Ask the Author: Mistral Dawn
Answered Questions (10)
Mistral Dawn
Honestly, there are hundreds of books on my reading list, but they aren't in any particular order. I just pick up whatever looks interesting at the time or whatever I happen to be in the mood for. Though, generally speaking, I tend to read mostly indie books. Thanks for asking! :-)
Mistral Dawn
What a great question! Since my interests tend to lean towards the science fiction and fantasy genres, I think the mystery would have to focus on the vast unknown presented by the future. The eternal question of, "What happens next" has always fascinated me. Applying that question to my own life leads to a number of "what ifs?" that might make an interesting storyline. The idea that a so much can hinge on a single decision, and instant in time, never really gets boring. I think it might be fun to explore several possibilities along those lines. :-)
Mistral Dawn
Hi Judith!! :-) I hope you're doing well today. Thank you for your question. :-) This is actually a question I get quite often, and I wrote a blog post about it a while back, which you can read here: http://mistralkdawn.blogspot.com/2014... . The short answer is: yes and no. The longer answer is that I've had the great good fortune to know many kitties over the years, and my kitty characters incorporate bits and pieces from more than one of them. Shubert, the kitty in my profile picture, was an orphan who was abandoned in a parking lot at 2 days old. At the time, I was fostering a momma kitty, Lady Laura, and her brood, so I was asked if I would see if she would "adopt" Shubert. I introduced Shubert to Lady Laura, and at first she was all you could hope for in a good mommy, but her babies were already several weeks old, and after about a week she decided she'd dealt with rambunctious youngsters for quite long enough, and would have nothing more to do with him. So poor Shubert was an orphan again (it's a wonder he didn't get named Oliver ;-) ), and I hand fed him for a couple of weeks until he was old enough to start lapping soft canned cat food blended with goats milk off of a plate. He was a determined little thing, what my mom would call "a survivor," who was always ready to play rough and tumble with the older boys, and who had a definite opinion about just about everything. But he was also very sweet, and would happily snuggle once he'd run out of gas. When he was old enough to be neutered, he went to his forever home.
I currently have another tuxedo kitty, Bartleby, who is a permanent resident here with me in Fairie. ;-) You can see a couple of his baby pictures here: http://mistralkdawn.blogspot.com/2015... . He's grown quite a bit since those pictures were taken. Bartleby was one of four kittens found in the parking lot of the hospital where I worked. One of my coworkers found them and took them home. She still has two of them, one went to another coworker, and Bartleby found his forever home with me. :-) You might not guess it from those pictures, but Bartleby is a bit prickly about his dignity, sort of like Mr. Spats, and he jumped into my arms the first time I saw him (though I wasn't on the run from gangsters at the time, thank goodness! ;-) ).
There have also been other kitties over the years who have been kind enough to educate me about how kitties behave and what they might do in certain situations. As my stories continue, I intend to share more kitty antics and ruminations with you. Sorry for the long ramble, but I hope answered your question! :-)
I currently have another tuxedo kitty, Bartleby, who is a permanent resident here with me in Fairie. ;-) You can see a couple of his baby pictures here: http://mistralkdawn.blogspot.com/2015... . He's grown quite a bit since those pictures were taken. Bartleby was one of four kittens found in the parking lot of the hospital where I worked. One of my coworkers found them and took them home. She still has two of them, one went to another coworker, and Bartleby found his forever home with me. :-) You might not guess it from those pictures, but Bartleby is a bit prickly about his dignity, sort of like Mr. Spats, and he jumped into my arms the first time I saw him (though I wasn't on the run from gangsters at the time, thank goodness! ;-) ).
There have also been other kitties over the years who have been kind enough to educate me about how kitties behave and what they might do in certain situations. As my stories continue, I intend to share more kitty antics and ruminations with you. Sorry for the long ramble, but I hope answered your question! :-)
Mistral Dawn
Hi H. R.! Thank you so much for your question! :-) The short answer is: It varies. The longer answer is, some of them come to me from spending time with my characters, some of them come from people I know who ask to be in my stories, some of them come from research into mythology, and some of them come from name lists (like in baby name books) with name meanings.
Usually with my heroines, I'll spend time getting to know them and after a while it'll be like: "Hmmm...you seem like a Veronica to me." And then I'll have to look at the name and say: "What can Veronica be shortened to, or maybe there's another nickname you'd prefer?" Once that's sorted out, then I have to name my hero. In the case of Cadeyrn, I did a lot of research into the myths of the Wild Hunt and the Erlking. Then I sat down with lists of Celtic names and looked for one that meant something that "was" the Erlking in my mind. Some of his names come from the myths, but Cadeyrn came from what the myth represented to me. A lot of my character's names are like that, which is one of the reasons I put a list of who's who at the back of my books with names and meanings. :-)
Occasionally, people I know will be kind enough to ask to be a character, and then I use their name, or at least a version of it. For example: Lynn might become Lynda or Lenore. Something along those lines. :-) And then sometimes I'll have a character who is a bit generic, like a servant or a bad guy, and I'll want to do something to make them a little more unique. So I'll spend some time with them and try to figure out at least one thing about them that makes them who they are; something that motivates them or that they're passionate about. Then I'll take that thing and go looking for a word for it in another language, usually on names lists, and, when I find the right word, I'll make that their name or I'll modify it and make the modification their name.
