Another Quick Meme: Oh My!

Ahem.  Interrupting The Neverending Writing Meme for something not-so-entirely different:  another meme.

Yes, that’s right.  I’ve been tagged.  Again.  By someone else:   Steven

Okay, here we go:

1. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Why?

Shapeshifting!   I love to change forms in creative meditations.  It would be so amazing to shift for real on the physical plane.   Just transform into a bird and take off.   That’s freedom.  🙂 

*and as an extra, if somewhat nefarious reason, there are a few jerks I’d want to perch on top of*
2. Who is your style icon?

This one is difficiult to answer.  I’ve never thought of emulating someone’s style.  I admire Cain’s terse style, his rawness.  But I also really admire Wilkie Collin’s highly descriptive prose and his deep character portraits.   I’m probably some weird mix of all the different types of writers I enjoy.

Recently, a beta told me I reminded her of Iris Murdoch.  That was pretty cool to hear!  🙂
3. What is your favorite quote?

This quote by Goethe is always good to keep in mind:  “An unused life is an early death.”

4. What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?

“That I’m my own person.”
5. What playlist/CD is in your CD Player/iPod right now?

Actually, nothing.  I’ve been enjoying the beauty of silence.
6. Are you a night owl or a morning person?

Both.  I love the fresh, somewhat inspiring feeling of dawn.  Yes, I’m an optimist.  😉  And night, because it’s so peaceful.

It’s the afternoon that I’m quite happy to sleep through if possible.
7. Do you prefer dogs or cats?

Dogs!  

Cats are cool, and they fascinate me with their meditative poses.  But dogs bring out the maternal side in me.  Uh, yeah.  I react the way towards canines the way other women supposedly do toward human babies.  What can I say?

8. What is the meaning behind your blog name?

Ah, this one is easy.  (and probably obvious).  I’ve been interested in gypsy culture since I was a little kid.  Of course, in the years since, I’ve learned the true plight the Romany have suffered.  But that romanticized image remains.  And when I hear the term, “gypsy”- I think of a carefree person living by their own terms.

Writing Meme: day 13- Favorite Cultures and Times

*Skipping question 12 of this neverending meme since it doesn’t pertain to my works (least not thus far)

13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?

Well, it’s not a culture per se, but obviously my favorite time period to write about is the 19th century.    Just an amazing, vital time: the Romantics, The Free Love Movement (yes, that was around way before the hippies!), Spiritualism,  The Transcendentalists, the birth of the telegraph (the internet of its day) art movements from the Pre-Raphaelites to the Hudson River School, to all the vast political and religious movements…

But, being the history buff that I am, I also have a great desire to explore characters in ancient civilizations and see how their stories unfold under my pen.

What about you?

Writing Meme: Day 11- Favorite Characters

11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?

These questions are almost impossible to answer!

Presently, I would have to choose my mysterious witch, Beth.  The dark sphinx.   She was one of those characters who I knew inside and out from the very beginning, and our relationship only deepened through various drafts.  But I also had found such joy in writing of the exploits of Mr. Raferat and Mrs. Brent.   Most of all the sardonic banter between the two.

I don’t have a least favorite character.   All characters are in a story for a reason.  There are some that are certainly more challenging because they reveal themselves slowly, displaying more aspects of their personality through each draft.    But if they didn’t belong, I’d cut them out and wait for their correct story to come along.

How about you?

Writing Meme: Day 6- Place of Writing

6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?

I’m a writer of simple means.   A pair of comfy pjs,  propped up on the sofa with my netbook,  a mug of cinnamon-laced coffee at my side-  and I am ready to go.

Time of day?   Very early morning and late nights.  Early morning because I’m refreshed, and my mind is spinning ideas  from dream images.  Night because everything is so wonderfully quiet and peaceful.   I can write in the afternoon, but it’s too bright and lacks the quietude of the other times.

Nowadays, I do most of my serious writing on my computer.   But I love my journals and pens for recording dreams and story ideas.

You?

Writing Meme: Day 4- First Stories/Characters

4.Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

Egads!   My first novels (penned in a lined notebook while scrawled on my bed) involved four sisters : a ladylike one, a tomboyish bookwarm, a shy sweet thing, and a slightly full-of-herself artist.  They were rather poor (no presents for Christmas), but their loving mother tried to make up for that while their father was away fighting in the Civil War. 

*cough cough*

Really.  They weren’t influenced by Little Women at all.  Really.

Err…

Oh, what can I say?  I was about ten years-old.  And shameless copier or not,  the writing obsession, the desire to create characters who’d come alive on the pages and take me along with them on their journey, had begun.

What were some of your first stories?

Writing Meme: Day Three- Naming Characters

3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?

Naming characters is one of my favorite things.  I know the process drives many other writers bonkers, but I find it a lot of fun.  It’s also thrilling because it is only when I know the character’s name that they truly start opening up to me.

My process?

Sometimes, there is no process at all.   Their name comes to me, and that’s it.

Other times, there is a bit of work.

First, I think of the period the story takes place and also their cultural background.    I’ll go to an online baby name site and scan down the names, jotting down the ones that stick out to me as fitting the character.  Sometimes, I immediately  know “this is THEIR name”  when I see it.  Other times, a few  names will duke it out.  In that case, I will write scenes with the different names until one becomes the evident winner.

As for naming places- a lot of times I don’t bother.   When I do- I just look up real place names for ideas and change accordingly.

What is your process?