Questions for our Author

[rjo]

I have followed this sagas and Mark for about 10 years. I found him on Nifty and then here on GA. Over those years a number of questions have come to mind. Back in 2013 I was attending a convention in St Louis and hoped to meet and talk to Mark about his stories. However, that did not workout. So I am posing those questions now.

1. What was the inspiration for the CAP saga and for your characters (JP, Brad and Will)?

2. How far ahead do you plan your stories ( Did you know what will happen and then write about it)?

3. And lastly, you have told us your characters live in your mind. Do they guide you in your writing?

As you can tell these questions are all related to the creation process. 

It is my wish you are well, healthy and happy as you can be is this weird world we live in.

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by rjo

[centexhairysub]

What a good set of questions...  Well done rjo.

[Mark Arbour]

On 12/2/2020 at 8:01 AM, rjo said:

I have followed this sagas and Mark for about 10 years. I found him on Nifty and then here on GA. Over those years a number of questions have come to mind. Back in 2013 I was attending a convention in St Louis and hoped to meet and talk to Mark about his stories. However, that did not workout. So I am posing those questions now.

1. What was the inspiration for the CAP saga and for your characters (JP, Brad and Will)?

2. How far ahead do you plan your stories ( Did you know what will happen and then write about it)?

3. And lastly, you have told us your characters live in your mind. Do they guide you in your writing?

As you can tell these questions are all related to the creation process. 

It is my wish you are well, healthy and happy as you can be is this weird world we live in.

 

Look at me, only three months late in responding.  Sorry I've neglected this forum but I'll try to do better. 

1. What was the inspiration for the CAP saga and for your characters (JP, Brad and Will)? 

The inspiration for the CAP saga was appropriately enough a musical (because it's a gay story):  Hairspray.  I watched that and thought it would be interesting to write about that era, when there was so much change starting to happen. 

The inspiration for the characters is a bit more complicated.  JP is an amalgamation of a bunch of different people, but the main character is styled on the often stoic professors one finds on campus.  I made him wealthy because I wanted to illustrate how money can easily solve some problems, but cannot solve others.  Brad is probably the character most like me personally, although I've mellowed as I've aged while he has yet to do that.  I think with Will, he's the person I want to be. 

2. How far ahead do you plan your stories ( Did you know what will happen and then write about it)?

I have some ideas of what will happen in the future, but I'm usually living about half a story ahead, so when I'm about 50% finished with my current story, my mind is starting to focus on the next.   That being said, they often turn out very differently than when I first started out.  More in relation to that below...

3. And lastly, you have told us your characters live in your mind. Do they guide you in your writing?

YES!  Much of what I covered in Black Widow evolved as the story went on.  For example, JJ's mental illness issues weren't even on my radar screen.  Sometimes I'll have a plot line in my mind, but the characters just don't seem to want to go there, so they don't.  As far as keeping the characters true to form, Jeremy and Sharon keep me on track with that, pointing out when something just doesn't seem right, or does.  The easiest parts of the story to write are the dialog scenes, and the more intense the better.  I will visualize the characters as if I were there.  My second editor/beta reader, Peter, keeps me on track with that, because sometimes I'll leave out details that the reader would like to know but I've neglected to add (because it was all so clear in my mind).