You’ve Been Canonized!: Grayghost
Good afternoon everyone and I hope you’re all having a wonderful Saturday evening. As you know, every week here we will be interviewing a patron author of this AAR and get to know them a bit more as well as their thoughts on this work and some of the author’s thoughts on their particular work.
For those of you who are new to the thread, I am Canonized author of
Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? Today’s guest patron and author is Grayghost, current holder of the WritAAR of the Week award as well as being a past Fan of the Week. He is the author of
The Manchurian Candidate: Pu Yi’s Attempt to Restore the Qing Empire.
Part I: About the Author
We begin our interview today with first a little insight about the author behind the Emperor.
Canonized: How long have you been part of the AAR Community for Paradox ?
Grayghost: Only for about 5 months now.
Canonized: First, congratulations on your WritAAR of the Week this week. You mentioned in your acceptance speech that you've had lots of life experience especially in the military . How has this affected your writing ?
Grayghost: I guess it would be to add a melancholy tone to my writing. When you experience the loss of friends through violent means it tends to temper your optimism a little. I seem to view life with a certain sadness, although I do not consider this a bad thing. There is a certain beauty to it, though I would be hard pressed to describe it.
Canonized: Would you say that any of your works are inspired by other authors or works you've seen here on the boards ?
Grayghost: No. Although I respect and enjoy the works of a great number of authors on the paradox boards, I write what is in my soul.
Canonized: I remember that you told me the other day that you have over 60 subscriptions that you read making you a very prolific fan and even garnering you a Fan of the Week award , could you tell us a little about how being a "ReadAAR" is an important part of your WritAARship ?
Grayghost: It is important only in its ability to make me want to participate. When you see the support that authors receive, even those that fade after a few posts, it made me want to become a part of this community as more than a fan.
Canonized: Your particular style as an author so far has been a narrative style of AAR . I know many authors enjoy putting tons of screenshots and report their movements in a very game-oriented fashion , but yours is a more person-oriented narrative that reads like a real book . Why did you choose this particular style of writing AARs ?
Grayghost: Two reasons: one was that I am drawn to this style of writing; it is what I am comfortable with. Two, I am a tech moron with a limited amount of time. Doing screenshots and photos just falls outside of my time parameters.
Part II: ReadAAR
Next, we’ll take a look at their thoughts on Timelines as well as their reasons for patronage.
Canonized: You were one of the first persons to ever comment on my AAR and you keep up with it despite your myriad subscriptions , what made you interested in the first place with Timelines ?
Grayghost: Well, at the start it was because it was a newly started AAR. It is always better, IMO, to get in at ground level, makes the story easier to follow. After that, it was the story itself that kept me coming back.
Canonized: As a person who also narrates his AARs in a story-like fashion , what are your thoughts on the narration style in this story ?
Grayghost: The style is outstanding. The setting descriptions give you an excellent feel for the surroundings, i.e., you are there. The characters are well fleshed out and believable. It does a good job of transitioning between the past and the present.
Canonized: You also mentioned that Timelines had a different approach , what parts of the story do you find unique ?
Grayghost: Two things mainly: The alternate history of an alternate history is very intriguing. A great deal of thought had to go into mapping this out. Also, the interaction between past and present is an approach that I have seen nowhere else. The story does a solid job of tying the two together.
Canonized: Do you have any favourite characters ?
Grayghost: Up until now, an interest in the doings of Antonio and Isabella, but now I am starting to get wrapped up in the character of Medina-Sidonia.
Canonized: Anything about Timelines you'd like to see changed or something you'd like to see in the future ?
Grayghost: Not really. I am very much enjoying the story as it is unfolding.
Canonized: I've also been asking everyone this who I've been in private communication with lately , but what guess do you have as to what the Timepiece is ?
Grayghost: I have to admit that I have not put a lot of thought into that, but I would guess some sort of mechanism to either control time or move about it to alter events, hence the need for keys.
Part III: The Author’s Works
Lastly, we’ll ask Grayghost about his thoughts on some aspects of his work.
Canonized: How does it feel to write about such an underdog nation such as Manchukuo ?
Grayghost: Actually, it has become very educational. The more I research on this, the more I become convinced that it never could have happened. So, I had to become quite creative in how I was going to write such a story, thinking outside of gameplay to facilitate desired results, i.e., the trading of white russian officers for political considerations from the Soviets.
Canonized: You write with a mood that fits the cold, blistering, and harsh conditions of that nation in such a way that the reader finds himself in those environments that you describe , what is your method for creating such a believable period-perfect environment ?
Grayghost: As I mentioned above, I write in a melancholy vein. It seems very much suited to the backdrop that is Manchuria. That bitter cold that cuts through your soul and shapes your world view lends itself to a tale of courage in the face of adversity.
Canonized: Pi Yu is perhaps the most central of your characters; why did you choose to write about him ?
Grayghost: Ha, that was accidental actually. I did not intend my first AAR to be about Manchukuo, I had another idea entirely. But, through my interaction with the people that would become the Warlord Club I decided to choose a Chinese state. After some research to see if any other AAR's had been written about it, only one, I made my choice.
Canonized: You've certainly also painted Pi Yu as ambitious despite being in such a subjugated position ; why did you choose to give him such a strong character trait ?
Grayghost: After some research and, of course, remembering the character from "The Last Emperor", I felt that it was probably always there, and that he could have easily went in this direction had he chose to.
Canonized: One of your other strong characters is Major Li . Although his fate at this point of the story at the time of this interview is unclear , he has become many peoples' favourite . What are your thoughts on him as a character and as a creation ?
Grayghost: I have to be honest; I have come to like Major Li's character a great deal. In the beginning, it was my intention that his character would be killed off. Now...well, we will have to see. His initial creation was merely as the main sidekick for Minister Chin. He was going to be Chin's main henchman that carried out all his underhanded, nefarious schemes. But, as he has evolved, I find him to be a hard man with his own code of honor. At this time he has reached an impasse with himself, to follow his baser nature, or to heed a call that is rising within him. Right now it is a struggle that has yet to be resolved.
Canonized: You mentioned to me before that you saw some parallels between the two female spy masters currently in our stories Isabella and Yoshiko , do you see any other parallels between our two works ?
Grayghost: There is a definite parallel in the political intrigue departement. After that...we will have to see once the push to regain empire starts.
Canonized: So tell us a little about the Warlord Club
Grayghost: Haha. I started that to recognize the people who had influenced me into writing my first AAR. At the time it seemed they were all writing AAR's that took place in or around China, so the Warlord Club moniker seemed to fit. All of the charter members seemed to like the idea, since most added it to their sig, so it became a reality.
Canonized: Are there any honourary member slots available ? Haha
Grayghost: I am actually considering that. All the current members are from the HOI2 forum, but I have been thinking about branching out onto the other forums and inviting writers from there, especially if they are writing about China or a neighboring state. Japanese need not apply.
Canonized: What are your future AAR plans ?
Grayghost: Well, it is to go back and do the idea I had before "Manchurian Candidate". What is it? Well...I am going to keep that one to myself.
Canonized: Thank you once again for the interview and good luck to the future of your work . I also want to thank our audience for reading along with us and getting to know the patron authors of this thread , we hope to hear comments from them for this interview ! If you would also like to be Canonized please feel free to drop me a note through private message or simply post here to be part of the friendly community of supporters whom I am very thankful for . Please keep reading and next week we will have another WritAAR of the Week holder, our friend from the Scottish side of the AAR world, Eber .