Living With the Enemy

Intermission

Author's Note: Yep, I'm doing an intermission/ question-and-answer session, partly becaue I'm planning to have 12 chapters, and we're at the halfway point. Don't worry, you'll get chapter 7 soon, I have it all written and ready to go. I just want to do this first. P.S.: I am a nerd. That is not a bad thing. As a bratty ten-year-old girl famously said: Deal with it.

Question: Oh, great and wonderful [NAME EXPUNGED], how did you come up with the idea for this story?

Answer: Good question. As anyone who knows me in real life and is involved with this story probably knows, it started when my English class began reading The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton, and we got study guides for it. In the study guide, there was a list of vocabulary words, one of them being the word 'empyrean' which I thought would make a great superhero name, especially for a person with pyrokinetic powers. So I started thinking about what powers my friends and I would have if we were superheroes, and I added in the idea of the main character's brother being a villain, and the story was born.

Question: So, how much of this story is based on real life?

Answer: Well, it pretty much IS my life, if all my friends and I (and some of my enemies) had superpowers, we had different names, I hadn't been friends with a certain person in middle school, and if I only had a brother and no sisters.

Question: What were your inspirations when writing it?

Answer: Well, obviously I was inspired by every piece of superhero-related media in existence, but especially The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl and X-Men:Evolution, with some Wordgirl thrown in there for good measure.

Question: When she first gets her powers, Ember believes they are "evil" and "only used for destruction". Do you agree?

Answer: Absolutely not. Fire is NOT evil, and I for one would love to have that power. It's like one of the most awesome powers ever! Like Ember's mom said, it's associated with warmth and light, plus you can defend yourself with it, and you can also heal people with it. Ever heard of cauterization? Yeah, that's basically what it is- healing people using fire. Also, there are some great heroes who use it, and they're all unambiguously good. These people include:

Magma

Firestar

Heatblast

Swampfire

Hotspot

Warren Peace

Lavagirl

The Human Torch

Flame Boy

Wheeler

Leo Valdez

Zuko

Jeong Jeong

Aang

Iroh

Mako

Korra

Iroh II

See? Fire isn't as evil as you may think! I mean, sure, there are probably some evil pyrokinetics, but they're lesser-known.But heck, even LASERS are considered good next to fire! Why does it get such a bad rep?

Question: O_O...anyway, why was Ember acting all lovey-dovey around Dylan in chapter 5, but pretty much says that she hates him in chapter 6?

Answer: Basically, she was...confused. In chapter 5, she was kind of warming up to him and being friendly to him, but then she's like," What did I just do? This is all wrong!" and totally flips out because of that.

Question: Are you aware that there is a story on Wattpad called Ember, also about a girl named Ember who can control fire?

Answer: I definitely am, and that story is way better than anything I could conjure up. That writer, whoever they are, is a genius, and I hope to see many more stories from them in the future. Also, I didn't copy them. I wrote the first chapter of LWTE before I saw that, and was like, "What? I didn't have an original idea? Oh, crap, now people are going to think I copied that story."

Question: When do you usually write your stories?

Answer: Basically, whenever I'm bored and I have a good idea for one of them. This is also usually during study hall at my school. But sometimes, I actually start writing during one of my classes, which my friends have discouraged.

Question: How did you choose your characters' powers?

Answer: For many of them, I just emailed my friends and asked them what superpower they would have. But for the villains, I just chose them based on their personality. For example, Damien/Blazon is super-strong and can create explosive balls of energy, because in real life, the person I based him off of is a football star and has an explosive personality that almost rivals mine.

Question: What about the names of the characters and their superhero names?

Answer: Almost every superhero name I use is an actual word in the dictionary, which was where I got most of them. I based their superhero names, and, for the most part, their real names, off either their powers or personality. For example, Ember's last name, Harridan, means "a bad-tempered woman", Saturnine (whose superhero name means "gloomy" and has power over darkness) was named Ebony, which of course means 'black', and Dylan's last name is Delphin, after the ancient Greek god of dolphins. Either of those, or they're shout outs to famous superheroes/ other people with similar abilities. For example, Kat's name is short for Katherine, which is also the real name of Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, another superheroine with the power of intangibility, and Ava (who has flight powers and telekinesis) has the last name Ride, just like Maximum Ride, from the series of the same name, an avian (bird)-human hybrid, who has flight powers as well.

I could explain every name in this book, but you probably don't want me to.

Question: What about their middle names?

Answer: ...I didn't think about that until just now. Um...Ember's middle name is going to be either Phoenix or Lilandra, but I don't know which one will actually be her middle name yet. Damien's middle name is definitely Alexander. I love the name Alexander...okay, moving on! Dylan's middle name is Perseus, because, well...water powers. First name means 'son of the sea'. Percy Jackson. Need I say more? Cam's full name is Cameron Donna Jo Margaret Chamois. Not kidding. Guess her parents were Full House fans? /shot. Ava's middle name is Angela, and Marie's is Anna.

Question: Will Ember and Dylan get together, despite their differences?

Answer: Actually, I can't answer that. You'll have to find out for yourself.

Question: What's coming up next in the story?

Answer: A lot. Those who know me in real life know I've been working hard on the next few chapters, and y'all are in for several big surprises.