misfit mansion

Misfit Mansion - Development and Concepts #3

With about a week and a day left until Mayhem at Misfit Mansion is out, here is the final part of the MM development series! I hope this has been an interesting read for fans of the book.

Pitching & Final Changes

Once the story outline, sample pages and character designs were completed, it was time to pitch the book to publishers! When Home for Horrors was picked up, there were a few changes I was asked to make. The first was to start the story from Iris’s point of view, and to cut the part with the three-headed dog. I was also asked to make the characters look slightly older. Here’s a first pass at some redraws.

Some of the designs here are still a little different from the finals, like Agnes’s hair clips and Kel’s shirt pattern. I ended up going back and redrawing the cast again a few months later. I think I must have changed Kel and Dahlia’s outfits again when working on the final pages!

Creating the Book

I’ve written a little about how I make pages in another post, but here’s a closer look! I always start with a typed script and “thumbnails”, which are very rough drawings of the page layouts. These are submitted to the publisher first, so they can offer any edits before I move on to the actual drawn pages. I also like coloring the characters in with a solid color so that it’s easier to see who is who!

Example of a script page.

Thumbnailed pages.

Thumbnailed pages.

One requested edit was to change the direction Iris is facing on page 14 within the fifth panel to match the direction she’s moving in the fourth. That also meant flipping her in some of page 15’s panels as well. After edits are applied, I move on to the line art!

The final part is to drop in flat colors, and then add shading and highlights. This step usually takes me the longest. Once it’s complete, I resubmit everything back to the publisher, and make any further edits until both sides are happy.

Cover Design

This step happens about half way into drawing pages. I always design 6 small ideas to show my publisher, who then decide which idea they’d like to go with. Here are the covers I pitched!

The publisher went with #3! We also ended up having to change the title from “Home for Horrors” to “Misfit Mansion” as requested by the marketing team. Sometimes this happens!

After the pages were done and the cover was finalized, Misfit Mansion would go on to be in bookstores about a year later, in 2023! In total, it took about 6 years from the earliest concepts to the final book. I’ve come to love this book a lot, and I’m grateful for all the love it's received! I truly hope readers will enjoy the sequel when it releases next week.

To end, here’s a bunch of art I made throughout the years of working on MM! Thanks everyone for supporting my work!

Fan Art Feature #4

Amazing fan art from this month! As always, thanks for sending/sharing these with me, they are all wonderful!

Misfit Mansion - Development and Concepts #2

Here’s part two of the MM development series! While the last post was about initial concepts, this one goes over the first and second drafts of Misfit Mansion, which was titled “Home for Horrors” at the time. These versions were similar to the final but had different story beats and plot differences. Text-heavy post incoming!

First Draft

Home for Horrors followed Iris, Kel and Agnes and their foster home for monsters, which was hidden outside the town of “Forget-Me-Not Ridge.” The house was sealed by a door demon named Latchkey, who is only weak to silver. When Mathias tried entering the house to prove to his “friends” that monsters are real, his silver pendant repelled Latchkey’s powers, allowing the horrors inside to escape. It was then up to Iris, Kel and Agnes to find the escaped horrors and bring them home. This version of the story had small episodes centering around the escaped horrors, including a three-headed dog, a dullahan (headless horseman), a crow mage, and a living doll. Also, shapeshifting blobs!

Some of the escaped horrors + a group of kids Mathias is trying to befriend.

First character sheet.

Plot Outline:

  • Three-Headed Dog Chapter- Iris runs into the woods to find the escaped horrors, while Mathias runs into a ghost boy looking for his missing three-headed dog. Mathias is then chased by said dog, but Iris manages to save him by uniting the ghost boy and dog, letting them both pass on into the next life.

  • Dullahan Chapter- Iris, Kel and Agnes go into town, finding a dullahan woman terrorizing the mayor. She’s angry he’s been telling fake scary stories about her during the festival. Iris and friends pacify the situation, and the mayor promises to stop painting the dullahan in a bad light. Iris and Mathias also decide to team up to find the escaped horrors using some of Anemone’s equipment, which Mathias secretly takes from her.

  • Crow Mage Chapter- The harvest festival begins, but is threatened when a crow mage and his crow lackeys turn all the vegetables into monsters, angry that humans have never shared with them. They’re only stopped when some of the kids dress up as scarecrows, the crows’ one weakness.

