First, tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Heather Hayashi and I have been writing science fiction and fantasy since the age of 12. Over the years, my writing has been strongly influenced by both video games and Japanese animation.
How would you describe your novel, and how would you describe yourself as a writer?
My first novel, "To Save the World" is about Stephanie, a headstrong teenager with a penchant for video games who struggles to find her inner power on another world. As a writer, I like to go into the story with a basic idea and leave it open for changes as I jot down the details. I like to be as entertained writing the story as I want my readers to be when they're reading it.
What was the process like writing "To Save The World"? How did this whole thing start for you?
"To Save the World" was written in two and a half months. The process was more like channeling the story, with Mountain Dew for fuel. I laid the groundwork around the age of 14 after being inspired by Japanese animation. This was also around the time my parents divorced, and it provided a good background for my main characters, Stephanie and her single mother, Elise. A tumultuous time like divorce causes people to adapt to changes quickly, and I wanted my characters to have that ability going into a fantasy world.
Oftentimes series are born from a great, or at least popular, novel. But right there on the front of yours the reader is informed that this is volume 1 of the "Arhka Chronicles". Why did you choose to start a series rather than writing one novel and taking it from there?
I am committed to be an author. I didn't want to nudge one novel out there and wait. I will keep writing and writing until somebody out there likes something I write! In the case of Arhka, I wanted to go all out with an idea that is potentially huge. I am well on my way into Volume II, alongside other stories.
With a stand-alone novel, I don't have to plan ahead so much. Side characters don't have to be developed like a series. A series requires a thicker plot.
Designing the concept for the Arhka Chronicles was like making a box for me to sit in. Sometimes, it was difficult to think outside the box and that was when it felt constraining. It was actually in talking with my mother that I got a fresh outlook I could expand on.
The book has been described as "sci-fi chick lit". What do you think of that description? The book does have some strong gender themes in it, would you describe this as a feminist novel?
First off, I didn't even know there was a such a term out there until I read about it in reference to my novel. I do think it fits, since I developed characters that a female audience could also identify with.
This is an excellent set of questions that I could write a whole article about... suffice to say that my novel could be taken as feminist. To me, however, this novel was about the individual. My characters act according to their backgrounds or survival needs, not according to their genders. In the next volume, there are strong male leads and the women will be more on the side. I just found it easier to start my first novel with female leads, as I am a female.
Perhaps most important to our readers here, what is the relationship between this book, particularly the lead character, Stephanie, and videogames? Do you have any thoughts on women and gaming?
Stephanie has much of my background and interest in video games. I've played video games since I was 6, but I have only been into computer gaming since around 1998. The game I play most right now is World of Warcraft, but I enjoy all sorts of games from Tomb Raider to Kingdom Hearts to Starcraft.
The gaming industry has gone through a ton of changes over the years, opening up genres to all types of people. Simultaneously, the controls have gotten more complicated to cater to the experienced gamers, isolating old school gamers and many new gamers. Since women are a bigger demographic of new gamers than experienced gamers, they are isolated alongside everyone else. Despite this, the demographic of women in gaming is growing, and I am glad that it's finally catching on.
As for the representation of women in gaming, I share the view of a girl gamer friend of mine from Sweden, who simply states, "My opinion is that the gaming industry is already satisfying a lot of girl gamers, and if they want to worry about accommodating, they could perhaps try to do what everyone should do: make the world less worried about gender and more attentive to individuals instead."
