#WordWeavers 2: What scene in your current WIP are you proudest of?
Working on the 2024 version of the project, I am very proud of this panel, trying to guide the reader eyes with lights and shadows
#WordWeavers 3 Jan: MC POV: Are you a fan of anything?
Esther: “I have to admit that I am addicted to fashion.
When I was younger, these moments spent in luxury fashion boutiques were my only space of freedom, the ones where my father was not there to control me and decide who I should see or what I could do. “
#WordWeavers 4 Jan — SC POV: How do you feel about family? Who do you consider family?
Erie: “My biological family has sold me to Lady d’Arcy for 3 bottles of whiskey so… Lady d’Arcy has raised me, in her twisted and sadistic way, giving me rules and discipline, until I escape with my mistress Esther. She’s my family now, the one I’ve chosen.”
#WordWeavers#Writing 5 Jan — What characters in your story are obstacles but not antagonists?
I’m tempted to answer the opposite 🙃: which characters may appear as antagonists but will be finally helpful?
The 3 doctors (Jekyll, Moreau & Joyce, ie Freud in my universe) are sent to Esther because her family doctor can’t help her. When your last option is to rely on dirty guys like Moreau or Jekyll, you’re really in trouble. And yet they will be really useful, but the price to pay could be high.
I’ll take Genie as scientific genius and not like Aladdin’s one.
Esther: “Being the daughter of an abusive man and the widow of someone who plotted against me made me very cautious about people. Drs Jekyll and Moreau are true geniuses but without any moral limits. I won’t trust them, and I’d prefer not asking them anything but I have no other option than relying on them.”
#wordweavers 09 Is there a decision your MC has to make where all the choices are bad?
Esther has been affected by an disease that has gnawed at her like cancer since her return from the Colonies: horrible nightmares, brutal bouts of rage, memory loss, not to mention the horrible murders to which she seems linked. But the only people likely to help her are dubious scientists, one of whom, Moreau, would like to make a vivisection of Erie. How to choose between Charybdes and Scylla?
Esther is the fruit of a youth in a rich family but led by a violent and abusive father, an unhappy arranged marriage and an infection with an unknown evil during the terrible events of Chamberlain Manor
#WordWeavers#Writing 11 Did you realise what writing was going to be like when you started?
For years, I didn’t see myself as an author. I always wanted to be a comic artist but I thought I would partner with a writer. But when I restarted, I didn’t want to block someone when I didn’t know how fast I could work, so I wrote a story. And finally I really like it, I like to be at the service of my characters and write their backgrounds.
I’ll replace writers with artists for this one. There’s certainly room for improvement here. My agenda is always very tight, I’m only a part-time artist, having to do my daily job and I have a family.
And I must admit that between spending time online on RS and spending time on my comic book project, I will always choose the latter. That said, if someone wants feedback or collaborates with me on a piece of art, I am always available!
#WordWeavers#Writing 13. What convictions or values guide your characters' decisions?
Consumed by an something evil that tries to tip her into vice, Esther fights to keep her sanity. The values she gets from her education are important in this situation.
Erie has betrayed Lady d’Arcy to save Esther because she was thinking that what Lady d’Arcy was doing to Esther was wrong.
Jan 14 2024: What's the most satisfying relationship (not necessarily romantic) you've ever written?
This one is easy: the relationship between Esther and Erie is the heart of the story. It began with an alliance to save each other, which evolved into a mistress-maid relationship, before strengthening further because of the unique bind that link them at the end of the story
Esther and Erie! Yes their relationship is also quite dysfunctional, based on the need of each for the other. That’s why their relationship evolves as explained yesterday.
I try to start the day with one hour in the morning before starting my daily job. During the day span, I can sometimes draw a little during compiling times. In the evening, once family is sleeping, I like to do another hour or two if I am not too tired.
I can draw nearly everywhere since I use an iPad but I prefer to have a support so the angle is comfortable.
I enjoy working with music but can’t work with TV or YouTube docs in background.
#WordWeavers#Writing 17 Is there a story you’d like to write but aren’t sure you can?
When I started to redraw, I had an idea of an epic saga with gods living between us. First problem, there’s already many books (American Gods, Percy Jackson…) Second problem, it implies to manage many characters (at least the twelve Olympian gods) on thousands years
So I switched to Esther and Erie, that was initially a behind closed doors story during a night, so it was easier.
#WordWeavers#Writing 18 MC and Dear Villain organize a party together. What would it look like?
This was the beginning of the story’s first version: Esther and her husband were invited by Lady d’Arcy and Sir James. At first, Esther was so happy, until she met Lady d’Arcy (1/2)
#WordWeavers 19: If your SC were a parent, would they be a good one? Why/why not?
One of the story’s darkest secrets: Lady d’Arcy expects her maiden to be dedicated to serve her, so she took extreme measures to prevent them to have babies –in her own twisted way, an hysterectomy wouldn’t scary enough!
That said, Esther being extremely ill, Erie has to take care of her, as she would do of a child.
#WordWeavers#Writing 20 What things that other people enjoy would be tedious for your MC?
As a lady, Esther is skilled in things like playing piano, attending receptions, going to theatre and opera, practicing horse riding (in amazon), etc. But she’s not very good for physical activities.
#WordWeavers#Writing 23 If your book was a movie, what would it be rated and why?
I guess it depends on who would do the adaptation, but it would be probably NC-17: between the sex scenes, the sadism of Lady Chamberlain and lack of morality of many characters, it should be restricted to adults.
#WordWeavers 24 Out of all your writing, what was the hardest scene for you to write? Why?
Most problems are related to storyboard/layout, and also positioning speech bubbles. Each page is difficult on its own, often I am finally happy with the result until a pro look at it (see today #writercoffeeclub for more details)
#WordWeavers#Writing 25 What’s the least likely ship between characters in your WIP?
Erie and Dr Moreau! Moreau, as in the original book, is a scientist obsessed with vivisection and blood transfusion, in order to transform animals into subhumans. He sees in Erie a natural example of what he is trying to do and would be very interested in conducting experiments on her. It could of course end very badly for her. The first time they met was already a very unpleasant experience for Erie.
I already did it for side projects and it works well. The thing is, I am used to collaborate thanks to my daily job, including with unpleasant/ incompetent people (often the same)
That said, for my main project, I prefer working alone. There’s many reasons: 1/ it’s a looong process 2/ I won’t deliver until I am proud of the result (go to 1/) 3/ part of the goal is to have a personal space to handle daily job’s pressure.
Being raised in a conservative world similar to the Victorian era, Esther is a member of the Anglican Church. The events of the story will certainly push her to question the existence of God though
#WordWeavers Jan 28: On a scale of 1 - 10, how hot is your antagonist?
I showed the inspiration yesterday on #writerscoffeeclub, so I let you judge, personally I would say 11: Like the Evil Queen, Lady d’Arcy craves to be the most beautiful, and like Bianca Beauchamp, she uses a lot of surgery to rejuvenate and enhance herself. But she can also rely on dark magic to be beyond what nature can produce.
Not that much but one year I decided to write a small comics as Christmas gift for my parents. It was supposed to be inspired by Paul Smith art, the then artist of the Uncanny X-men. As you can see, I was not afraid of reusing existing characters names (or I was already bad at naming 🙃)
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