Lucy A. McLaren

Hello! Thank you for joining me today for a chat about our shared love of writing, gaming and storytelling. 

First up, tell us a bit about yourself, your writing and your love of video games. 

Hi! Yassss I’m so excited!!

My name is Gabrielle, my pen name is G.M. Chmilar.

I am a Filipino-Canadian and write urban/modern fantasy and science-fantasy.

I have always loved writing and I think story telling is a talent that comes across all sorts of media, like music and video games.

My debut book came out January 2023 and it based in my hometown that I call “Purple City.” The inspiration for it came from TV shows, movies and of course video games.

I have always been a gamer and grew up in a gamer household. My mother used to build PCs in the 90s and read star wars. My earliest memory is waking up in the middle of the night as a toddler and hearing the sounds of my Father in another room playing DOOM. The sounds of the hell doors opening and closing somehow gives me the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia. 

Growing up, I watched my aunts and uncles play video games from Super NES to Sega Dreamcast. I had a Gameboy colour to play Pokémon. In high-school all I would play was the Sims and Final Fantasy.

I totally agree that story telling is something that transcends different mediums. I love that idea of your toddler nostalgia from DOOM, given how creepy/scary that game probably should have been to your younger self!!

So Final Fantasy is obviously a series with huge casts and epic storylines, and The Sims, if you played it like I used to, allows for imaginative storytelling (I used to create whole families and think about their relationships and backstories ha). Would you say playing these games are what impacted upon and influenced your own storytelling the most? And, if so, how?

For sure Final Fantasy inspired my book and writing. I love larger casts and the relationships people have with each other.

In Solum, we are following a family of four siblings, and each of them has a different type of specialty. There is the Fighter, the Thief, the Healer, and the Tank. All of them know and have learned the same spells but their physical and mental differences make up for their other sibling’s weaknesses.

Rodrigo, the eldest brother, is a Tank. Brute force is his best trait and is comparable to a mountain. He’s not the smartest of the bunch, but he works hard and will take the hits head-on. Emilia, the middle sister, is a fighter. She wields two blades and is known to be efficient and quick. Cecilia, the youngest sibling, is the thief. She is too clever for her own good, light on her feet, and is able to lock and unlock items. She’s not very strong, or very fast, but she can get behind you to give a killer blow. Valencio, is the healer. Why? Well, that’s a secret.

I also love the idea of Magic Technology. In Final Fantasy that’s Machina, and in my book Solum, I call it Magifactured. I use a lot of inspiration from Final Fantasy. The origin of Magifactured items, how they’re created, how they’re used, and who makes these items. In FF7, the Mako that is drained from the earth is the energy source for all humans. My Magifactured items don’t pull energy from the earth, the energy comes from something else I haven’t touched on in my book yet.

I could go on for a while talking about magic mixed with technology.

I love that! You can really see the influence of Final Fantasy in your large cast and the way they are separated into different specialities. Random question here: which speciality would you choose to have, if you could have one?

Your use of Magic Technology is also heavily influenced by Final Fantasy, which is awesome. You’ve said that, like Mako in Final Fantasy VII, the Magifactured items take energy from a source as yet undisclosed in your debut book Solum. In Final Fantasy X (my favourite), we see that the Machina is feared and reviled, seen as something sinful. I wonder, then, whether you can share a bit more about the Magifactured items in your world (spoiler-free, of course). What purpose do they serve—and are they feared or respected?

I would love to be a Thief or Rogue or something like that. Rikku from FFX stole my heart and I really want to be as clever and quick as she was.

Magifactured items are not yet feared, but they are looked down upon. Magic Items still exist in my world, or my story, but everyone can use them. If you can attune yourself to a magic item; you don’t need to have magic to use it. Magifactured items are made by non-magic users for non-magic users. (Which I call Norcana) There is a login biometric you need to use the gun or the sword, or whatever, and you also have to calibrate it to yourself which may take a few hours. These items are meant to circumvent and equalize the playing field. Since there is an imbalance of power, the Magifactured weapons are made to explode if a magic user (Arcana) tries to well, use the item. The core itself of these Magifactured items produces magic, and if an Arcana tries to wield these things because they are not an “Empty vessel” they will explode. Norcana are technically empty vessels and are able to house the magic energy from the items without much damage.

Oh man, I hope that made sense… ahaha.

