Evil Author Day: Q&A

[keiramarcos]

I asked the Minions on my website to ask me questions. I expected ten or so. I got... quite a bit more than that:

MISC TOPICS

Minion: Were you born as awesome as you are or did you have to grow into your powers?
Keira: I came out of the womb a total badass unicorn. My mom has pictures. They are FIERCE.

Minion: Just was wondering how you are…. haven’t heard from you lately, was concerned that you were ill. Maybe had caught the flu or something? Is everything okay? Not really concerned about the writing, more concerned about the author, right now.
Keira: I caught a head cold then a chest cold and then another head cold. It was some straight up bullshit but I'm better now.

Minion: What got you interested in writing, fandom and professionally?
Keira: Fandom is just a hobby -- a stress relief. I published professionally on a bet.

Minion: You mentioned something about getting “No Other Man” published; if you do so, will it be under a pseudonym. In addition, if it is under a pseudonym, will you let us know so that we can go buy it; I really want to know how it ends!!!
Keira: I'm going to publish it as Keira (I hope) and no worries -- you're all gonna know about it.

Minion: At what stage do you consider a story ready to begin posting? I know that some authors have a certain amount they write before they begin posting so others can’t influence the plot with their comments.
Keira: I tend to write and post in novella format. I HATE it when people offer plot suggestions for my series work OR if they make a really smart guess. It makes me want to replot to avoid them being right. Not rational but true.

Minion: I was wondering if you were planning to go back to posting Harry Potter and the Soulmate’s Bond on a (Friday? That’s what it turned out as here in Aus) I’m really enjoying that story.
Keira: There are 25 parts total in the first arc of the series. I have some replotting for the last few parts but I hope to finish it up before April.

Minion: Excluding the A/B/O fic you did in the Stargate Atlantis verse for nano months back, how often do you encounter a roadblock in your writing that prevents you from progressing further (how often is it a permanent, this story is not getting done/dropped, vs this story now has a month to 1/2 year etc delay on it)? What do you do to get past it?
Keira: Replotting is the only answer to this really. If I can replot to work past the problem then I do so but if I can't, I have to let it go. The A/B/O premise has inherent consent issues and I grew... leery of writing it. I may come back to it later but I'm not going to pressure myself.

Minion: And since you have so many stories going that we have yet to see (as exhibited by Evil Author Day, which is on my calendar lol =D), how do you keep everything in order? And how often do you lose interest in stories you’ve never posted, but have on your hard drive somewhere?
Keira: I never really lose interest in my own words which sounds vain but it's true. I reread and play with stuff I wrote 20 years ago.

Minion: With as many projects as you have going, how do you decide which one to work on any given day? Do you have to retread the last episode/chapter/story to get back into that world’s mindset?
Keira: I work where I'm inspired otherwise it's absolutely no fun.

Minion: How do you keep so many stories going at the same time without going mad or losing the plot?
Keira: Series bibles, plots, and rereading. Even then I'm not always successful. That's why a good beta is worth their weight in gold.

Minion: Do you have a timescale for the last ep of TTB?
Keira: No, it's going to be a novel. The plot looks like it might be somewhere between 75 and 100k.

Minion: You’ve posted excerpts from If Your Heart’s Not In It for two previous EADs. Do you plan to write more for this or other worlds you’ve only given snippets from on other EADs? (You would have many thrilled readers if you did, but understanding if you decide not to or want to wait until current projects are completed.)
Keira: They're all Works In Progress -- if any of them stall out completely, I’ll delete them from EAD and make an announcement.

Minion: Do plot lines or ideas sometimes wake you up in the middle of the night and demand to be written right away?
Keira: No, when I do sleep it's like the dead.

Minion: Do you sleep?
Keira: Sometimes but it's always odd hours. I have insomnia so sometimes I sleep during the day. I average about 7 hours a night/day.

Minion: You seem to know how long a story or series is going to be before you begin writing. How do you figure that out?
Keira: I've been plotting for 20+ years, and I know myself pretty well so if I plot 20 chapters, I'm probably going to end up with either 100k or 200k depending on what I've plotted for each chapter -- how many scenes, how many major events, etc which decides the basic structure of each chapter.

Minion: How supportive of your writing are your family and non-writer friends?
Keira: I don't actually have any non-writer friends in "real life". Most of the people I communicate regularly with online and consider friends are also writers. Weird? My family buys all of my books, even the ones they refuse to read for religious reasons.

