Reader Q & A: Rapidfire Responses 2

Jessi on horseback,1997
1. Do you consider Centernia to be anthro lit? Are you a furry?

In the late 1990s, in the days before Deviant Art, there were not a lot of great digital art communities other than Elfwood. While stumbling through the internet I found a community called Yerf,(subtitled the Squeaky Clean Furry Archive). I became addicted to the website and learned an enormous amount about digital art through the other artists. Yerf was all anthro or furry art, and that influenced my early art and writing.

When I wrote the first draft of Centernia, the premise involved shape-shifting. When a human crossed the Gate they became feline. Much of the old art of Centernia depicts Jessi in cat-form. At some point in high school I altered this plot element and introduced the concept of magic users instead, finding it more versatile and interesting.

I like anthro art and find anthro characters fun to draw. I've never been into the community enough to ever consider being a fursuiter or call myself a furry.



Jessi on the back of a bicorn, 2014


2. Do you have this whole thing planned out, or do you just make it up as you go along?

I have it very, very planned out. I know the entire timeline of each character's life and the lives of their parents, with a few vague areas for the delight of discovery. Return to the Castle and The Crimson Mage were precisely outlined at the same time. I only had enough time to finish Return to the Castle for NYCC, so everything was designed to flow into the Crimson Mage. Now as I flesh out the scenes for Book Two, I'm also working on Book Three.

3. Are Teren and Lee going to hook up in the next book? Did they already hook up?

In Return to the Castle, Lee is fifteen and Teren is almost twenty. I feel pretty strongly about keeping my characters restricted to the laws of their respective lands. Teren may sleep around a lot, but he does have enough sense of earth laws to know which very fine lines not to cross.

4. When are you going to have the illustrated guide to Centernia's flora and fauna?

I am presently working on an encyclopedia as I write The Crimson Mage. Everytime a new creature, place or social custom is created, a new entry is jotted down into a Word doc. In 2016, I hope to embark on turning these entries into an art book/encyclopedia with the help of a few artist friends. I would like the produce the volume as an inexpensive paperback. Ultimately, it would be great to crowdfund that paperback into a shiny, glossy hardcover and invite in more artists and pay them all a fair wage. The success of the Crimson Mage will influence if I can make this project a reality. The funds from the second novel will seed the creation of this art book.


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