Elaine Corvidae

Welcome to my spotlight of Elaine Corvidae

Anita: Hello Elaine. Welcome to Simegen. For our readers, what genre do you write?

I write fantasy, usually with a strong element of romance.

How did you get started writing and how old were you?

When I was eight years old I came in from school one day and told my mom that I was going to be a writer. I don't remember what exactly made me say that, but unlike so many other decisions from childhood, I stuck with it.

So how old were you when you first wrote something?

I wrote poetry throughout my childhood and teens, and I wrote a novella when I was about 15 or so. It was pretty awful, actually. :-)

Did you take any writing classes?

No, although I did have a minor in English in my first attempt to get through college. Unfortunately, the creative writing professor there was totally closed to the idea of any kind of genre fiction.

So how long had you been writing before you made your first sale?

Oh dear...I was 29 by the time I received my contract from Hard Shell Word Factory for WOLFKIN, so that would be about 21 years. That sounds a lot more depressing that it actually is, though, considering how young (and inept) I was when I started.

I think it speaks more about commitment and not giving up. I'm impressed.

Thanks! I really believe that perseverance is one of the most important traits an author can have.

What was your method of attack? Did you just keep writing, and trying? Why did WOLFKIN suddenly seem good enough to publish?

Yep. WOLFKIN was actually my first professional-quality novel. There was a huge learning curve with it, but finally everything really started coming together for me. This would have been around 1996. I just kept sending it out, over and over, and in the meantime I kept writing other novels and sending them out as well. I finally got my acceptance in late 2000.

So you received rejections--that dreaded word. I read somewhere that a writer should expect at least 100 rejections before getting good enough to be published.

Tons! I am the Queen of Rejections. Actually, most of them were personalized, so I figured that I was doing something right. I think my biggest problem was that my work doesn't follow the typical fantasy conventions, and they didn't know what to do with me. I wouldn't say that I got 100, but probably at least 30 or so.

How is your fantasy different?

For one thing, most of it isn't set in the typical quasi-medieval-Europe style world that dominates the genre. WOLFKIN is the exception to that, BTW. My characters are also a bit odd--in WINTER'S ORPHANS, for example, the heroine is what you would think of as a blue collar worker, while the hero is a 53 year old man in a wheelchair. Not the stereotypical muscular farm boy you find so often in fantasy.

By the way, congratulations again on the Dream Realms "Fantasy Realm" award for WINTER'S ORPHANS

Thank you! I was shocked to find out that I had won the Dream Realm Award. I am always surprised at how many people seem to respond to an unconventional approach to the genre.

Do you read a lot? What genres?

I usually read 2-3 books a week. I read a lot of fantasy, naturally, but also science fiction, mystery, horror, and a smattering of other things. Of course when I'm researching a book, it's off to the library for loads of history.

Were there any authors who helped you get your start?

I wish! Unfortunately, I had to do it on my own.

Do you like research?

Yes. I love to learn new things. Human culture is endlessly fascinating to me.

Do you have a favorite place and time for writing? Do you write every day?

I do most of my writing in my office at home. I try to write every day, but it isn't always feasible because I'm also a grad student and have a part-time job. I usually write in the morning before I go to work. But I do most of my world-creating and planning in the car listening to music.

Lets talk some about your writing method. Do you start at the beginning of the story and write to the end? Or something else? Do you use a tape recorder while you drive?

Yes, I am pretty linear when it comes to actually putting the words on the page. Occasionally I'll make a note to myself to go back and add something, if it is minor. I'm afraid that if I don't write from start to finish in order, I'll get in a big mess. But in terms of plotting out the story in my head, I jump all over the place from one day to the next. I probably should use a tape recorder, but I rely on my feeble memory until I get home and can write stuff down.

Do you sit down and do any sort of outline before you start writing or just jump in and see where it goes?

