Tlaero: AMA 2

Okay, more questions came in, so I'm doing another post of answers.

"How do you manage to maintain a work/life balance without burning out?"

My day job is one that has a reputation for eating people alive. But, long ago, I made the choice to have a family rather than a sports car. My work life balance there is premeditated and intentional. There are people who work their lives away and make more money, but not more happiness. As for balance between "Tlaero" and the real me, I learned that the hard way. Being out of balance was a large part of what drove me to my premature retirement/meltdown. I'm doing less "Tlaero" now, and it's working out so far.

"When will Miranda make a recovery and appear in a game?"

Miranda will definitely not be in Chasing Beth. I haven't worked out the full story for Dream Corps yet, so I'm not sure about that one, but I can say with certainty that she's not one of the primary characters in that game either. These answers may seem somewhat surprising, considering my answer to the next question, but we're telling other people's stories right now.

"Who is your favorite character in your stories, and why?"

Miranda, for the reasons I stated in the previous AMA answers. Though Xara is a close second. I'm a fan of powerful people who are also broken or flawed. And Xara is incredibly powerful, while being incredibly flawed and broken. I'm really happy with what I did with her in Demon Guard.

"Why do you always write in the same universe rather than making new ones?"

Well, there are at least two universes... I assume the real question is, "Why do you keep going back to the Elsaverse?" There are a lot of answers to that. For one, it's the universe that has the most interesting stories for me to tell. For another, people want to see more of the characters in that universe, and I can really only do that by writing stories in it. That said, my current plan for the game that comes after Dream Corps is set in a new universe.

"Are there any genres you haven't explored but would like to try?"

Well, the obvious one is Science Fiction. That's my historical genre and is what I'm most comfortable with. A challenge there is SF scenery available to Mortze, but he's been getting more and more of it. I'm hopeful that the game we do after Dream Corps will be a Science Fiction one. I'm also interested in writing a "Framed Narrative" because I find that storytelling technique to be cool. But I don't have to wait long for that because Dream Corps will be one.

"What would you write if you didn't have to worry about fan reactions?"

Probably more female protagonist games. And probably less user choice. Choice gets in the way of storytelling.

"Whose idea was it to make alter-ego characters (of Mortze and I) and put them in the games?"

The first time we did that was in Finding Miranda where our characters went in to see the Power Girl concert at El Cuerpo. I don't remember which of us came up with that, but I'll bet it was Mortze. The real deal, though, was when he put us into the credits for Coming to Grips with Christine. That was all him, and I got a huge kick out of it. So much so, that I specifically wrote parts for our avatars in Life Changes for Keeley.

"Did putting your avatars in the game make you feel vulnerable or exposed?"

Certainly not in those first three games, but my character kept her clothes on in them. I felt very vulnerable in Rain God and Westbank, though. It frustrates Mortze, but I have a strict set of "Tara Rules" that I hold him to with my avatar (No visible nipples, genitals, or pubic hair.)

"Which character's superpower would you want to have?"

That's a tough call. I'm tempted to say "Miranda's," but I get a lot of real-life enjoyment out of solving problems. If doing so came unnaturally easy for me, I wonder if I wouldn't enjoy it as much. Probably Alex's power from AAA. If we were to expand the question to all superpowers, I've always been a fan of telekinesis, though, as I get older, Wolverine's healing factor becomes more and more appealing...

"Which power did you most enjoy writing for a character?"

Definitely Crow's. I loved the way her warped personality showed up in her use of her power. Like, she could easily just turn invisible, but instead she'd make it appear that she turned into a murder of crows and they flew away. Or, the thing she did with Miranda in the post credits scene in FM. She made it look like a crow brought her the vial because she could. In reality, she had it in her hand the whole time and just did the crow thing to show off. Crow was a lot of fun.

I'm pretty sure that's all the questions people asked. If you ask more, I'll keep answering them.

Tlaero