Welcome to Crafting Your Career! We have an amazing interview with New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu and PassionFruit Games, the developer of her romance-themed game TIGER EYE: Curse of the Riddle Box (April 28 release date). I don’t know about you all, but my mouth literally dropped open when I first read Marjorie’s announcement on her blog. Talk about crafting your career into new realms!

Marjorie will be on the road today, so she won’t be able to stop by and answer your questions. BUT, PassionFruit’s producer and studio director Melissa Heidrich will pop in a few times to answer your questions about the gaming side.

First up, we have a wonderful interview with Marjorie, then PassionFruit’s interview follows. I hope you enjoy reading about Marjorie’s amazing, ground-breaking journey. I know I did.

MARJORIE’S INTERVIEW

Tracey: Marjorie, thank you for joining us at Romance University! Can you take us back to that moment when you “knew” you had the chops to make it as a published writer?

Marjorie: Sometimes I’m still not convinced!   Every time I begin a new project, it feels as though I’ve never written before.  It’s always new, and the struggles are almost always the same: telling the story, finding character, having the endurance and resolve to go all the way.  Never gets easier.  The difference is that now I know, for the most part, what to expect — and while there’s no way to avoid those pressures that come from writing, I’ve learned how to deal with them in ways that are more effective, and quite a bit healthier.

Tracey: What is your writing process? Plotter? Panster? Something in between?

Marjorie: Mostly a panster.  I consider “plot” to be a work in progress.  Usually I start off a story with a notion, a broad idea.  I go with the flow, follow the decisions and motivations of the characters — and as I proceed, the plot unveils itself.   Outlining comes into play around a third of the way through — about the time when I get stuck — and at that point I sit down with pen and paper and try to figure out the rest of the book.  Or the next few chapters.  Sometimes I realize I need to backtrack.  Sometimes I keep moving forward.  Until I hit the next bump. Eventually, I bump my way into an entire novel.

Tracey: What’s the best writing advice you can give to unpublished writers? How about for established authors who would like to achieve New York Times bestselling status?

Marjorie: Writing advice:  Read.  Write.  Read.  Write.  Be stubborn.  Don’t give in to rejection. Read.  Write.  Research publishing guidelines.  Stay classy when dealing with others. Read. Write.

Writing is a learning process.  And everyone has a different process.  But at its most basic, those are the things I believe people need to remember as they work toward their dream of being published.

As for the rest…there’s no formula for getting on the Times list.  I’m told that it’s all about volume of sales, especially around your release date.  I try to do some publicity, I try to drum up interest about my books, but at the end of the day, all you can do is just sit tight and hope for the best.

Tracey: As a writer, you have stretched your wings into some amazing and unique venues. Can you tell us how those projects came about?

Marjorie: I sold my first novel, TIGER EYE, through the slush pile.  First three chapters, query letter, no agent (that changed when I had my contract in hand), and no contacts.  I was very fortunate — in the right place at the right time.

Soon after, at a lunch with my agent, Lucienne Diver, the subject of comic books came up (it was Halloween and her son was a very adorable Spiderman).  I told her that I loved the X-Men, had always wanted to write comics…and it just so happened that Pocket had signed a licensing agreement with Marvel to produce prose novels based off those characters.  Lucienne knew the editor, I submitted a proposal, and eventually wrote the X-Men novel, DARK MIRROR.  

The folks at Marvel liked my work on the book, which opened the door to other opportunities.  A few years later I was given the chance to write the mini-series NYX: NO WAY HOME, which led to DARK WOLVERINE, BLACK WIDOW, X-23…and who knows what else?  It’s been incredible fun.

You mention on your web site that you used to write fan-fiction. Can you explain what that entails for readers unfamiliar with the term?

Works of fan-fiction are, generally speaking, unauthorized stories written by fans about characters or settings in movies, television, novels, comics, and so on.  They are almost never professionally published, and readership tends to consist of other fans.

My first exposure to fan-fiction was with the X-Men.  I loved the cartoon that was on Fox in the 90′s, and in undergrad, I finally got online (I didn’t have personal internet access until college) and discovered websites filled with fan-written stories about those characters.  Some were awful.  A few were sublime. Mostly, though, they were just a lot of fun.  Eventually, I tried my hand at it — and it was a great learning experience.  No pressure.  No expectations except pure entertainment.  I always loved to read and write — always, from the time I was little — but I really do believe that writing all that fan-fiction was a kind of bootcamp that helped me practice dialog, timing, characterization, plotting, and so on.

Tracey: Tell us about your latest project with PassionFruit. How did it come about? What was your involvement during development? When will the game be released and how can readers get a copy?

Out of the blue, really.  Melissa contacted me with the idea, and I was like, “Whoa, wow!”  I was really impressed with the work that she and her team had done for Her Interactive, but more than that, I trusted her to do right by the book.  It helped, too, that we were friends in high school!

