An Interview with The Everhart Author

“I think my problem is I’m trying to be a fictional character in a non-fiction world…”

Ashley Everhart

Greetings, Lightbringers! Today’s blog post is an interview with my friend Ashley Everhart, also known as Ace. She interviewed me on her blog, so make sure you check out that post! Ashley and I have known each other for about three years now, and she is an amazing writer with an incredible imagination. I’m constantly impressed by her epic story ideas. Without further ado, let’s begin!

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The Arbitrary Fairy: Hello, Ace! Thanks for doing this with me. I know you’re a writer, but can you tell me when you first started writing?

Ashley: The first time I officially wrote a book/story/thing was the summer before I turned ten. I wrote a . . . -cringes- autobiography for my pet turtle. Ugh.

Sounds fascinating. What inspired you to start writing books?

I’d always loved reading, and thought that at some point I could maybe write something. But when I was around eight or nine, I met Kara Siert, a teen author who had already published three books. I figured that if she could write stuff from her ideas, I could too. It took me a few years to have any good ideas though. ;p

What is your favorite genre to write in?

Speculative fictiooooooon! Science fiction and fantasy. Making up whatever you want, with no regard for history or reality. Also you get to use swords a whole lot more.

I have to agree with you on that one. What writing projects are you working on right now?

Currently, I have just finished writing one novel, and have been in the process of writing another one for about two and a half years and am outlining/brainstorming like . . . six or seven more.

That’s a lot of projects! I have nearly that many bouncing around in my head. Can you tell me a little about some of them?

The book that I’ve finished is a fairytale retelling mashup, which sounds crazy and totally is. I actually did a blog post a couple weeks ago about some of the characters from that book if anyone wants to -cough cough- check it out -cough-. The other is the first in a trilogy involving dragons and fire and revolution.

That sounds so cool! (And my readers should definitely check out that character interview!) What is your favorite aspect of storytelling?

Characters!!!! I love ‘em so much. So very much.

Of course! I should have known. Who is your favorite character you have created?

Probably Aislinn Mollisong. She’s very easy to write and I can do so much with her that she never really gets boring.

Oh yes, Aislinn is one of my favorites, too. Who is your second favorite character?

Lucas! He’s a Good Boy(™) who’s got sense. He’s also completely adorable.

He really is. I like sensible characters. If you could save one of your characters from their story, which one would it be?

Jasper. No one knows about this guy yet but . . . . ehhh . . . he’s a bit unfortunate.

That’s a little ominous. What’s your favorite kind of character to create?

Comic relief sidekicks all the way! Being one myself, I don’t have much trouble figuring them out.

I love comic relief sidekicks almost as much as my eccentric mentor characters. xD Here’s an interesting question; would you rather bring one of your characters to this world for a day or visit your favorite book world for a day?

Visit another world. More adventure to be had there!

Can’t argue with that! May I ask which book world you would want to visit?

Likely the world of The Mysterious Benedict Society. It’s not too crazy and full of deadly danger, but there are definitely adventures to be had.

Yeah, that’s for sure. What is your favorite book or series?

At the moment, my favorite book is The False Prince. But my favorite series is The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Good choices! Do you have a favorite character from The Mysterious Benedict Society?

Reynie. He’s just . . . he needs a hug, y’know? Plus he’s a clever little guy and I’d like to be friends with him.

So would I. Has a book ever made you cry or tear up?

I don’t usually cry at books, but those that have made the list are Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Ilyon Chronicles series, The Two Towers, The Warden and the Wolf King, and most recently Eventown. That one was brutal.

Oof, I feel your pain. Have you ever read a book that made you want to punch a character?

Oh honey, so many. The main one I can think of is in the Ranger’s Apprentice book The Icebound Land. There’s this one knight guy who is just begging for a whack upside the head.

On the subject of whacking, what is your favorite weapon?

Swords. I have no aim, so even though I love bows, I gotta stick with something I can actually use properly.

That’s smart. I know you have written about book clichés on your blog. What is your favorite and least favorite cliché?

Favorite is probably ‘street-smart orphan kiddo turns out to be royalty’. I just like it. Least favorite is ‘arranged marriages are the worst thing ever’, because sometimes you gotta put your country before your personal feelings.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author?

Two things. One, practice writing. Write as much as you can. Write random stuff that doesn’t matter. Even if nobody else reads it, you will, and you’ll learn your strengths and weaknesses and what you like and what you don’t. Write with other people. Two, if your writing isn’t the greatest, that’s okay. I still hate mine sometimes. But if you keep trying, you can’t not get better.

That’s some good, sound advice. Now for a few “just for fun” questions. Who is your favorite music artist?

Owl City alllllll the way.

Yessss! I could not agree more! Favorite song?

I love Irish music, but my current favorite song is “Bird With A Broken Wing” by Owl City.

What is your favorite thing to do outside of writing and blogging?

Play video games. Especially Minecraft and Assassin’s Creed.

Favorite kind of tea? (I have a thing about tea, just so everyone knows.)

Mixed Berry Zinger. It’s red.

Would you rather be loved by all or feared by all?

Loved. Much less likely to get assassinated that way.

Good point. What is your plan for world domination?

Make all the friends and trick them into talking like me. So far it’s going great!

Any last words? -realizes that sounds sinister- I mean, any last comments for the people reading the interview?

Shiny.

Thank you, Ashley! I could not have said it better myself. 😀

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Thanks for reading, everyone! Make sure you all go check out Ashley’s blog and the interview she did with me over there. See you in the next blog post, Lightbringers!