Introducing the Interview Series: Conversations with My Creations

Disclaimer: Before we begin, let me be crystal clear. I am fully aware that my characters are purely fictional. They are not real people, voices in my head, or separate entities. This interview series is a writing exercise, a creative tool I use as part of my writing process to develop complex, multi-dimensional characters. By having "conversations" with them, I explore their motivations, psychological depth, and the themes they represent in ways that traditional character development methods don't always reach. Think of it as an elaborate form of character journaling meets method acting meets therapy. It's weird, but it works for me.

There's something profoundly strange about sitting down to interview your own characters. You created them. You know everything about them; their histories, their motivations, the exact words they'll say before they say them.

So what's the point?

The point, I've discovered, is that sometimes your creations know things you don't. Sometimes they see patterns in your work that you couldn't see while you were writing it. Sometimes they call you out in ways you desperately need to hear.

This is a different kind of creative exercise, not a character study, not a promotional tool, but something closer to therapy. Or maybe archaeology. Or possibly method acting, except I'm both the actor and the director having an existential crisis about the role.

Actually, it's probably all of the above.

What This Series Is

Over the coming weeks (months?), I'll be publishing interviews with various characters from my books. Not the sanitized, "let's discuss your favorite color" kind of interviews you sometimes see authors do for fun. Real conversations. Uncomfortable ones. The kind where my characters get to ask me "Why did you make me the way that I am", and I have to sit with those answers.

Some of these will be with heroes. Some with villains. Some with characters who exist in that complicated space between.

All of them will be honest.

Why I'm Doing This

Here's the truth: every character I create is a piece of me.

Grace, Elena, Marcus, Kai, they're all pieces of me. Different aspects, different questions I'm working through, different versions of who I am or who I fear I might become or who I hope I could be.

Eth'razel, the ancient Fae who spent millennia as a vessel for cosmic evil? That's my isolation, my fear of being consumed by darkness, my desperate hunger for connection given form and sharp teeth.

The Shadow, that entity of pure hunger that can never be satisfied? That's every time I've tried to fill an internal void with external consumption, every moment I've felt empty despite having everything.

Ena, she is younger me not understanding her place in the world and the value she holds. She is the me that desperately wanted to save people. She is the me that was afraid to acknowledge her shadow self.

Grace, she is the me that has created a terrible narrative about my body and my worth. She is the me that had to live through being terrorized by her own real life 'Derek'. She is also the one who grew, who found strength and who learned to let others hold her.

Derek, the stalker who can't understand why "no" means no? That's every uncomfortable encounter I've had with entitled men, every time I've been made to feel unsafe, every pattern of toxic masculinity I've witnessed, all rolled into one person so I could watch him face consequences.

Writing is how I process my psyche. These interviews are how I process my writing.

The Format

Each interview will be different because each character is different.

Some, are meta-aware, they know they're fictional, know I'm their author, and aren't shy about calling me out for my narrative choices. These interviews become conversations about creation itself, about what it means to write characters who contain your darkness, about the responsibility of giving form to complicated emotions.

Others, gain awareness during the interview, that moment when the character realizes they're a construct and starts questioning why they were made the way they are. These interviews explore craft and consequence, pattern and purpose.

All of them, regardless of format, are about honesty. About admitting that my characters aren't just entertaining stories, they're pieces of my soul given voice.

What You Can Expect

Uncomfortable truths. When Eth'razel tells me that his capacity for possessive love comes from my own understanding of it, that's not comfortable to acknowledge publicly. But it's true.

Meta-awareness. My characters know they're characters. They know I'm their author. They're going to ask me questions I don't want to answer and point out patterns I didn't know I was creating.

Dark humor. Because sometimes the only way to process heavy topics is to laugh at them. The Derek interview, conducted in federal prison, has moments of genuine comedy despite being about a stalker. Because comedy and tragedy aren't opposites, they're cousins.

No sanitizing. I'm not going to pretend my villains are misunderstood heroes or that my heroes don't have deep flaws. I'm not going to soften edges or make things palatable. These are real conversations with complicated characters about complicated topics.

Personal vulnerability. Every interview reveals something about me, the creator. My fears, my darkness, my questions, my growth. That's intentional. That's the point.

Why This Matters

You might be wondering: isn't this just self-indulgent? An author having conversations with imaginary people?

Maybe. Probably. Definitely.

