Happy July! There’s a little less than a month before Mayhem at Misfit Mansion is out, so I’ll start this Q&A out with some MM questions. Also, as a head’s up for those who need it, there’s brief discussion of death in the third and thirteenth question.
Misfit Mansion
Q: Does Iris enjoy reading? What kind of books does she like?
A: I think she is more of an outdoors-y sports person, but she likes comic books. It was hard for her to get the latest ones when she was stuck in the house, and Halloway was bad at remembering which ones she already had, so she has a bunch of random volumes. She decided to make up in her head what happened in between each one.
Q: Does Larkspur have any particular things he enjoys cooking? Does he ever use Iris as a taste tester?
A: He tried but she kept eating stuff before it was done and now she's banned from the kitchen. For food, I think he likes challenging himself to make more complicated meals.
Q: Trigger warning: death. Sorry if it’s a little dark, but what would have happened to a dreamon (Larkspur) if the dreamer (Halloway) had died? And vice versa.
A: This is actually something I’ve thought about when I was thinking of concepts for a third book. To be clear, I don’t know if there will be third book (the publisher would have to request it), but I did wonder if maybe dreamons without dreamers could gain full control of their powers, and potentially shapeshift on their own. A dreamon passing away would probably be very emotionally painful to the dreamer. I also wondered if there’s a way to break a dreamon/dreamer bond without one passing away, and what that would mean. Would there be effects on them both in that case? There’s definitely a lot to think about. For simplicity’s sake, and because I don’t want it to be super dark, it would be very sad but nothing horrible would happen to the other.
Q: What inspired you to create the characters Iris and Mathias in book 1?
A: I can’t quite remember where the concept of dreamons first came from (I’m planning to rummage through all of my old MM concept stuff soon and post it!), but a core part of the story has always been overcoming bigotry/ learning to understand people who are different from you. I grew up in a community that taught me to hate groups of people who were different from me, which caused a lot of fear and judgmental beliefs within myself as a kid. When I was able to leave that community, I realized how hateful it was, which is in part why I wrote Star Knights and Misfit Mansion— to push back against that narrative. Mathias was raised to believe that horrors are dangerous, but because Iris is the only one in his life who has showed him kindness, he is able to change his beliefs.
I’ll talk more about them and their designs in an upcoming post!
Q: In the first book, Halloway says that dreamons are brain children. Does that mean Mathias is Iris’s dad?
A: Dreamons can show up for many reasons! Halloway sees Larkspur as his child because he had wished to be a dad. Mathias’s wish was different, which we’ll see in the second book.
Oddity Woods
Q: When Mary met Wyatt why did he tremble and stammer when he saw the magnifying glass?
A: “Weird living girl has magical item, huh?????”
Q: How much time will have passed between the first two books?
A: The second book continues right after the first! I wanted Marietta to have different clothing throughout the book, so I decided a long time ago to change up her outfit with each chapter. I draw a bit differently than I did when I drew the Labyrinth Inn chapter in 2017, so the characters may look a bit different, but they're the same age.
Q: How did you come up with Wyatt’s design?
A: I like science-themed characters haha. I've had him since 2012. I drew him thousands of times until I felt the design was right. It was a lot harder to figure him out than Marietta. I think the eyes gave me a lot of trouble and they still do sometimes!
I kind of want to do like a progression of every year drawing these two just to see the difference over 14 years.
Q: Does Wyatt ever wonder about his family outside of the woods?
A: Probably, among other things. Like, is there a family even out there?
Q: Just to be clear, Wyatt has been missing longer than Owen and Velia right? It seems like Owen remembered more than him.
A: Hmm I'd say for this one, there may be another reason Wyatt's memory loss is worse. I think the woods definitely have an effect on living people, especially if they've made a contract, which is why Owen was forgetting stuff. But if that means Wyatt has been there longer or not... we'll see.
Q: Even after the Conductor takes your soul, you can still be found wandering the woods as a monster right? I think that it would really freak Marietta out if she saw Owen as a monster.
A: Haha yeah. That would be bad.
Q: Are there any reasons as to why Wyatt hates ghosts so much even though he loves every other paranormal creature?
A: It's probably safe to assume (from the flashback near the end of the inn chapter) that he might have had a bad encounter with a ghost once!
Q: TW: death. Did Whistle die violently? He's a poltergeist so I thought maybe... poor little guy.
A: Most poltergeists do die from a violent or sudden death, and the memories of their pasts and refusal to accept death is what gives them powers. Perhaps Whistle died "violently" or perhaps he just has his memories from before. Dogs can't be vengeful so he is a little different!
Star Knights
Q: Other than if the wish turns evil or if you break the mini crowns on the head, do the Star Knights have other weaknesses?
A: It would depend on the type of animal! Like, maybe amphibians like Tad and Stello can’t deal with dry places like deserts, or maybe Cygnus can’t cast water spells well if it’s extremely cold outside, since they would freeze. Corva’s weakness is shiny objects.
Q: What was the relationship/dynamic between Corva and Cygnus before Cygnus became a Star Knight?
A: Best friends, Cygnus was kind of a crybaby when she was younger, but Corva’s always been good at cheering her up. Cygnus liked pretty things, so Corva would find stuff for her in typical crow fashion. I think Cygnus probably had a crush first as they got older. She didn’t confess until after the events of the book though.