Ask the Author: PD Doling
Answered Questions (7)
PD Doling
People. 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 is who they seem, even to themselves. Neither is reality. I’m fascinated by the moments where ordinary life tilts, just slightly, and you’re not sure whether to laugh or worry.
PD Doling
There’s a mug of cold tea because I’ve forgotten it 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛, and an ongoing turf war with a small tabby over ownership of the big chair. I’m losing, but don’t tell him that.
PD Doling
The sort that start off feeling safe, familiar, human. I like the quiet, creeping sort of uncanny; when you don’t notice the light fading or the ground shifting until you’re already lost in the dark.
PD Doling
I tend to write in the narrow space where those two possibilities blur. I’m not especially interested in giving readers a firm answer. Half the fun is letting you decide whether something strange is happening, or whether the mind is simply doing what minds do under pressure.
PD Doling
People are never more honest than when they’re fraying a bit at the edges. That’s where the mask slips and the truth leaks out. I find that far more compelling than someone who has everything neatly under control.
PD Doling
The tone shifts, but the questions don’t. Even in a cosy ish fantasy with necromancers and found family, I’m still interested in the fragile border between what’s real, what we tell ourselves to get through the day, and how much control we have over who we really are. Genre changes the scenery, not the heartbeat.
PD Doling
They take over. I’ve tried to write the same story four times now, and every time I’ve ended up excising every part of the original idea.
I usually get about 5,000 words in before new characters arrive, rearrange the furniture, and then demolish the house entirely.
By the halfway point I’m just the typist, trying to keep up with whatever they’ve decided to do. It’s fun being the first reader.
I usually get about 5,000 words in before new characters arrive, rearrange the furniture, and then demolish the house entirely.
By the halfway point I’m just the typist, trying to keep up with whatever they’ve decided to do. It’s fun being the first reader.
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