But here's what I've learned through this process: when you interview your characters honestly, you learn things about yourself you couldn't access any other way.

Eth'razel forcing me to admit that I wrote him permission to believe his darkest pieces deserve love, that taught me something about what I needed to give myself.

The Shadow revealing its terror at the possibility of being filled rather than just contained, that showed me patterns in how I approach my own emptiness.

Derek gaining self-awareness about his entitlement while still battling those instincts, that helped me understand how toxic patterns persist even after intellectual recognition.

Grace acknowledging her capacity to love so deeply yet still struggle to love herself, her understanding of vulnerability paired with her fear of letting go, that mirrors my own journey of learning that you can know intellectually what you need while still being terrified to reach for it.

Ena seeing her unending self-sacrifice leading to her feeling like her only value is what she can do for other people, her journey to finding her own strength and learning to choose her own path, that reflects my struggle with believing I'm worthy beyond my usefulness, that I can want things for myself without being selfish.

These aren't just character exercises. They're mirrors. And sometimes you need your creations to hold up those mirrors because you've gotten too good at avoiding your own reflection.

The Invitation

I'm sharing these interviews publicly for a few reasons:

1. Because other writers might benefit from this exercise. Sit down with your characters. Let them interview you back. See what they have to say about why you made them the way you did.

2. Because readers might find it interesting. Seeing behind the curtain, understanding the psychology of creation, watching an author process their own work through conversations with their characters, there's value in that transparency.

3. Because I need the accountability. Posting these publicly means I can't hide from what they reveal. When Eth'razel calls me out for writing my own hunger into him, I have to own that. When the Shadow admits it desperately wants to be filled but is terrified of transformation, I have to sit with what that says about me.

4. Because these conversations matter. The topics we're discussing, toxic masculinity, hunger and emptiness, love and possession, redemption and consequences, these aren't just abstract concepts. They're real issues that affect real people. Processing them through fictional interviews doesn't diminish their importance; it makes them accessible.

   
   

A Warning

These interviews won't always be comfortable to read. They're not designed to be.

When Derek talks about still feeling entitled to Grace even after federal conviction, that's going to make some people angry. Good. It should. That's the point.

When The Shadow discusses consuming an entire civilization in three days without remorse, that's disturbing. It's meant to be.

When Eth'razel admits he would burn every realm to ash before losing Ena, that's intense. That's the character.

I'm not softening these moments. I'm not making my villains sympathetic or my heroes perfect. I'm letting them be exactly who they are and sitting with the discomfort of having created them that way.

Moving Forward

I'll be posting these interviews regularly (ish I'm a writer, not a machine). Some will be longer, some shorter. Some will be serious philosophical discussions, others will have more humor. All will be honest.

I don't have a set schedule because that's not how this works. I interview characters when I need to understand something about them, about their story, or about myself. When the conversation is ready to happen, it happens.

If you're interested in following along, look for new blog announcements on my TikTok page. If you're a writer yourself, maybe try this exercise with your own characters. Sit down with your villain and ask them why they're the way they are. Let your hero question your narrative choices. Give your characters permission to call you out.

You might be surprised by what you learn.

Final Thoughts

Every character I've ever written is a conversation with myself. These interviews just make that conversation explicit.

Eth'razel is me asking: can someone that broken still deserve love? Can isolation be healed through connection? What does it mean to choose vulnerability after millennia of self-protection?

The Shadow is me asking: can hunger ever truly be satisfied? Is emptiness a permanent state or can it be filled? What happens when you offer redemption to something that believes itself irredeemable?

Derek is me asking: can people change? Should they be forgiven if they do? What do we owe to those we've harmed, and what do they owe us? (Spoiler: they owe us nothing.)

Grace is me asking: how do you rebuild yourself after trauma? How do you learn to trust again? How do you accept love when you've been taught, you're not worthy of it?

Ena is me asking: can I choose a different path than the one that was laid out for me? Am I more than just what I can do for other people? Can wanting things for myself be something other than selfish?

Every question I give them is a question I'm asking myself.

And now, through these interviews, they get to ask me questions back.

Welcome to the series. It's going to be weird, uncomfortable, honest, and hopefully worth your time.

Let's see what my creations have to teach me.

First interview drops next week. Place your bets now on which character calls me out the hardest.

My money's on Eth'razel. He has absolutely no chill.