BookWenches

Interviewed by Bobby

Hi Sophia. Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to talk to us. We enjoy being able to get to know the authors we read, and we know that our visitors do as well!

Tell me a little about Sophia Titheniel the author. How did you get started? Tell me the story about having your first story published. Did becoming a published author live up to your expectations?

I’ve always written, as far back as I can remember. I love writing, I always walk around with stories buzzing through my head. I started writing in fandom, as every teenager writer does at some point or another. Two years ago, I started working on my first original concept, Dance Wars. And it just happened that I talked about it to my favorite published M/M author, thanking her for inspiring me, and she pushed me to present the book to a publisher. I went to Changeling Press, and I’ve not left ever since. Being a published author is… I don’t know how to explain it. I think I feel rewarded, and at the same time I am pushed to improve myself, to bring to my readers the best quality and the best stories I can craft.

I’ve seen writers referring to “needing to write” versus “wanting to write.” How about you? What motivates you to pick up the pen or pound on the keyboard? Who or what would you consider to be your “muse”?

I need to write, absolutely. I can’t help but write, I carry my laptop everywhere, and every time there’s something that catches my attention, I need to stop and jot it down, whether be it on paper or on my computer. I think there are stories I want to tell, and stories I need to tell – not necessarily those are the same, but the drive behind them generates from the same source. My muses… they are fickle. Music has a great part in my life, and it’s surely a source of inspiration. Then… I dunno. Coffee, I suppose? It’s not a muse, but it surely helps the writer to keep going! ;)

Tell me about your “day job.” Am I correct to infer from your website that you are a full-time student?

I am a full time student at VFS, a private film school in Vancouver. I’m attending a one year intensive course in screenwriting. Prior to this, I worked as a photographer and as video editor and graphic making back in my country, Italy. 

Your website says that you are a video editor and photographer as well. Do tell!

Haha, there’s not much to tell. I have a deep, profound love for storytelling, and filmmaking, editing included, is part of the same machine, when used well. It’s what draw me to it in the first place. My photography is majorly portraits, even though I did some commercial and modeling photography for awhile. I always worked, to support myself through University and school now, but I always choose medias that were closer to my heart’s goal, which was to be a full-time storyteller.

Your webpage mentions that you are looking forward to giving you professors a heart attack with your m/m writing. Have you been successful shocking the snot out of them yet?

Oh boy, yes it has. So far it has been more my classmates than my teachers, though. My teachers have been very supportive and very understanding of all my material, which is really a relief when you’re working on a script that deals with homophobia in Texas, and a forbidden relationship between a student and his art teacher… 

I see that you keep a blog on your website. What motivates you to blog an entry?

Hmmm… I don’t really blog much. I am terrible at the whole internet thing, and even just adding an entry is source of stress. ;) I also have not that much care for my website, alas. But I have made a vow that when I’m through with school I will revamp it completely, so maybe I will also take the time to put more effort into my blogging. Either that, or have some guest speaking up! ;) 

What do you do for fun that takes you away from the keyboard?

It’s horrifying to say, but very little. I stress-bake, and I enjoy cooking pretty much all there is on the typical Italian menu. I also read a lot, especially when I commute from my house to school.

How regimented a writer are you? Do you schedule time on a regular basis to write, or do you wait for your muse to strike and then write madly until you’re done?

I’m pretty good on writing on deadlines and I do all my best work under pressure, be it for school, or for my editor. I can have two months to write a book, or two weeks to hand in pages to my teachers, and I will wait until two days before the deadline before actually getting onto it. And surprisingly, that’s always my best work. I can write for seven hours straight without moving from my fluffy bed cushions.

Why do you think erotic fiction is so popular right now? What caused you to choose to write this genre?

I think it’s the ultimate escapism, an in darker times, everyone needs it. It’s the reason why I started reading erotica, and later on, writing erotica. I was in a very dark place in my mind, and I needed to break away from that, find some fun, something exotic and extravagant that would make me feel good. 

