2015 PitchWars Mentee Blog Hop: The Inspiration Behind HESPERIA

If you'd like to learn more about HESPERIA, here are some older posts on the MS:

-Nanowrimo Check-in #1 (where I talk about the conception of HESPERIA)

-Nanowrimo Check-in #2 (where you get to read an excerpt from draft #1)

-Post-Manuscript Completion Thoughts (where I get quite emotional over the roller-coaster that was the drafting process of HESPERIA)

-On Contests (where I talk about how HESPERIA fared in PitchSlam)

-Diversity in YA and my reservations (where I talk about the way I feature diversity in HESPERIA and how it doesn't really fit the conventional mold of "Asian characters")

This amazing art is by SansaXIX. Check out her profile for more.

As you can tell, this isn't the first time I'm talking about this MS on the blog, so I'll try to keep this post from becoming long-winded like all my other posts (and of course, I've probably jinxed myself by saying that). 

But yes, feel free to check out my other posts on the journey that this MS has been through.

Now to the point of this blog hop. HESPERIA, unlike some of my other MS's, didn't arise from a particular scene that I dreamed of or envisioned. Instead, I was very stuck in my other MS, THE SERENDIPITY LABS (description in my Novels tab). I took a break, during which I did a lot of knitting--finished my first scarf, in fact!--and Asian drama watching.

My favorite genre of Asian drama is wuxia, which basically translates into swords/historical/fantasy. And I especially love the dramas that have a bit of action but are grounded in political intrigue. Which means I loveeeee dramas set in the imperial palace, or during a particular dynasty. 

So I finished my 59 episode binge of Legend of Lu Zhen. It wasn't the greatest--there was a lot of petty drama between the different consorts and maids, which is meh--but I still enjoyed it. It got me thinking that I wished that there could be an China-inspired fantasy with the production values of, say, Game of Thrones. Because that would totally rock. There are so many inspiration-serving Chinese legends and classics and epics as a result of its enormous history. So many of those legends and classics (such as Water Margin, Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West) are unaccessible to Western audiences, however, not because they haven't been translated, but I suspect because of cultural barriers. Plus, being classics, they aren't really...as palatable or easy to get into as YA fiction. I certainly haven't read those monsters--I've watched drama adaptations of them.

With the thought of something Asian inspired and something classical in my mind, an idea suddenly hit me. Why not take a really popular and pretty accessible Western novel in the classical canon, fantasify it, and give it an Asian twist? By the way, I thought I was sooo clever when I thought of doing a "retelling" of a classic, since there were so many fairytale retellings out there but not as many classic retellings (other than Shakespeare ones and Jane Austen ones). Well turns out I'm not so clever because as HuffPost shows, classic retellings are going to be a big thing in 2016. 

*weeps*

(I see now how my posts grow so long-winded)

Anyway, I settled on To Kill a Mockingbird because I really enjoyed the themes of the book and how they were delivered so innocently and simply. The court scene chapters were also some of my favorites to ever read in any classic, and I thought it'd be really cool to incorporate them in a fantasy setting and infuse them with political intrigue.

And the rest is history.

I'd say that the themes in HESPERIA are pretty clear, and you can probably tell the TKAM influence if you read it. For example, Hesperia's prejudice and discrimination toward her half-brother Roon serve to represent a microcosm of the prejudice and discrimination rampant in the book against the seers and magicians. It's only when she starts realizing that people only discriminate because of their own insecurities (in the case of Hesperia, the friction between her blood-brother and not being loved by her own mother. For the people of the kingdom, it's insecurity about their safety and peace) that she is able start to overcome her prejudice toward the seers and magicians.

There are some pretty crucial parts of the trials that mirror the trials in TKAM.

And if you pay attention to some of the characters, you'll see that some have been inspired by characters in TKAM (namely Roon and the Damalee = Boo Radley, Warnick = Tom Robinson).

Okay, I'm done! Didn't mean for that to turn into an analysis of literature. Many of my blog readers are people who've stuck with me through thick and thin, and so hopefully this is sort of interesting to you, especially if you've read the MS :)

Check out the rest of the Mentees' posts here. 

Inner Peace and Sunshine Awards

My lovely fellow blogger/novelist/epically-awesome-friend Julia (whom I met online during Writeoncon's Pitchfest this past spring AND in-person during WDCE--twas fate) has recently nominated me for the Inner Peace and Sunshine Awards.

