THE WINNER HAS BEEN CHOSEN via random number generator:  Emmad, who said: “Oh a full set would be devine.”

Emmad, Please email me at Devon_monk (at) yahoo (dot) com with your mailing address and I’ll get the three books out to you immediately.

And thank you, for the terrific questions and awesome comments!  You guys are the greatest!

*Tiptoes on stage.  Taps mic* Hi.  I’m Devon Monk, author of the Allie Beckstrom urban fantasy series.  I am also a total giddy fan of Ilona and Gordon’s books, which is why I’m so excited to be here.  Thank you everyone, for sending in such great questions, and thank you Ilona & Gordon, for letting me hijack your blog!

Let’s just get to the most important question first, shall we?  The underwear:

Allie wears thongs, because everything else just rides up.  And face it, no one wants to be picking at a wedgie when they’re running for their life.

Zayvion wears boxer briefs (the boxers that fit like a brief) ‘cause the brother is more comfortable with a little support down there, if you know what I mean.

Shamus (you’ll see him more in book three) wears boxers.  Black, silk.

I, myself wear comfy undies.  Not granny panties (I also wear low-rise jeans–can you imagine the combination of low rise and granny panties?)  I’m a writer.  I sit.  A lot.  Comfy, people.  Comfy.

There.  Now that the important things have been uncovered, it’s on to the minor stuff.

How did you come up with the idea of magic “costing” users in physical and mental aspects?

I was working on an idea for the short story where magic and business had equal parts in the plot.  Yes, this six-book series started out as a short story, which I wrote and submitted to an anthology as requested.

The editor rejected it.

It was the only rejection I’ve ever been excited about, because by the time I finished the short story, I knew behind that story was a book or two for Allie and Zay and the gang.  Honestly, if the short story had been published, I might not have written the books.  So, yay, for soul crushing rejection!

But I digress…how did I come up with the price to pay for using magic?

It was right there in the first scene.  Allie’s heading out to take care of some magic business–someone put a magical hit on a little boy–and I knew one: anyone could use magic and two: magic could be dangerous, and three: if magic was something anyone could use, there had to be some sort of trade-off or price to use it.

I didn’t want it to be money.  It needed to be something that would make people think twice before they went all abracadabra crazy all the time.  So I knew the price needed to be steep, but something anyone could pay.  And pain–even if it isn’t extreme pain–fit the bill.  Plus, it lets me ask the question: what will each person believe is worth enduring pain for?

When you start a new series, do you see/feel/hear the characters first or is it the world that gets your attention right off the bat?

Characters.  Always, always, always.  World building is a learned skill for me and has taken lots of practice. (Anyone want a malformed fictional world for cheap?  I have dozens of them in a box somewhere.) Characters, the emotional needs, fears, and hopes come to me first.  After I see who they are, I see what they look like and work outward from there.

When I want to write something I sort of hold a casting call in my head.  Like: Hey, gonna write an urban fantasy.  Need people.  Apply within.  And then the people show up.  Once I know them, and what they want, and who they are, I can see the world that has shaped them.  So I always build my stories from the inside of a soul, outward to their world.

Which also answers the question of do I start with a brand new original idea or have I built my world off of others, and added bits and pieces to make it your own.

See above.  I, of course, read and learn about other worlds, but when I write, the world comes from the characters.

How is writing short stories vs. books in a series different? And how do you make short story characters emotionally rich (not flat)?

My brainstorming process is the same for short stories as it is for books.  Casting call: Hey, I’m going to write a 6,000 word fantasy.  People show up, I learn them, but often have to go through a lot of different “people” before I find the right ones for a short story.  Then I work outward, imagining the entire world, the character’s past, what might happen in the future.  None of that ends up in a short story.  I cut that all away, and choose a tiny little window to look in on the characters.  A moment when their world was on the brink of change, or they were facing a difficult or wonderful choice.  Then I wonder who or what would stand in their way and not let them have what they desire.  Ta-da! Short story!

Same process with a book, but I get to explore all the past and future stuff in a book.  A series takes some good note keeping (which I suck at), and attention to detail to keep all the facts and bits straight, which is something that’s never been a problem for me with a short story, so that’s different.