Minion: How do you select a good beta reader? How do you discourage wanna-be beta readers?
Keira: I tried out a bunch of beta readers and I picked the ones that meshed with me and my process the best. Also, how much time they have to give my work. I tell wanna-be beta readers no. Just no. I rarely apologize for it. I don't feel the need to justify myself and often they just want an advanced peek at what I'm doing anyways.

Minion: When you do research about things you are not trained for(Genetics, for example), do you look for something specific, or do you make yourself a pseudo expert in the relevant areas?
Keira: I check out Wikipedia and throw in a few facts to make it look as legit as possible then I move on. I don't get bogged down in it because I know I'm not going to get it the way an expert would.

Minion: I would like to know if you know in advance when you will post the next of one story and if yes, can you say when the last chapter of TTB will be post?
Keira: Once a fic goes into beta, I sort of map out when I want to post it. Doesn't mean it works out that way which is why I don't offer updates on my WIP page any more. People got stupid and rude (epic levels of assholery) over it when I missed my projected week/month of posting. The last "chapter" of TTB is actually going to be a full length novel. It's not coming anytime soon but I hope this year.

Minion: First of all, I hope you’re all right. I’m kinda sorta accustomed to see new posts from you more frequently (I don’t mean stories, but livejournal snarky little comments), so I hope the silence means just that’s you’re busy, not that you have some problems. As I love everything you wrote in The Sentinel fandom, both the crossovers and especially The Awakening, I’m wondering if something from the past EAD is still in the works, like having a new story in the next few months.
Keira: I was sick and had work to do which always sucks. I work slowly when I'm sick which is frustrating to say the least. Everything in EAD in the past and present is still in my WIP folder. I have no dates on when anything might be finished.

Minion: Exceptional children and young adults often appear in your writing. Sometimes that’s a function of the canon – like HP, where all the action happens before they even hit 18 – but often it’s your OCs, like Sebastian in What Might Have Been and Andy in Sentinels of Atlantis. They even show up when they’re not in the main cast of characters, like the young victims in The Awakening (and the slightly-older-but-also-exceptional Elizabeth and Daryl). I fully understand if it’s too personal a question, but I’ve always been curious where the affinity comes from. Like, were you (or someone you knew) that amazing genius/talent as a kid? Or does it recall something you read that you particularly liked or were inspired by? Heck, maybe it’s just a trope you enjoy because it has so much potential to throw a wrench in the works and provoke reactions from the characters. Enquiring minds want to know!
Keira: It's McKay's fault actually. I find his past fascinating and since I don't want to write McKay as a kid, I play with other young characters to see how he got to where he was character wise. Though honestly, Andy isn't a genius. He's an Alpha Sentinel which isn't the same at all-- what he is really is a direct mirror of John's character. Elizabeth was a mid-level Guide really but Daryl was something unique and interesting to Blair because of his Spirit Animal. I wanted to give Daryl a lion when I was plotting so I did -- that was the result. It just works out.

It could also be my nephew who is very bright and high maintenance in the best possible way. You can't help but be influenced by what you're around.

Minion: On a Potter related note have you decided on the next title in your War Mage trilogy? I’ll wait however long it takes to get to read them, I just wondered if the title had been decided yet?
Keira: I've named both stories upcoming in the trilogy: Those Magic Changes & And Magic Will Never Die. Which makes all three parts named after songs. Cheesy I know.

Minion: You’ve got a lot of awesome OC’s, do you base/build them off other people/characters, or do you just make them up? And if you do make them up, what’s your starting point?
Keira: I build them from the ground up with character profiles just like I do in my professional work. Somewhere on my hard drive I have Sean Taylor's resume for his first appearance in WMHB.

Characters

Minion: Do you have a definite opinion on Dumbledore? I can’t figure if you want to have him killed in a gloriously painful manner or just give him a Gibbs style smack to knock the arrogance out and some common sense in.
Keira: No. I can play him good or bad or just plain odd.

Minion: I’ve seen a few versions of Dumbledore’s character in your stories, did you go through a process of opinion of him, or did you write him as best suited for the story?
Keira: Dumbledore is easy to play with when it comes to motivations, his knowledge of events, and even his manipulations. I can hate him in a fic of my own or in someone else's easily enough. Even in canon while he does some truly stupid things (IE leaving Harry on a doorstep in November for example), you can play with that event and shift how it's viewed. Sleeping and warming charms applied, a house elf in hiding from Hogwarts, etc could make that event innocent. Taking all of it away looks like abuse. The scene itself in canon is very sparse on details. You don't know what he's done, when he put up the wards, or why Minerva spent all day watching the Dursley house when she wasn't sure of the fate of the Potters. That's the beauty of fan fiction, really, that you can twist canon around your finger and come up with something new and interesting.