  • Living Doll Chapter- This chapter featured Dahlia, but she had the power to turn fiction into reality. During a scary movie night, Dahlia appears and makes the movie real, causing chaos. Iris and Mathias work together to survive the night, which only ends when Anemone appears and destroys one of Dahlia’s favorite dolls. Iris then invites a distraught Dahlia to live in at the house with her.

The story followed some similar plot lines to Misfit Mansion, like Iris hearing Larkspur’s voice throughout, and his eventual attack on the town, but it was pretty different in how the characters developed.

  • Kel and Agnes didn’t have as much of a role aside from supporting Iris.

  • Mathias worked with Iris early on and wasn’t as antagonistic. His main goal was to befriend a group of town kids by proving monsters exist, since they always thought he was making it up. He eventually decided it wasn’t worth befriending them, as Iris was a better friend anyway.

  • Iris and Halloway have a moment of understanding before Larkspur escapes.

  • Anemone tricks Iris into taking her to the house, where she destroys Latchkey and frees Larkspur. Anemone also later regretted her ways at the end after seeing Mathias in danger.

Ultimately, this draft was way too long and clunky, and needed a lot of editing. I thought longer about it while working on Star Knights, and eventually came back with a new version in mind.

Second Draft

This time, I focused more on the core of the story, and got rid of the episodic format, cutting the dullahan and crow mage parts, and changing Dahlia’s scene to be in a toy store. Agnes and Kel were given more important roles and had their own character arcs, Mathias was more antagonistic, and the story focused more on Iris’s search to find a family instead of the missing horrors. This would be the draft that was sent to the publisher, although it was still slightly different from the final!

Along with the book summary, I needed to provide examples of finished pages. Below are sample pages of the book’s original opening scene, where you can see some of the differences.

I also did thumbnails for the three-headed dog encounter, available to read below!

Next week will be the third and final part, where I’ll talk more about creating the final book.

Misfit Mansion - Development and Concepts #1

Less than a month before Mayhem at Misfit Mansion is out! To celebrate, I’d like to share the creation process behind the first book, and how it developed over time. Misfit Mansion went through quite a few different versions over the years before being pitched as its current self, so this will be a multi-part series!

“Lily of the Dead Valley”

Back when I was working on Oddity Woods as a webcomic, I was brainstorming ideas for potential book pitches. The main two were A. a story based on “Journey to Stars,” which became Star Knights, and B. a story about a monster hunter that wound up in a world of monsters, titled “Lily of the Dead Valley.” I ended up moving forward with Star Knights instead, since I ran into a few roadblocks with the second idea, but I’d come back around to it while working on SK.

The monster world was called Dead Valley, and had a wide array of monster inhabitants. The monster hunter was a hooded girl named Ava that somehow fell into Dead Valley, and had to team up with “Lily” (Iris’s original name) to return home, learning that monsters were actually good in the process. These are sketches from around 2018.

The earliest version of Iris was a vampire.

Less vampire and more monster. She was friends with a werewolf girl.

Hoodie with a pattern— I didn’t want to draw this in every panel, so the pattern got scrapped!

Ava’s face was hidden by a hood for most of the story.

Early Iris with a devil tail. I think the guy on the top right was her brother?

I wasn’t sure what this monster world should look like, so to make it a little easier on myself, I ultimately decided to change the setting to the real world. The story then became about a human summer camp at odds with a monster one.

A moth girl named Juniper, she was a little snooty, and didn’t like Lily.

A ghost and kelpie camper! I liked the kelpie, so I reused them later.

Ava is accidentally signed up for the wrong summer camp— one for monsters instead of monster hunters. Hiding her identity, she eventually befriends Lily, and ultimately comes to learn that hunting monsters is wrong. This idea didn’t go anywhere as I never went to summer camp as a kid, and so I had no idea how to write a summer camp story… I decided to channel the experiences I did have as a kid in order to figure out what Misfit Mansion would actually be about— found family and belonging.

“Home for Horrors”

In 2019, the story became about a foster home hidden in the woods. When conceptualizing the house, I originally wrote the caretaker as a woman, but I wanted to write a father/daughter bond between Iris and the caretaker, so they became Halloway instead. “Lily” was changed to Iris, as it matched her color scheme more. Instead of a random monster, I wanted her species to have an effect on the story, so she became a dreamon, or a “dream imp” back then.

Very quick concept sketches to figure out the new characters, including a female Halloway.

This version was a lot closer to the final Misfit Mansion, but there were still many differences plot-wise! I’ll save it for part two, but I did want to briefly mention another story I was working on at the time.