As for my involvement, I wrote the script — something that wouldn’t have been possible without the tremendous help of Mari, the creative director, who distilled the novel into all its most essential parts — the bits that would translate best into the game.  Melissa and the others also involved me in choosing the look of the characters, the voice actors, and so on.  It has been a wonderful experience, but I have the luxury of sitting back and watching all the good parts, while Melissa and the PassionFruit team have been deep in the trenches, actually building the thing!

The game will be released on April 28 is PC format.  The Mac version will follow a few weeks later.  Folks can learn more about the game — see the trailers, clips, read the designer blog — and order it — at: http://passionfruitgames.com/

PASSIONFRUIT GAMES’ INTERVIEW

Tracey: Are the players moving around in a 3-D environment?

PassionFruit: Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box is a “casual game,” which traditionally takes place in a 2D world and doesn’t require a great deal of navigation.  Like most other casual games, Tiger Eye focuses on puzzles and mental games rather than action and movement.

Tracey: What platforms does it support?

PassionFruit: Tiger Eye will be available as a downloadable game for PC and Mac.

Tracey: What does a cut scene mean?

PassionFruit: A cut scene is simply a sequence during which you “cut” playing the game momentarily to sit back and watch story unfold through graphical (and usually audio) representation.  Cut scenes can be rewarding because they usually indicate you’ve reached certain milestones in the game.  In Tiger Eye we be feature cut scenes that are fairly cinematic, with voice-acted characters and custom music.

Tracey: Will there be involvement during the cut scene?

PassionFruit: The only player involvement we’ll expect is sitting back and enjoying the advancing plot!

Tracey: Will choices in the game effect relationship development?

PassionFruit: Most players we polled prior to making the game said that they’d prefer the game to stay true to the original plot from the Tiger Eye novel.  Therefore, we’re not straying from the story very much, and the player won’t be able to affect the outcome of Dela and Hari’s relationship.  The player will need to solve various riddles and beat minigames to see the relationship progress.

Tracey: Are there multiple endings?

PassionFruit: In terms of story, no, since we’re staying true to the original story’s plotline.  However, the game offers multiple “ranks” the players can achieve depending on how well they do in the game, and if players reach the highest rank, they’ll unlock some special goodies!

Tracey: What’s the player’s objective?

PassionFruit: The goal of the game is to help the two main characters, Dela and Hari, decipher multiple mysteries pertaining to the riddle box, while finding a way to safely escape China.  To progress through the game the player will do things like find metal swords hidden in scenes, solve word puzzles that defuse bombs, and play a psychic minigame that allows Dela to harness her special powers over metal so that she can escape assassins.

Tracey: How long did it take you to develop the game from concept to product?

PassionFruit: We started production in early October 2009, and we plan to finish the game mid-April, so it’ll be about 6.5 months of total development time.

Tracey: What factors led to your decision to convert Marjorie Liu’s book to a game?

PassionFruit: Many!  First of all, we wanted to make a romance title.  Games for women are taking off, but almost none are actually based on a good steamy romance novel – and we know there are a ton of romance enthusiasts out there (both first-time and veteran gamers) who’d love to experience a romance novel in the form of interactive entertainment.  Second, we needed a novel that would translate well into a game. A paranormal romance (featuring fantastical creatures like shapeshifters and characters with superhero-like abilities) made a lot of sense – much more interesting and flexible gameplay is possible when magical elements are “allowed.”  We found that Marjorie Liu’s Dirk & Steele series had just the perfect blend of passion, exciting adventure, magic, and mystery!  The final clincher, of course, was that Marjorie and I were friends back in high school – and so when I contacted her with a game proposal more than ten years later, I was ecstatic that she agreed to embark on this project together!

* * *

Thanks Marjorie and Melissa!!

RU Readers, what do you think? Do you see romance-themed games being the next “new thing” like audio books? I can’t wait to receive my copy of TIGER EYE: CURSE OF THE RIDDLE BOX!

Join Kelsey on Wednesday as she explores the fine art of manscaping!

Marjorie’s Bio:

Marjorie M. Liu was born around Philadelphia, spent her formative years in Seattle, and now resides in the Midwest. She went to Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, for her undergraduate studies, majoring in East Asian Languages and Cultures, with a minor in Biomedical Ethics. She then attended law school at the University of Wisconsin, graduated in May 2003, and was admitted to the bar a couple weeks after. Marjorie loved law school. Did not like being a lawyer. Which is why she decided to become a writer.

She’s studied and traveled extensively through Asia, and spent some time working at the US Embassy in Beijing. She loves to read, she loves to write, but what she loves best of all is proving to herself that dreams do come true.

Oh, and she likes poodles. And cats.

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