Colleen Houck Book Club discussion

Welcome to the group! Mary will be answering questions during the month of December 2016 in this thread only. In the meantime if you have a question for the author or just want to introduce yourself feel free to do so in this thread.

First of all, I LOVED The Kiss of Deception! Can you tell us a bit about the kingdoms in your world?

Your heroine is so smart and cool! I want to be her. How are you and her alike?

Omg I want to read this! Where did you come up with the idea?

Who is your favorite character you created and why?

What was you inspiration behind The Remnant Chronicles? How did you come up with the idea for these books?

Who is your favorite author?

I loved how in the first book you had no idea which of the men was the assassin and which was the prince. I found myself falling for both of them and wondering if she was falling for the wrong one. What gave you the idea to write it that way?
Also I was a little unhappy with the ending of the series, there was hope, but I would love to see the results. Is there any chance you may write a novella about how things go from there?

How did you come up with the complicated languages? That must have taken some time to put together.

Colleen wrote: "Welcome to the group! Mary will be answering questions during the month of December 2016 in this thread only. In the meantime if you have a question for the author or just want to introduce yoursel..."

Thanks for the welcome, Colleen! So happy to be here with other book lovers!

Colleen wrote: "First of all, I LOVED The Kiss of Deception! Can you tell us a bit about the kingdoms in your world?"

I loved writing about the various kingdoms--all crowded onto one continent! I also loved playing with their different perspectives on history. The kingdoms had some details in common, but centuries had tweaked their stories, much like the childhood game of telephone changes the original message into something almost unrecognizable. I left clues throughout all three books however, as to the true origins of the Ancients from which the kingdoms sprung.

Colleen wrote: "Your heroine is so smart and cool! I want to be her. How are you and her alike?"

Ha! I want to be Lia too. I tend to measure my words a bit more carefully than she does, but I love her boldness which is sometimes reckless. I would like to be more like that! But I think Lia is also quite observant, and essentially a peacemaker on many levels. She also has a strong moral sense of right and wrong that is sometimes at odds with "tradition." I think in those traits, she and I are alike.

Ashley wrote: "Omg I want to read this! Where did you come up with the idea?"

The inspiration was sparked by many things, but probably one of the main inspirations was how history keeps repeating itself and the timelessness of certain human attributes--namely hate and love. Our quest to dominate one another through wars and other more insidious means, never seems to go away, no matter how "smart" we get. At the same time, no matter how much turmoil the world is in, people will still fall in love and search for a way to be together. Love is tireless and determined. It cannot be stamped out. That gives me hope.

Ashley wrote: "Who is your favorite character you created and why?"
I love all three main characters, Lia for her boldness, Rafe for his devotion and bravery, and Kaden for his loyalty even in the face of betrayal. And of course for many other attributes too. They all grew in complexity as I wrote them until it seemed like they were real people telling me what to say!

Milena wrote: "What was you inspiration behind The Remnant Chronicles? How did you come up with the idea for these books?"

See my reply to message #4 : )

Ashley wrote: "Who is your favorite author?"

I don't have a single favorite author--and sometimes my favorite is the most recent book I read! There are so many amazing authors out there. A few very recent faves include, Leigh Bardugo, Nicola Yoon, and Jodi Meadows.

Are you a panster or a plotter?

Is there any music you like to listen to that gets you in the writing spirit?

Veray wrote: "I loved how in the first book you had no idea which of the men was the assassin and which was the prince. I found myself falling for both of them and wondering if she was falling for the wrong one...."

Veray wrote: "I loved how in the first book you had no idea which of the men was the assassin and which was the prince. I found myself falling for both of them and wondering if she was falling for the wrong one...."

There were a couple of reasons I wrote it that way. One, I wanted the reader to get to know both characters without preconceived ideas of who was good and who was bad. Most of us are a little bit of both, in spite of what the world "says" that we are. I also wanted to challenge stereotypes of who we expect to be the good or bad guy, and in truth, I think some of us invariably root for the good guy, or fall for the bad guy. By not knowing I felt that both of these characters would be given a chance.
Secondly, and most importantly, it is my job as a writer to put the reader in the main character's shoes, to not just tell you how Lia is feeling, or even show it, but make you feel it. I wanted you to feel that uneasy wondering that Lia felt before she knew, and the utter gut punch when she did find out.
As for the ending, I know everyone's mileage varies on this, but I wrote it the way I like to read endings. Wrapped up, but not too tightly. I like books that I'm invested in to leave me a little window for my imagination to linger. Yes, I may know how it ends, but the author leaves me small details to work out in my mind, like I own part of this story now too, which I do after being on a book journey. I hope that makes sense.
And there is always hope for a novella--or novel in this world. Whatever pulls at me, I write.