Minion: I have a similar question about Snape, and more generally any characters you write as evil/irredeemable in some stories but either strong allies or flawed/misguided but redeemable in other stories. For Snape, does it mostly have to do with how J.K. Rowling presented him as potentially evil throughout the series? Is it a function of your own mixed feelings about the character based on your own interpretation of the character and what he could be? Or is it more what fits with the particular story you’re trying to tell? Or something else entirely?
Keira: In all honesty, I find Snape irredeemable in canon. I don't care, honestly, that he claimed to love Lily all that time. He verbally and emotionally abused children and most especially the son of Lily Potter. How could he claim her as the love of his life and treat her son so poorly? How could he love her and beg for her life but think nothing of her infant son? Honestly, the only way I can write good!Snape is that if he never loved Lily romantically.

Minion: Do your characters ever do/say things that you weren’t expecting? Do they ever hijack a plot or story line? If so, how do you respond?
Keira: No and honestly I think it's kind of cop-out when authors claim this happens. It speaks to failing to have a full grasp on your craft. I have little mental tangents, yes, but when I'm writing -- I'm in charge and I own my words. I don't need to blame my words or my meandering plot on a fictional person in my head. I will, however, totally blame my Betas if they push me off a plot bunny cliff of doom.

Minion: Do you ever have a hard time finding a character’s voice? Or does the voice ever change mid process?
Keira: By the time I write, the voices of my character concrete. I can hear them in my head--especially in fan fic or in stories where I've cast a familiar actor. I know what my characters love and hate. And even if it comes up, I know their favorite, color, song, and book. It's important to me to know these things about characters because such details impact them. It makes them three dimensional to me and to the reader.

Minion: I love “Tangled Destinies” and my question is: did Spock and Jim’s voices come naturally or did you have to really work hard at it?
Keira: Spock was super easy. I mean it was amazing how easily he came to me. Jim took a little work because I sort of merged the TOS Jim with the NuTrek Jim to get the Jim Kirk I wrote for TD.


Writing Process & Plotting

Minion: Does your writing ever end up going in an unexpected direction even after plotting?
Keira: Sometimes, I have to stop and replot but that's normally because I've purposely deviated from my plan and I have to rework events. A prime example is Lantean Legacy. The first plot for No Enemy Within had Daniel staying on Earth so when I wrote the first three books-- Daniel was on Earth in book two due a change I made in the plot. However, in beta/rewrites on No Enemy Within -- I put Daniel on Atlantis which means I had to replot book 2 and 3.

Minion: Do you ever get caught up in research so you don’t end up with as much progress as you had planned on?
Keira: On original works, I do research while I'm plotting. I usually give myself a month to plot and research. That doesn't mean I won't have to stop writing later on to go back to these two tasks but I like to do the bulk ahead of writing.

Minion: How much do you world-build before you start writing? I know this is fanfic, but for instance, in the TTB universe – how much did you figure out beforehand what the political/social/historical/etc environment is like in a dynamic universe, and how much do you sort of find out as you write?
Keira: It greatly depends on what I'm going to need. In TTB, I came into it originally with Xanthe's concept and world building -- she did an outstanding job and I was just playing with it for my own personal pleasure. I had no intention of ever putting online. I came to a dead stop in the very first sex scene. I mean a dead stop and thought, "Huh, I need kink colleges." I stopped writing and started reading about BDSM and I'd watched a documentary on the Marquis de Sade a few months before I started writing... which got that whole thing going and ya know. I think about two months later, I went back to that first sex scene and I had an answer to John's question about where Rodney trained.

Minion: Once you’ve written your first draft, what process do your stories undergo before we get to read the finished product.
Keira: In fan fic, I send it to Chris. She marks all the places that need sex and other less important stuff then she sends it Ladyholder who often agrees with Chris about the sex, points out where I'm dry-fucking canon, and "oh, dude, Atlantis is MUCH older than that thank you very much, here's a link). They both mark typos, missing words, grammar that they see, and point out any gapping plot holes I've created along the way. Then it comes to me. I make all the corrections and if I make sweeping changes -- the beta process starts over again.

In original works, I write it, edit it, edit it, edit it, begin to hate it, edit it, and send it to my agent who marks all the places where she thinks I should add more sex and she sends it back to me.

I think there could be a common theme there.

