Ask the Author: Moss Whelan
Answered Questions (7)
Moss Whelan
I was in a Creative Writing class where we were asked to present three stories that we'd like to work on. The class then voted on which one they would like to see / read. In my case, the readers wanted the female character. I did have the choice to not listen to the class, but I knew the character was more interesting.
The pink mist--good that you asked because I was about to forget. Short answer: pigs are pink. Long answer: the mist is a crossroads and the threshold guardian is a border guard. Growing up, I was told repeatedly that cops were pigs. Later in the story I play with the phrases "the cat's out of the bag" and "pig in a poke". These phrases are from from a trick played on people where a cat in a bag is sold as a pig.
The pink mist--good that you asked because I was about to forget. Short answer: pigs are pink. Long answer: the mist is a crossroads and the threshold guardian is a border guard. Growing up, I was told repeatedly that cops were pigs. Later in the story I play with the phrases "the cat's out of the bag" and "pig in a poke". These phrases are from from a trick played on people where a cat in a bag is sold as a pig.
Moss Whelan
I write about the block. What does it look like? What shape is it? Texture? Taste? And the block becomes part of the process.
Moss Whelan
To paraphrase Joseph Campbell, "The world outside is the circumference of nothing. The world inside is the centre of everything."
Moss Whelan
1. The Rule of Three: look for threads and arcs like leitmotifs in your work.
2. Study screenplay structure to give your stories a strong spine.
3. Treat scenes like small three act structures.
2. Study screenplay structure to give your stories a strong spine.
3. Treat scenes like small three act structures.
Moss Whelan
I'm currently working on the other stories set in Terrapin. It's a chance for me to return and revisit this reflection of my psyche--especially the city at the centre of the world.
Moss Whelan
I have read a great deal of English Lit' especially Portal Fantasies from the early 1900s. I go back to epics, sagas, myth, and folklore. I watch international films on the subject (most recently Russian fairy tale movies--incroyable!) I look at art from children's books, games, and surrealists / magical realism.
Moss Whelan
A woman in Vancouver, Rhonda Larabee, grew up thinking she was Chinese Canadian. She learned her mother was First Nations / Native Canadian, and explored further to become the last member and chief of the Qayqayt First Nation. Rhonda's story of family secrets, self identity, and ending conflict inspires my work.
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