Welcome to our interview for this month! We are with this talented author, Birdpaw, who penned the story, Out of Evenfall.

Dark Fantasy Team: How did you come up with this story and its characters?

Birdpaw: I actually started with the world, and different characters, and then I split those characters up into different stories and rebuilt the world and placed new characters within it. Out of Evenfall has a foundation of history in my life of writing, even if it doesn't look the same as what it's built on.

As for the characters themselves, I sorta just mixed and matched certain archetypes you'd find in some classic fantasy and sort of twisted them around a little bit with my personal touch on them.

And then I took a lot of inspiration from Dragon Age especially, I love that world to bits, I love how they wrote it, it's a good game, would recommend.

DF: What do the words "writer's block" mean to you? Have you experienced it? How did you overcome it?

B: Writer's block has a lot of connotations for me -- because I have to ask myself if it's truly 'writer's block' or something else that I need to deal with that is affecting my ability to write. In my case, writer's block is usually what I'd call the 'symptom' of something else. I struggle with ADHD, and overcoming it takes a bit of a particular way that doesn't always work and that does create these situations of writer's block. Sometimes I can push through it. Sometimes I have to sit back (to the best of my ability because sort of turning off my brain and not thinking for a while isn't that easy for me). I have experienced it, and in a way am experiencing it right now.

DF: What is the most difficult part of your writing process?

B: Actually writing.

DF: What advice would you give a writer trying to write Dark Fantasy for the first time?

B: Dark Fantasy is a lot more than 'grimdark' environments and evil characters to dark leaning gray characters (and I do love those). To me, the most effective dark fantasy isn't 'dark' in the usual way. Have gorgeous environments. Have strong-willed characters who are compassionate and kind. Have these beautiful places and concepts, and turn it on its heel. You can't ruin something that's already destroyed. I mean, you could! But in my eyes, it wouldn't have the same effect if you're going for evoking emotions -- you can't evoke emotions for something that's dark in the first place. You have to build these environments around this dark sense of atmosphere and horror underneath the surface, show it evolving, and then show it struggling, show the best of it, and then the absolute worst it can go. Dark Fantasy is NOT grimdark fantasy, which is a form OF it. Nothing is more horrific than watching things go wrong in all the worst ways and often so quickly against forces that sometimes can't be fought against.

DF: What part of your story was the most fun to write?

B: I loved creating the 'monsters' plaguing their world. I wanted to make them feel like this unstoppable force that no matter what there was no getting rid of them. They are a constant, and that sense of hopelessness while not losing that little spark is hard to balance, and one of the most enjoyable things I find to write int he story in general.

DF: How do you find Dark Fantasy as a genre?

B: It is a very fun and very versatile genre. Whether it's a High Dark Fantasy. Or a Low Dark Fantasy. Or an Epic Dark Fantasy. It can sorta squeeze its way into anything with its themes.

DF: What do you like to do when you are not writing?

B: I like to play Dragon Age and Final Fantasy XIV -- and listen to music and think about writing.

DF: What interesting things have you learned throughout your journey? Tell us something about it.

B: I've learned quite a lot from so many people. I think the most important thing I've learned over the course of my journey is different ways of writing and seeing writing. It's good to have these viewpoints. Writing's an evolving artform, it's never going to be perfect, and no one does it the same way.

DF: What are your future plans in writing?

B: I'm hoping to get published someday, but in the end, I just want people to interact with what I create.

Thank you so much, Birdpaw, for being with us and agreeing to our interview. Check out their work, Out of Evenfall, to support our author!

- The Dark Fantasy Team