Minion: Your dialogue is awesome and always feels so real. How do you manage that?
Keira: I taught myself early on to really listen to people when they talk and recognize not only how they use words BUT the cadence, style, and rhythm of their speech. As a younger writer, I often spoke my dialogue aloud and if it sounded awkward coming out of my mouth-- I worked with it until it flowed. It's a skill that you have to work with and work with until you get it right and sometimes I still stumble.

Minion: I read your work (over and over) and am constantly blown away by the way your mind works (not blowing wind up your ass here, or that jeweled butt plug) So I suppose it is the question that everyone asks, where do you start? As in do your stories start out with a line, an idea, a situation/scene? And do you work from there? Forward from that point or do you have to construct a preface or beginning?
Keira: I start with a "what if". What if she does this? What if he came from here? What if his father was dead? What if he found a body? What if she answers the phone and hears the worst news possible? I ask myself questions until a question catches my interest then I let it play out my head. Once I have a good grasp of that -- I go to the computer and start plotting.

Minion: How do you plan out your stories? Once you get an idea, where do you go next? Do you outline each chapter or do you just have key points you want to hit and then just fill it in with whatever fits?….is this making sense? Sorry if it doesn’t.
Keira: I am a plotting mother-fucker. I often plot twice before I even start writing professional works. Sometimes plots are bullet points for each chapter BUT there have been times when I've done full outlines -- scene by scene. It just depends on the project and the complexity of it.

Minion: With all the world building and character profiling and back story – how do you decide on the launch point?
Keira: I start in the middle of it. When I plot, I pick my first event (conversation, meeting, announcement) and I throw the reader right in the middle of it. In Sentinels of Atlantis, you meet John and Sam as he's getting a tour of the Mountain - not as he arrived or even as he received his orders but right smack in the middle of what will become the single biggest event of his life. In the Unspeakable Plot -- I dropped the reader down in the middle of a conversation about the death of magic. You're playing catch up all through that first chapter.

In fandom, the best example of this that immediately comes to mind is Coping Mechanisms by Amireal -- the reader is dropped into the story with a BOOM and it's a painful one. I read that first scene with a lump in my throat EVERY SINGLE TIME. That should be your goal as a writer.

Minion: Do you write from the first line of a story pretty much through to the end, or (considering your meticulous plotting) do you write scenes and stitch them together into a continuous flow?
Keira: I write start to finish. That doesn't mean I won't back up and rewrite something or add to it if I have an idea that changes my plot or events earlier in the book stop working for me. But I do tend to write start to finish.

Minion: How much do you write at a time? My main problem with writing is that my muse tends to die after about 3-4 pages :( Do you have an average that you’re able to write at a time?
Keira: I write for a living. So please keep that in mind - my schedule changes from quarter to quarter based on deadlines and plans. Research, plotting, and actual life can interfere. If I'm in a groove -- I can produce roughly 4,000 words an hour. That honestly doesn't happen often these days. A "muse" is a construct - don't fall into the habit of using it as a crutch. The best cure for the death of your muse is to plot your story out so you know what comes next. Even if it's just a bunch of bullet points or a handful of index cards - - it helps.

Minion: How much time per day do you devote to writing? How much of that writing is professional and how much is fan fiction?
Keira: I try to write at least six hours a day regardless of what else is going on but it doesn't always happen. If I can get eight then I consider that a total win. I normally write four days a week this time of the year. I write two hours professional for every one hour of fan fiction. So if I write six hours of fan fic next week then I require twelve hours of work for original work of some kind whether it is plotting, researching, editing or whatever.

Minion: What’s your secret to finishing fic? I can never write to finish.
Keira: Plotting. If I have (at least) a beginning, a middle, and an end -- I'll get there. But if I sit down with no idea how something is going to end it's never going to be finished. It'll just go on and on or I'll stall out completely which is just horrible.

Minion: I know you work on multiple projects at the same time often in the same fandom but different Universe. I was wondering how to keep things straight because there are subtle and not so subtle differences between . I admit I have a mental image of you setting up a bunch of whiteboards at your coffee with key facts/pairings so you know Master Hiro is with Casteus in The Unspeakable plot and Professor Kitty in the Soul MateBond.
Keira: Series works have what I call a "series bible". I use Composition Notebooks to create them-- character lists, major events, brainstorming etc all goes into this notebook. When I start writing on something that is established, I often back up and read at least half of it to get back into the groove.

