Emperor’s Edge Q&A Pt 2: Fan Fiction, Twitter, Prequels, and More

I posted the first half of a series of reader Q&A questions last week and am finishing up here today with such important topics as prequels, “crazy obsessed fans,” and what it’s like to see my characters on Twitter.

Maria asks, “Regarding EE – Would you consider writing a few prequels once the series is “finished”?  Stories for Raumesys’ decision to use an assassin, and how he came up with the idea to breed one.  A series with Nurian protagonists, maybe even Stumps’ forced conversion to atheism?

I don’t have anything like this planned at this time (I’d be more likely to jump ahead in the timeline and write the next generation’s story), but one never knows what ideas might come up a few years down the road.

Regarding your authorhood – seconded on “How does it feel to have crazy obsessed fans?” and “What’s it like to see your characters on twitter?” 

I’m tickled that people care enough about the characters to speculate as to what goes on in their lives beyond what’s on the page, and to want to share their opinions with others.

I admit it was a little weird when characters started talking to me on Twitter (I had this notion that outside observers might think I’d made all of those accounts and was carrying on extensive conversations with myself…), but I’ve gotten used to it now. Though it was surprising when Forge made an account and started tweeting wanted posts for my heroes. :O

You’ve kind of answered this one, but unofficially – What are some of the biggest changes you’ve had to make to the series from your original inspiration?  Was it a difficult decision, or did a light bulb suddenly click on and show you the way to your story?”

The main way I’ve strayed is that I’d originally planned on having the EE series take place over years rather than the year or so it’s turning out to be for the first six books. (Of course, I didn’t even have the number six in mind when I got started — it was only when I decided to do different secondary POV characters for each book that I realized it would take six books to cycle through everyone.)

In the beginning, I’d also planned for all the books to be stand-alone adventures, but somehow these last three have turned into a trilogy with one big story arc. I have no idea how these things happen. Light bulbs? Difficult decisions? Not really. I just go with the flow. 😉

Tara32 asks, “Do you read the fanfiction we post? “

I read the first couple, but the forum folks have been very prolific! I try not to spend a lot of time dinking around online when I should be writing, so I don’t think I could keep up if I wanted to. It’s probably best for me to leave those stories alone though. I wouldn’t want to be swayed by someone else’s ideas. It’s bad enough y’all have got me wondering if I need to introduce a new love interest for Sespian in the end…

SaraM asks, “Have you ever thought about doing a series of vignettes to illustrate some of the characters’ histories? Kind of like Ice Cracker II, actually. That would be fun.”

I have an old story on my hard drive that shows how Books’s son was killed and gives us his first adventure with Sicarius (diehard fans will remember that those two had met prior to Amaranthe and the first EE book). At some point, I’d like to fix it up and put it out there.

As to the other characters, I’m not sure. They’re more fun for me to write as an ensemble cast rather than by themselves. Although Maldynado… well, he’s just always fun. Ahem.

Also, I have a short story with a 10-year-old Sicarius around somewhere too. It takes place through the eyes of one of his tutors. I might put that out there as a freebie at some point.

MsMcKnittington asks, “Is answering a two-part question with “yes” or “no” part of Turgonian military training? Because I’m starting to wonder if there’s a Purposely Irritating track. Like, the polite guys are tossed in Remedial Irritation and the smart alecs get retroactive credits or something.”

Yes.

🙂

Meera asks, “This is late but would you include the spirit/ifrit stuff Amaranthe and Sicarius encountered in The Frozen Water Trade in future stories?”