“Doll House”

This was a very small and undeveloped idea I was writing in 2018, but I couldn’t figure out the story, so it ultimately got scrapped. It followed a mage who was trapped in a haunted house of living dolls, and had to help himself and a trapped soul escape, which lived in a small cage he carried. This idea doesn’t have much to do with Misfit Mansion, but I liked the designs and ended up recycling them to create Mathias and Dahlia. This version of Dahlia also had a giant stuffed bear butler, which I still kind of like.

Beta versions of Dahlia and Mathias. They didn’t have names at this point.

Beta Dahlia and her bear butler. She was more antagonistic in this story.

Random side character, I liked the beanie and gave it to Kel later.

Next part, more story notes and pitch pages!

Q&A # 17 - July Questions

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.









Q&A # 16 - June Questions

Here comes the next round of questions for June! I also received some questions regarding old concept art of Oddity Woods. I’ll try to post some stuff on that in the future. For July, I’m going to concentrate on Misfit Mansion with the next book coming out, so look forward to some posts about that as well!

Oddity Woods

Q: How much time is on the Conductor's tickets when people first take them?
A: Part of me thinks the starting time depend on the person or on how long they can withstand the ticket’s effects, but I think overall a few weeks.

Q: Are there other beings in the woods like the Storyteller and Conductor, or is it just the two of them?

A: There might have been another one, once.

Q: Are the Storyteller and the Conductor connected to the source of Marietta's magnifying glass and Gloria's compass and that weird owl? Because they all have a similar eye symbol on them, what's up with that?

A: I think it’s safe to assume things with that eye symbol might be connected!

Q: Is Oddity Woods really big or is it never ending?

A: If you walk in one direction, you will eventually find yourself looping back to where you started. We don’t yet know why this world exists, but maybe we’ll learn soon.

Q: Will book 2 have more monsters?

A: Of course! >:) Here’s a little sneak peak at something we might encounter…

Q: Why does the Conductor want to destroy Oddity Woods?

A: We don’t know why yet, but it seems like he’s doing it for someone’s sake.

Q: What exactly is the relationship/dynamic between Leo and Capella?

A: Partners in crime (and carnival-ing), they’ve been together for a long time. Capella thinks she is the leader but Leo is the actual brains.

Q: Will Capella and Leo have a good character arc in the upcoming books? Don't spoil how, but I love those little freaks and I want to see them get development.

A: They will be back for sure. We might learn more about the Chimera Carnival too.

Q: What was the Car Attendant's original plot in the webcomic? I find him really interesting.

A: I’m always really surprised how popular the Car Attendant is considering he’s only there for a few pages haha. In the original webcomic he was going to be a little more involved, but I had to cut his role down to shorten things. I don’t want to really go into his backstory yet because it is important later on. So… we will learn more about him later! I’ll post a few pages here of the webcomic’s original end to the Labyrinth Inn chapter, which involved him more. These pages are no longer canon.

Q: Do you have a favorite alternate universe of Oddity Woods?

A: I like the role swap alternate universe, because I think the outfits are cute. Marietta would be an unhinged inventor, Wyatt would be a very careful detective.

Q: Is the girl in the portrait on page 36 Gloria’s daughter?! I think it is her because Gloria’s last name is Mornings and on the missing board, the first letter of that girls last name is ‘M’!

A: Good eye. We will probably learn more soon. : )

Misfit Mansion

Q: What is the relationship between Kel and June? I kinda see June as a grandmother figure to Kel.

A: Yeah I think she could be a parental figure to him! Kel lost his parents when he was very young, so I think he values his friendship with June.

Q: How did you come up with Larkspur’s new design?

A: Rereading MM, I was surprised at how baby Larkspur looked... I wanted him to look like a teenager in MM2, so I tried hard to make him look older. It's funny because when I first pitched MM, the publisher asked me to make the characters look a little older... and for Larkspur to look a little less cute. This was the first design I made of him vs the final. He still looks cute oops.

Q&A # 15 - May Questions

Here comes a new round of questions! There were a LOT submitted over this month (thank you all so much for sending them!!!), so I’ve decided to split this one up and post the other half in a few weeks. As usual, lots of Oddity Woods questions, some I can’t really answer yet, but I’ll do my best!

Oddity Woods

Q: When will book two be released?

A: While I don’t have an exact date yet, I’ve heard it’s scheduled for some time next summer! It’s a bit of a wait, but I promise it will be worth it… there’s so much lore and mystery and drama I can’t wait to show. In the meantime, I’ll continue posting art and answering questions when I can!

