In Which I Chatter On About Books And Attempt To Defy Time

I got asked some rather wonderful questions in my “Ask Me Anything” post!

1. How do you manage your time? This is something I'm not great at, and since you seem like a hardworking person, I'd love to hear some tips.

To be completely honest, this is something I’m still working on. I’ve learned that you have to say no to some things in order to do the more important things excellently.

2. Do you plan to study violin at Curtis or some other music school? I know you're insanely good at violin...

Well, I’m currently working on auditioning for some major music schools to attend next fall, and I hope to make a career out of violin!

3. What's your worst fear? I'm just curious. You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

Umm… I tend not to dwell on fears in general, but when I really think about it - probably losing people close to me, or not being loved. 

4. Do you have a book and a film you think everyone should read/watch at least once?

I have many, actually, probably unsurprisingly. The Lord of the Rings, of course - if you know me, you know that I’ve been in love with those books since I was but a wee child - and also Pride and Prejudice (any Jane Austen, really), The Book Thief (AHHHH MY HEART), The Great Gatsby, The Four Quartets…

I could go on, but time is apparently finite.

5. Is there one day in your life that you would re-live if you could?

Hmm, a difficult question. (How could you, Lizzie.) Perhaps either the day of the concert that I was concertmaster and we played Dvorak 8, or when our family took a trip to Sedona!

6. What kind of tea best matches your favorite piece of music?

Well, my favourite piece of music tends to change and I generally have more than one at any given time. But that said, I’d have to say Shostakovich 5 and cinnamon black tea.

7. Is there a certain character trope you find yourself constantly using in your writing? Are there certain character tropes that you realize you never use?

I am rather inclined towards writing both arranged marriages and also defying tropes. As for something I’ll never write…

*RANT WARNING*

So many modern authors, primarily of YA fiction, loooooove the “strong independent woman” who’s “better than the boys” and is also incredibly unlikeable yet somehow beloved by everyone else in the story. And her love interest is a suave, leans-seductively-on-doorframes-and-treats-the-girl-horribly-but-she-still-loves-him, stinkin’ hot (literally) mess. (I tried to make that sentence make grammatical sense and gave up. Oh well.) Oh, and let’s not forget his awfully mysterious past that he’ll never talk about.

Please, for the love of everything good and beautiful, STOP WRITING LIKE THIS. Jane Austen is a much better influence than Twilight.

*RANT OVER* (you can open you eyes now)

…moving on.

8. You just found out you're leaving tomorrow on a week-long trip. Which books do you pack to bring with you?

Are all of them an option? No?

Bother. Okay, probably my Bible, T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, Pride and Prejudice, and Little Women.

9. One of your stories (whichever you like) is going to be adapted to screen. What genre of movie will it be? What kind of changes will it make from the original story, or will it be a completely straight adaptation? Who will be in it? (Optional bonus questions: Who will direct the movie? And we have a time machine, so what decade do you want the movie filmed in?)

Oh I love this question!!

Okay. So. I’m currently writing (“currently” is generous, by the way, because yay college) a book called The Red Sun Rises, loosely based on some childhood drafts I’d written with some friends. I’d probably want it to be a pretty straight adaption, but I’d accept minute variances for the sake of movie-ization. I kind of would want it to have a film noir kind of setting (maybe like Hamlet-but-less-dark) OR a Pride and Prejudice sort of atmosphere and directed by… Christopher Nolan, maybe? Or Kenneth Branagh. I’m not too well-versed in directors, though. Alas.

What: set in a fantasy world without magic where a duty-bound princess is forced into a marriage with the king of a warring country.

Who: the main characters are as follows (sorry, this is going to be long and I’m completely ignoring time periods here because of course we have a time machine, why wouldn’t we?)

Tovíen Serenil (played by Keira Knightley as in Pride and Prejudice 2005)

• nineteen, 5’4, long honey-brown hair, golden eyes, fading freckles
• princess of Raváryn
• duty, arranged marriage, fire eyes, golden, sunkissed, sarcasm, masks, autumn, chilly wind, meadows, daffodils, flower crowns, fairytales
• Vivi

Theronan Aisryl (played by Henry Cavill as in Enola Holmes)

• twenty-one, 6’3, dark wavy hair, emerald green eyes, scars on his chest and arms, beautiful smile
• king of Alynia
• dark, scars, war, trauma, hope, healing, survival, deceit, brown cloaks, forest, ferns, stars, learning to love
• Ronan

Anwir Sereníl (played by Kenneth Branagh)

• thirty-two, 6’1, white-blond hair and stubble, piercing black eyes, uncomfortably cruel
• king of Raváryn
• decorated palace, royal, elaborate, cruelty, prisoners, darkness 

Barínthin Sereníl (played by Jimmy Stewart as in It’s a Wonderful Life)

• twenty-five, 6’3, golden hair, brown eyes, laughing
• royal advisor and heir of Raváryn
• smiles, agreeable, jokes, easily persuaded, manipulate, dark cloaks, nighttime
• Barí

Skylyn Argyros (played by Robin Wright as in The Princess Bride or Lily James as in Cinderella)

• eighteen, 5’7, long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, elfin nose, mischievous smile
• lady of Alynia (Theronan’s cousin)
• courtroom meetings, sundials, scribbling late at night, ocean waves, high cliffs, easy smiles
• Sky

Emira (played by Emma Watson)

• sixteen, 5’3, black hair, brown eyes
• Tovíen’s maid
• birdlike, sharp motions, bad spy, shy and careful
• Emi

There are more characters, but I fear I haven’t written them into the book yet and thus things would be Confusing. We’ll leave it there and hopefully I can write again soon (someday…)

Anyways! Thank you to everyone who asked questions - it was lovely to answer them all :)

Merry Christmas and God bless :)

Hannah