What was your favorite thing about writing this?
Looking back over it, I think the story got far better as it went along, when I decided to let the challenge aspect slide and focus on story more. I know my strengths. I did my best to make each successive plot better than the last. (Although, I do feel Marlon’s might have been a slight slide backwards - he should have had a more active central role alongside Alex and Libby - like maybe having him meet Cassandra at a fashion show beforehand or something to give him more motive - but at the same time, it was fun to pin the focus on the spare rather than the heir.)
So, my favourite thing was seeing how far I could push myself and the plot each time. The only exception was Generation Ten, where I knew up-front it was going to be full of fun and weirdness, and didn’t worry too much about reaching new heights.
Fun and weirdness… those two words are my writing in a nutshell, I daresay!
Were there ever times when you thought you might not finish, and if so, what kept you going?
At the beginning, I went into this thinking I may not complete it. If I’d maintained a challenge focus, there’s no way I would have finished. I would have worried too much about scoring points and getting achievements to go for the wackier plots. It would have been Myron’s baseline, daily life approach ten times over. When Monty’s deal with the Reaper genuinely happened in-game (only time I’ve ever won against the beggar!), I took it as a sign to introduce some strangeness: I suppose, given that I write some fantasy and sci-fi satire stuff elsewhere, it’s my natural writing inclination. This in turn led me to break the formal Miskin mould with Mordecai - and from there, things got a lot more fun, and when writing is fun, it’s easy to stay motivated.
As a anxiety sufferer, though, I have crippling self-doubt - so the feedback and support of readers like you also kept me moving through the tougher times. I truly do appreciate it.
Who was your favorite character?
God, that’s like asking me to choose a favourite child!
Mac won a special place in my heart: my goal with him was to create an all-round good guy that the reader would sympathise with, and I ended up doing so myself.
As a massive geek, I also relate to Milo and Mally in some respects, feeling alienated (symbolically, in my case!) from those around me.
Mina, with her love of writing, is a thin parallel of myself - again, putting the alien stuff aside (I AM NOT AN ALIEN I SWEAR PLEASE DON’T CALL THE MEN IN BLACK)!
But… my overall favourite? It’s gotta be Max. Making a rockstar was so much fun, but due to having a ton of favourite films about the perils of stardom, it was a fable I wanted a go at rewriting for myself, hence the sadder parts. It took me an hour to design his stage outfit because I was laughing so hard I was crying - not to mention a lengthy search for the right floofy hair! And yes, I did try to make him “crush-able” - and I’m glad to know it paid off, at least according to one reader!
By the way, Max was partially inspired by a comedy “rockstar” called Danny Sexbang (real name Dan Avidan), vocalist for the band Ninja Sex Party.
How did you come up with your plot arcs?
The in-game careers lead the way a lot of the time - hence why each Miskin has a different profession, except Myron and Mally. I used them a starting point for each new plot, and some of them, such as criminal and detective, offered plentiful opportunities for adventure on their own.
Marcel’s - and later Marlon’s - arc came out of a want to explore other supernatural Sims alongside aliens. (Mordecai’s abduction and pregnancy was unplanned, just FYI! The twins were even more of a surprise!) Originally, Marcel was simply going to move away and exist as a vampire prince, but when I got stumped thinking up Marlon’s adventure, I decided to bring him and the Mortan-Murdacs back into it - and also used this opportunity to “resolve any potential issues” with the legacy succession, AS MUCH AS I HATED DOING IT!
The Mitch arc was partially inspired by D.B. Cooper, Stephanie St. Clair and Robin Hood - creating a likeable criminal was a fun challenge!
How far in advance had you planned out the time-travel bit?
Towards the end of Marlon’s arc. I realised I hadn’t created a happy ending for Polly, and I didn’t want her to be left out. I also thought Mo would love for one of his previous “gels” to marry into the Miskin clan, and I thought it might be fun to have the last Miskin heir revisit the founder. Hence why Mally became the discoverer of time-travel!
I was actually tempted to “tease” Mally all through Generation Nine by having him appear in background shots, but that would have meant playing through Gen Nine, having Mally born, bringing him up and working backwards. I also considered an ending where he visited each Miskin heir in turn, including Mitch in prison, but I thought it might be overkill. After all, it’s easy for one Miskin (Myron) to keep it a secret, but if every single heir knew about it, one of them would be bound to let it slip. The current ending also made the format feel more circular, which I liked.
Anything else you want to share about the writing of this?
Well, I’ve a few silly questions of my own, if people don’t mind:
1: Whose voice do you hear/imagine when Max and Zara sing?
2: Do you imagine the Miskins talking with British accents, American accents, or something else? Due to myself being British and the game’s setting being more American-inspired, I feel they’ve become a strange mish-mash of the two.
3: Dream casting for the Miskins? (Any actor/actress living or dead. I’ll give this some thought too.)
4: Favourite character outside the family? (While writing, I grew to love Theo and Mo so much, I simply had to give them their fairytale ending together.)
Also, once again, I must express my thanks for your ongoing support! I hope you all came to love this eccentric little family as much as I did, and I am sad that things have now come to an end. (Well, unless Mina decides to write back to a certain Mr. Clements…)