You have written your Dance Wars stories in the present tense, which I found unusual but which also drew me in to the story. What caused you to choose this nontraditional approach, and what did you mean to accomplish using it?

I wish I had a more entertaining answer for this, but it’s just a byproduct of my training. Scripts are written in the present tense. Screenwriting is very strict about it, and I got used to it to the point that I always leaned towards books that were written in the present tense, and I tended to use it in my own writings, as well. It also helps with the tension, and the building of gritty, thrilling action in the Dance Wars series. I changed style for Damon’s, which deals with elves and is written in the past tense, slower and more seductive, like a slow burn.

Dance Wars presents us with a grim, post-apocalyptic world. What was your inspiration for such a setting?

My favorite genre in movie making is dystopia, and I find it sad that so few sci-fi movies have dealt with this concept. Dystopias fascinate me because they present a very dark side of the world, but at the same time pass a very hopeful message. Despite the apocalypse, despite the wars, the destruction, despite everything, humans (or creatures) are still hanging in there, and the feelings are the same. Survival is the strongest drive in the human being, and curiously, the strongest aphrodisiac ever! ;)

What causes you to write a series instead of a stand-alone story? I’ve noticed that Changeling Press in particular publishes a lot of series stories. When you write a series, do you plan the entire saga out first, or do you see where each story takes you before planning the next?

I hardly plan, or if I do, I end up changing my plans as I go along. My teachers haven’t yet managed to extricate that out of me. I also think I tend to overwrite, so series for me are perfect because they give me the time to delve into the characters’ arcs a little more. I also have a very random mind. I am easily distracted, so I will be writing about something and make up a plot-device character for exposition… and that character takes off in a whole different way and gets its own story. My plot bunnies get away with me. Series are a great tool because they allow me to keep the story in shape without needing to cut interesting secondary plots.

I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek references to Lord of the Rings you used in Speed Dating. I’m going to assume that you are a LOTR buff, so tell me…who is your favorite character in LOTR and why?

Legolas and Aragorn, of course. I still think Aragorn married the wrong elf! ;) No kidding, I have been a huge Lord of the Rings fan since I was 11, when I first read the book, and the movies just cemented my love. Legolas’s loyalty to Aragorn and to the fellowship just mesmerize me, just as his relationship with his father as taken from the books and then his camaraderie with Gimli in the movies… everything about him just makes me want to take him home and engage him in a drinking game. I’m Italian, I can hold my liquor better than a dwarf! ;)

When you created Alyan, your socially inept elf for Speed Dating, were you looking to create the anti-Elrond?

More like the anti-Legolas. I love Elrond dearly, but I look for a younger, if I can use that word, elf. Less experienced in the grand scheme of things for his kind, and not as skilled in the “battle” which in this case, it’s the social and night-life battle.

What do you have planned for Damon’s? Will we see Alyan and Damon in future stories?

You will. They are always there, scheming and plotting. Plus, they own the club, and Damon especially is like Meredith – he likes to meddle. However, the focus of each book will be on a different character and a different storyline.

What can your readers expect from you in the future? Will you give us a peek into what you are currently working on?

I’ve just now finished Blind Date, the second book in the Damon’s series, and started Masked, the third one. Blind Date will be out on Sept. 18^th, and we will meet Jesse, the closeted (and virgin) human waiter/bartender at Damon’s as he tries to break out of his routine and, to use Damon’s words, “live a little”.

Now, what have I forgotten? Is there anything you would like to share that I’ve neglected to ask you about?

There are a few free stories in each of my verse on the Changeling Ezine, so be sure to check them out, see if you like anything in there. ;) 

Finally, where can our readers to go learn more about you and your work? And to buy your books?

You can peek around my yahoo loop, where you will find more excerpts, fun chat days, games, contest, and a lot more -- Sophia's Yahoo Group.

Of course, my website, www.sophiatitheniel.net, and my Changeling page, where all my stories are archivied.

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Thanks so much, Sophia. It's such a pleasure to get to know you a little better. Our best to you!