1. Tell us about your most recent project (written or published). What inspired it?
2. What’s your writing process like? Are you a “pantser,” an outliner, or something in between?
I believe that I am a “pantser,” for I enjoy letting the characters I come up with take me along, show me interesting things, and eventually tell me how they corrupt, save, or destroy themselves without me controlling them. If I’m lucky, I’ll have an idea to go into, as my most recent piece has shown. If I’m unlucky, I start with a character in a situation and ask myself, “What is it that this character wants?” A lot of my fiction drives me with this, and I don’t feel accomplished if I don’t find myself ending with an answer for that character’s request. It takes a good character to do what it takes to get what they want, and I’m simply there to write about how they do it.
3. What’s your favorite kind of story to write?
My favorite kind of story is one that tests a character’s morality and what he or she believes is necessary to live.
4. Which character from your work do you most identify with, and why?
5. Which authors or books have most influenced your work?
6. What’s the last book you read that you really loved?
The latest book that I read and couldn’t put down was Sutherland’s Wings of Fire: The Brightest Night. As part of a series made primarily for children, the book is simple in its structure, but the conflicts, questions, and dragon characters within all have as much validity as any other novel out there in the market, and I found myself rooting for these characters by the second chapter. Also, who doesn’t love dragons?
7. Besides writing, how do you like to spend your free time?
I spend most of my free time tutoring undergraduate students in writing or instructing part time alongside professors in the classroom. When not working, I’m usually replaying Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us or researching and reading.
8. Advice for other writers?
Start off at your level—admit where you’re at—and just write what you love until you can’t write anymore. Then, read what you love until you can’t read anymore, and when you’re finished, do the process over until you are ready to revise and love what you do. This is how we ultimately grow, yet so many young writers get stuck in that “I’m not good enough” phase. We need to get over our skill levels in order to simply write.
9. Where can readers find your work?
My work can be found in Heat #10 or in various convention guidebooks across North America. I’m also found chatting and discussing my progress on my twitter, @Fictionfelid, where I share upcoming projects and announce any publications available. I hope to have two stories out in a couple of anthologies by the end of this year.
10. What’s your favorite thing about the furry fandom?
The furry fandom is a place where artists and fans can grow together. No matter what one is into, there’s a place for that in the fandom, and fans continually push artists to do the next big thing while artists do much the same with each other. Without the fandom, I would not be writing what I love today and speaking about it with my students, tutees, and friends.
Furry Writers’ Guild 