Ask the Author: Sarah A. Selene
Answered Questions (3)
Sarah A. Selene
It’s November, so I’ve just started a new novel for NaNoWriMo. It’s currently called Void Eater and is set in a modernized fantasy world teetering on the brink of a war that, unbeknownst to most, will herald the apocalyptic wrath of interdimensional gods. The main protagonist, Rachel, is a mercenary in possession of a mysterious and horrifying power connected to this impending doom, and she’s been tasked with an impossible mission—to save the world by killing the gods. No war can truly be so simple, however, and though Rachel alone holds the power, her friends, allies, and chosen family all have a role to play in the trials to come.
Sarah A. Selene
I’ve been trying to write a revenge story for the past twelve years.
(Buy me a drink and maybe I’ll tell you the story of why).
A book with a twelve-year history has an untold number of inspirations, many of which have been lost with time, but from the first moment I sat down to write Bloodlands (under a different title back then), it was always the story of Senora the Bounty Hunter seeking to right the wrongs in her life through a quest for revenge. I plugged away at it for a few years but could never quite get it to work.
What was the missing ingredient? A story about revenge needs an arc about redemption. It was actually an episode of The Walking Dead that hit the switch on that light bulb for me.
This episode tracked the path of one of the show’s (and comic’s) most infamous villains, the Governor, after he’d lost his community through his own murderous misdeeds. He spends part of the episode wandering in a (increasingly bearded) daze before he encounters a woman and her two daughters who know nothing about his past. By bonding with them, he learns to be a decent human being again.
Right before he goes back to murdering people in the next episode.
While the Governor’s redemption arc was hilariously short, the episode brought my mind back to that long-abandoned revenge story and spurred the question of whether someone who’d done something terrible in the past could or should deserve to be forgiven. That question became the basis of Senora the Vengeance-Seeking Bounty Hunter’s counterpart, the Creature/Shadow. I wrote the first eight pages of Bloodlands shortly after (only to drop it again and end up circling back around a couple years later).
(Buy me a drink and maybe I’ll tell you the story of why).
A book with a twelve-year history has an untold number of inspirations, many of which have been lost with time, but from the first moment I sat down to write Bloodlands (under a different title back then), it was always the story of Senora the Bounty Hunter seeking to right the wrongs in her life through a quest for revenge. I plugged away at it for a few years but could never quite get it to work.
What was the missing ingredient? A story about revenge needs an arc about redemption. It was actually an episode of The Walking Dead that hit the switch on that light bulb for me.
This episode tracked the path of one of the show’s (and comic’s) most infamous villains, the Governor, after he’d lost his community through his own murderous misdeeds. He spends part of the episode wandering in a (increasingly bearded) daze before he encounters a woman and her two daughters who know nothing about his past. By bonding with them, he learns to be a decent human being again.
Right before he goes back to murdering people in the next episode.
While the Governor’s redemption arc was hilariously short, the episode brought my mind back to that long-abandoned revenge story and spurred the question of whether someone who’d done something terrible in the past could or should deserve to be forgiven. That question became the basis of Senora the Vengeance-Seeking Bounty Hunter’s counterpart, the Creature/Shadow. I wrote the first eight pages of Bloodlands shortly after (only to drop it again and end up circling back around a couple years later).
Sarah A. Selene
Persistence! Writer’s block usually strikes me as I’m closing in on the back-half of my story. I usually have a clear view of how I want the book to end, but I don’t always have the most defined plan for getting there. To help me get over that hump and keep me from getting bogged down in the great terror of indecisiveness, I have to keep myself writing. I may have to experiment with multiple possibilities for bridging point C with point D, and I’ll likely end up deciding most of them don’t work and having to cut those scenes and start over again, but eventually I’ll arrive at the right scenario.
Alternatively, if I’m suffering writer’s block earlier in the story because I have no idea what my next step is (I’m a bit of a pantser), I might try to flesh out some backstory through a flashback. It may not quite belong at that point in the story, and might eventually get cut altogether, but the exercise will usually re-affirm what’s important for the character’s development and give me an idea of where to go next.
Alternatively, if I’m suffering writer’s block earlier in the story because I have no idea what my next step is (I’m a bit of a pantser), I might try to flesh out some backstory through a flashback. It may not quite belong at that point in the story, and might eventually get cut altogether, but the exercise will usually re-affirm what’s important for the character’s development and give me an idea of where to go next.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more