Author M.J. Scott Interview and $80.00 Amazon Gift Card Contest LIVE Here!

BBB: What is the strangest thing you ever did to research something for a story? MJS: Not sure I’ve ever done anything too weird. There may be some odd moments of standing in my lounger room talking to myself while I try to walk out the staging of a scene with lots of people sometimes which I’m sure looks odd to any onlookers but my family and friends are used to weird writer behavior now.
BBB: What character was the toughest for you to get onto the page, and why? How did you finally crack it?
MJS: Fen from Blood Kin and Iron Kin was probably the most difficult. He was perfectly happy to be charming as a secondary character but didn’t want to reveal his secrets when in Iron Kin. I still think I know less about his past than any of the other main characters. But some characters are like that.
BBB: Have you ever had second thoughts or regrets after killing off a main character?
MJS: I’ve killed off more villains than other characters and it’s always weirdly satisfying to kill off a villain. There are a couple of other more major characters I did have to kill in the Half-Light books and while, in both cases, I resisted quite a bit when I realized that’s what I’d have to do, once I’d decided that there was no getting out of it, I didn’t regret doing it. Though I still feel sad for the characters that I had to as I liked them a lot.
BBB: How do you keep track of your world building?
MJS: The Half-Light books were my first really complicated world so I’ve kind of developed a system as I went along for those and now I use it (or a less detailed version of it if the book is less complicated) for all my books. I use a combination of a spreadsheet with place names, people’s names and descriptions and language things (and what books they appear in) and then I keep character/location images and more character notes in the actual Scrivener file (I write my drafts in Scrivener because it does make keeping all that sort of thing easier). For magic rules etc, unless it’s really complicated, I seem to be able to keep it straight in my head so far but sometimes I jot down notes when I’m thinking things through or have an idea for an upcoming story in one of my many notebooks and hopefully remember to scan it and save it after! The spreadsheet has saved me many a hour trying to hunt through books trying to figure out what I said about something or how I spelled a name. Having some sort of world bible will definitely save you if you’re writing a series.
BBB: Please tell us more about Fire Kin and the storyline that drives it.
MJS: Fire Kin is about the aftermath of the treaty that has held the peace in the Half-Light City falling apart and the struggles of the humans to put that treaty back in place. It’s also the story of what happens when a big chunk of Bryony’s past suddenly reappears. Bryony is a Fae healer who is a very cool and in control kind of gal, so it was interesting to see what happened when she got tipped off balance and just what could tip her off balance.
BBB: How many more books will there be in this series?
MJS: Fire Kin is the last book. It was originally supposed to be a trilogy but the story expanded. So it became a quadrology. But it is the last Half-Light book for now. I do love the world though, so won’t rule out playing in it some more at some point in the future.
BBB: What sets Fire Kin apart from other books in the same genre?
MJS: It’s a bit of a genre straddler. The Half-Light books have an urban fantasy feel but they’re set in what is more a steampunk meets traditional fantasy world where the level of technology is sort of quasi Victorian. And they’re written in alternating first person for the hero and heroine (with a different heroine/hero combination for each book so there’s a romance arc in each book). They’ve never been easy books to explain exactly where they fit but that’s maybe why they’re fun to write.
BBB: What types of creatures/characters can readers expect in your world?
MJS: The Half-Light City series has vampires, werewolves, Fae and humans (some of whom have magic). My Wild Side urban fantasy has vampires, humans, werewolves (and some other shapeshifters). I’m fond of werewolves as I used to read a lot of animal behavior books as a kid and wolves were always one of the animals that fascinated me. I also like the idea of magic (and figuring out how to make it interesting and what the price of it might be), so it’s likely to turn up in most of my books in one way or another.
BBB: Did you do any kind of research to determine the details of your characters lives / lifestyles?
MJS: One of the good things about writing SFF is being able to make things up. But I do research things when I need to know more about them and how they’re made/work etc and then I can bend the rules from there. I use the internet and books and real live people if I can find the right real live people. I read pretty widely for fun anyway and have a writer’s magpie mind so am always storing up little interesting tidbits that can help in a book.
BBB: Are you a plotser or a pantser? or a Planster (a combo of both)
MJS: Mostly a pantser with a smidge of plotting when I get stuck or have to do a (very vague) outline for an editor. I can’t plot it all out in advance or my brain becomes convinced it’s the worst story ever and it becomes a chore to write.
BBB: What’s the best thing that anyone said to you when you were in a writing low spot?
MJS: I like the old “You can fix a bad page but you can’t fix a blank page” (which I think is a Nora Roberts quote). Meaning that any words are better than none so just keep writing.
BBB: Do you set a daily word count goal, time limit goal, or just go with the flow?
MJS: I have a series of deadlines this year, so have been trying to stick to a daily word count goal. Not always succeeding but trying. If I reach my goal I’ll keep going if I’m in the flow and have more time but if it’s not going well I’m allowed to stop.
BBB: What’s coming up for you for the rest of 2014?
MJS: I’m hoping to get the second book in the Urban Fantasy trilogy I’m self-publishing out mid year, then in August, the first book for my alter-ego Melanie Scott comes out. It’s a contemporary romance called The Devil In Denim. I’m currently writing the third book in that series and then will be writing the first book in my new fantasy series which is, right now, untitled and still under discussion so can’t say too much about it yet.
BBB: What was the BEST book you read in 2013?
MJS: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman. Lovely and strange and scary and wise.
Buy a print copy of Fire Kin from Amazon by clicking here. Buy a Kindle copy of Fire Kin from Amazon by clicking here.
Books in the Half-Light City series in the order they should be read: Shadow Kin
Blood Kin
Iron Kin
Fire Kin

10 Quick Things About M.J.

Favorite Food? Cheesecake
Favorite Color? Blue
Favorite Movie or TV Show of all Time? Firefly
Favorite Drink? Margarita or Coke Zero
Favorite Book? Too hard. But Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie and Sunshine by Robin McKinley are in the top favorites
Favorite Season? Spring
Favorite Online Hangout?  Twitter
Favorite Animal? Cat
Favorite Band or Musician? U2 or Adele
Mode of Travel? (Trains, Planes or Automobiles) As an Aussie, I’ll say planes as you need to get on one to go most places
Favorite Vacation Destination? Somewhere with a beach or New York or London

About M.J. Scott

Author Bio:

M.J. Scott is an unrepentant bookworm. Luckily she grew up in a family that fed her a properly varied diet of books and these days is surrounded by people who are understanding of her story addiction. When not wrestling one of her own stories to the ground, she can generally be found reading someone else’s. Her other distractions include yarn, cat butlering, dark chocolate and fabric. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Connect with M.J.

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