I do like to have a plot in mind before I start typing, even if it is only a general guide to work towards. And I don't hold myself to it if something more interesting develops. In fact, I very seldom end up exactly where I thought I would by the time I get to the end. I jot things down as I think of them in what I call an "outline" although usually in only the loosest sense of the word. Otherwise, I might forget them. Most of my revision goes on afterward, unless it involves a major change.

Do you write on the computer or paper?

Computer! Thank God for the word processor! LOL

Some writers use things like index cards or something to stay organized. What do you do?

I usually make files on the computer. I might have one file detailing the characters and their motivations, another with plot ideas/outlines, and sometimes a whole slew of files detailing different aspects of any research I've done. These might be called things like "food," "greetings," etc., so that when I need to describe a meal, I can just open the file and look to see what the characters might reasonably be eating, given their culture and circumstances.

How many revisions do you usually have to do? I know it differs, but in general.

Right now I have four books under contract. Two of them pretty much wrote themselves, and any revisions were very minor. I probably looked through them once on the computer, then printed them out and went through them again, then did a third run-through on the computer, then sent them off, making only minor corrections of word choice, clarity, typos, etc. The other two had MAJOR rewrites after I finished the first draft. In one case I probably rewrote 2/3s of the book from scratch. Then they got the treatment I described above.

Which comes first for you--character or plot?

Character always. I find that if I know enough about the characters, the plot usually comes naturally.

How does the character come to you? People you know? Dreams? Pictures?

Ooh, that's a tough question. I think that they are most often a combination of things I have seen or read, or people I know, that my subconscious cobbles together. Then one day they sort of spring into my conscious mind, usually as an image with some vague idea of who they are or what they do. Names are always the last thing I find out. :-)

You don't even need a picture? Sheesh--I have to have at least a picture. Even if it is a "dream" picture. :-) So how do you develop the character after you "find" them?

LOL. My brain is a mystery even to me. ;-) After I have my basic character idea, I start asking questions. Who are they? What is their position in society? Who are their friends? What is their backstory, and what is their motivation? If my first answer seems too cliched, I keep trying different answers to those questions until I find something that "clicks."

Do you pattern your characters after real people, ever?

Not deliberately, although I can pick out the influence of people I know, at least in a general way. But they are never fully or even largely drawn from any one person.

Take WINTER's ORPHANS--what was the inspiration for this story?

This is actually a pretty good example of how my creative process works. I was always very interested in the era of the early industrial revolution when we studied it in high school. The conditions that people worked under were so awful, I guess I was morbidly fascinated. So that was sitting down at the bottom of my mind somewhere, percolating quietly. In the meantime, I came up with the character of Duncan. I wanted to write a story about a nice guy who had perhaps screwed up his life in the past in some way, and was somewhat at a loss as to how to put it back on track. He wasn't in a wheelchair at this point, BTW. But I had no story to put him in, so he got tucked back in the dark recesses of my mind as well. About a year after that, I decided that I wanted to write a story with a woman as the main character, a strong woman with special powers who wouldn't necessarily make the best choices about how to use that power. This was Mina. As I was thinking about what her story might be, Duncan popped back into my head, and there was instant synergy. They clicked perfectly, and I knew I was on to something. I had always thought that Duncan belonged in a sort of Victorian setting, but I needed an occupation for Mina as well, and my old interest in the industrial revolution came back to me. Finally, I had everything in place in terms of setting and characters, but I still felt that I didn't really have all the pieces. One day my husband and I were driving along, and we passed a truck with a wheelchair in the back. Poor David innocently said "I wonder why it isn't called a 'wheeled chair'" and I started screaming and beating on the window and bouncing around in my seat. Fortunately, we've been together long enough that he's used to that sort of behavior.

You already mentioned the library--what else do you use to do research?

Occasionally the web, if I am only looking for very general information. I've gotten info out of magazines such as National Geographic once or twice as well. Mostly it is the university library, though, at least for the detailed stuff.

Do you have any favorite writing resources you'd like to mention? Books or sites?

