Thursday, July 22, 2021

CHAT WITH NEW OVERWATCH STORY WRITER CHRISTIE GOLDEN

 Christie Golden has immersed herself in a multitude of fantasy worlds and has written over 50 novels and novellas set in different universes, but she speaks of the Overwatch universe the most.


“I love that everyone in this world can feel at home,” says Christie. - In it you can be proud of your culture, appearance or worldview and get acquainted with the culture and worldview of other people. Here, everyone treats each other with respect and can become friends and teammates. It always seemed to me that people are united more than they are divided. "


She tried to cover the theme of friendship and camaraderie in her story "Stone by Stone" , where readers can see how our favorite architect for working with "hard" light, Satya Vashvani (Symmetra), embarked on the path of compassion and understanding. We met with Golden and discussed with her the process of writing the story Stone by Stone, her first work in the Overwatch universe - and her sense of oneness with the Sphere.


First, let's talk about you and your creativity. How is working with Overwatch content different from working with Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and StarCraft?


I've been writing professionally for almost 30 years now, and almost everything I've done in that time has been related to different franchises - game worlds, book series, and so on. If I'm not mistaken, I've already worked in thirteen different franchises! Therefore, getting into an unfamiliar world and looking for something in it that will please me is not the first time for me. For me, it's like walking up to a building and trying to find a door that swings open in front of me.




 

What parts of the story do you enjoy working on the most?


I've always liked writing dialogues and thinking through the characters of the characters. In my youth, I dreamed of becoming an actress and learned to understand dialogue well, and now it helps me. Readers of novels from game universes know perfectly well how their favorite character speaks and what vocabulary they use, so if you don't get into the character, they will definitely let you know about it! But I had to learn to convincingly describe the battle scenes and the place of action. Nowadays I often write scripts for videos, and it gives me a lot of pleasure - this is what I do best. And the description of the setting and actions can be provided to the director and artists!


 

How do you define the characters that other Blizzard employees like the Overwatch team will develop further on?


My first work was a novel about the Ravenloft universe - Vampire of the Mists , one of the first books in this series from TSR. It seems to me that a very successful first experience came out: I immediately got used to the fact that not only a couple of editors are watching my work, but also many other people. When you write a book in your own universe, the publisher gets your book to work . But if this is a book on a universe already created by someone, you and the publisher get a franchise book to work.... Games are like living organisms, the creation of which is the result of the work of many people. They are constantly evolving and changing. In your novel, you come up with a wonderful hero, and then he can become an important character in the game ... or he can die at any moment or just forget about him. This is the price to pay for the opportunity to work in an exciting universe with people who also love it. And for me there is nothing more pleasant.


 

How do you usually start working on a new piece? Do you get inspired and get down to business right away, or is this process clearer and more structured?


In the case of novels based on gaming universes, the idea is usually provided by the company itself, but Blizzard has always listened to my own ideas. In this company, I felt at home even before I was officially hired. First, the main idea of ​​the novel or story is determined, then negotiations begin with the developers who say what key events should take place in the novel. Then the writer collects all these ideas and draws up a sketch of the future work. The development team evaluates it and gives its opinion, after which the writer gets back to work. The process is repeated until both parties are happy with the result. After that, the writer begins to write a draft of the novel, which is also regularly read and evaluated by the developers.


 

If you could write a story about any character or event in the Overwatch universe, what kind of story would it have?


Probably, "Walking in London with Tracer" is my favorite character and, perhaps, my favorite city - but there is already a comic strip "London is Calling" , it is just about that! Besides Tracer (and, of course, Symmetra!) I also really like Ash, Angel and Junkrat. It would be very interesting to write a story where they have to work in the same team. Look at them ... Are they capable of being a team at all? This adventure promises to be fun!


 

Let's talk about the story "Stone by Stone

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