Tag Archives: brutal light

30 Days of Writing #25: Characters With Pets?

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

25) Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.

It’s kind of rare for my characters to have pets, now that I think about it. Neither Brutal Light nor True Places has any. The main characters in my serialized novelette nihil nations: Electricity in the Rain had a cat, but it was mainly a background detail. My other short works are notably petless. Some pets show up in my Superguy and SfStory writing, but these are also fairly minor (with the notable exception of Lucky, a six-foot-at-the-shoulder mutant cat who is actually someone else’s character anyway) or Not What They Seem.

My most notable usage of ‘pets’ comes in Onyx Fire, the kids book I co-wrote with my wife, Kristyn. It has various animals, domesticated and otherwise, who end up talking during the course of the story–my favorite being Jitters, a hyper-caffeinated, self-absorbed black squirrel… not a pet, okay, but still my favorite.

30 Days of Writing #24: Willing to Kill Characters? Most Interesting Killing?

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

24) How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?

I’m always willing to bump off my characters if that’s what the story involves. I’m also willing to maim, stab, defenestrate, mutilate, burn, and otherwise seriously inconvenience my characters — if it’s part of the story. Otherwise, their reps complain.

Also, I’m not going to tell you the most interesting way I’ve killed someone. Haven’t you ever heard of the statute of limitations and how it doesn’t apply? I mean… oh. You mean what’s the most interesting way I’ve killed one of my characters. Riiiight. Well, let’s see. There are some juicy ones in Brutal Light, but I’d rather not spoil them. Same for True Places. My published short fiction is low on killings. As for Superguy… well, to count as being killed, do the characters have to stay dead? (And let’s not even mention SfStory, where getting killed leads to an exciting new career in Hell’s space armada…)

30 Days of Writing #23: How Long to Complete a Story?

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

23) How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story — from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?

Depends on the story. A typical short story for me might take a month — possibly more, if I decide to let it lie between drafts for a while so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. My novels (Brutal Light and True Places) have taken two years each, though that was with the luxury of not having deadlines to meet. When I do have deadlines, I can make things go a lot quicker, believe me.

30 Days of Writing #19: Favorite Minor Character Shoving Into Spotlight?

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

19) Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!

Alice Riesling, from Brutal Light. This is the sort of character that happens when I don’t rigorously outline before I write. She was dead before the start of the book, but got called back in so one of my less sane main characters could have someone to talk to. From there, it was a matter of her personality asserting itself, plus consideration of the whys and wherefores of how my main characters knew her, that propelled her into the spotlight.

30 Days of Writing #18: Favorite Antagonist?

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

18) Favorite antagonist and why!

I have a perverse desire to give the same answer to this one as I did the favorite protagonist question, since Akane Moroboshi/Radian of Superguy sometimes played the antagonist. And there’s no question she’s in the running, as she was fun to write in that capacity as well. But I think my answer to this one has to be the Creyts brothers, Gordon and Kelly, from Brutal Light.

They’re both dangerous, and mad in counterbalancing ways. Without one another, they would go off into the aether with their own peculiarities, and might be more fun to write in some senses, but less appealing as characters otherwise. Together, they have a sinister dynamic that was endless fun to write.