Piperita
Age: 28
Birthday: Jan 30
Gender: Female
Orientation: Bi
Nationality: American
Occupation: Barista and aspiring novelist
Family: Mother, father, 4 brothers, Anna
Pets: Jasper (lab mix)
>Appearance<
Hair: Naturally brown, often red, currently blue-black and mid-back length
Eyes: Brown
Weight: 150-170 lbs.
Height: 5’5”
Scars: Fading
Tattoos: None
Clothes: Tanktop/blouse, flowy skirt, leggings, boots (color theme either cream and brown or red and black)
Accessories: Hairstick, Chromebook, smart phone, mug of coffee piled high with whipped cream, lipstain
Piercings: Nine, all ears
>Personality<
Habits: Drinks all the coffee, rolls dice, streams on Twitch, cuddles bf and doggo, searches for lost words, picks at fingers, chews on lips
Description: “Sweet and shy"
Myers-Briggs: INFP
>Backstory notes<
Born and raised in the Augusta/Evans area, doesn't have an accent. Graduated from ASU with a BA in Creative Writing, minor in Psych. Used to write nonstop. Something happened, struggling to write at all. Got an unintentional career as a barista. Enjoyed it. Tired of it. Ready to move on. Ready to get back to what writing means to me.
Born and raised in the Augusta/Evans area, doesn't have an accent. Graduated from ASU with a BA in Creative Writing, minor in Psych. Used to write nonstop. Something happened, struggling to write at all. Got an unintentional career as a barista. Enjoyed it. Tired of it. Ready to move on. Ready to get back to what writing means to me.
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