Q: Will Marietta ever see her family again as ghosts?

A: I can’t say. But I think we will learn a little more about her past family soon…

Q: Who started the town fire? Or was it a wildfire?

A: The police think it was an arson, so it’s likely someone was responsible. Another mystery we may learn more about in the next book!

Q: What inspired you to create Lawrence? Besides him being the ride to places (as I saw in something you had drawn) how else will he be important?

I like writing villains who are really bad at being villains. He was going to just be a character that appeared in the inn chapter, but people ended up liking him a lot in the webcomic days and I started liking him too haha. So now he’s an important character! I’m going to save it for book two, but I’ll say that Lawrence is probably the nicest and most responsible character in Oddity Woods weirdly enough. You can have some old concept of him from 2017!

Q: Will characters like Lawrence's family, Whistle the ghost dog and Anita return along with some cut characters from the webcomic?

A: Most of the minor characters shown in book 1 will come back in some way throughout the series! I don’t think any cut characters will appear though, there’s not much room for them.

Q: I know that Harris and Lawrence are stepbrothers. Looking at the pictures, the painting, and the memory Lawrence looks uncomfortable and Harris is in more of them. Is Lawrence worried that Harris is replacing him?

A: Good eye. I think Lawrence definitely had a hard time getting used to his new family and his curse, which is probably why he acted out so much. But I think he does care for them deep down, and realized that when Harris was in danger.

Q: Are werewolves really Wyatt's favorite paranormal creature?

A: Wyatt likes all paranormal creatures equally and will equally geek out about them. Except for ghosts. He hates ghosts.

Q: I noticed when reading that it looks like Lawrence, Harris, Susi, and Arthur have fur jackets. Are they all real or faux fur?

A: Arthur’s is real fur because he sucks. : (

Q: How exactly do werewolves work in Oddity Woods? It seemed like they could choose to transform if they wanted too but I wasn't sure. Also, is Harris, Lawrences and their moms having yellow eyes related to them being werewolves?

A: Werewolves can transform at will as long as the moon is out! And yep, their eyes are yellow because of their curse. They used to have normal eyes!

Q: Does Lawrence read manga? Is he a weeb?

A: I don’t think manga exists in Oddity Woods, but like, yes.

Q: What Pokemon would the Oddity Woods cast have?

Misfit Mansion

Q: What are the Misfit Mansion characters' favorite ice cream flavors? I feel like Iris is the type of person to like really bizarre ones.

A: Yeah Iris would try any flavor once! Agnes likes vanilla, Mathias chocolate, Kel prefers sorbet, Dahlia would like bitter flavors like matcha or mint… Larkspur doesn’t like to be cold so he’d probably prefer cake or hot chocolate.

Q: Will June probably show up again as a minor character or something?

A: We’ll see! :O

Misfit Mansion Art - May 2026

A few random MM drawings from the past few months! As a note, I’ll be trying to post a Q&A every month as long as there are questions to answer, so feel free to send them in for later this month!

Also a crossover with the video game Animal Crossing!

Q&A #14 - April Questions

Happy April! We’ve got a LOT of questions rounded up for this month, thanks for sending them in!

Q: What was Owen and Velia's relationship like, and how did Owen feel when he saw what happened to her and how her spirit was destroying everything?

A: Owen and Velia were boyfriend/girlfriend and childhood friends. I think after seeing her as the poltergeist, Owen was mostly thinking of getting revenge on who he thought killed her (Lawrence). That and needing a soul to survive. He didn’t have much time to think about much else, which is why he acted so recklessly at the end. Maybe things could have been different if they had crossed paths earlier buuuut I don’t think it would have ended well for them either way, unfortunately.

Q: I noticed that in the back section with the character bios it says Marietta doesn't like fires. Is she afraid of them since her family died in a fire?

A: Yup, she was able to hold herself together on the train (maybe ghost fire is a little different) but she isn’t a fan! She also has scars on her arms from it.

Q: How much does Wyatt remember his past? Does he only not remember how he got to the woods, or is it like total amnesia up to the point of getting stuck there?

A: Wyatt doesn’t remember anything before his time in the woods. He doesn’t know how he got there or why he’s there in the first place. He’s been living in the wild, a real outdoorsman (joking). But it seems he’s starting to remember some stuff…

Q: I noticed one of the kids on the missing posters was in the photo in Officer Doubts's car. Is she his daughter?