Minion: Are there any writing tools you find useful (or useless)? (Like software you’ve tried, or plot outlining tools or beat sheets, or those questionnaires that are meant to help you develop a character, or books or articles on writing). Have you ever done any kind of productivity analysis on your writing process, and if so, did it help? Do you have particular moods or times or places where you write well, do environmental factors like heat or cold or noise matter, can you write in ten minutes or do you need hours to get into the zone?
Keira: I have my own character worksheet. I use Microsoft OneNote for project organization on the computer and Composition Notebooks for when I put pen to paper. I don't need hours to establish a good pace to write but I can get really steamed if I'm interrupted so trying to write for just ten minutes would piss me off.

Minion: Did you go to college to learn your writing style or are you naturally creative and it’s a compulsion and you just have to get all the stories written? When you’re writing do you visualize the scene first and then write it? I would just love to know the process and how much discipline you need to write.
Keira: I've been writing since I was a tween but I've been a story teller since I was a very little kid. I would sit at my grandmother's table and tell her stories for hours on end. She really encouraged me to be creative about it, she asked questions, made me explain myself. I think, honestly, she was my first workshop on plotting. I'm a hardcore plotter so I visualize the entire thing, write out a plot, do research as needed and after all that I sit down to write. I have a BA but it's in a social science. ;-) Being a writer is a compulsion. Being an author is a JOB.

Minion: Are you a very visual person, cause I’ve noticed you do settings more from atmosphere then by description, how do you do that?
Keira: This. There is a reason for this and it boils down to the GRAPES OF WRAITH. I shit you not. I hate that book. I don't care if that turtle ever crosses the road. I hope it gets hit by a truck. Also I don't give a shit if my characters curtains are purple or blue. I build my stories on character and plot because excessive description pisses me off and bores the hell out of me. I figure I'm not alone in this. It works for me. It might not work for everyone. It could drive some readers around the bend but it's just how I build a story and everyone should do that in their own way.

Minion: How do you write ? Everywhere or in your bedroom etc…. With total silence or you need some background sound? With a cup of coffee, a tea, a sandwich?
Keira: Coffee. Diet coke. I have noise cancelling headphones, I need music, and I have a home office so I don't have to share space with a TV or other distracting stuff like my husband.

Minion: When you write, do you prefer longhand or a keyboard?
Keira: I write on my computer but I plot and stuff on paper sometimes. Mostly note taking and brainstorming.

Minion: When experiencing a writer’s block, do you try to work your way through it or do you back off for a while and try to let it resolve itself? Is there anything in particular you do to overcome writer’s block?
Keira: I'm not sure "writer's block" accurately describes me when I don't write --- it's more like "OH MY FUCKING THOR. FUCK ALL THIS. ROCKS FALL EVERYONE DIES." But I get over it eventually and start writing again. It boils down to just not being interested in what I have in progress and sometimes the best way to get past that is to start something else.


FANDOM

Minion: You read a lot of fandoms that you haven’t written in. (Inception comes to mind) How do you choose what fandoms to write in?
Keira: I have to be inspired. Really inspired. I have several Inception fics in progress by the way. One was featured on last year's EAD.

Minion: Is there a pairing or pairings you would love to write but haven’t yet?
Keira: John/Dorian from Almost Human. Tony/Steve from The Avengers.

Minion: Are there any fandoms that you like, but haven’t written fan fiction for? If so, which ones and do you ever see yourself writing for them?
Keira: Farscape, Babylon 5, Avengers, Star Wars, Riddick, Hawaii Five-O, GRIMM, Inception. I have some unfinished works in Avengers and Inception. I wrote a ficlet for Avengers that is on Different Roads but that's it.

Minion: Are there any fandoms that you love that you would never consider writing in?
Keira: I'd never write for Babylon 5 or Farscape. I think Farscape is perfect. Babylon 5 canon intimidates me.

Minion: What would you consider a crossover too far?
Keira: I don't know any particular crossover that would bother me but I won't read a story that has like 20 fandoms in it. I get bored and irritated very quickly with these things. You have to be SUPER talented to keep my attention if you're going to cross that many fandoms at once.

Minion: Who is your favourite character to write about and why?
Keira: Rodney McKay. I like his vulnerability, his mind, and I can be as snarky as possible.

Minion: Which of your series has given you the most pleasure to write – which do you consider your ‘best writing’? (To be honest for me to choose which is your ‘best’ alters on a daily basis depending on what I’m reading and what my mood is – although you are ALWAYS my favourite writer)
Keira: The most pleasure? Probably Tangled Destinies. I think my best writing in fandom is "That Old Black Magic" though I'm very fond of my craft work in Emotional Clockwork.

