Plot Twist Magazine issue #1

Writer Spotlight

MikeMacColin: Garbus is the embodiment of a hero: big, strong, undefeatable. He has seen so much of this world and its secrets that nothing could scare and impress him by now. What makes him special is his sarcastic approach to things and his overall intelligence that separates him from other strong heroes. He has always been a smart man, just gained his strength through whatever means, and using both on his adventures is what makes him a success.

MJ Cass My main characters are complete opposites: Janice is a headstrong young woman who has to fend for herself in a world that doesn't care about her, and Xavier is the crown Prince of that world.

Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?

DylanyVillainy: Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?

MikeMacColin Very organic. I have a very rough story structure in mind, which in this case is just about the characters involved. There is a basic plot leading through all of this, but the chapters themselves are written on their own with nothing more than a basic idea in mind what should happen in them.

MJ Cass My process is pretty inconsistent, since I've written a lot throughout my life and am only just now at an age where I'm starting to figure out what works best for me. I do know, however, that I'm a hardcore pantser! Typically I start with the gist of the story and have to figure out exactly how I want to tell it over the course of a novel. It's a lot of making things up as I go along, seeing what sticks, and knowing I can fix my issues in editing.

Do you identify with your main character or did you create a character that is your opposite?

DylanyVillainy: I absolutely put a lot of myself into my main, even without meaning to!

MikeMacColin In the case of Garbus The Malcontent, I have some characteristics in common with him. I think that his wit and his sarcasm are my own, he sees the world around him as I would see it. Everything else, like his heroic traits, are the exxaggerated features of the ideal fantasy hero - something I am definitely not.

MJ Cass I identify with her a LOT. I started The Prince and the Punk in middle school, so my FMC, Janice, is a lot like me (in the draft that exists on Wattpad, she's basically a much cooler clone of my middle school self).

To date, what is your favourite (or most difficult) chapter you have ever written?

DylanyVillainly: Oh! 100% Chapter 7 of my book Most Lovely Words!

MikeMacColin "Usually the latest chapter I wrote is always the best one, because it is the one that I want people to like the most. But over the years I had a few chapters that were outstanding even in the context of the entire story.

MJ Cass The most difficult chapters are always the uneventful ones. When something interesting happens, you can't keep me away from the keyboard, but when my characters are happy or calm, I get bored. I think my favorites are around the 35-45 range, because I have really fond memories of drafting those, and I remember that being the first time when I was writing with any sort of direction and any degree of maturity.

what inspired you to write your current book?

DylanyVillainy "I was playing a video game, and i thought ""oh but what if!"" And hence the book was born!"

MikeMacColin: "Just an idea I had at the beginning of my dialysis treatment, which kept me awake almost for the full five hours it took. I just started with the question: ""What if a fantasy hero becomes a bad guy? What would stop him to take over the very kingdom that admires and worships him?"" From there on, the idea got a life of its own. I imagined the hero, a towering man with the strength of a bear, who had done endlessly epic deeds and was stood up for his payment by the negligent king. I imagined characters willing to help him conquer the city, and from there on the idea of the story got a mind of its own."

MJ Cass I think I was in desperate need of therapy. I was always writing one thing or another at that point in my life, and I really needed an escape from myself and my life (not that anything was particularly bad; I just wasn't doing well). Writing really helped me. I had a scene in my head: a girl at a ball who didn't belong there. I started writing hoping that I could get to that scene. But for the first time, the ideas kept coming, so I kept writing! I don't know what was so special about that concept, but it kept me going and became the first thing I finished.

Which book clubs or writing communities are you part of?
DylanyVillainy: I am part of the Rainbow Road writing community, this community, and one other!

MikeMacColin: I am a moderator of the Shut Up And Write community, and I am also still somewhat involved in the Cogitatio Realm.

MJ Cass
I was briefly part of Shut Up And Write, and have been in a few small user-run book groups. I also had a review shop of my own that will likely reopen in the summer. I've been doing a lot of drafting and revising offline, so my Wattpad presence has been sort of pathetic, but I'm super excited to get involved again when I have a shiny new version of The Prince and the Punk to share!

Thank you very much for taking time for this interview. We wish you all very well with your writing.