Writers

Questions About Defiant

/ AuthorCMHerndon / Leave a comment

Hey gang! I am so thrilled to share some of the frequent questions I get about Defiant and my corresponding answers. If you have any more, you are always welcome to comment or contact me here or on my other social media accounts.

 

How long did it take you to write Defiant?

I wrote Defiant in little more than a month, first draft, mind you. There were plenty of things that needed to be cut and added to get the wonderful story we have today.

 

Who is your favorite character in Defiant?

Would it be cliché to say it’s impossible to choose? No, actually, I do have a soft spot for each of my characters, but how can I not say Faelan? She is a very special character to me. For years I tried to create to the perfect, sarcastic heroine, and somehow it never came out right. I found that each time I tried, something was missing or it felt too bitchy with limited awesome, kickass, sarcasm. When it finally happened, it was Faelan, and she is perfect. She is the character I wanted for years, the one I waited on for so long. When she finally came strolling through my mind, it was with a wicked smile and a glint in her eye that said, “You finally found me, let’s get this show on the road.”

 

Are your characters based on real people? They seem so real!

I never strive to model a character after any one that I know. I am a creative person at heart, I enjoy creating. That includes imagining new people and the way they are, how they would react to certain situations, and I have to stay true to that character and my own heart.

 

How do you come up with character names?

Now this is a question with several answers. You wouldn’t believe the amount of lists I have roaming around the house with names in them. I even have two such lists in my phone. Since we’re talking about Defiant, I’ll mention fantasy names first. I take inspiration from everything and anything. Sometimes it is a word I accidentally stumble over that gives me an idea for a unique name. Sometimes I combine street signs to create a new name. Other times I randomly combine names. Then there are days when my mind draws a blank and I resort to fantasy name generators to get random combinations. Most of the time, when I see a name I like on a random name generator, I still alter it to something I like better. Depends on the day.

However, there is a particular method to my madness with Defiant. You’ll see more of this in Impact and the third novel of the series. I try to align certain types of names, certain syntaxes and syllables and ways to spell a name with each individual culture and nation. The Galiseans are the best example of this. Their names are much more “clicky” or “slithery” so to speak. As reptilian humanoids, I found this fitting. Their names have a lot of Cs and Ks and a lot of Ys and Ss for this purpose. Things that slide of your tongue with a Sssss (like a snake). Likewise, the Santains tend to have common names with extremely different spelling than what most of us have seen. You can read more about names on my blog the Power of Names.

The universe in Defiant is really vibrant, how did you come up with the Callanans and will there be other cultures in the next books?

I don’t know, it just sort of comes to me. I can be inspired by different things and build around that one idea sometimes. A lot of the time it starts with a character and I build around that character, giving them a life, history, culture, etc.

The Callanans, however, I know exactly where they came from. I was having a day where I wanted to write something new, but I was stuck somewhere between wanting to write something with a medieval setting and a scifi setting. Some of the story that was in my head, there was more technological things, like space travel, but I wanted a reason for my character’s to use swords and be warriors. So I decided to put them together, a race that was almost medieval, with lots of old age weapons, but also technologically advanced. Thus, the Callanans were born. Ironically, Virion never really uses a sword, but I originally wanted him to. Perhaps one day I’ll go back and make use of my warriors in such a way that they use more swords, axes, bows, and arrows.

 

We had a bit of a cliff hangar at the end of the book, will we see more about that in the next?

Of course! As Impact has now released, you can read the next step in the journey and I promise there are resolutions to any other clip hangars that might be hanging around 😉

Villains

/ AuthorCMHerndon / Leave a comment

There are few things I love more than a good villain. You know the kind, the one that gets under your skin, the one that makes you worry about what he’s going to do next, even that one villain who makes you giggle and want to follow him instead of the hero (Loki anyone?).

I try to include all types of villains throughout my writing. There’s so much to work with, but one important thing about a villain, they have to have a reason. If your villain has no rhyme or reason for what he’s doing, there’s not much point to the story is there? The hero might be trying to stop him, sure, but why?

When writing a villain, there are plenty of paths to choose. Did the hero somehow wrong him? Perhaps in the past? Perhaps it was the beginning of the book when he accidentally broke the to-be villain’s favorite magic wand.

There has to be goals, end games, plot lines to look forward to.

Is your villain unpredictable, is s/he psychotic? Does he simply want power? Was s/he dropped on his or her pretty little head one time too many?

Many villains are brought into light by their craving for power. They want to rule, they want to be the best, they want what they’ve never had before. Other villains exist because they always had power. They’ve never been told they couldn’t have something so they take whatever they want, they fear no consequences.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard when it came to writing villains, however, was that almost every villain sees himself as the hero. He’s the one in the right. The hero is standing in his way, stopping him, preventing his ultimate dreams and goals. The hero is in the wrong from his point of view. For this reason, it is very hard to change his mind or make him see otherwise, though many hero’s try to reason their way through it before they ultimately have to fight.

The freedom with writing is that you can create whatever you want. These are all just some pointers to keep in mind when writing your own villains. Why does he want the hero out of the picture or dead? Why is he fighting against the hero?

Happy writing!

Power of Names

/ AuthorCMHerndon / 1 Comment

Names have power.

The name you were given, the name you use, the one nickname your best friend calls you that no one else does. They all have their own unique connotation and meaning to you.

It can determine how other people treat you. Perhaps your name is John and someone meets you. Their abusive ex was named John so they immediately view you a little more negatively than they should. Your name reminds them of darker days.

That’s the kind of power names can have. Power to sway opinions. Power to bring you down, too. Words hurt. If someone calls you ugly, whore, asshole, that name hurts your feelings. Or pisses you off. Giving named the power to not just sway your opinions, but affect your mood, your emotions, the kind of day you’re having.

As an author I spend a lot of time considering names. I research them, I find different meanings for them in different languages. I test how they sound out loud. Naming a character can be quite a task. You have to find a name that helps show who and what your character is. Or perhaps a name that indicates who and what your character will become. It can influence how the reader views your character. A strong, powerful name for the hero. An exotic warrior name for the heroine. Something unique that sets your character apart.

These are the things I take into consideration when naming a character. The same way new mothers and fathers prepare to name their child. How does it sound? How will it fit in with our family? Is it the perfect name? The perfect name is just waiting to be discovered.