This week's guest is Elizabeth Corrigan, author of the fantastic Oracle of Philadelphia and Raising Chaos books. After reading Oracle of Philadelphia, I learned that she had a Pinterest board of potential movie stars to play her characters, and I just knew that we were "kindred spirits" (as Anne Shirley would say), as I often "cast" characters as I read books too! In today's post we'll see what Elizabeth is up to when she's not writing or Pinning.
I have always loved stories in whatever form they take, be they books, television, movies, or cobbled bits of dreamstuff in my head. So one day as I was pondering my other hobby of video and tabletop games, I realized that the reason I loved them so much was that they were also stories, with the added incentive of being interactive stories. Not only did I get to experience the triumphs and tribulations of fictional beings, but I got to make the decisions and take out the bad guys myself. These days when I’m not writing—or, you know, at my day job, which is sadly necessary for things like paying rent and feeding my cats—I’m generally involved in something to do with a tabletop role playing game (RPGs). I participate in games several times a month, and if I’m not at a session, I’m doing something game-related—creating a character, familiarizing myself with a scenario so that I can run it for other people, reading sourcebooks so I can learn about the world, or scheduling games like the overachiever I am (because I can’t participate in an organization with other people for more than a few months without volunteering for some role.) One of the best things about all this gaming is that there is so much writing and story creation involved. Companies that put out RPGs have many writers on staff to create the stories and worlds that players interact with. In my interactions with fellow gamers, I have met several people who are as desirous of writing professionally for a licensed game company as any author I know is of landing that dream New York agent and Big 6 contract. All of the things that are important in writing a book—detailed descriptions, complex characters, well thought-out plots, good editing—are just as crucial for game writing. I confess that I have not branched too much into game writing as of yet, but I do use my writing and storytelling skills in my gaming. I need to come up with characters to play, and it helps to have a plethora of characters hanging out in my book closet to make. Usually I like to play moral characters who uphold justice and truth, and I’ve turned Kadin Stone from Catching a Man and Siren from Raising Chaos into holy warriors to fight the good fight. But I’ve recently played with creating an evil character who exists only for the game, and Adrienne, my assassin with serrated swords, will soon be press ganged onto a pirate ship. I do some other things when I am not writing as well—reading, hanging out with friends, faffing around on the internet. I’ve found that tabletop RPGs create plenty of opportunities for creativity, leadership, and the chance to spend time with like-minded people. So I foresee doing this for a good while longer.
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Thanks so much for visiting us, Elizabeth! For more about Elizabeth and her books, check out the following links:
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Here's the scoop on Catching a Man:
There's more than one way to catch a man.
Kadin Stone's life is finally going according to plan. She's starting her new job as a homicide detective's aide at one of the premier criminal investigation companies in Valeriel City, the capital of a 1950’s-style kingdom. Kadin is certain her new position will introduce her to any number of eligible men, so she'll finally be able to get married and stop burdening the brother who insists on supporting her.
On Kadin’s first day, the royal family calls in her team to investigate the murder of gossip-rag cover girl Queen Callista. Kadin’s superiors think it’s an open and shut case. The queen’s jilted lover Duke Baurus DeValeriel had motive, means, and opportunity, but Kadin can’t help but spot holes in their theory.
After checking into a few leads of her own, Kadin inadvertently ends up in the confidence of Duke Baurus. When she tries to share what she knows with the rest of the team, she finds them unwilling to listen to the opinion of a girl who they know is only after a ring on her finger. In order to see justice served, Kadin finds herself doing the last thing she expected when she started working for a homicide detective—solve a murder!
Purchase her latest book, Catching a Man: Amazon
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