Anyway, I know this was a bit long-winded, but I hope I answered your question. :-)
Usually with my heroines, I'll spend time getting to know them and after a while it'll be like: "Hmmm...you seem like a Veronica to me." And then I'll have to look at the name and say: "What can Veronica be shortened to, or maybe there's another nickname you'd prefer?" Once that's sorted out, then I have to name my hero. In the case of Cadeyrn, I did a lot of research into the myths of the Wild Hunt and the Erlking. Then I sat down with lists of Celtic names and looked for one that meant something that "was" the Erlking in my mind. Some of his names come from the myths, but Cadeyrn came from what the myth represented to me. A lot of my character's names are like that, which is one of the reasons I put a list of who's who at the back of my books with names and meanings. :-)
Occasionally, people I know will be kind enough to ask to be a character, and then I use their name, or at least a version of it. For example: Lynn might become Lynda or Lenore. Something along those lines. :-) And then sometimes I'll have a character who is a bit generic, like a servant or a bad guy, and I'll want to do something to make them a little more unique. So I'll spend some time with them and try to figure out at least one thing about them that makes them who they are; something that motivates them or that they're passionate about. Then I'll take that thing and go looking for a word for it in another language, usually on names lists, and, when I find the right word, I'll make that their name or I'll modify it and make the modification their name.
Anyway, I know this was a bit long-winded, but I hope I answered your question. :-)
Mistral Dawn
I have been fortunate enough that I haven't suffered from writer's block yet. I've run into time issues (as in not having enough) which have made me have to put my writing on hold, but I know what I want to write when I have the time to do it. :-)
Mistral Dawn
The creativity! I love to let my imagination run away with me! It's a blast! :-)
Mistral Dawn
I'm very new to writing, so I don't know that I'm the best qualified person to give others advice. Someone told me to read a lot and write what you feel. Maybe that will help others as well. :-)
Mistral Dawn
I hope to have my next book out by the beginning of 2015 (no promises). It's the second book in the series that begins with Taken By the Huntsman and will be the story of Uaine, Fairie's Summer Court prince, and Veronica (Roni), a human petty thief and con artist, who are united by a magical soul-mate bond created by Fairie's great mother goddess. I've only just started writing it, but you can read the first chapter on my Facebook page and my blog and I'll try to post updates as I write it.
I have a short story planned for after my second novel that I intend to invite readers to help develop characters for. At some point (in the next few months, hopefully) I will post an invitation on my Facebook page for readers to contribute ideas for characters to be included in that story. At this point I don't know how many of these characters I'll be able to incorporate, but if I get enough suggestions I'll ask readers to vote on each other's ideas and use the characters with the most votes. Details about the story and the parameters I'll need for the suggestions will be forth coming, so stay tuned! ;-)
After that, I have at least two more short-stories and three more full-length novels planned in this series. Once those are done, I don't know but I'm sure it will be fun! :-)
I have a short story planned for after my second novel that I intend to invite readers to help develop characters for. At some point (in the next few months, hopefully) I will post an invitation on my Facebook page for readers to contribute ideas for characters to be included in that story. At this point I don't know how many of these characters I'll be able to incorporate, but if I get enough suggestions I'll ask readers to vote on each other's ideas and use the characters with the most votes. Details about the story and the parameters I'll need for the suggestions will be forth coming, so stay tuned! ;-)
After that, I have at least two more short-stories and three more full-length novels planned in this series. Once those are done, I don't know but I'm sure it will be fun! :-)
Mistral Dawn
Well, as I said, the inspiration for Taken By The Huntsman came from a dream I had after a debate with a friend. The ideas for the next few books and short stories came from characters who came to me and told me that they deserved a story too, and it was my job to write them. So I will! :-)
Mistral Dawn
Well, The inspiration for my first book, Taken By The Huntsman, came from a dream I had after a rather spirited debate with an online friend about the nature of consent (and some other political issues I won't bore you with). When I woke up I thought about the dream and realized it might make an interesting story (as well as provide me with a soap box ;-) ). I texted a friend and asked her if she thought the idea had merit. She said she did and so I wrote the first couple of chapters and emailed them to her asking her to read them and tell me if she was bored yet. She was kind enough to say that she wasn't bored and that she'd like to read the rest of the story, so I wrote it.
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