I have often found myself consulting the "Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook" by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I also have a terrific book on Cherokee folklore--James Mooney's "History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees". And "The Middle Ages" by Morris Bishop was a big help in writing WOLFKIN.

What do you consider your strongest writing skill? Weakest?

I feel that characterization is my strongest skill, and that is usually one of the things that readers compliment me on. As for weakest...hmm, probably the discipline to put my butt in the chair and my hands on the keyboard! That's my New Years Resolution for this year, BTW--spend more time actually typing out words.

What do you plan to do to continue to improve as a writer? Besides butt in chair :-) What does Linnea call that--BICHOK--I think. Sounds like Klingon.

LOL! Maybe a Klingon curse. I think I would like to improve my skills at plot more than anything.

How are you going to do that?

I'll let you know when I figure it out myself, LOL. I'm going to start by reading "Beginnings, Middles, and Ends" by Nancy Kress. It was recommended to me.

You mentioned you have four books sold? What genres and give us a little idea of what they are about

WINTER'S ORPHANS is a fantasy in an early Industrial Revolution setting. Mina Cole is a worker in a textile mill who one day discovers that her unknown father wasn't human, but a fae (faery) who gifted her with terrible powers. It's currently available from NovelBooks,Inc.

WOLFKIN is a fantasy/fantasy romance in a more standard medieval setting. The story centers around a young woman, Suchen Keblava, who finds herself enmeshed in a conspiracy surrounding an imprisoned queen, a treacherous Council, and an undying necromancer. This book has been compared to a dark "beauty and the beast" and is currently available from Hard Shell Word Factory.

TYRANT MOON is a fantasy in a Bronze Age setting. A barbarian warrior woman must join forces with a pacifist wizard to stop a rogue mage from destroying her people. This book is scheduled to be released on April Fool's Day (4/1/02) from NovelBooks, Inc.

And finally, THE GHOST EATER is a fantasy set in a quasi post-conquest North America (you can see where the Cherokee myths book fits in.) The ghost eater is an undead shaman of the last free native people. This book is scheduled for release on 9/29/03 from NovelBooks, Inc.

One thing I notice in reading these descriptions is that they all seem to have a fairly complicated story line--didn't you say you felt weak in the plotting department? Or was it a struggle all the way?

Struggle!

Besides writing, what subjects are you passionate about? Do you work this into your writing?

Discrimination of all sorts bothers me a great deal, so I try to work in all kinds of real people in my writing. Most of my books have gay characters, non-whites, etc. I am very passionate about animals and the environment--I work as a rehabilitation assistant at a local raptor rehabilitation facility. If this is in my books, though, it is probably mostly unconscious rather than planned. But the hero in TYRANT MOON, Thraxis, is a vegetarian, which I am, although he is somewhat more of a pacifist than I might be under the circumstances. I'm more like his companion, Arrow--hit first and ask questions later! LOL.

So why not write a simpler story? What makes you attack such a complicated plot? Is it just how it "has to be" or what?

I like to read books with complicated or unconventional plots, so I tend to write them as well. I suppose my main concern is getting away from cliches and the "same old same old" that has been the bane of fantasy. On one level, most of my books have a simple concept; two are quest-style stories, Winter's Orphan is "young person learns to use magic", and WOLFKIN is "encounter of the Other". But that isn't enough for me, I guess. I want to offer something new, or give a different answer than most writers.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers? Would you do anything differently if you were just starting out?

I think that things would be easier for me if I was just starting out due to the rise of ebooks, which make room for the less conventional stories that I write. And of course there has been a steep learning curve in many ways, but that is always true. The best advice I could give an aspiring writer would be "don't give up." No matter how many rejections pile up, just keep writing your stories your way. The more you write, the better your skills will become, and the better chances you will have of getting an acceptance. You just have to keep plugging away at it.

Well, I'm at the end of my questions. Thanks for joining me, Elaine. I've enjoyed talking about writing with you. And good luck with your writing!

It's been a pleasure, Anita. Take care.

Interview hosted by Anita York

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