Minion: Concerning the alternate universes that you write: What are the obscure/unrelated/random things you think of while writing? Do you write them down, or just keep them in the back of your head? and do they ever make it into the story? e.g. how are public bathrooms set up in TTB? or how would Snow White look in a Sentinel universe?
Keira: It's crazy but somewhere on my desk is notebook with a world history timeline where I inserted "events" from TTB. I also have a whole essay on play piercing, one on corsets, and the draft of Nathan Cordell's speech should he be elected President.

Minion: And do you have any fannish/inspirational catnip, like characters or pairings or plot points or world building things that just get you every time and won’t let go until you start writing?
Keira: Sentinels. I fucking love Sentinel AUs.

Minion: My favorite fandom is Stargate Atlantis but I find there are less and less SGA stories, there are not had Atlantis big bang this year so I would like if you were always same interesting by this fandom and if it could be have a rough trade just for SGA( or mcshep)?
Keira: It happens to fandoms unfortunately, we don't have any new canon coming at us so things will slow down as writers are seduced into new fandoms for one reason or another. That being said, I love SGA and can't see a place when I'd stop writing it completely. Rodney is my go-to character when I'm in a bad mood.

I'm open to a McShep event on Rough Trade but it wouldn't be during our established events because those are already structured. I think a "HELL WEEK" event on Rough Trade would be fun. Bring authors together with a 2,000 words a day challenge for 7 days on various themes, Mcshep among them.

Minion: Generally, is there any old tv show that you would like to write that you haven’t got around to yet? My reasoning for asking is that I love what you’ve done with the world of Sentinels and Guides. Your work prompted me to reread old favourites in that fandom, ones that I hadn’t thought about in years.
Keira: Spencer for Hire, Starsky & Hutch, and Quantum Leap immediately pop into my head.

Minion: How do you chose what pairings to write? Do they catch your eye, or do they hook you be the fingers?
Some are OTP and others evolve around my plot and my general amusement. I have several OTPs: McKay/Sheppard, Arthur/Eames, Kirk/Spock -- these are concrete. Period. Done deal.

Minion: I know you’ve mentioned that your next installment of TTB will be based within the Criminal Minds universe. What was it about Hotch and Reid that made you think, ‘those two should be naked with whips?’
Keira: It was a picture I saw. In fact, I put the picture on the excerpt I posted for EAD IV.

Minion: Do you have a universe that you particularly love to write in?
Keira: Stargate: Atlantis will always be my first love but I adore Harry Potter as well. It's hard not to love magic and wormholes. I'd love to write Harry as a Sentinel.

-Keira

Comments

[ladyholder.livejournal.com]

:: goggles ::

Oh, my THOR.

Well, I learned something new today!

And I am very happy for it too! What a rush!

~L

[chris-king-2005.livejournal.com]

Squeeeeee!

I love reading what you write about your craft. It's always like a master class on writing!

Echinacea and zinc and vitamin C? You must be completely wiped out from colds/flu/winter plague version 267.

[noxnoctisanima.livejournal.com]

Harry as a Sentinel sounds like spectacular fun.

[damaskrose32.livejournal.com]

This! Yes, absolutely!

[monkey-mel.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter as a Sentinel would be the most awesome ever if you wrote it. I don't care how you plot it, I would read it because you are the best.

Also, my question got answered :). I love being a minion to your awesomeness!

[lbell007.livejournal.com]

I am so glad that you answered all our questions, and you have left me inspired as a writer to improve my technique.

I worship at the altar of your words.

[sdbirdsong.livejournal.com]

I see from the Q&A that you write professionally. Can I ask under what name you write and where your stuff is published. I enjoyed reading the one non canon story you were writing for Nano and would like to read more. Thanks.

[keiramarcos]

Actually, no. I keep my professional pen name separate from Keira.

Q & A

[iadorespike]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for us. It was fascinating reading and very informative. I know I'll be reading it again, too. It's given me a lot to think about and even more reasons to appreciate you.

Thanks so much, Keira!

♥

[lillithschild.livejournal.com]

Harry as a Sentinel sounds awesome.

Love ya

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I am so very sorry I didn't get off my lazy ass and square away my login when you put up the call for questions. (Is a bad minion.) It looks like you got every conceivable variation on everything I've wondered about, though.

Very glad to hear If Your Heart's Not In It is still in progress!

[batspit.livejournal.com]

Awesomesauce!

