fandom q+a K.M. Hayes Q&A

[Simon 4,557]

 

Welcome and thank you for joining us for Poniverse's first ever Q&A event!  

 

This month we'll be talking with K.M. Hayes, author of My Little Brony!  If you haven't already had a chance to pick up My Little Brony, it's an awesome novel in which we follow a teenager's journey to becoming a brony and facing the challenges that it brings.  I want to start this Q&A off by thanking K.M. Hayes for being an awesome guest!  Not only has she so generously given us a few hours out of her busy schedule to chat, but she's truly been a pleasure to work with in setting this up and really made launching this Q&A series easy!

 

Since this is our first Q&A, I do want to take a brief moment to familiarize everybody with how this will work.  This thread will be opened at approximately 6 pm PST (9 pm EST), and will remain open for 3 hours.  During that time you'll be able to ask whatever questions you wish (within the site rules of course!), and our guest will do her best to answer everybody's questions!  

 

As a special bonus, courtesy of Skyhorse Publishing, we will be giving out 2 copies of  My Little Brony at the end of the Q&A to a couple of lucky bronies!  All you have to do is ask a question during the Q&A and you'll be entered to win! (Winners will be contacted for mailing info after being chosen.  If you do not wish to accept your prize, we will pick another winner.)

 

The thread will be open from approximately 6 pm - 9 pm PST.  At the end of the Q&A, the thread will be locked and you will no longer be able to ask any new questions.  Questions asked before 9 pm may or may not be answered depending on how much time our guest can spend with us.

 

Without further ado, have fun, chat, and ask whatever questions you have for K.M. Hayes!

 

---

 

To get things rolling, I figured I'd start off with probably one of the more obvious questions for a writer, but still something we all want to know: What inspired you to write My Little Brony?

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

What inspired you to write My Little Brony?

 

And what did you initially think of bronies?

[Meanlucario 131]

How did your co-workers and friends feel about you writing a book about a young man discovering My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic?

Edited June 3, 2015 by Meanlucario

[Batbrony 16,052]

Good evening, Miss Hayes, and on behalf of MLP Forums and Poniverse let me start by saying thank you for generously giving us your time this evening.  My first question for you is what inspired you to start writing and publishing novels in the first place? 

[mars 4,862]

Hi! Welcome to the forums, I hope you're enjoying your time here~!
I have to ask the real questions: who's your favorite pony and why?

[KMHayes 274]

 

 

Welcome and thank you for joining us for Poniverse's first ever Q&A event!  

 

This month we'll be talking with K.M. Hayes, author of My Little Brony!  If you haven't already had a chance to pick up My Little Brony, it's an awesome novel in which we follow a teenager's journey to becoming a brony and facing the challenges that it brings.  I want to start this Q&A off by thanking K.M. Hayes for being an awesome guest!  Not only has she so generously given us a few hours out of her busy schedule to chat, but she's truly been a pleasure to work with in setting this up and really made launching this Q&A series easy!

 

Since this is our first Q&A, I do want to take a brief moment to familiarize everybody with how this will work.  This thread will be opened at approximately 6 pm PST (9 pm EST), and will remain open for 3 hours.  During that time you'll be able to ask whatever questions you wish (within the site rules of course!), and our guest will do her best to answer everybody's questions!  

 

As a special bonus, courtesy of Skyhorse Publishing, we will be giving out 2 copies of  My Little Brony at the end of the Q&A to a couple of lucky bronies!  All you have to do is ask a question during the Q&A and you'll be entered to win! (Winners will be contacted for mailing info after being chosen.  If you do not wish to accept your prize, we will pick another winner.)

 

The thread will be open from approximately 6 pm - 9 pm PST.  At the end of the Q&A, the thread will be locked and you will no longer be able to ask any new questions.  Questions asked before 9 pm may or may not be answered depending on how much time our guest can spend with us.

 

Without further ado, have fun, chat, and ask whatever questions you have for K.M. Hayes!

 

---

 

To get things rolling, I figured I'd start off with probably one of the more obvious questions for a writer, but still something we all want to know: What inspired you to write My Little Brony?

 

Thanks for having me, everypony! It's been so exciting for me to join this forum and see all the fun that's going on here. I feel really lucky that I got to write My Little Brony and that some of you have even read it already. It still feels surprising and wonderful that anyone would take the time to read my words.

 

To answer Simon's question: What inspired you to write My Little Brony?

 

This was actually a unique experience for me. One night a friend of mine posted on my Facebook wall about a Mediabistro ad looking for a "writer with in depth knowlege of My Little Pony and the fandom" to write a novel on the topic. She knew I was a big fan, and I think she sent it to me as a little bit of a joke, but I jumped on that so fast it wasn't even funny. I sent in my application before I even told my agent, because I not only thought it would be great to write about something I love, but I also wanted to make sure it was done *right.* I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

Luckily, I ended up being selected for the job! The publisher gave me a vague idea of what they were looking for, and I wrote a pitch about how I would write the novel. Since MLP is so much about friendship, I wanted that to be a big part of the book, of course. I ended up drawing upon a lot of my experiences as a bullied kid and teen for the conflict aspects (except I was teased for liking anime, not MLP, back then). I decided Drew (the main character) would be an artist because other than writing I love to draw and felt that was a good place to start pulling Drew into the fandom. They loved it and I went off to write the book on a very tight deadline.

