Discovered this here the other day and thought I should do it too. The list itself is from here. I’m going to answer the questions based on WISB rather than anything else I’ve written. Here goes:1. Does nothing happen in the first fifty pages?No. A lot happens in the first and second chapters, all within that 25 page mark. 2. Is your main character a young farmhand with mysterious parentage?Nope. His parents are pretty clear and he doesn’t work on a farm. He a laptop computer and likes the Interwebs. 3. Is your main character the heir to the throne but doesn’t know it?Nope. He has no throne. 4. Is your story about a young character who comes of age, gains great power, and defeats the supreme badguy?Sort of, but not really. He never comes of age, but he does have to deal with being young and directly facing violence that he would otherwise only read about in textbooks. He doesn’t beat the bad guy in the first book, technically. He beats him, but it’s not really a defeat in the traditional sense, since the bad guy hasn’t lost his power, etc. In later books this will change, but there will be some huge shifts in certain aspects of that storyline where this won’t apply anymore. 5. Is your story about a quest for a magical artifact that will save the world?No, although there will be something like this in later books, but not nearly as cookie cutter as this question makes it sound. This artifact won’t save the world. 6. How about one that will destroy it?Nope. Not even remotely close. 7. Does your story revolve around an ancient prophecy about “The One” who will save the world and everybody and all the forces of good?No prophecies. He is kind of “the One”, but not really. People know he’s important, but he won’t become the iconic super character that saves everything by himself. He’s surrounded by a very important cast and can’t do everything on his own. 8. Does your novel contain a character whose sole purpose is to show up at random plot points and dispense information?Kind of, but not really. James has a spiritual guider, for lack of a better term, but there aren’t any long-winded infodumps or anything like that. 9. Does your novel contain a character that is really a god in disguise?No. God no (no pun intended, or maybe I do intend the pun). 10. Is the evil supreme badguy secretly the father of your main character?No. Never in a million years. 11. Is the king of your world a kindly king duped by an evil magician?Nope. The closest thing to a king thus far was killed in a battle. It was a gruesome death, although the main character didn’t see it. No evil magician duping. He fought and he died. 12. Does “a forgetful wizard” describe any of the characters in your novel?Not in the sense this question means. I have a character who uses magic that forgets things, but it’s not a commonality. It’s just, well, normal forgetfulness. We all forget things. 13. How about “a powerful but slow and kind-hearted warrior”?Not really. Darl is a grumpy old man who hates everything, and Iliad is kind-hearted, but he’s really fast, being a scout and all. 14. How about “a wise, mystical sage who refuses to give away plot details for his own personal, mysterious reasons”?No. If a character doesn’t speak about something it’s because he or she legitimately doesn’t know something. 15. Do the female characters in your novel spend a lot of time worrying about how they look, especially when the male main character is around?No. Laura will deal with some of that, cause she’s young and that will be some silly thing she’ll think about, but my female characters are mostly strong females. One of them is a healer who happens to be the resident mother, but also owns in a fight. 16. Do any of your female characters exist solely to be captured and rescued?Yes, kind of. Laura is kidnapped in the beginning and James goes after her kidnappers, but in the next book it changes because she becomes integral to the rest of the story. The whole story doesn’t revolve around her kidnapping. 17. Do any of your female characters exist solely to embody feminist ideals?No. Not intentionally at least. 18. Would “a clumsy cooking wench more comfortable with a frying pan than a sword” aptly describe any of your female characters?Not technically. Triska doesn’t have either and she isn’t a wench, but she doesn’t carry weaponry like others. 19. Would “a fearless warrioress more comfortable with a sword than a frying pan” aptly describe any of your female characters?No. Triska isn’t a warrior. She’s a mother/healer. 20. Is any character in your novel best described as “a dour dwarf”?Nope. I have one short character in the main group and he’s not dwarf-like at all. 21. How about “a half-elf torn between his human and elven heritage”?Good lord no. Elves in my world fit more into the folkloric version–short and related to the faery. 22. Did you make the elves and the dwarves great friends, just to be different?Nope. I don’t think I even have dwarves in my world. 23. Does everybody under four feet tall exist solely for comic relief?Nope. Pea may be hilarious, but he’s not there entirely for that. He’s my fun character, sure, but he’s also really important because he happens to be the first character James befriends in Traea and the one character who really looks after him, other than Triska. 24. Do you think that the only two uses for ships are fishing and piracy?Nope. My ships are used for trade, transport, etc. 25. Do you not know when the hay baler was invented?I don’t know, so yes. I’m assuming this question means the ones we use now and I am aware that those didn’t exist in 1100 AD or some
