Centernia: Building a Castle

Here are the top Q & A’s from this convention season: Is there a third book?  When is it coming out? Yes! There is a third and fourth book in the works.  I’ve moved past outlining and have written approximately one hundred pages as a skeleton draft for both books. This initial document is essentially a collection of arguments.  There are no transitions from chapter to chapter, sparse descriptions, very little setting other than castle or basement or mall.  This draft is a lot like a sketch, I can move things around quickly and trash unnecessary scenes without wasting time. When I wrote Mark of the Castle, I learned a harsh lesson on book release dates.  I couldn’t predict death, car accidents, depression, babies, or brain tumors.  So I’ll just say I’m progressing forward towards an undefined deadline.  Just stay with me, keep sharing your books, and I promise you there is more story to come. Will book four be the end of the ser...

How old were you when you started writing? When I was in second grade, I wrote and illustrated a story called "Marvin the Marry Mouse".  It was a Christmas tale about a mouse whose older sister told him there was no Santa.  He wrote a letter to Santa and then received bunch of presents.   Character, conflict, resolution. It was drawn on tracing paper in blue pen while I was playing in the back patio of my grandparents' house.  I continued to write from that point forward.  Many of my stories featured cats, horses, and whatever I was obsessed with at the time (stickers, XMen, Littlest Pet Shop, Sailor Moon, Star Wars, etc...).  When I was twelve I began writing original work.   Do you edit as you write?  When I write I start with an idea, but get stuck looking for the correct words. No, I do not try to edit on the first draft. For me, writing is this mad dash to grab everything that is falling out of my brain.  I focus on the dialog ...

Where does the curse blood'ura come from? Writing the curses of Centernia was as enjoyable as creating the creatures and places. Blood'ura is an abbreviation for Blood of Aurora, very similar insult to the Shakespearian zounds, meaning Christ's Wounds. There is a joy in creating insults that are really close to the english in cadence and consonant sounds. I have growing library file where I collect these bad-sounding yet technically completely innocuous words. My favorites? Maggot suckin', bloody shunt, rock sucker, goat screw, tick and jackhole. In the next book, will we learn more about the fallout between Jessica's parents? Yes. There is definitely a lot more story to unearth from the past. The scars run deep. Why did you decide to write Return to the Castle? Where do you get your ideas? I get asked this question a lot. I wrote Return to the Castle because I had to. The characters have a comfortable residence in my mind, and they tell me their stori...

How do you pronounce the names and places of Centernia?  Here is a very straightforward guide to all names and places unusual! Castlefolk Nicoveren Aristo Verdian: "Neek-o-varen Ah-risto Vare-de-an" Teren Wynter:   "Tare-en Winter" Artemisa Wynter: "Art-a-mee-sa Winter" Kaity Cosette: "Kate-e Co-zette" Corwin Evansi: "Core-win Ev-an-see" Jared Evansi: "Ja-red Ev-an-see" Alba: "All-ba" Savina: "Sah-vee-nah" Wadjette:  "Wa-jet" Jiberty: "Jib-er-ty" Abrianna: "Ah-bree-ana" Aden: "Aye-den" Otto Onyxgrove: "Ot-oh On-ex-grove" Elina: "Ell-eena" Circusfolk Amberynn:  "Amber-rin" Malachi: "Male-uhk-eye" Cobalt: "Co-ballt" Places Centernia:  "Sent-urn-e-uh" Aurumice:  "Or-uh-mice" or "Aura-mice" Trabalis: "Trah-ball-is" Briken: "Bry-ken"

A revised edition of Return to the Castle was released in February 2015. This edition catches many of the editing errors that snuck through in the first release.   The most notable difference is the chapter numbers. Though the books have the same content and the same scenes, they were split differently so that the new edition has one less chapter. You can figure out which version of the book you have by looking at the back cover. A little bird has been added on the newer edition for easy identification. :-)

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 ...

Nico is a character that has gone through a great deal of growth since 1997.  In the beginning, he was a stereotypical prince, perfect in every way right down to his blonde hair.  But perfect is boring. The Evolution of Nicoveren Aristo Verdian As a teen, I was lucky to come across  How to Write Sci-Fi and Fantasy  by Orson Scott Card . This volume was my foundation for learning how to write.  The book suggested that the weakest characters in a story are actually the nobility.  They don't have the flexibility to go on adventures and they are always under public scrutiny. Centernia has always had Castle Aurumice.  I needed to find a way to keep the castle, but tone down the nobility.  I couldn't quite figure out how until I was a college student living at RIT.  I lived five years in the dorms and loved every minute.  I was intrigued by the social dynamics, the arguments and the wonderfully crazy situations that occur when you live...

Which Centernia characters do you ship? I don't think the creator is allowed to ship, are they? Otherwise it becomes canon, and what fun is a ship if it becomes insta-canon? I will say I love hearing fan ship-theories.  The castlefolk are not exactly conservative in choosing bedfellows and some of your romance theories may be very true. Is Malachi a sinari? No, Malachi is not sinari. The castlefolk follow him easily because he was one of their leaders years ago.  He is charismatic to some and obnoxious to others.  It seems like there is never a grey area with Malachi, you love him or hate him. How do you find the time to write and keep a full time job? I work a thirty hour workweek formally and spend the rest of my time freelance illustrating and working on Centernia.   There are many days that the dishes may sit in the sink because the castlefolk are more important.  I don't play video games and I rarely watch tv.  Physical activity is of high ...

Q: What color is Misa's hair? A: In Return to the Castle, Misa's hair is referred to as black, dark and reddish-brown.  A few readers have pointed out this discrepancy. As an artist, I suffer from the curse and blessing of not thinking of colors in absolutes. A color is what it is at that very moment, whether it be the grey of a river on an overcast autumn day or a chamber basked in the orange glow of the dying sun. In the sections where Misa's hair is referred to as black, it's a low-light situation. Misa's hair is red-brown when there is more light present. Have Centernia questions? Contact us!