Loving your child's mind: Alana discusses the book she wrote

Hey Alana, how are you? I'm not hearing you. Your audio is not working. It's— I think it's still connecting. Try again.

Excuse me?

I can hear you now.

Hi.

It took a little while to connect. How are you?

Hear me?

I can. Can you hear me?

Oh yes, I can.

Okay, great. Um, yeah, uh, so I was reading Abigail Williams' Tales of a Relentless Warrior Kid Who Takes Souls Everywhere She Goes. Do you know about this story?

Yes, I do.

So when did you write it?

Um, I started writing it maybe a lot, maybe 4 months ago.

Oh wow, and when did you finish it?

I finished it, I think, last month.

So that's a long time to be working on a story. Would you say that you would kind of work on one chapter a week, more or less, or that you would work a whole bunch and then stop for a long time? What was your work pattern?

Um, I would really just do random. I didn't really have a work pattern.

Did you know how long it was going to be when you got started?

Actually, I didn't. I had no idea how it was going to be.

Okay, and so then did you kind of think about each chapter as you went? You just wake up with an idea for a chapter and write? A chapter every once in a while?

Yeah, I did.

And usually would you write a whole chapter in one sitting, or did each chapter take you several days or several weeks?

Um, mostly a chapter would only take me one sitting, so yeah.

It seems like all the chapters kind of fit together. It's like one adventure. Um, And then of course they build to the big battle. So how soon did you know that you were going to have a big battle?

Um, I wanted to have a really big battle before I even started writing it, to be honest.

So you kind of knew, so you knew you were going to have a big battle, and so did you think you'll have 4, 5, 6, 7 little kind of little adventures first? And then sort of build up to the big battle? Did you have that, that logic for your story built in? Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, I think that's how my mind processed it.

Okay, very cool. Um, and then the characters, uh, how did you decide on the characters?

Um, like the names, or how did I pick them?

How did you pick them? The kind of personalities?

Um, I don't really know. Sometimes I just do random. I think in that point I did, like I wanted some side characters with Abigail. I think that's it. Yeah.

Okay. And would you say that, um, in a way Abigail is a version of you or not at all?

Uh, I would think so. I tried to base her off of me.

You did. So one thing that I wonder about is she talks about being bullied, but I don't think you've ever been bullied, have you?

No, I haven't. I'm just adding little details to the story. I'm not fully basing it off of me. I'm doing a lot of different things in that book.

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's what I thought. And the other thing that struck me as kind of interesting or unusual is that You know, there are a lot of kind of adventure stories and magic stories and fantasy stories and monster stories and all of this, um, but you know, I guess every once in a while they train, but it seemed like your story had more of an emphasis on training in preparation for a battle. Do you think that's— does that sound right?

Um, yeah, I think so.

And I suspect that's because you're used to training for competitions in jiu-jitsu. Does that seem accurate?

Yeah.

Okay, see, that's why, right, some things I thought that's not really based on Alana, and then other things I thought I bet that's based on Alana. Um, and of course in real life you have a little brother Logan, and here you have a big brother, I think Jason, is that correct?

Yeah, it is.

So tell me about Jason. Is he based on anybody in real life, or is he based on Logan, or or completely imaginary?

I just came up with him on the spot.

Okay, okay, and then, you know, it's interesting, we've talked about stories needing conflict, and of course here you've got lots of bad monsters. Do you think that the theme of your story is the good guys beating the bad guys, or not necessarily?

Um, what do you mean by the theme?

Well, Sora, so, um, actually this is a good time to kind of talk about story pieces. Do you know what the plot is? Do you know what a plot of a story is?

I think I do. It's like the problem or all the characters?

Well, the characters are the people, but the plot is kind of what happens, so it could be sort of like the problem. Um, so, you know, they at one point they go down into the cave and there are the hundred monsters and then at another point they do a portal up into the sky, and the plot is kind of this happens and then this happens. Does that make sense? Kind of the plot is what happens, and that's different obviously from the characters. You know, the characters are— I'm always forgetting her name— Abigail and Jason and Aiden and so forth. But kind of the theme is Would you say— I mean, I would say in Roald Dahl, the good guys beat the bad guys pretty much always. Actually, I think in most, most stories for kids, the good guys beat the bad guys. Would you say that's the case?

Yeah. And then there's only one movie that I've ever watched in my entire life that the bad guy wins.

What's that?

I think it's, um, Avengers: Infinity War. It's When Thanos gets all of the gemstones, most of the good guys are turned to ash.

Did you like that story or dislike it? Were you unhappy that the bad guys won?

Um, I like this story. I just don't really like that Thanos won.

Got it. Um, so yeah, you know, in some ways you guys are demigods and the monsters are monsters, obviously. Um, well, or would you say the monsters are— they're sort of demigods you're fighting against? So maybe I'm not clear on that. Are you demigods? Because it seems like you're also fighting demigods, or because they're, they're monsters. So I'm confused on the difference. So clarify between— are you fighting monsters or demigods, or are they the same?

