Today, I'm bringing something different to the table. A veritable feast of brain vomit from one of my favourite authors in this entire group: HiddenUnderACouch
The following is a section of skype chat from this evening (the future for all of you 'Muricans)

Inside the mind of the author of Sombra. Saga of Hatred:

(the following takes place after a talk about another story I was reading at the time)

[10:22:53 PM] Adrenaline: That's what this whole chapter has been like.
[10:23:57 PM] Денис Андреев: damn
[10:31:38 PM] Денис Андреев: Though, with that said, I haven't reached the saddest parts of the Saga yet, too
[10:32:57 PM] Adrenaline: I'm glad it's gonna go for so long.
[10:34:43 PM] Денис Андреев: Me too
[10:36:35 PM] Adrenaline: I might see about drawing out Pendant as long as possible. I don't see it bbeing much longer than Keeper, though. Maybe just under 100k words at the most, but we'll see.
[10:36:45 PM] Adrenaline: I don't like to keep my readers waiting too long.
[10:36:51 PM] Денис Андреев: Alright
[10:37:28 PM] Adrenaline: The longest I went without an update in any of my stories was 9 days.
[10:37:50 PM] Adrenaline: I averaged between 4 and five and I had no buffer. I was writing on average 1000 words a day.
[10:46:40 PM] Денис Андреев: alright
[10:48:32 PM] Adrenaline: Was fun, though. Wish I could keep it up, but I stupidly decided to start taking on editing jobs for people :P
[10:48:39 PM] Adrenaline: Now it chews up most of my time.
[10:48:46 PM] Денис Андреев: I'd imagine
[10:49:58 PM] Денис Андреев: I'm only good at pointing out story flaws. My grammar skills are lackluster
[10:50:49 PM] Денис Андреев: So I don't edit things
[10:57:29 PM] Adrenaline: Fair enough. I'm a pretty spectacular editor, myself.
[10:57:37 PM] Денис Андреев: Yes, you are
[10:57:53 PM] Денис Андреев: though, were you honest when you said you felt guilty at that Manes blog?
[10:59:04 PM] Денис Андреев: ooooh
[10:59:23 PM] Денис Андреев: I think I just wrote something that I feel very guilty about...
[10:59:58 PM] Adrenaline: I literally rewrote everything he typed. It was his idea, but by the end, it was really my story.
[11:00:24 PM] Денис Андреев: I see. But damn... have you ever wrote anything that made you feel... bad?
[11:00:39 PM] Adrenaline: ...I will in Pendant.
[11:01:16 PM] Денис Андреев: I bet it won't be near what I just wrote...
[11:01:38 PM] Денис Андреев: It's just sickening
[11:02:26 PM] Денис Андреев: Alright, to tell without spoilers

skip a few spoilers here

[11:06:55 PM] Adrenaline: No, I've never seen it.
[11:07:09 PM] Adrenaline: That sounds incredibly fucked up
[11:07:12 PM] Денис Андреев: that's the kind of shit I just wrote.
[11:09:50 PM] Денис Андреев: I deserve that
[11:10:49 PM] Adrenaline: What did you do besides... well... become who you are?
[11:11:23 PM] Денис Андреев: Ehm... I meant that I deserve the feeling of guilt I just got
[11:11:33 PM] Денис Андреев: don't get me wrong, my family's completely awesome
[11:12:26 PM] Денис Андреев: or did you mean something else?
[11:13:18 PM] Adrenaline: I mean you think the way you do, come up with your ideas how you do, because of the things you've done and seen in your life—your experiences.
[11:13:32 PM] Adrenaline: If you weren't YOU, specifically, Saga wouldn't exist.
[11:14:47 PM] Adrenaline: To write with the level of dark and foreboding that you do takes a certain kind of person. One who is generally invested in bringing out and investigating the darkness in others.
[11:14:58 PM] Денис Андреев: Well...
[11:16:05 PM] Денис Андреев: Ever since I was a child, I was always interested in evil. I was always bored by heroic figures and heroes in general.
[11:16:24 PM] Денис Андреев: Villains were far more interesting for me, every villain.
[11:16:32 PM] Денис Андреев: My hero idol was Darth Vader
[11:17:42 PM] Adrenaline: I can feel the author behind the story, and that is what helps me appreciate a story more.
I feel exactly the same way, actually. I tried to bring out the evil in Mantissia to make her as the most threatening, intimiddating villain as possible, without still making it hopeless for the heroes.
[11:18:03 PM] Adrenaline: I like a happy ending, but only if they've really earned it. In fact, that's a tvtrope.
[11:18:12 PM] Денис Андреев: Earn your happy ending
[11:18:55 PM] Adrenaline: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EarnYourHappyEnding
[11:19:02 PM] Денис Андреев: Yes
[11:19:08 PM] Денис Андреев: Well, that's not the end of it
[11:19:36 PM] Денис Андреев: After growing up, I started making my own villain, my own little perfect image of evil
[11:20:36 PM] Денис Андреев: But I found out that just being cruel and so on, is not enough, I decided to add psychological traumas
[11:21:17 PM] Денис Андреев: Horrible, horrible suffering of one soul, that lead one innocent soul to shutting away the light and drowning in darkness
[11:21:55 PM] Денис Андреев: That's how the first fledgling of a story for Saga was born
[11:22:28 PM] Денис Андреев: I just wanted to write a story about rise of evil. Not that stupid magic corruption bullcrap - a rise of true evil, a rise of a soul covered in scars.
[11:22:35 PM] Денис Андреев: And Sombra seemed like a perfect candidate
[11:23:21 PM] Adrenaline: So, Sombra was dropped right into your lap by Meghan McCarthy, to assume the physical form of the villain you'd developed for years.
[11:23:28 PM] Денис Андреев: yes

some more irrelevance here

[11:24:07 PM] Денис Андреев: It was sad how there was no legit backstory for him. Instead, there's crying cry cry stories, lame evil story, or magic corruption.
[11:26:27 PM] Денис Андреев: Also, I... honestly do not know why I enjoy destruction. But the sight of something falling apart, torn to pieces, exploded makes me excited
[11:28:39 PM] Adrenaline: It shows. The scenes and themes in Saga bring that to light. You wouldn't write about something you didn't have a slight affinity with.
[11:29:32 PM] Денис Андреев: thankfully, I have only heard about rape on TV
[11:30:57 PM] Денис Андреев: And I, myself, honestly believe that an act of such intimacy should be welcomed by both sides.
[11:32:36 PM] Adrenaline: Absolutely. I imagine it must have been very difficult for you to write about it (and the attempt of it) multiple times in Saga.
[11:34:30 PM] Денис Андреев: yeah. Writing romance between Sombra and Krystal is much more pleasing. Any romance, be it lovey-dobey, and more mature love
[11:36:03 PM] Денис Андреев: Krystal herself is a very pleasing character for me. I kind of fell in love with her, to be fair

Alright, that's enough of that. But after reading this, can you all see what it takes to be an author of a truly wonderful, fleshed-out, unafraid-yet-ashamed-to-transcribe-certain-events attitude? The best stories have the most complex thought processes behind them. Sombra. Saga of Hatred is one such story.

Seriously guys, if you aren't reading this story, you are missing the hell out. Rectify that situation as soon as you can.