I am super excited to reveal seven things about me that you won't be able to find on the About Cynthiarox66 tab! Hopefully, they won't be too boring because my life is pretty mundane and undramatic :)

1. My inner storyteller first manifested when I told fortunes for my friends and for friends of my parents. I got in trouble for it once, because I basically told this guest at a dinner party that he would get run over by a car sometime in the distant future. No malicious intentions, I promise you! I did love the Hunger Games, though, so I'm not sure what that says about my streak for violence. Even now, I don't know whether or laugh or cringe at the memory.

2. I've never filled up a diary. The closest I've come to doing so is with one that I got in 2005 at Borders (oh, the nostalgia). That's basically filled with mush about the boys I had crushes on from elementary school through middle school. I can't make myself read it.

3. I'm a pseudo-vegetarian. So, if I were starving, I'd be fine with food touching meat. I'm fine with drinking chicken soup and leaking behind all the chicken bits. I'm not a true vegetarian, however, because I have no real love for vegetables. More of a carbohydratarian.

4. I LOVE Hayao Miyazaki and all of Studio Ghibli's movies (Spirited Away, anyone? Howl's Moving Castle? Kiki's Delivery Service? Princess Mononoke?). The artwork is just mind-blowing, as are the details and the scores and the characters. I have a 140,000 word fanfic on Spirited Away--basically what got me into writing longer works. It's two chapters from being complete, but I haven't updated in ages just because original work seems to grab my attention more than fanfic nowadays :( If any of my fanfic followers are reading this, I promise that I will finish it someday!

5. I'm freakishly scared of bugs. Especially crawling things with lots of legs. Millipedes are the worst...*shudders*. I don't think I'd survive for more than a week in a jungle.

6. I can bake a mean cupcake. If I can ever find a baking partner, I'd definitely audition for Food Network's Cupcake Wars. In fact, my life plan goes like this: get an education, get a job that makes a decent living, retire with saved money, open a cupcake shop/be a full time writer.

7. I enjoy writing by hand. Sometimes. Just to bask in the beauty of my handwriting. Haha just kidding. I'm volunteering this summer at this program for middle schooler who need a little boost and sometimes I find myself with free time. I COULD just bring my laptop and type my writing, but hey, old-school looks more academic, right? Have to set a good example for the kids ;) It really is a different experience--slower, but I'm more concise with my words.

Now for nominations! If you don't see your name below, it's because I'm scatterbrained, not because I forgot about you, so feel free to hop in! Have fun, guys :)

Deborah Kreiser 
The Loony Teen Writer
Carissa Taylor
Zara Hoffman
Sarah Faulkner
Avon

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop pt. 2

PART 2

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I'm actually incredibly out of the loop when it comes to pop culture. I watched three movies in 2012. Not even movie-theater movies--I mean movies, whether at home or anywhere else. I love movies, don't have anything against them, but I just don't have time.

As a result, I don't know that many actors/actresses, but there's my best attempt:

MC: Sibyl Kenschild

 Ella Purnell

She's a bit young right now but screw ages :D

Love interest: Ashley Reeves

Jake Abel

And he's kind of old now and there's kind of an age gap but again...imagination is an awesome tool!

Secondary MC: Quentin Mott

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

And he's older than them all. Also, in case anyone is wondering, there are no love triangles in this story. He's just a friend of Sibyl.

I have a whole cast of bad guys, but here's the guy I would select as the baddest of them all:


Antagonist: Adam Reeves (yes, Ashely's brother.)

Callan Mcauliffe

And there is another whole cast of tertiary characters but here's just two of them:

Competitor: Pam

Rachel McAdams

Badass Team Member: Viktoria

Bryce Howard

*All pictured characters are either sixteen or seventeen in the story, with the exception of Adam, who is nineteen.

What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?
Well, it's not sci-fi but then again mine isn't completely, either: HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff is a beautiful beautiful (I repeat, BEAUTIFUL!) book about survival, war, and love. If you haven't read it yet, GO READ IT NOW. It's super short (about 150 pages) but so powerful.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Other amazing writers, history class (sucker for history), and current events.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It's set in the future--2089 to be exact. It's got an element of interior design (or rather Space Manipulation) but since nobody wants to read lengthy descriptions of rooms, I actually have drawn blueprints to go along with the writing. Yay!

Once again, thank you to Deborah Kreiser for tagging me and go check out the blogs of Avon and Elyse Guziewicz!