When it comes to books, I don’t search out stories written specifically to be comedic, but my favorite novels always include lighter moments that make me laugh or one-liners that I want to share with friends and family. With my own stories, I knew I wanted a blend of fantasy that included humorous moments to make readers smile, because I want my books to be a fun escape from reality. 

With The Genie Whisperer, Garan presented an excellent opportunity to bring in those lighter moments. He is so out of it that he often says off the wall things. Writing his dialogue has been both a fun and difficult challenge. Nearly every time he spoke, I’d have to sit and think, “What can he say that’s only vaguely related to what’s actually going on?” because at any point in time, he’s probably at best only giving the conversation half his attention. 

After The Doorway to the Future, Garan will spend far less time in his head and pay more attention to the situations around him, but he’ll still provide plenty of lighter moments. He sees the world so differently from even other genies with his extreme plant obsession that he’ll still be the same plant genie that readers enjoy. Just with a little more coherent dialogue and paying a lot more attention to Ali 😉 

 Ali is also a figure that brings some levity to the story sometimes. Like partly with Garan, it comes from her extreme obsession, though hers is with science rather than plants. Her excitement over all things scientifically nerdy has been fun to write, as well as trying to figure out how someone so scientifically minded and socially awkward might process the world. 

It’s fun to have characters who take things to a ridiculous level sometimes, which both Ali and Garan are guilty of. I hope to include more characters like that in future series.