Interview: Rhonda Parrish, author of “Shades of Green” and “Sister Margaret”

EEEEEK!

I’ve been sitting on this wonderful interview with author Rhonda Parrish and I completely forgot I had it! I’m so embarassed.

Rhonda was kind enough to answer these questions about her story and her own writing style. Thank you, Rhonda!

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Rhonda, “Shades of Green” was a very touching novella. I really enjoyed Z’thrandra and, while we learn in the novel she is the last of the Swamp Elves, do you have more stories about her people and the Reptars? Can we expect to see more stories set in Aphanasia, whether they’re in the past, present or future of the world?

You know, Z’thandra is sure she’s the last of her kind, but I’m not so certain. LOL I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t currently have any other stories written featuring Swamp Elves, but it could happen. I have written several other stories set in Aphanasia – most of them take place quite a long time after Shades of Green. I love writing in this setting, so it’s a safe bet you’ll see more of Aphanasia.

As a writer, I’m always curious as to how stories are constructed. How did you construct this one? What was your spark of inspiration? Did you know what was going to happen before you set pen to paper?

I knew how this story was going to end when I started it, and I sort of knew how it was going to start, but I had no idea what was going to happen in the middle. No idea at all. To answer the question about inspiration, I wish I could think of one thing and point to it and say ‘This. Yes. That’s what inspired this story.’ But like most of my stories, it’s not that simple. I’d already written a novelette currently titled “There” where I first encountered Z’thandra and the Reptar. I wanted to write more about the Reptar and I wanted to know more about Z’thandra, so I wrote this story to find out about her and share what I knew about the Reptar.

Many authors have many different writing routines. I know authors who write first thing in the morning and I tend to write a little bit here and a little bit there throughout the day. Do you have a specific writing routine that you perform every day?

Oh man, I wish I did LOL Alas, I totally fail at consistency. When I can pull it off I prefer to write in the mornings because that seems to be when it comes the easiest and I like the product the most. Unfortunately, that rarely seems to happen these days. Right now I’m just writing as I can find/make time. I’m in the process of cutting back all the other things I do (especially World of Warcraft) in order to make more time for writing. Hopefully, someday, I’ll master the trick of creating a routine that I can really stick to and make work. That day is not today.

Writing books (and events such as NaNoWriMo) state you should usually just write and just get the story down on paper. Then go back and work on prettying it up because sometimes it’s easier to edit a rough draft than to write it. What do you think, especially in today’s technological world where it’s altogether too easy to go back and edit until perfect the first time?

I think you should do what works for you. What works for me is to get the first draft done, let it sit for a few weeks and then go back to it and revise, and revise, and revise some more. Some people can’t write like that, but I can’t write effectively in any other way. If I go back and revise as I go I’d never reach the end of the story LoL

Sometimes it’s intimidating to writers to create their own fantasy world and sometimes it’s a matter of knowing where to stop creating the world and to start writing the story! Seems like there has to be a balance between the two. How much background research and worldbuilding do you do before writing the story and how do you know when to start writing and to stop building?

Once upon a time Aphanasia was going to be the setting for an MMORPG, at that time I created a bunch of maps that have since been discarded, but other than that I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and consciously worked on worldbuilding. Ever. I mean, I’m often working things through about the world and sorting through things, but there was never a period where I thought to myself “Okay, now it’s time to do some worldbuilding”.

That being said, I remember taking a course online once about worldbuilding. I think what it accomplished for me was just to help me think through the consequences of my decisions more. To steal an example from Doctor Who, if you have a race of people who have evolved to hold parts of their anatomy in their hand, what effect will that have on their race? They’d have to be peaceful if they were to survive, and their interactions with one another would be vastly different than yours and mine. They’d be unlikely to shake hands, for example…that sort of thing.

I know some people get so wrapped up in worldbuilding that they never actually get around to writing anything in that world. If building worlds is their thing that’s fabulous, but in many cases I’ve seen it’s actually just an excuse to procrastinate. The last thing I need is more of them.

And, it’s been a while, but I’m still pretty sure that the zombie apocalypse is still upon us. Any time now. What five items would you have to have with you in hopes that you would survive this trying time?

My family. I know they aren’t –really- an “item” but they would be the number one thing I’d need to survive, because if they weren’t with me I’d be compelled to go find them, and I think we all know how well that always turns out. I’d also need transportation to get out of the city. City = death. Guns would be good, I’m a pretty good shot. Medication. Asthma sucks. As for five…I’m going with sushi. What? I couldn’t think of a fifth and I love sushi