What were the difficulties that you encountered while writing The Kiss of Deception, if any? How did you deal with them?

Were you concerned at all about the love triangle in The Remnant Chronicles? I know a lot of readers do not like a love triangle especially if they don't agree with heroine's/hero's choice in the end.

Where did the idea for the bone necklaces originate? I found that idea fascinating.

Colleen wrote: "Are you a panster or a plotter?"

Ah! The million dollar question. I think whatever an author is, they think the "other way of writing" must hold the key to making it easier. Honestly, I have talked to so many writers about their writing processes and depending on what point they are at--the foggy ditch or riding the wave--they are either cursing their process, or praising it. All that said, my process has evolved over the years, pulling from advice from a lot of different sources (I'm a writing craft book junkie) Basically I am a panster at heart, who writes copious notes "outlining" the book and scenes, and then I mostly never look at these notes again once I write them down! It just helps me get organized in my head. Really, I think panster and plotter is just a matter of semantics. We ALL work out (outline?) stories, but some of us do it in our head in small spurts and others in long stretches on paper. Even the hardcore outliners I know, never follow their outline entirely. Stories require constant tweaks as we go because stories take on a life of their own, and that is part of the joy of writing. On my website I have a "For Writers" page with tips and recommendations of writing craft books I have found useful over the years. Check it out.

Ashley wrote: "Is there any music you like to listen to that gets you in the writing spirit?"

Yes! I have several playlists with 200+ songs. These help me tune out the world and jumpstart my writing. On the "Remnant Chronicles Extras" page on my website I have Playlists which list some of the most frequent songs I listened to while writing the first two books of the series. I still need to add the playlist for the third one! Another thing on my to do list!

Alyssa wrote: "What were the difficulties that you encountered while writing The Kiss of Deception, if any? How did you deal with them?"

One of the difficulties for The Kiss of Deception was juggling the viewpoints "creatively" so that the identities of the Prince and the Assassin were in doubt. But it was a fun challenge!

Milena wrote: "Were you concerned at all about the love triangle in The Remnant Chronicles? I know a lot of readers do not like a love triangle especially if they don't agree with heroine's/hero's choice in the end."

***This answer might be a bit spoilerish, so look away if you haven't read the series. *** It is funny but to me, there never was a love triangle. As I've explained it before, Lia cared for two guys, but romantically she only loved one from the beginning and never wavered. Unreciprocated love does not a triangle make, and if it does, we've ALL been in love triangles of one sort or another.

Colleen wrote: "Where did the idea for the bone necklaces originate? I found that idea fascinating."

That sort of evolved. Again, I wanted to turn on end some of the initial judgements we make about people. Lia saw skulls and bones waving from soldiers belts and she assumed it meant they were showing off their brutal strength (like a warning skull and crossbones flag on a pirate ship.) I did want the Vendans to look frightening at the last battle scene, but I thought about other reasons to wear the bones, and I knew that Venda was going to be a very poor, and often starving kingdom. So I turned the bones into objects of reverence and gratitude. When Lia found their true purpose, it was a first step at stripping away her preconceived notions about Venda, and letting her see the people who lived there in a new way.

So would you consider The Kiss of Deception series to be dystopian? Would you ever write a prequel? I'm interested to learn more about the origins of your world.

Can you talk a little about the biogel in The Adoration of Jenna Fox? The science is fascinating!

Colleen wrote: "So would you consider The Kiss of Deception series to be dystopian? Would you ever write a prequel? I'm interested to learn more about the origins of your world."

No, not dystopian, and least not any more than our world now is dystopian (don't let me think about that point too much ; ) . Societies, countries, and kingdoms have come and gone throughout history, some due to natural disaster, some due to disease, and still more to political and social change.

As for the second part of your question about a prequel--I have written one! It is the e-novella MORRIGHAN which does give you insights into the beginnings of the Remnant world! It really is one of my favorite stories I've written. Morrighan and Jafir took me by surprise.

Are you working on any new projects? Can you tell us anything about it?

This series has been on my shelf for a while but I think I'm going to read it very soon. What are a few words you could use to describe your series?

Mary, thanks to Colleen, I've started reading your books. I just picture myself traveling and going through all the adventures with Lia, Kadan, and Rafe, Love the Books. Will look for your other books as well. Thanks!

Hi Mary!
I am really interested in knowing what was your favorite part about writing this book was? (I don't know if this question makes sense or not) Also, do you have any certain routine you do while you write or before?

What is your favorite book you've read in 2016?

Colleen wrote: "Can you talk a little about the biogel in The Adoration of Jenna Fox? The science is fascinating!"