Um, it's basically both because I also put Medusa doing clones of demigods in there for her team or her army. Yeah, just other than monsters.

Yeah, that's, that's what confused me. Go ahead.

Okay, so they've got the same like weapons or maturity, but they have like, like the clones that Medusa has, they're way meaner and badder, and the regular people are nice and good, basically.

Okay, got it. Um, and then, so kind of, yeah, the theme is, is this— you could say the theme is good over evil. Um, is it fair to call the demigods and, uh, monsters evil, or is it not fair to call them evil?

Um, I don't really know about that because it's not their fault that they're being forced into Medusa's army.

Fair enough. You know, I think in— you know Lord of the Rings, right?

Yes, I do.

So I would say there, you know, Sauron is evil. Does that seem fair enough to call Sauron evil?

I think so, yes.

So there I would say it is kind of a good versus evil sort of thing. But in yours, yeah, I guess they're just different worlds instead of good versus evil. Would it say— would you say it's your world against just a very different kind of world? Or not your world, Abigail's world against a very different kind of world?

I think so, yes.

Okay, and you talk about it, you know, the battle, they never die and the battle comes back. So in this universe you've created, Well, again, I want to say Abigail's world because Abigail, initially I thought she was a human, but then it turns out she's a demigod and her friends are all demigods as well, correct?

Yes, they are.

So it's kind of one set of demigods against another set of demigods, and with— would you say neither side is better than the other?

Um, yeah, I would think so, because if the clones were against the demigods, if they had a one-on-one battle with maybe Abigail's clone against her, and I would think it's a tie because like I said, they have the same, um, like the same skill, the same strength, the same maturity, except different personalities.

Um, but it seems like you want the reader to kind of cheer on Abigail I know as a reader I wanted Abigail and her team to win. Is that— did you intend for us to want Abigail to win?

I think so because mostly when I read books I always want the good guys to win.

See, and you just called her the good guys and that's why I was asking, is it good guys versus bad guys? But then you're, you sort of— so which is it? Are they, are they the good guys fighting the bad guys? Or are they just kind of different?

I think the good guys are battling the bad guys, yeah.

Okay, see, that's what I thought, um, but there was some ambiguity there because the bad guys, yeah, they're in some ways, um, you know, like, good. So going to Harry Potter, my sense is that the bad guys in Harry Potter want bad things to happen to other people. Does that seem accurate?

Yeah, I think that does.

Whereas— and not just other people, but other beings in Harry Potter. But, um, I don't know, monsters— it seems like monsters just do what monsters do, and monsters don't seem to have the same, um, evil or mean intent. Does that seem accurate?

Yes.

But how about who's, who's the sort of chief antagonist in the story? Is it Hephaestus?

In Harry Potter?

No, no, no, in your story, in your story.

Um, like, what do you mean by the chief or leader?

At the very end, somebody's— and I just forgot her name, but somebody you defeated, somebody, and then she's going to come back. And who is it that's going to— Medusa. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So Medusa, so is Medusa more of just kind of a monster doing what she does, or is Medusa intending to harm other people or other things?

I think she wants to take over the world.

Okay, and so does that qualify as evil?

Yes, I think so.

Okay, so maybe then the theme is kind of good versus evil, because it seems like Abigail and her friends don't really want to take over the world, is that right?

Yeah.

Would you say there's something inherently evil in wanting to take over the world?

Maybe because you want control of other people.

Okay, and then would you— are you implying then that it's somehow evil to want to control other people?

I think so, because if you're controlling other people, then maybe you control their homes or their properties, and maybe if you control maybe a wealthy family could get a lot of land, and then you keep going and going and going and going until you control all the world.

So do you think there are ever times when it's okay to want to control other people?

Um, wait, are you saying— are you asking me if it's okay to control other people?

Yeah, under some circumstances.

Um, if they're doing something bad, maybe tell them to stop, but if they— if you're doing it for no reason, probably nope.

Okay, so if somebody's doing something bad, then it might be okay to control them?

Probably, like, to like try to stop them from doing that, especially if it's going to hurt other people.

Okay, um, how about if a baby is walking towards a hot stove? Is it okay to grab the baby and stop the baby from touching the hot stove?

I think it is.

Okay, so sometimes it's okay to control other people, but it's really— it's evil to want to control the world. Is that what you would say?

I would say that, like, nobody wants one person controlling the whole entire world.

Got it. Okay, so yeah, I can see why Medusa is in the evil character. Okay, well, it was a wonderful story. I was very impressed with how long it was. I think 7 or 8 chapters, maybe 9 chapters, something like that. I think it's 8. It's 8 chapters? Are you working on another story?

Actually, I am right now.

Terrific. Well, I enjoyed this one, and I very much look forward to the next one. Do you know how long it's going to take for you to finish?

Oh, maybe a few months. I don't really know.

Okay, that's totally fine, uh, whenever you get it done. And what are you guys doing today?

Right now we're in the parking lot ready to go to the beach.

Cool, have a great day at the beach, uh, and thanks for the story. Bye-bye.

You're welcome. Thank you.