Ask the Author: Jennifer Ridge
Answered Questions (7)
Jennifer Ridge
I'd go to the Cassandra Palmer Universe (Karen Chance) and I would probably be the worst sort of magical tourist. I'd want to see the Vampire Senate, and Circle Headquarters. I'd want to hang out with a war mage and would probably pester them about what kind of weapons they're hiding under their coat. I'd slip into Faery and then probably run for my life because bad, bad, very bad choice. And I would love to hang out at Dante's casino, because you just know stuff is going down there. As I said, terrible magical tourist, and I'd probably be wide eyed and squealing the entire time.
Jennifer Ridge
The short answer is "Everything I can get my hands on." But specifically there are two books I've been waiting on for a long time that finally come out this summer: White Hot by Ilona Andrews and Ride the Storm by Karen Chance. Other than that I'll probably be re-reading a few series, finishing up the Lunar Chronicles, and reading a Lot of Regency novels.
Jennifer Ridge
So, I just kind of work through it, but I did find this gem on facebook from ten years ago
"*bangs head against desk* I hope this cures writers block, because if not, I'm just gonna have a headache and still no story"
And that still sounds pretty accurate. But yeah, these days, if I have writer's block, after a while I decide that it's better to just go do something else, and I'll sit down again when I have something I want to write.
"*bangs head against desk* I hope this cures writers block, because if not, I'm just gonna have a headache and still no story"
And that still sounds pretty accurate. But yeah, these days, if I have writer's block, after a while I decide that it's better to just go do something else, and I'll sit down again when I have something I want to write.
Jennifer Ridge
Usually with a scene or line that I want to use. I'll have a brief thought, think about how cool that would be, and move on with my day. Then I'll come back to it, again and again, until I'm itching to write the scene that contains it. Sometimes I'll approach it all logically--I have to know how they get into that situation, or I'll have to scrap everything--but I will occasionally just write short scenes or even short descriptions to be pieced into the story later.
Jennifer Ridge
So, I've always been really interested in faeries. One of the first books I completed (I was twelve, and it was forty pages, which seemed amazing at the time) was about a girl who fell in love with a deceitful fairy king.
I had a lot of time on my hands during my senior year of high school, including a study class that turned into a writing hour for me because I preferred doing my homework at home. I wrote out a document called "Novel Ideas" and ended up only coming up with one, which became the first incarnation of Alexis and Molly's story. It was originally written in first person, from Alexis' perspective. I actually tried to do quite a bit with it throughout the years, but after a year or two, I just wasn't as happy with it, and I put it away.
I'd occasionally pull it out and look at it, wondering what parts I could fix. I ended up scrapping all of the text, though most of the characters stayed the same, with just subtle shifts in their appearance or personalities, and the basic plot stayed the same. I rewrote it in the third person, reworked the plot until I was satisfied, and here we are.
I had a lot of time on my hands during my senior year of high school, including a study class that turned into a writing hour for me because I preferred doing my homework at home. I wrote out a document called "Novel Ideas" and ended up only coming up with one, which became the first incarnation of Alexis and Molly's story. It was originally written in first person, from Alexis' perspective. I actually tried to do quite a bit with it throughout the years, but after a year or two, I just wasn't as happy with it, and I put it away.
I'd occasionally pull it out and look at it, wondering what parts I could fix. I ended up scrapping all of the text, though most of the characters stayed the same, with just subtle shifts in their appearance or personalities, and the basic plot stayed the same. I rewrote it in the third person, reworked the plot until I was satisfied, and here we are.
Jennifer Ridge
I'm working on the remaining novels of The Faery Realm series. Divided Worlds is about halfway done with the First Draft, and features characters that will appear in (tentatively titled) Beautiful Worlds and New Worlds, which are still in the plotting out stages.
Jennifer Ridge
Find what works for you.
Sometimes I end up outlining, sometimes I just write to find out what happens. It's all a pretty lengthy, complicated process, and I never write two stories the exact same way. I had considered using a white board once, or maybe a spreadsheet of some sort, so I could track how I described each reoccurring character and see what they'd done in he past, but it turns out that super organization doesn't work for me. So experiment, have fun with it, and don't get discouraged if one (or several) methods don't work.
Sometimes I end up outlining, sometimes I just write to find out what happens. It's all a pretty lengthy, complicated process, and I never write two stories the exact same way. I had considered using a white board once, or maybe a spreadsheet of some sort, so I could track how I described each reoccurring character and see what they'd done in he past, but it turns out that super organization doesn't work for me. So experiment, have fun with it, and don't get discouraged if one (or several) methods don't work.
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