Nice! I love Rikku too. She’s small but tough, unafraid to challenge those around her. Now I want to play FFX again…

I am really intrigued by your Magifactured items and the idea of them levelling the playing field. I’m very much reminded of, say, gunblades from FFVIII when you talk about weapons—am I along the right lines?  In a way, it seems as though magic itself is something that is feared in your universe, would that be right? And, so, the Norcana have sought a way to protect themselves against the Arcana. 

Hahaha. Yes!! I liked her better in X-2 she seemed more carefree if that was possible.

And yeah, I think it matches some of the Gunblades from FFVIII in a way. I love watching the intro to FFVIII, I think it’s my favourite intro next to Kingdom Hearts first intro.

And, yes, I suppose magic is feared. At this time, since my book is set in 2023, magic is the worst-kept secret. There are Government programs to hide magic from most of society, and the UN even has its own Black Ops-type army called the Legionnaire Knights. Since Magic is fairly genetic, the Legionnaire Knights keep power from tipping to far to the Arcana. If that makes sense. It’s not a very political book, (i don’t think) since it’s mostly about a singular family, but there are aspects of fear, power, and exchanges of power. I hope that makes sense. I don’t know how to explain it without giving too much away.

You know, FFX-2 gets a bad rep, but I really enjoyed it! 

Oh yes, absolutely love the intro for FFVIII. It blew me away when I first saw it. I feel like we could talk about this series forever haha.

Wow, I didn’t realise your book was set in 2023. So obviously the FF games are a big influence BUT you chose to keep your book within our world. Would you call it an alternative reality, or…? 

I think the fact that politics come into play in the background but that the story is really focused upon one family and their struggles is very Final Fantasy-esque by the way. These are just giving me all the reasons to read your book. It sounds great. What was your favourite part to write, would you say? A certain character, a certain storyline, a story type of weapon?! 

Omg. We totally could hahha.

Yeah. I think I could call it an alternative reality, imagine Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural where it is set in present time with magic and demons and what not. Lots of my real-world inspiration comes from there.

My favorutie part to write? The family relationships and dynamics. I’ve always hated reading siblings in books. The “Hey sis” or “I love you, bro” felt so flat and unrealistic. Siblings are interesting. They would take a bullet for you, and on the way to the hospital you’d be telling them now this is karma for stealing your favourite toy in 3rd grade.

I wanted to encompass what that’s like. I have one brother and a lot of cousins who I treat like little brothers and sisters. I’ve said it before, but the sarcasm and sass that’s thrown in conversations is really mean but the second anyone tries to make fun of them that way I am on a rampage. 

Another part is the friendships. I market the book as a “romantasy” but the friendships were more fun to write. The teasing and grounding is fun and I based a lot of dialog on texts with my friends.

I have a few favorite weapons I have in the back burner, but I don’t know if I’ll even get to use them.

Yeah, that makes sense. What made you want to write an alternative reality compared to a completely new fantasy setting? 

YES, I agree. Sibling relationships that are all sickly sweet… bleh. Give me the drama and the banter and the love. I’ve got 3 siblings so am here for the realistic sibling representation. It sounds as though you’ve drawn a lot from your own experiences too in terms of the interactions you have with your own family—but I would say it’s fair to also draw parallels to FF games wherein there is a lot of sass and banter between that found family element, wouldn’t you agree?

Always nice to have some extra weapons in the back burner!

So, as a final question—what are you working on next? Is Solum a standalone or can we expect to see more in this world?

I love real world fantasy in shows, also it’s a way for me to only make up half a world and half the rules. When I say phone, people don’t question what that is. If I said a messaging device well, there are rules to that I don’t know if I have the brain capacity for. I like building a place on top of the real-world rules we have now, and I can concentrate on mystical things.

Haha yess!! I love the banter in any FF. Some of the dialogue is weird but it works for its genre, I guess. I really wanted the cast to be the highlight of the story and give everyone someone to cheer for. Making up weapons and magic items is also really fun.

Right now, I am working on the sequel to Solum. It is a series. It wasn’t supposed to be but it is now, I guess I just have too much to say. I love the characters, I love my story, I have fun writing it so a sequel or a series isn’t a chore. I want people to fall in love with the cast as much as I have and to feel what they feel.

I hope that Solum is enjoyable, and I really wanted to capture what it would be like to go on a quest in 2023.

Thanks so much Gabi! It’s been great chatting about video games and your writing. Please let us know where we can find you and your work!

Thanks so much for your time. You can find my books on Amazon, Indigo, Barnes and Nobel and apple books. My Instagram is @ms.c.ingscribbles and my website is www.gmchmilar.com.

I hope we can chat more soon!!