Comments on: Ash Q&A #3: Why did you include Sidhean in the story?

By: cindy

cindy — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:55:58 +0000

hoorah for anguished, morally gray
characters. i knew which way you swung
when you said you enjoyed my climax. ha!!

By: Malinda Lo

Malinda Lo — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:24:18 +0000

Steph, you need to watch Buffy! It is brilliant TV. Some people don’t like it, but I don’t know what’s wrong with those people.

By: Kody Keplinger

Kody Keplinger — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:33:34 +0000

Truthfully, Sidhean was my favorite character. To know he was somewhat inspired by Spike makes me so, so happy as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. Sidhean was so mysterious and–dare I say it–sexy. I loved reading about him, so it makes perfect sense that you’d love writing him!

By: Steph Su

Steph Su — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:18:21 +0000

I, like the others above, enjoyed this post about Sidhean as well. I have to agree that scary fairies are quite often the best, even though they are seemingly the scarcest (is that even a word?). When I think of “scary, creepy fairies,” I think of Holly Black’s Tithe. I think I see a bit of similarity between your fairies and hers.

It was interesting to learn that you envisioned Sidhean to be the fairy godfather! I wonder how I missed that when reading Ash… hmm, maybe because I was too engrossed in the other characters, and in the unfulfilled sexual tension vibe that I kind of got from Ash and Sidhean. That’s one hot actor, though, even though I’ve never watched Buffy before.

By: Malinda Lo

Malinda Lo — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:41:16 +0000

Thanks so much!

By: Malinda Lo

Malinda Lo — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:41:04 +0000

Thanks, Brittany! Glad you liked ASH. I’m working on a companion novel to ASH; it’s set in the same world but several hundreds of years earlier. There are lesbians.

By: Malinda Lo

Malinda Lo — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:40:23 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Susan! Interesting to read your perspective, and I look forward to seeing it repackaged.

By: RKCharron

RKCharron — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:13:27 +0000

Hi
Thank you for sharing.
I really enjoyed learning about the stories behind the story.

All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo

By: Brittany

Brittany — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:58:03 +0000

Malinda! This is completely off-topic from this but I figure you read these comments and I’ve been wondering if you were ever going to write more lesbian-themed fairy tales or even a sequel/ prequel to Ash. I enjoyed Ash so much (I wish it was 3x as long) and I hope you keep writing similar novels!

By: susan

susan — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:53:28 +0000

Sidhean is dark but not creepy to me. He is a fairy and closer to archetype, he isn’t cute and funny, and I found that very refreshing. Moreover, he is more than someone who could assist Ash, he is a companion. Ash’s relationship with Sidhean is unconventional and it teaches Ash about boundaries and acceptance. Over time she stops trying to figure out what’s between them and accepts it, embraces for what it is and ultimately learns the power of choice and rejects it. The more time they spent together, the more she found she craved his company and I don’t think it was simply his allure. He didn’t glam her. Often, she was seeking him.

Don’t know if you expected or intended, but I appreciated the triangle between Ash, Sidhean and Kaisa. Despite being dark, Sidhean has feelings (won’t debate the magic) and he cares for Ash in a way she doesn’t have for him. Moreover, there is the power inequality which speaks to what love can and cannot be. I prefer how the dynamics and their relationship plays out here ten times over Twilight.

Ha, I haven’t written my review yet. Don’t be surprised to see this repackaged.