Thank you for publicly hating Grapes of Wrath. If you also hate Hemmingway I may have to invent a whole new level of Goddess-dom to elevate you to. Even if I did need morose drivel to slit my wrists by, I could find better in fan fiction.

It was fascinating to see inside the world of a professional fiction author. I write non-fiction (or children's stories) and the process is completely different for me.

[keiramarcos]

I am terribly unfond of Hemmingway's work mostly because I hate to be dragged down to the bottom of a story and made to feel like the worst thing is about to happen to me and everyone I've ever even had a mild attraction to.

I also have a extreme dislike Nicolas Sparks books.

[honeybeegrace.livejournal.com]

Thank you for answering all the questions. It is always interesting to see how the writing process works. Love hearing about all the various wips.

[kraymond24.livejournal.com]

I have never read the Grapes of Wrath, but your answer encapsulated my feeling when I read a book or fic that spends the first three pages describing everything from the characters eye color, nose shape, hair color and length, shirt texture, and cravat knot. That must be part of why I love your stories so much.

[qzee.livejournal.com]

This: "OH MY FUCKING THOR. FUCK ALL THIS. ROCKS FALL EVERYONE DIES." had me picturing a landslide of rocks from pebble size to boulders tumbling out of nowhere towards everyone from your HP fics. Dumbledore in flamboyant robes that he's pulled up to reveal purple and pink plaid long Johns/thermal underwear, screaming like a girl. Ginny being slowly and viciously killed by pebbles, Ron losing his "how in the world can you hit a target that small" dick to a rock, etc. With Draco and Harry standing in the middle of this Apocolyptic rock fall kissing in a very “Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.” Kind of way as everyone but them dies horribly in the rock slide.

[fanarts-series.livejournal.com]

Thanks to respons dear !

I wanted to ask, would you love to write in some huge sage like TLOR, the maze runner, hungers game etc...

Could you write a dystopian society ?

[keiramarcos]

I've never read Hunger Games or the Maze Runner. Unfortunately, I can barely read Lord of the Rings fan fic because I can't keep track of the names and I find the whole mess frustrating.

[myjadedhavok.livejournal.com]

I would love to do a "hell week" on Rough Trade, though it would need to be during the summer when I'm not bogged down with classes.

Confession: I've never written SGA fanfic because Rodney's mind intimidates me so much.

[keiramarcos]

So, write entirely from JOhn's point of view.

[crossidmary.livejournal.com]

Reading this I'm in awe of your time management skills. Do you have a time turner hidden away somewhere?

[keiramarcos]

I don't actually work outside the home, ya know ;-)

characters

[plutofigaro (from livejournal.com)]

Hi,


Will Arthur and Eames make a showing in any of your series?

Re: characters

[keiramarcos]

I have a few works in progress for the Inception fandom including one that I posted last year on Evil Author Day III.

Would I do a cross over into my other series work? No.

But you know what I would love to do? A HP/Inception fusion -- wherein Eames is a British Unspeakable and Arthur is a tight assed American Hit Wizard.

Re: characters

[plutofigaro (from livejournal.com)]

Hi,


That would be awesome!!!!!

Re: characters

[keiramarcos]

I added you as a friend. If you go up to the top of my site and click on Evil Author Day III -- you'll find a link for "A Dusty Springfield Song" -- that's my Arthur/Eames WIP.

[christella2.livejournal.com]

fascinating to read how you work and to discover where your awesomeness comes from Keira.
we minions still just love everything you share with us even if you do drag us to new fan fiction we have not read before, but always come back to yours because yours is the best, I M H O.
By the way I still cannot read Coping Mechanisms without tissues.... I still cry every freaking time !!!!!

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Great. Thanks for the answers.

[spes-abrin.livejournal.com]

Its so fascinating to read about your process! I've never actually seen The Sentinel, but I've always enjoyed your Sentinel crossovers. Its a fascinating 'verse and has made me want to check out the original show at some point.

[influ-bad-ence.livejournal.com]

Fuck you Keira just Fuck you very much. Harry as a Sentinle????? Come take your plot bunny back damnit here I give it to you. ::Glares:: LoL.

[keiramarcos]

Don't get shirty with me! I keep my plot bunnies -- I just talk about them ;-)

[icefalls-tears.livejournal.com]

What books did you read on BDSM to prepare for TTB? I've thought about looking some up but I wouldn't know decent ones from trash so I value your input.

[keiramarcos]

Honestly, it's been so long that I couldn't tell you.. I know they were in print which is unfortunate since I culled most of my print library two years ago in favor of digital files.

