Inside IDIA: The History of IDIA

Before I get started on this post, I just want to remind everyone that the IDIA Fan Creations Contest is open for submissions! You can see the entries I’ve already received on the new IDIA Fan Art page. Go check them out! They’re so cool, and they may give you inspiration for your own creations. 🙂 Now, on to the post!

Hullo, friends! Remember that poll where I asked all of you what you wanted to see me post? Well, one of the top things was an Inside IDIA series, where I talk about various Easter eggs, characters, and behind the scenes info for the series. I decided that the best place to start this would be with a history of how I came up with the idea for IDIA. So let’s begin, shall we?

I may have talked about the origins of IDIA a few times, but mostly just in vague mentions, never in detail. I was rereading some old stories and realized that the tale of IDIA is one worth telling.

The first thing I came up with was the name: The International Defense and Intelligence Agency. To begin with, it had absolutely nothing to do with superheroes. I actually first used it as a normal spy-type government agency in a sci-fi novella I wrote, partially for a creative writing class. I was honestly really proud of coming up with an acronym that made a (sort-of) real word and sounded official. I finished the book and even used a few characters in one of my Tales From The Writer’s Desk, but I ended up deciding that sci-fi wasn’t my thing and left that novella on my computer to gather virtual dust. (I actually went back and read that story, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Although if I ever decide to publish it, I’ll have to rename that spy agency…)

A year or two later, I came up with the idea (he-he) for Twinepathy, and I was looking for a name for the organization of superheroes. Somehow, IDIA came to mind again, and I decided to give the organization a revamping. Lo and behold, the IDIA you know today was born! I had a ton of help from beta readers smoothing out the organization. The various ranks in IDIA (alphas, betas, deltas, gammas, and omegas) weren’t added in until a later draft of the story, and helped make IDIA more structured and official. So thanks to beta readers and creative writing class, we have the IDIA you know today!

What do you think of how IDIA came about? Have any similar stories? What did you think of this post? Comment below with your thoughts!

Beautiful People: Albany’s Childhood | Fantastic Friday

Hullo, everyone! I kind of… forgot about posting, didn’t I? Whoops. I was trying to figure out what I could do for a Fantastic Friday post this week, and I had pretty much decided to just wait and do the Monday post I was planning, but then this month’s Beautiful People link-up appeared in my inbox! So why not? I was originally planning to use Anvil for the next Beautiful People, but since this one is a childhood edition, I decided it would be better to use Albany, since Anvil’s would be… not happy. Well, let’s get on with the questions!

1. What are their first childhood memory? Albany has a lot of vague “first memories,” but the first one that’s actually clear is the first time she and Brooklyn communicated telepathically, which was when they were about three. That was the first time they realized they were doing it, at least. It was a very traumatic moment and consisted of lots confused baby talk in their heads.
2. What were their best and worst childhood experiences? Her best childhood experience was probably the time she spent with her dad and Denver at a playground for three hours. That’s one of her older memories, but a favorite one. Her worst childhood experience was probably the time she fell off a tall slide, off the side, or any other time when her curiosity got her into trouble.
3. What was their childhood home like? It was an averaged sized house, but it was an older house, so it had lots of fun nooks and crannies to hide in. It was certainly a happy place, and they were sad to leave it.
4. What’s something that scared them as child? Albany was absolutely terrified of heights when she was younger. Bugs and snakes she could handle, but put her up on a tall ladder and you would find out how loud she could scream–and how tight she could hold onto something.
5. Who did they look up to most? Her older Denver, for sure. To her, he was the most awesome person in the world, and she would follow him around everywhere she could. Until he got too cool to have his little sister hanging around him. But he got over that phase pretty quickly.
6. Favourite and least favourite childhood foods?  I’m not sure she had a least favorite food, but if she did, it would probably be broccoli or something like that. Her favorite food growing up was Mac and Cheese. Any kind, anywhere. Especially if it had breadcrumbs on top.
7. If they had their childhood again, would they change anything? Albany would probably say no. She loves they way her life is, and she wouldn’t want anything to change that. Plus, she had a really good childhood.
8. What kind of child were they? Curious? Wild? Quiet? Devious? Heh. Need this even be a question? She was the most curious child on the face of the planet–still is, in fact. She got into trouble quite a bit, and relied on Brooklyn to help her out.
9. What was their relationship to their parents and siblings like? Albany was close to her parents when she was little, and told them everything (still does, if she can), but she was always closer to Denver and Brooklyn. She and Brooklyn went everywhere together, since they were twins, not to mention they had their telepathic connection. And as I mentioned before, she adored Denver.
10. What did they want to be when they grew up, and what did they actually become? When Albany was little, she wanted to be a character in a book. Not kidding. Because don’t all bookworms want that at some point? (Don’t tell her, but she got her wish!) There were times when she wanted to be a princess or an elf, and sometimes she decided she wanted to be a spy or a president. Nothing normal, that’s for sure. As of yet, all she’s become is a superhero, so…

I hope you enjoyed getting to learn about Albany’s childhood! She’s an adorable character, and I can’t wait for all of you to read Twinepathy in its full and final form soon!

Writings About Writing – Those We Love, Part Three

Part 1 and Part 2

Here’s a tough question. (One I don’t have an answer to, too.) Why do people like some villains?

I mean, really. They’re the bad guys. (Ahem, Loki, Moriarty… Read more in this post from my other blog.) We’re not necessarily supposed to like the bad guys.

That said, maybe we can learn a lesson or two from these bad guys, to apply to the characters we want our readers to like.

Appearance. We live in a culture that is totally concerned with how people look. If you think about it, yeah. Most of the characters that get fangirled over (if that’s even the right term) are “cute”.

Backstory. This is the bigger of these two points. Now, I don’t know about Moriarty, since I haven’t watched BBC’s Sherlock, and he certainly wasn’t that likable in the books, but (from what I’ve watched, remember that I’ve only seen him in The Avengers) Loki’s got a pretty sad backstory. Adoption, under his brother’s shadow, and all of that. People like characters with sad backstories. Just don’t give your character a tragic backstory that has absolutely nothing to do with your story. Have it play in somehow.

That said, it’s back to editing… So long, friends!

Do you like characters with tragic backstories? Do you like Loki or Moriarty? Do any of your favorite  characters (in your stories or others) have a sad story, and how does that play into the overall story? Do you think a backstory needs to affect the overall story?