Interview with the lovely, beautiful, and incredibly creative Fiona Firestorm. Pt 1
Last month Thane and I got together with Fiona for a interview. Thane wrote all the questions and I kept track of the dialogue tags. Let me tell you, it was LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG. We were up till about 5:30am talking through all of this, so be warned that a lot of it has been removed so that it’s actually readable and stays on track.
Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to talk about Fiona as much as I would like, so let me tell you a bit about her. Fiona Firestorm is an incredibly creative author (who really likes to stab you through the heart with feels) who I have known for many years. She is talented, tenacious, clever, quick witted, and hilarious. If you haven’t already go check out her website: Firestorm17.wixsite.com, where you can discover all her incredible stories and even subscribe to her blog!
We as authors, really want to get to know you as readers. So please, if you have any other questions you'd like to ask Fiona, Thane, or myself, comment below.
Ready Fiona? Let’s go!
Favorite author?
Thane: So let's start with something pretty simple. Favorite author.
Fiona: Oh you're kidding me...
Thane: Well... Yeah, not so simple.
Fiona: I mean. Okay, you ask- you guys have problems with like the question "favorite book?' right?
Thane: That's... That's the next one...
Fiona: *Mouth open in outrage* Oh you- evil... little- okay. It depends on how I'm feeling. I really like C. S. Lewis. And I really like the guys who did Peter and The Starcatchers, and I really loved Eragon and how it was written, and also a Wrinkle in Time, which some people really don't like. *Thane and Fiona Fangirl for a hot minute* So anyways, where were we?
Favorite book?
Fiona: Well like I said, Peter and the Starcatchers would be my go to, to say to those who really don't understand that it's impossible to pick a favorite book You Guys Should Know This!
Vira: We do, and that's why we put the question in.
Thane: So would you say your favorite series would also be on that list you ranted about there?
Fiona: mmmm, I really loved I Am Number 4 for the first couple of books, but then I got bored for whatever reason and just stopped. Um, I really do like Eragon. I really Like The Chronicles of Narnia, I really like- Oh! The Lunar Chronicles. Really- REALLY. They're my favorite... Um, Marissa Meyer? *Thane confirms that* Yeah. She's my favorite author- she's great. Actually, I have another favorite book series. Um. *snaps* Pern by Anne McCaffrey. *goes on another looooooonng fangirl rant about the books*
What brought you to writing?
Thane: What brought you to writing? Like-
Fiona: I actually have a really good story for this. *Claps hands excitedly* I actually hated writing for a really really long time. You know, I would sit there and cry for an hour because I had to write a sentence that was structured for me, but I just didn't want to write it. So I'd spend thirty minutes figuring out how I could make it shorter. It was really bad. *Deep breath* until I decided at one point to write these little scenes called "Dog Football" I had seen one of my dogs toss a ball with the throw of his head and the other dog pick it up, and I thought it looked like football. I was probably six. So I was like "OKAY. I'm going to write Dog Football." I pretended I was the announcer and our two dogs at the time were the main players in this,
*Vira whispering in the background*: So precious
Fiona: and actually the only players in this so I would kinda voice it out in my head. *In deep announcer voice* "Oh and Chance catches the ball and runs to the fifty-yard line!" and I would write this out! *laughs*
*Thane laughs hysterically*
Fiona: Thane, are you okay?
*More laughter* Thane: It's amazing.
Fiona: We still have it somewhere actually. It's- my, my mother kept it actually because I wrote like, it was a good 9 pages of it. Just, in these little paragraphs of different games, they were really short, but I think for being six and hating writing I think they were pretty good. So proud of them. My sister absolutely hated them. Because anything that I was doing with writing or reading took me away from playing with her, so she just hated the whole idea for the longest time. That's how I got started and then didn't write for a long time, but it didn't seem so foreign to me, and then after playing the "Enchanters game" with [Thane] and her, then, I don't know it just kinda seamed the natural jump from there.
Thane: That is so interesting. Most people don't have a good story (Fiona: Yes!) for that- That leads into the next question.
Who/what taught you to write, and how to write well?
Fiona: *Grimaces* reeadding mostly? *Gestures wildly* ss- I would just read stuff and then I wrote and it just kinda happened. I would hear a lot of writing advice but never when I was writing. I would just think, oh, that makes sense. But I'm not sure if I ever used it or not. This is why my sister is a better writer than I am. She actually listens to all the advice and uses it. I just.. Don't know what I'm doing and make it up as I go.
Thane: Well... That's one way to do it.
*Fiona bounces in chair while waiting for next question*
Description or dialogue?
Thane: You kinda answered some of these questions within your long.. answer thing *Frantically tries so find next question* *Struggles while Vira and Fiona laugh* *has the "ah ha" moment* Oh! So a lot of people think description is easier and dislike/aren't good at dialogue. Which type are you? Description or dialogue.