[TopQuark 409]

Why did you choose the title ‘My Little Brony’?

[11th Doctor Whooves 794]

Along with MLP: FiM, what are some other cartoons you enjoy, both modern day and from your childhood?

[KMHayes 274]

What inspired you to write My Little Brony?

 

And what did you initially think of bronies?

See my inspiration for the novel in Simon's answer.

 

What did I intially think when I first heard of bronies? Um, AWESOME! I was already a massive fan of the show before I knew about the fandom growing around it. I watched it with my kids, and as an animation nut in general I just so appreciated the art style and stories and found it to be top quality. Finding that so many people agreed with me, of all genders and ages, was the bestest thing ever!

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

I'm curious, how did you first find out about Friendship is Magic (or  My Little Pony in general)? Did someone you know tell you about it, or did you stumble upon it on your own?

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

Aw, yay, I'm here for it!

 

So, Miss Hayes! I am currently writing a short story in order to get my foot in the publishing door before spending my limited time on a full blown novel. I have confidence in my ability to write well, but I am unaware of the proper way to go out getting a book published! I have looked around a few websites, but the preferred process by whoever posted it is always a bit different.

 

If you are willing to divulge, how did you go about getting published?

 

Thank you for your time. I'll obviously understand if you are unable to get to my question. I'm just glad to have the opportunity to ask you! I hope you have a good night and don't get too overwhelmed by the waterfall of questions! <3

[KMHayes 274]

How did your co-workers and friends feel about you writing a book about a young man discovering My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic?

 

Most of them thought it was fantastic, since my co-workers are made up of other authors who write for teens. We're all pretty open to cool stuff like MLP:) My family thought I was basically the coolest--I have a teen sister who loves the show and she was over the moon to read the novel. I've been really lucky in that most people I've met have been great about it, but I will say when I mentioned it to some of the guys in my Guild Wars 2 guild they thought I was joking, or they were a bit weirded out by it.

[Eloquence 2,076]

Hello and welcome! As I'm sure many have already said, thank you so much for being here tonight to answer all of our questions! I have one too, if you don't get too overloaded by us eager fans

 

I've found the My Little Pony fandom to be a wonderfully diverse one, making people feel accepted and appreciated no matter their race, gender, religion, sexuality, well, you get the idea. I haven't gotten to read this novel yet, and was wondering how much you touch upon that aspect of our fandom, and if that played a role in your decisions regarding how to portray us. 

[creepypastaeater 256]

Welcome Miss Hayes to the forums! I was wondering, what do think of fan-made video games about my little pony and my little pony roleplays?

[Odyssey 5,716]

Hello, K. M. Hayes! It's wonderful to have you here.

 

I have two questions to ask: first off, what other franchises do you like outside of MLP:FiM? And secondly, what year did you become a brony?

[KMHayes 274]

Good evening, Miss Hayes, and on behalf of MLP Forums and Poniverse let me start by saying thank you for generously giving us your time this evening.  My first question for you is what inspired you to start writing and publishing novels in the first place? 

 

I'm one other those people who only ever wanted to write, even when I was a kid. It was always The Dream, though sometimes I believed I could do it and sometimes I didn't think it was possible. I was always writing silly stories in elementary school, and then in jr. high I found anime and began drawing and creating stories that fell more in line with that. While I "came up with my own characters," looking back the story was totally a rip of of Sailor Moon, hehe.

 

I gave up on writing creatively for awhile in high school, after one of my friends read my work and said it wasn't very good. I was super self-conscious and her opinion meant the world. So if she didn't think I could do it then I must have been a failure. Which was silly, but hey I was like 16 and a little dramatic. I wrote non-fic for magazines in colleges and such, but didn't pick up the creative writing until after I graduated. That's when I seriously began to pursue publication.

[TopQuark 409]

Why did you choose to use an alias, and why ‘K.M. Hayes’ specifically?

[KMHayes 274]

Hi! Welcome to the forums, I hope you're enjoying your time here~!

I have to ask the real questions: who's your favorite pony and why?

 

I love them all (I know, cheesy and not the good answer), but I really lean toward Twilight Sparkle because I see a lot of myself in her. I was that "philly" who struggled to make friends and studied instead. I was the one with a plan--and always freaking out about how my plans never quite went right. So I love Twilight and how she grows throughout the series.

Why did you choose the title ‘My Little Brony’?

 

Simple answer: I didn't! My publisher chose the title. I had no control over that aspect, actually.

[Magic Note 2,748]

Welcome to the forums, KMHayes!

 

Which is your favourite song on the show?

[baba_booey 4,302]

Nice to have you here, K.M. Hayes.