A: She’s someone!!

Q: I'm a little confused about what happened to Owen at the end. Did he turn into a monster and then the Conducter stole his soul??? Or did the Conducter take it right before his time ran out?

A: He turned into a monster off screen, and the Conductor took his soul! The Conductor has rules he follows, including not entering buildings of residents in the woods, and not harming people from the living world (unless they cross him first). Because he couldn’t reach Velia’s soul, he wasn’t going to give Owen’s soul a chance to do the same.

Q: How long has Wyatt been stuck in the woods? He made it sound like he'd been there for about 3 years at most, but those detectives implied that he had been there for 8 years or something.

A: I’ll save this for book two, but we do know from book one that time works differently in the woods!

Q: I noticed the Storyteller has multiple arms, and multiple bug-like eyes. Is she sort of spider-like, sort of like how the Conductor is bird-like?

A: What?! No way, she’s a perfectly normal human being! R-right…?

Q: Where does Leo keep getting all those snacks? Is it magic, or do they have a bunch of deep, hidden pockets?

A: Leo’s powers are unfathomable and fueled by snacks. But most likely, it’s because they used to be a magician!

Q: So, Lawrence has a crush on Wyatt, right? Would that ever become a thing? Because I think it's very cute, I sort of ship it...

A: He has a crush yeah. Unfortunately Lawrence is kind of bad at feelings and Wyatt is kind of bad at catching on to stuff so…… good luck bro.

Q: Will we get answers to all the mysteries by the end? I'm very invested in this book.

A: I hope to answer as many as I can by the end!!!

Misfit Mansion

Q: Since Poppy Playtime chapter five is out, what does Dahlia think of it?

A: She probably thinks Lily is a lot but also thinks her outfit is cute so she gets a pass.

Q: Are we going to see Anemone in the next book? Because it felt she wanted revenge on everyone.

A: It’s a safe bet that she will probably show up again…

Q: Did Larkspur ever have any hobbies before Halloway locked him in the basement/does he have any hobbies right now?
A: He liked spending time outdoors. I think after he returned to the house, he watched a lot of daytime television and ended up interested in cooking.



Misfit Mansion Sketches - Hair Styles

The official hair lore for Misfit Mansion that no one asked for but I made anyway! Something I really liked about the upcoming sequel was getting to design everyone to look slightly different/older. Whenever I reread the first book, I'm always shocked at how tiny they all were!

Q&A #10- Misfit Mansion Random Questions

Q: In Misfit Mansion I saw that Kel gains a fish tail when he goes to sleep in his pool of water, so how does that work?

A: When Kelpies get wet/ go into water, their legs turn into fish tails!

Q: How long have Agnes, Kel, and Dahlia been at the house?

A: I think Agnes was fairly young when she was found, so she was probably around 7? I’ve always thought Agnes was the first of the three main characters to arrive, while Kel arrived a little later, after Iris. That’s why Agnes took on an older sister role with them. Dahlia’s been there a bit longer than all three of them.

Q: At the time of the first book, how many horrors are living in the house?

A: Maybe a little under 100. More move in before the second book!

Q: Is there a third book planned, or is it just gonna be the two?

A: There’s only two planned. I do have an idea for a third one, but that’s up to the publisher!

Q: What would the Misfit Mansion cast’s favorite Pokemon be?

A:

Q&A #7 - Misfit Mansion Dreamon Lore

Q: What was Larkspur up to between the year of him leaving the house and returning at the end of Misfit Mansion?

A: I think he just kind of roamed around on his own contemplating life. Did he want to come back after what happened? Ultimately, he decided to give it another shot (and surviving in the wild sucked). I think deep down Larkspur wants to be a part of the family but is still angry about the past. Misfit Mansion 2 will explore these feelings more.

Q: Could a dreamon’s color palette change from the blue shades to something else if their dreamer thought of them as a different color?

A: I’ve thought about this before, and I kind of like the idea that dreamons are always some shade of blue regardless if their dreamer tries to imagine them differently. Some can be darker or lighter shades, including their hair.

Q: Why didn’t Iris become a monster during the first years of her life, when Mathias thought all horrors were monsters? Wouldn’t that turn her into one automatically? Or was it the fact that Mathias was unaware of her existence that made her have her appearance?

A: I think if Iris didn’t immediately leave she probably would have changed. I think for dreamons to turn into monsters, their dreamers have to specifically have those feelings towards them, not just for horrors in general, if that makes sense? Also I don’t really know how fearful of horrors Mathias actually was, or if a lot of it was just regurgitating stuff Anemone said, since he’d never really met one before.