[icefalls-tears.livejournal.com]

Alright. Thanks for answering.

[the_proofreader]

Omg I finally thought of a question I need answered - you have a dog (do you still have the dognapped dog?) and I find with my 3 by the time I've let them out, let them in, given out medicine (for hip dysplasia to 1 dog) and munchies (to all 3 dogs), dispensed dog breakfast and sorted out the kitchen, had a cup of Gibbs-strength coffee, and let the dogs in and out for the next 90 minutes I'm ready to give up on writing and go back to bed. How demanding is your dog and how do you write around him? (I should mention I have ME which sucks and some days makes it hard to get out of bed to feed my pups.)

[the_proofreader]

Btw, at some point soon I can tell I'm going to be going back and reading my way through pretty much your whole website - thank you for grabbing my imagination and sucking it into your brain! ;-)

[janeaverage.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was really interesting! Thank you so much for sharing all that :)

Also: I have my own character worksheet.

I am desperately curious what you find vital to include on a character worksheet. I always find them to be either too detailed/weird/irrelevant, or so basic that I have memorized everything on them by the time I sit down to make one, but it never really occurred to me to create my own.

[keiramarcos]

Basic Physical description
Education
Job
Relationships to other characters in the story
Sexual preferences
Favorite Book
Favorite Song
Favorite Movie
Pet Peeve


Religious ideology

Last Long term relationship

Parents
Siblings
Status of relationship with family

Best Friend
Enemy
Pet(s)

etc

I try to limit myself to pieces of information that shape a person and give them structure for a reader. Sometimes none of it comes up in the actual narrative but I know it so it adds to the flavor of the character, I think.

[hermya.livejournal.com]

Thank you for answering all our questions, I've been rereading TTB (for the billionth time) and I came across Frost explaining to John about how he met Sean. I know you did the one shot a while back, do you think you'd ever write their first meeting and the exhibition that Frost goes to?

[keiramarcos]

I don't know.

[tygtig.livejournal.com]

I do adore you.

First: thank you so much for hating the Grapes of wrath. I was subjected to it in school, both as a book and as a play and No. Just no. I know it's a classic, I still hate it.

You writing Tony/Steve? Gods, yes, please. The EPIC snark.

It took me 3 weeks,.....

[candygirl2667.livejournal.com]

but I finally read MOST of the stories on your site and I'm in awe of you. Your world's are so full of interesting people even though the characters are established. I love the way you add pictures to help me visualize what the characters look like. Another of my favorite authors, Y S McCool does the same thing. I just wanted to tell you that I think you're awesome and I'll basically read anything you put out. THANKS again.

Re: It took me 3 weeks,.....

[keiramarcos]

I feel like I should apologize for taking three weeks of your life. LOL.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

K

Re: It took me 3 weeks,.....

[candygirl2667.livejournal.com]

Don't worry. It was a great three weeks! Your stories were entertaining. I never really got into SGA but I fell in love with your Rodney. I love the snark and some of his lines were the best!

[alexicyn.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading this and got to "I'd love to write Harry as a Sentinel." and my brain just seized!!!

Oh PLEASE!!!! Oh Circe, YES!!! You are the reason I love Sentinel fic. In fact, yours was the first I read. And now? Yeah... so many worlds slide into there so nicely!!!

Thank you for sharing so much information about yourself and your process and WOOT! Just the idea of Harry as a Sentinel has made my night! :)

[syamak-min.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about the Sentinel AUs, I'll read pretty much all of them; and the idea of Harry as a sentinel may be one of the best ideas I have heard all week.

[juniper617.livejournal.com]

So that last chapter of TTB -- that would make an awesome Christmas present...

[itoshii-chan.livejournal.com]

D*MN! I always miss the fun stuff! *pouts*

I enjoyed reading the post, though. I'd always wanted to ask you about Dumbledore as well. There were times when I was reading that I wanted Harry to just turn to him and say, "FUCK OFF!" but he skirts the line many times. This doesn't stop me from wishing that Harry would hex him...

There was something else that I always have wanted to ask as well. Though I lost the chance to ask it of you during this Q&A, I hope you don't mind if I ask it here...

Your opinion on Ronald and Ginevra is well known, though you have made him not such an asshole in TOBM & BotSk. But what of the others? Especially Molly? Do you like her? Dislike her? Neutral? Good for the plot?

And on that note, I hope you do decide to write a Sentinel!Harry fanfic!! *starry-eyes*

[keiramarcos]

I can't stand Molly but I can write any of them normal. I just choose not to.