 

Do you plan on writing any more books other than My Little Brony?

[goldheart 22]

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A BRONYCON AND WHAT WAS YOUR OPINION ON IT

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

See my inspiration for the novel in Simon's answer.

 

What did I intially think when I first heard of bronies? Um, AWESOME! I was already a massive fan of the show before I knew about the fandom growing around it. I watched it with my kids, and as an animation nut in general I just so appreciated the art style and stories and found it to be top quality. Finding that so many people agreed with me, of all genders and ages, was the bestest thing ever!

That's cool. What advice do you have for up and coming writers?

[KMHayes 274]

Along with MLP: FiM, what are some other cartoons you enjoy, both modern day and from your childhood?

 

Oh, that list could go on forever! I grew up in the age of Saturday morning cartoons, and waited with great excitement to watch things like X-Men and Ninja Turtles with my brother. I found anime fairly early in life when my mother bought My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service--this was way, WAY before Disney even found Miyazaki. I fell in love with his work and have seen nearly all the Ghibli creations. This led me into anime, and I loved anything I could get my hands on, which in the 90s wasn't much. Sailor Moon, Drangonball Z, Gundam, Evangelion, Utena, Fushigi Yuugi, Escaflowne--if I could get my hands on it I'd watch it and love it. I still watch anime today, Fruits Basket, FMA, Inuyasha, Attack On Titan, Madoka Magica...I'm both trying to stay up on current while catching up on all the things I missed pre-internet.

 

And...I could clearly go on forever, but Cartoon Network! I grew up in the era of Powerpuff Girls, which I loved to death along with Dexter's Laboratory and all those. Disney is all good, too, and Pixar. Gosh, if it's drawn I will at least check it out:)

I'm curious, how did you first find out about Friendship is Magic (or  My Little Pony in general)? Did someone you know tell you about it, or did you stumble upon it on your own?

 

It was a bit of a stumbling. I have a daughter, who was...oh dear, maybe 3 at the time the first season aired? Well, it showed up on Netflix and I was browsing for something to keep her happy while I wrote. I spotted the new MLP and was VERY excited for her and myself...and then it turned out being so much better than I every expected, and I watched it myself instead of writing! And of course because my kids were little at the time, we watched every season and multiple times. As in *dozens* of times. My little boy (now three) ended up becoming a HUGE brony from birth. He went as my Spike for Halloween last year (I was Twilight).

I'm curious, how did you first find out about Friendship is Magic (or  My Little Pony in general)? Did someone you know tell you about it, or did you stumble upon it on your own?

 

It was a bit of a stumbling. I have a daughter, who was...oh dear, maybe 3 at the time the first season aired? Well, it showed up on Netflix and I was browsing for something to keep her happy while I wrote. I spotted the new MLP and was VERY excited for her and myself...and then it turned out being so much better than I every expected, and I watched it myself instead of writing! And of course because my kids were little at the time, we watched every season and multiple times. As in *dozens* of times. My little boy (now three) ended up becoming a HUGE brony from birth. He went as my Spike for Halloween last year (I was Twilight).

[mars 4,862]

 

 

I gave up on writing creatively for awhile in high school, after one of my friends read my work and said it wasn't very good. I was super self-conscious and her opinion meant the world. So if she didn't think I could do it then I must have been a failure. Which was silly, but hey I was like 16 and a little dramatic. I wrote non-fic for magazines in colleges and such, but didn't pick up the creative writing until after I graduated. That's when I seriously began to pursue publication.

I totally get this. I've beaten myself up over my writing for a while and use to be very very self-concious about my work.. Do you get ever writer's block and if so, how do you push past it? I always find myself having trouble with this. 

[11th Doctor Whooves 794]

Oh, that list could go on forever! I grew up in the age of Saturday morning cartoons, and waited with great excitement to watch things like X-Men and Ninja Turtles with my brother. I found anime fairly early in life when my mother bought My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service--this was way, WAY before Disney even found Miyazaki. I fell in love with his work and have seen nearly all the Ghibli creations. This led me into anime, and I loved anything I could get my hands on, which in the 90s wasn't much. Sailor Moon, Drangonball Z, Gundam, Evangelion, Utena, Fushigi Yuugi, Escaflowne--if I could get my hands on it I'd watch it and love it. I still watch anime today, Fruits Basket, FMA, Inuyasha, Attack On Titan, Madoka Magica...I'm both trying to stay up on current while catching up on all the things I missed pre-internet.

 

And...I could clearly go on forever, but Cartoon Network! I grew up in the era of Powerpuff Girls, which I loved to death along with Dexter's Laboratory and all those. Disney is all good, too, and Pixar. Gosh, if it's drawn I will at least check it out:)

 

That is an insanely amazing list of cartoon and anime goodness

 

Okay, some follow up questions.  What's your favorite Miyazaki movie?

 

And your favorite characters from DBZ, Attack on Titan, InuYasha, and Sailor Moon?

 

What tends to be your inspiration when writing?

 

Finally, most important of all......do you like Alvin and the Chipmunks?