Q: You mentioned that Iris and Mathias are the same height, but Larkspur and Mr. Halloway definitely aren’t (monster-Larkspur is definitely not the exact same height as Mr. Halloway), and Iris and Mathias seem to be the same age physically but Larkspur and Halloway aren’t, so what is the correlation in height and age of dreamons and their dreamers?

A: I think this depends on how the dreamer initially imagines them! The ages get a little weird, because Iris is 11 in the first book like Mathias, but she technically has only existed for 3-ish years. Larkspur was a child when he first came into existence, and even though he’s been around for 20+ years, he’s still a teenager. Probably something to do with him being locked away during this time, it’s a little weird. BUT I can say that Larkspur and Iris’s origins are talked about more in Misfit Mansion 2, and also why their situations are a little different.

Q: What did Larkspur eat in the basement? If Halloway was feeding him, how did he get the food down there without breaking the seal?

A: He was fueled by anger and bugs (this is just a joke, since it isn’t something I really thought about, but I’m sure he got food!).

Q&A #6 - Dahlia Facts

Q: Where did Dahlia get that giant needle?

A: It's a mystery... but she probably just kept requesting one until Halloway somehow found a big enough needle. She makes all her art with it! I like to think she sticks it in her back when she's not using it.

Q: What kind of doll is Dahlia? Is she a wind up doll, stress doll, rag doll, or dancing doll?

A: She's like a Raggedy Ann doll, so a rag doll! I think she can probably swap her limbs if she wanted, and change out her yarn hair for other styles/colors.

Q: Does Dahlia play Poppy Playtime?

A: I guess if any of the characters would be willing to play/beat it, it would have to be Dahlia.

Q&A #3 - Misfit Mansion Side Characters

Q: What are the names of the vampire and the headless kid?

A: Victor and Willow! They didn't have many scenes in MM, but I think they're good friends.

Q: A small favor if you don't mind, I'd really been wondering who some of the unnamed Misfit Mansion characters were! (Snake girl, the fairy with the pink hair, the big dragon, the headless girl, the little vampire, and the 2 ghost kids!)

A: The Medusa character is Morgana, the fairy is Truffle, and the ghost girl is Charlotte. Not sure right now what the others are named, but I'll think more about it. Tysm!

Q: Can Morgana turn others into stone, and if she can, can she reverse it?

A: I think so, to both of these!

Q&A #2 - Misfit Mansion Character Ages & Heigths

Q: How old were the characters in Misfit Mansion?

A: Iris & Mathias - 11, Agnes- 12, Kel - 10, Dahlia - 12, Larkspur - 15.

Dreamon ages are a little weird. Iris has only existed for maybe 5 years and Larkspur has been around over 20 years, but these are their physical ages!

Q: Do the horror kids age out of the house? Could they be adopted by members of their own kind?

A: I don't think the residents there have to leave once they reach a certain age (some of the horrors in the house are actually pretty old/are adults!), but they can if they want. I see it as like a "come and go as you need, stay if you want" kind of situation!

Q: How old is everyone in Misfit Mansion 2?

A: The sequel takes place 2 years after the first book, so Iris is now 13, Agnes is 14, etc.!

Q: How tall are the characters?

A: Iris is probably 4'9, or just an average height of an 11-year-old. I haven't thought too much about the others, but Iris and Mathias are always the same height.

Q&A #1 - Iris Facts

Q: Is it possible for Iris to change her appearance based on how she perceives herself?

A: Good question! I think there's a lot to explore about how dreamons work... and it’s definitely going to be a plot point for MM2!

Q: Does Iris have a favorite food? Also, do dreamons usually have large appetites?

A: I think Iris likes to try a bunch of different foods, but she's definitely a fan of any type of snack food. Dreamon appetites are pretty similar to humans! Though Iris has eaten paper in the past…

Q: When Iris dances, does her tail accidentally hit others around her? Can she use her tail as a spring to jump higher?

A: Probably, to both of these! Though I doubt she can jump too much higher.

Q: Why are the only two dreamons we know of (Iris and Larkspur) named after flowers? Why is the only other flower-named character Anemone?

A: Halloway named both Larkspur and Iris, so that’s why they are both flowers. I don’t remember why I gave Anemone that name LOL. Fun fact— I also didn’t realize Dahlia was a flower name, I just chose that one because it sounded like “doll.”