Author Interview With Madisyn Carlin

Almost exactly two years ago, Madisyn Carlin gave me my first author interview.

That interview actually became a huge step in my writing journey, as I would have never gotten to know Madisyn and eventually published WtSSA and ANW without it.

In honor of it—and just for fun, because why not?—Madisyn posted a new interview with me just a few days ago on her blog, and I now have the honor of interviewing her here!

---

What first inspired you to write?

Thank you for having me, Lucy.

It’s a long story, but long story short I hated writing for a long time. Cue 2015 and a mix of difficult events and Mom’s persistence, and I relented and began writing. Now, I can’t imagine not writing.

How long have you been writing for?

I have been writing for around eight years.

What time of day is your favorite for writing?

I don’t have a preference. Nighttime is mostly when I’m able to sit down and write, but I enjoy writing in the earlier mornings too and watching the sunrise. Mostly, I’m just grateful whenever I have a spare minute to write.

What was the first project you thought you for sure had to publish? In what ways could it *ehem* use improvement?

Well, I very erroneously and very arrogantly believed my first project should be published. Then I thought my following projects were worthy of such a feat.

All are terrible and need a complete revamp, complete with an improved plot and a much-needed writing style update. They need improvement in every way imaginable.

What advice would you give your past self who just started writing?

There is so much I would tell myself, but one thing would be to plan out series and not write more than one series at once.

Who are some of your favorite authors and why?

Focusing specifically on fantasy authors, it is not surprise to anyone who knows me that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are forefront on the list. Tolkien’s masterful worldbuilding and conveyance of emotion provide numerous lessons for any reader seeking to improve in those areas. Lewis, likewise, was a master worldbuilder if incredible talent, just in a different way than Tolkien. I also appreciate Lewis’ allegorical incorporations, as well as his non-fantasy works like Screwtape Letters.

My preteen and teen years were spent reading Donita K. Paul, Wayne Thomas Batson, and Chuck Black, of whom are also featured on my list. Paul is one of my top five favorite authors of all time. Humor, worldbuilding, and faith are at the forefront of the works by all three authors, and I soaked in their creativity while contemplating, in my later teen years, what it would be like to be half as prolific as they are.

Are there any authors who have been especially influential in your writing journey?

I kind of answered this above, but there is an author I blame for piquing my interest in fairy tale retellings. I finished reading Dagger’s Sleep by Tricia Mingerink and immediately went and outlined a twelve-book series (that will probably never see the light of day). So, Mingerink was influential in drawing my attention to the possibility of writing retellings.

What is your favorite writing trope?

I have a few, but one I’m partial toward is the enemies to more trope.

What is your favorite type of character to write?

The grumpy type of character. Probably because I myself am classified as naturally grumpy.

Do you have a favorite published book?

I’m quite partial to ARROW, Shattered Reflection, A Change of Heart, and some that have yet to be revealed/published.

Who would win in a fight? Marcus or Lycus? Redwyn or Anthi?

The boys would tie and I think Redwyn would win. Anthi doesn’t have as much training.

If you had to choose between feeding Barrett sugar-free hot cocoa or removing any mention of him from SR4, which would you do?

Feeding him sugar-free hot chocolate, of course. He’s such a sweetie and doesn’t deserve either cruel fate, but I think being completely removed would be worse than consuming sugar-free hot cocoa.

Thank you so much for letting me interview you, Madi! Hopefully Barrett will never have to drink sugar-free hot cocoa, but I take infinite satisfaction in finally winning that debate. *innocent face*

(If you want to read more results of that debate, check out the interview I did with her epic characters…)

I hope you all enjoyed reading Madisyn’s answers as much as I did! And be sure to check out her blog. (If you are prepared to read absolute cringe, go find my Almost-an-Author interview and compare it to my new interview. XD There’s a fun difference.)