Q. Can I draw these characters?
A. Absolutely! I'd be glad to add them to the Guest Gallery.
:-) I do ask that if you post pictures of my characters on other website you include
a disclaimer that they are © me (Katie Sullivan) and link
back to this site.
Q. Can I write Heritage fanfic?
A. Sure! If I get enough I might even add a fanfic library to my site!
Same rules as for artwork, though. My copyright remains intact, thanks.
(And yes, I do realize this is ridiculously premature, since virtually nobody's
read the book yet. But a girl can dream, can't she?)
Q. Couldn't you come up with better
alien names than "Xorax" and "Zenni," etc?
A. When I first started working in this universe I intended for it to have a more
satirical slant, poking fun at sci-fi clichés and such. By the time I realized I
wanted it to be more serious than that, some of the names were so engrained in my mind
that I couldn't possibly change them. I also had some initial inspiration from the
alien names in J. M. Dillard's novelization of the War of the Worlds television
premiere ("Xana" and "Xashron," especially.)
Q. Why did you make your aliens so
cliché in appearance? Green skin and antennae? Come on!
A. See the previous question. I intended them to be satirical and they took
a more serious turn on their own. Now I cant imagine them any other way! For
the full scoop on how they came to look the way they do, see this page.
Q. Is Xorax related to/named after
Zorak on Space Ghost?
A. NO!!! I've never even watched that show for more than five
minutes. And don't let Xorax hear you comparing him to that weird bug guy!
He'd do grievous bodily harm to you!
Q. How do you come up with names for
all these aliens?
A. Mostly I just play around with sounds and syllables until something
strikes my fancy, and my idea of the character. I've also been known to look through
big-city phone books and get ideas from exotic last names. ;-)
Q. How long did it take you to write Heritage
in the Stars?
A. I wrote the first draft between the fall of '95 and late summer '96.
I've been working on it ever since, basically.
Q. Where did you get the idea for the
book?
A. It was weird. I was sort of zoning while taking a shower, and all
of a sudden I got this mental picture of a parade with an alien Empress waving to a crowd,
her guard with sunglasses watching over her, and a homeless girl being chased through the
crowd by a dark stranger. As soon as I got out of the shower I started scribbling
down notes and doodles, and before long I had enough plot to start writing!
Q. Are you going to write a sequel?
A. I already have, more or less. I have two sequels lined up,
although I'm playing with the idea of combining the two. Both of them still need a
lot of work. No hints about the plot, though!
Q. Who's your favorite character?
A. Ooh, don't make me choose! They're like my children! I'm
awfully fond of Vazali and Delzeena, since they're my main characters. I love
Bronzar, though. And I have fun making Xeebec as detestable as possible. ;-)
Zadie and Abarok are a blast to write, too.
Q. How did you make this webpage?
Can you help me make one?
A. Photoshop 5.5, Paintshop Pro 5 and Frontpage 98. And no, sorry.
I don't have time to be a personal webpage design tutor.
Q. Has this book had any other titles?
A. For a very long time it was just "Heritage," and I
still tend to refer to it that way. I just jazzed it up a little for publication.
;-)
Q. Have these characters ever looked
differently?
A. Check out this page for a full explanation
of how the inhabitants of Kavrillia came to look the way they do.
Q. What voices do you imagine for these
characters?
A. I have a few ideas...
Q. Do you like to eat cheez doodles?
A. Yes. Thanks for asking. :-)
Q. What kinds of things inspired Heritage?
A. The inspiration for Heritage has come from places too numerous
to mention, but I'll rattle off a few. Some of these are pretty obscure, and some
would be hard to identify as having anything remotely to do with Heritage, but
trust me, they're all there in some way, shape or form...
John Christopher's Tripods trilogy, the War of the Worlds book, movie
and short-lived TV series, Les Miserables, odds and ends of Shakespeare, The
Bodyguard, Disney's TaleSpin, Evita, songs like "Everything I
Do" by Bryan Adams, "Wind Beneath my Wings" by Bette Midler, "Run to
You" by Whitney Houston, "I Love You, Goodbye" "Love Doesn't Ask
Why" and "I Don't Know" by Celine Dion, "The Power of Love"
performed by both Michael Crawford and Celine Dion, and others I've lost track of through
the years!
In other words, Heritage is a great big mix of many things from my life, plus a
lot of stuff that my imagination just whipped up for no discernable reason! ;-)