Fiona: I love both actually... Dialogue is easiest because I spend most of my time dialogue-ing things in my head. But I also love description cuz I could never- gee how do you say it now- I can't art, is that how that goes?
*Vira and Thane giggle in the background*
Fiona: Stop laughing at me!
*Laughing continues, and Fiona joins in*
Fiona: If I can't Art, this is.. how I do that. I can describe things in ways other people can't so I might as well use it. I just can't combine them very well. I can either describe, or I can dialogue.
Panser or planner?
Thane: I'm running with the "there's two types of people thing" So there are Pansers, and there are planners/plotters, which are you? Pansers are like... *struggles to find words* you- they write from the seat of their pants- you don't- you don't- aaaaahhh outline or anything, you just write.
*Alexander Hamilton reference from Fiona that Thane doesn't understand and Vira enjoys*
Thane: And planners are- are plotters, which are you?
Fiona: *Frowns* Both I guess? *Gestures over head* I plan everything out in my head first, and then I write it, then I realize it's crap. So I scrap the whole thing and write it again. Well actually the first time I plan it all out in my head, and nothing actually make sense, so I use big elaborate plan and write freehand *gestures wildly* and write from the seat of my pants. Then realize it's crap from there. SCRAP everything! Re-plan the story, write it a second time and it's just a process of writing it better each time, and it becomes less and less horrifying to read.
Writing or Typing?
Fiona: I used to write it, I was very religious about writing it. I had to write it all down... and in pen. It- um *can't get words out* In just pen. Not pencil. PEN. I also do that in my math work... Has to be in pen...
Thane: *Mumbles* People who do their math in pen terrify me...
Fiona: So now I do it on the computer simply because I can write about 150 words per minute and that's not quite fast enough to keep up with my thought process, but it's closer. It means that I don't get so far ahead of myself when I'm writing and lose things in translation.
*Thane and Vira mutter about how jealous they are of that typing speed*
Do you start your stories with the characters, plot, or world building?
Thane: Do you start your stories with the characters, plot, or world building. I know when we started working on our books, the characters came to us and then everything developed around that. *Continues to way over explain*
Fiona: Start with Characters. Always. Characters come first. You are watching something, have an epiphany for a character. Realize you really love this character. Create another character to compliment the first character. Then, realize that no, these characters are too amazing for this stupid show your watching, so they obviously need their own thing. Realize, oh shoot, now I have to make my own thing, again. This is another story. This is a really bad idea. Shoot. I'm doing it anyway. Oh well. *extremely deep breath* Then you go into the world building process. Because world building is cool. I actually don't do world building. I skip straight to developing societies. I love it. You know, how people interact with each other, and why, what's considered societal norms, what isn't, why. What is black and what is white and according to whom and why? And It's so much fun! *Flaps hands* I love that part! I honestly- my favorite part about creating my current world was creating the society of Tidecamp. Which is barely even mentioned in the book. But it is Crystals people, it is Fiona's people. This little, nomadic, tribe thing I spent a solid 2 and a half month developing them because I fell in love with them.
Thane: That's the best part of being a writer, isn't it?
Fiona: Yes. So world building doesn't exactly happen. Like I know there is a mainland, and I know there is an archipelago, and what that looks like. World building basically doesn't happen. So I guess it's character, to society, to- what was the other one?
*Slightly awkward silence* Thane: Plot
Fiona: Plot... um, well actually right before world building I come up with- ... I love characters because I love how they react, how they function, you know, I study people. I read people for a living, it's what I enjoy doing most, so usually, when I create a character, the main problem comes at the same time. So those two are kinda combined.
What is your least favorite part of writing?
Thane: To bring us back onto topic, what is your least favorite part about writing?
Fiona: Well, other than the writing?
Thane: Well, yes. Be more specific. We all hate it at times but what specifically about it makes you not want to return to the keyboard and write?
Fiona: Well I know what I want a scene to feel like. The only reason I even I ever actually write, it because I want to inspire emotion. Even if it's just for my reader to absolutely hate what they are reading. It inspires an emotion in them. So I always know what I want a scene to feel like when I go into it, and sometimes I just can't make it feel that way when you read it. So then it feels stupid, and I hate it, and I scrap it. And then I write something else because it feels right but I know I shouldn't do that, that's not right. And wow I am rambling, again.
Unfortunately that’s all for today, I’ll be posting the second segment of Fiona’s interview very soon. If you have any questions for Fiona please comment below or just head to her site. Or if you have any questions for Thane or I, ask those too! We’d be more then happy to do another interview to answer all your questions!
Namárië,
~V