When I was writing the Jenna Fox book, way back in 2004, I tried to think what the next generation of computer technology would be, and I thought it would likely be something organic that mimics the communications of human neurons, something that could grow and learn and transform, much like human cells do. The technology is driven by chemical processes instead of electrical ones. It turned out, when I did research, they were already experiementing with organic computer chips in labs. So even though I took biogel one step further, it is still something that I believe is within the realm of possibility one day!

Milena wrote: "Are you working on any new projects? Can you tell us anything about it?"

I have a few projects brewing and I hope after the first of the year I can reveal one. But not yet! : )

Ashley wrote: "This series has been on my shelf for a while but I think I'm going to read it very soon. What are a few words you could use to describe your series?"

Just a few words? Deception on all levels. Badass heroine. Twists and turns. A fantasy world that is hauntingly familiar.

Janet wrote: "Mary, thanks to Colleen, I've started reading your books. I just picture myself traveling and going through all the adventures with Lia, Kadan, and Rafe, Love the Books. Will look for your other bo..."

Thank YOU!

Maddie wrote: "Hi Mary!
I am really interested in knowing what was your favorite part about writing this book was? (I don't know if this question makes sense or not) Also, do you have any certain routine you do w..."

There were many favorite parts--usually the traumatic or surprising ones. Like when Lia and Pauline are on the road back to Civica and a "certain" event happens. That was fun to write! Also toward the end of KOD when Lia does "a lot of digging." That about ripped my heart out, but in a good writerly way.
As for routine, yes, I do have one, mostly plugging in with my playlist made just for writing that book so I can block the rest of the world out and be transported back to the world I am writing. I also set my goals for the day. Without goals, it is easy to stop as soon as you hit a bump in the writing road. For me that is word count. I generally aim for between 1000-2000 words a day depending on the day. A 2500 word day is a joyous rarity for me. So to complete a long book like the ones in this series, it means diligence and showing up to write every day.

Ashley wrote: "What is your favorite book you've read in 2016?"

My answer to message #16 very much applies to this question too. I usually have favorite "things" I like about different books. A recent fave is Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. Her characterization was AHmazing. Loved it.

Colleen wrote: "How did you come up with the complicated languages? That must have taken some time to put together."

oops, this one slipped past me. Developing the languages was quite a process. More than I expected! Part of the reason is my literary agent has a doctorate in linguistics! I created a language for the books but then she asked me important critical questions about how the language works and so I ended up spending a chunk of the summer "back in school" conjugating the verbs! It was pretty extensive, but it really helped in the long run. I now have a dictionary I can refer to so there is consistency throughout all three novels. And if creating the Vendan language wasn't enough, I went and created the Vagabond language too. Both languages are very much bastardized from other languages, similar to how English words have many roots. I used Google translate to come up with a lot of them. Others came purely from my head. Another linguist wrote to me and said she had a lot of fun recognizing the roots of many of the words.

What was your favorite part of writing the The Kiss of Deception trilogy?

Check out message #40 for my answer, but I will add to that here about writing the series as a whole. I never thought I would write a series, and in fact early in my career I often said I would never write one. The first two Jenna Fox books were conceived as stand-alones and became a series by happenstance but I learned during that process that I loved writing a "long" story. The Remnant Chronicles was planned as a trilogy from the beginning. The thing about writing a series is you get this vast, vast canvas to paint a story on. It is an amazing, challenging, and sometimes daunting way to write, but oh, so very satisfying. One thing I've learned from writing many books across many genres is to never say never!

All the future gadgets in the Fox Chronicles are amazing! Did you research possible trends in the future or all those all coming from your own imagination?

Colleen wrote: "All the future gadgets in the Fox Chronicles are amazing! Did you research possible trends in the future or all those all coming from your own imagination?"

It's been a while since I wrote those books so I am trying to remember what some of those "gadgets" were ; ) but I can safely say that they came from a variety of places, both researched and purely imagined. I talked earlier about the biogel, but some of the everyday items I cooked up came simply from taking one step further, "things" we already have in our lives. Good old spam for instance ; ) People will ALWAYS try to find a new way to wiggle into your life and sell you something even when it is very annoying. That is where the pop-up holograms in the marketplace came from in the second book. And other less "shiny" technology just came from musings about updates on basic tools--like the spider tractor. Trenches still need to be dug! (I have since seen a spider looking contraption used for carrying materials I think, very similar to the Fox spider!) Creating the various Bots--especially Dot--was my favorite though. It gave me a chance to look at our own humanity it another way.

Thanks to everyone, especially Mary, for joining this chat! I love hearing all about what makes authors tick. Congrats to Janet who is our chat winner. Check back in next month! We have a lot of amazing authors coming up in 2017!