I'm not sure how everyone else is faring but this summer heat is no joke! Make sure you're drinking plenty of water and staying cool out there. My poor air conditioner's working its tushie off. Before someone argues whether such a piece of machinery would have a tushie in the first place... 

Hey, look! Ask An Author time! While everyone is focusing on the Secret Author contest (psst, make sure you follow @Secret Author and check out the daily stories), I've been busy typing up the wonderful interview I had with @Aditus. 

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The Cat Burglar
Aditus

Statistics may not be accurate due to being an "in-progress" story.
16 Chapters / 66,172 Words / Status: In Progress

Where did you come up with the idea of the gifts that some of the vampires develop; what gifts do you think are the easiest to write about and explain how they are used?

I decided my vampires needed special gifts in order to emphasize their unique personalities. The first was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I wanted to get Kavan out of a dicey situation. Then I had the idea to categorize the gifts. Kavan is a shadow melder; he mostly gets gifts from the shadow class, for example. There is an actual reason why he gets those, but I can’t reveal why yet. The easiest way to explain how the gifts work is to describe the action. I even have background explanations, but I give them away only gradually as I don’t want to bore my readers with massive info-dumps.

Are any of the characters in this story or even their dominant mannerisms based on anyone in your own life?

That’s an interesting question. I never thought about this, to be honest. In retrospect, I think some resemble people I know, read about, or saw at a café or another public place. Aykut is actually based on my hairstylist. I’m a people watcher. Sometimes I make up tiny vignettes in my head about someone wearing unusual clothes or about a snippet of a conversation I catch on the bus.

Your secondary characters are well developed, do you find it easier to fully develop the secondary characters so they are easier to write; or do you just like fleshing out everyone in the story equally?

Thank you. This might be a little embarrassing, but especially my side characters just happen, at least it feels like that to me. If there’s a need for someone to protect, save, chastise, or be a friend to one of the MCs, I give them a side character and equip them with the traits they need to carry out their mission successfully -- very rational. Then some become alive. Their voice is loud in my head, and I almost see them, feel like them, and bam, they are a person. I switch between them and the MC, seeing them through each other’s eyes. Sometimes I need to shut it down to be able to stay on track.

Thank you, anonymous reader, for your interest in my story and the cool questions.

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Thanks for the interview, Aditus! If you enjoyed this Q&A, hurry while you can. "The Cat Burglar" is an ongoing story, so there's time to get caught up. 

Until next month, y'all.