As far as marketing goes, both forms are very challenging.  People often think short stories are easier to write and sell, and um…no.

Flat characters.  I’ll just say this.  The people I write about are real. I expect them to have lives like me, strengths like me, flaws like me, fears like me.  They won’t be me, but they will feel the way I, a human being (after coffee, that is) feel.  If characters are falling flat, I ask myself what do they really secretly, shamefully want?  What will they do to get that, or what will they do to make sure that doesn’t happen?  Those deep questions, and withheld secrets, can make a character open up and become “real”.

Is Zayvion Jones human or something else?

Let me just say, that with the right conditions, the right attitude, and the right partner, I believe Zayvion Jones would beget a human child.  Does that help?

Could you pretty please not let Allie forget so much?

This has been a real sticking point for some readers.  Let me start this with, I’m sorry.  I’m sorry Allie has this problem.  She showed up at the casting call and got all her lines right, and I didn’t know she had the problem until we were working together every day, and by that time there was a contract in place, and wardrobe,  and you know, “synergy.”

Let me also say, there’s a reason for her memory loss.  This is a six book series.  This will hopefully be a nine book series.  We don’t know everything yet.  Allie doesn’t know everything yet.  But–and this is just the sucky truth–magic costs, people.  It hurts.  And if memory loss is a part of Allie’s price to pay, I’d be a big ol’ Cheater McCheat Pants if I waved a wand and pretended that it never happened.  She’s tough.  She’s got ways to deal with it, and people to help her with it.  She’ll get though it.  If you hang in there with her, you’ll get through it too.

Allie has such a dysfunctional relationship with her father, what influenced your writing in regards to this relationship?

She came with these issues.  Remember, it was a short story idea to begin with.  Casting call, she shows up.  I need her to find out who’s hurting a boy with magic.  Choices: It’s her neighbor.   Good.  It’s her work partner.  Better.  It’s her estranged, angry, power-hungry, father.  Ohhh.  The shiny, it is gold!  I don’t want to spoil for people who haven’t read book one, but the story takes some twists and turns from that point on.  But that incident opened up all of her feelings toward her father, and let me look inside to see why she made certain choices in her life.

Where did the actual influence for that come from?  I think we’ve all loved and trusted and found out our love and trust may have been put in the wrong hands.  May have even been put in very harmful hands.  It came from there.

In terms of the writing process, what is the most difficult part for you? Is it starting? Writing certain scenes? Editing or chopping up parts?

I love editing.  If someone told me to take my novel and turn it into a five thousand words story, I’d be all over that.  As a matter of fact, my good friends have had to gently pull me away from the keyboard when they see that blood-thirsty edit-crazed look in my eye.  So, uh…editing’s not difficult.

Starting a novel isn’t too hard.  Starting in the right place…that can be a problem.  But I usually figure it out.  Hmm. I guess the last third of the book where it all has to not only end, but “add up to something” is hard.  Especially in a series, this is a little tricky for me.  I want each book to build on the one before, but I want each book to feel like it’s “wrapped up” with just enough left open for the next book to build on.

Of course, that’s where I’m currently at with book five, so maybe it just feels the most difficult right now, lol!

The last question: knitting!  (My hobby, folks.)  Have you ever tried to knit something and created an unrecognizable “thingie?”

Yes.  Yes I have.  I once tried to knit a Kenny (from South Park) just winging it.  The first attempt turned out looking like an orange mutant oven mitt.  I have a curiously long sleeve-like thing that was the beginning of a sweater.  It would fit an elephant, toe to toe, and yet, has no hole for the head.  I have socks that look like baseball cozies.  Oh, and the fingerless glove–with the thumb coming out of the back of the hand?  Classic.

And, before you ask (because I know you want to) I have never knit underwear.  Yet.

For those of you who made it to the end of this rather long ramble, I am giving away a three-book set of my series.  So that’s book 1, book 2, and book 3.  All signed. Personalized, if you want it.  I’ll ship anywhere.  To enter, leave a comment here and I’ll pull a random number winner tomorrow before midnight PST.