@gahlearner Thank you, it was great fun thinking and answering all of these!
And, yeah, I should go to bed, now, otherwise my co-workers tomorrow will wonder why my eyebags have eyebags and I really don't want to explain that it is because I was answering questions about non-existing people on the interwebs, yesterday.
Have a good evening / rest of your day and see you soon!
#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD

@gahlearner Whew, thank you, that is really kind! I try to avoid technology whenever possible (we still don't know exactly how these engines work but they must be fabulous) but IF there is a piece of technology important for the plot and does actually exist in some for today (like the airlocks) I try to be accurate. I learned a lot writing it but that is, of course, always the case and one of the perks of writing, right?
#TTMD #ScribesAndMakers

@gahlearner No worries, I love the questions!
No, I am not an engineer, not by far. But I read a lot of SciFi and am a bit interested in technology. So at least SOME of the concepts actually work. Others are completely made up but there comes into play that Galahad himself understands NOTHING about technology. That way Handy can be mumbojumbo about it and after Siff has watered it down nobody sees that I am basically passing some bog rolls held together by duct tape as a rocket.
#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD

@VampiresAndRobots Hahaha, I appreciate the sentiment, but no, he really appeared fully fledged out of nowhere, enervating smile included. But I already wanted to punch him the very moment he showed up.

I *do* have a lot of experience with that type of nasty little shits from my encounters with authorities. And I was working in the public service for a while where I had to deal with that kind of administrative idiots who thought their employee's handbook was the bible or something. So that might have fed a lot into that character.
#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD

@VampiresAndRobots Sorry about the claustrophobia.

And good question! I'd probably be constantly drifting between crippling anxiety and rage against the stupidity of the Company -- and that would be BEFORE the explosion

I think I'd not really trust Galahad until the very end but would place a bit of hope on Siff and Handy somehow managing to get us into safety. I'd probably be an emotional wreck, retreating to the Entertainment System when I am not needed elsewhere.

@sifaseven
As I said, the ship and its damage was there before anything else was, but I had no idea what the reason for the explosion was. I had to find out, alongside my captain. And of course, because he was new to the ship it was a great way to get to meet the whole crew because they were new to him just as well as to the reader (and me).

The self-contained and slightly claustrophobic setting of a ship lost in space also resonates well with the inner world of Galahad. He is just as lost as the Herald Petrel and the only way to get better is by him allowing himself to get better, just like the only way of saving the ship is the crew itself saving the ship. 2/2

@sifaseven At the core of #HeraldPetrel was that I always loved the #Odyssey and that I wanted for once a captain that was even less than a reluctant hero in the sense that he really, truly didn't WANT to be a captain. I have answered here in greater detail this morning: https://mindly.social/@strangeseawolf/114408854265378356

My characters are more or less "there". They appear and when I start writing them, they more and more gain personality. Of course, Captain Galahad introduced himself BEFORE I started writing Herald Petrel, he and the damaged ship itself were the nucleus everything else developed from, shortly followed by Siff. The others appeared as I let him inspect the damage. It is a process that feels more or less organic. Sometimes I know a scene or a plot point needs a certain kind of character. But more often than not, they just appear and surprise me.

For example, Raffi jumped on the page out of nowhere. Before that, I didn't even know Galahad had an assistant, not to mention how important she will be in her role as a friend, moral compass, and independent thinker. That she basically adopted Galahad because she felt he needed a daughter became obvious very shortly after that and in hindsight made a lot of sense. With a personality like Galahad, he would never have survived the loss of Aretha without someone who truly cared for him as a person, not just a boss. 1/2

@sfwrtr

Q3: I'll refuse. I then make sure that everybody KNOWS what they intended to do with the story and what they were willing to pay. I then start a crowdfunding to make that movie with an Indie filmmaker. If we reach our goal, we make the movie like I intended it to be and our marketing campaign will be based on the shitty take the Big Player had, contrasted with what the story really is about and meant to be.

I don't know if this counts as refuse or fight.

Also, I will probably need a second crowdfunder to fight against Big Player who will certainly try to sue against our advertising.

@sfwrtr
A whole bunch of them, I think. I try not to be preachy, but I think the overarching messages of all my stories are:

- Don't be an arsehole
- everybody has the right to live their life the way that feels right to them as long as they don't harm anybody else and restrict their right to do the same
- No species is superior to an other, humans from Earth are not better than any other animal, mushroom, or plant in the universe
- being different than others is not a bad thing
- Love is love
- Consent is key
- gender is not a valid concept to categorize people, never was, and never will be, neither for defining what people can or can't do nor for where they can or can't be nor for ANYTHING else
- hate isn't a base for anything sustainable
- teamwork is key
- violence is sometimes necessary in self-defense but ultimately not a sustainable, long-term solution to anything
- sometimes all you have are shitty options and still, doing nothing at all is worse
- kindness can be the most powerful weapon if wielded by skillful hands

I am sure I have forgotten at least half of the points but let's leave it at that.

@sfwrtr Thank you for your kind words and the insights!

Q1: Good question.I think the standard reply would be that I can not not write, but that doesn't really cut it.

I think, first and foremost I need to "feel" something. A situation that irks me. Compassion towards a character that is on my mind or that I see on the screen. An unjust situation not rectified. A relationship in schambles that needs to be brought back together because both characters have suffered enough and they are meant for each other. A character that deserves a friend or a family but hasn't. Stuff like that.

Once I "feel" a story, resolving that situation drives me to sit down and write. When I write one shots I tend to write them in one sitting. Longer stories of course need a lot more time and thought. But in general, I then HAVE to write until that "feeling" that started it got satisfied and brought to a good end.

@Nisaa
Q2: Favorite #PeterCapaldi #DoctorWho episode: "Heaven Sent", hands down.
Moffat has written a perfect analogy on #grief and I think I watched it more often than any sane person. I can probably recite every word and the emotional impact became rather more than less over the years.
#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD