Alive... George Martin, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Just so I can figure out who really was to blame for that final season. Dead... Napoleon, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan just to watch them argue over who had the bigger empire.
I think that is tough to answer. I think the prevalence of social media cuts both ways. I think the attention span has decreased and short spurts of entertainment seem to be gaining in popularity, which would exclude traditional literary works. That said, social media is also the driving force behind the marketing. I suppose the answer lies in the definition of literary art. What we include within that destination could sway the answer one way or another.
I don't think so. It's certainly possible. I think as you write you get very close to your characters. I would say personality traits, patterns of speech, and the way some characters react are more likely to be modeled from the real world than events. It is epic fantasy after all. If I had discovered a magical sword I certainly wouldn't be writing about it!
Tough question. I would say trying to make their voice sound unique without writing as a sexist in a sexist world. I won't say I was successful with the character of Lira but I will say the first pass at her character was a train wreck. Thanks to some good advice I started over and found her voice early on. The real question is how will I manage to write about that character as a POV in book two (which is the plan).
Early on I told my wife that if I made enough money with book one to pay for the cost of production and setup book two, I would see that as a success. I think I am on a good path towards that goal now. I think in the long term, completing the series and having fans that care about the characters the same way I do would be the biggest measure of success.
Oh man... how to separate the writing from the story. Show not tell, obviously. Leave me guessing, leave me in mystery, don't spell everything out but don't have the water so muddy that the explanation is pointless.
