For Nevermore Season 1

transitional moment for me with ForNevermore. I loved that Dave put him in the story, and was all “HELL YEAH! It’s game time!” as soon as I read it. It was so unexpected, and yet read with clarity and seemed natural, I loved it. I can’t wait to see what else happens with Finn.

    Ray: I loved the potential for the heart-shaped mark on Noella's face (seen in the trailers), is this an item of importance for future episodes.

    David: Yes, but I can’t say much more about it other than we wanted to play it naturally. We didn’t call much attention to it this season because it would have felt forced. People who already know Noella wouldn’t really react to it on an everyday basis, especially when so many other weird things are going on with her!

    Sean: There is something uber cool that will be happening with Noella and her heart-shaped birthmark, likely within the first couple of episodes of Season Two, but if I tell you then Dave will be super mad and probably grouchy. So it’s best for our production schedule if I keep it mum.

    Ray: Noella Snow vs Bella Swan (Twilight)... a coincidence?

    David: I’ve always liked the name Noella. I’ve had it in my head since around age 17. I hadn’t even thought of Bella sounding like Noella until a friend of mine, a Twilight fan, mentioned it. I didn’t care enough to change the name, though.

    Sean: Dave named Noella and I gave her the last name Snow. I didn’t even know Bella’s last name was Swan. I’ve not read any of the Twilight books, and fell asleep about 15 minutes into the first movie.

    Ray: When you get to a point where you two have two different ideas about the direction things are going, who makes the final decision.

    David: We have two weekly story sessions where we map out the next episode or iron out kinks in the current one. Our brainstorming sessions are a democracy, both of us pitching, and rejecting, ideas. In almost every instance our disagreements have led to even better story choices. Sean and I are on the same page seven times out of 10, though.

    Sean: I can’t remember a single argument about story direction. I think we both feel it when one of us has a better idea. Our trash usually leads to something better. For example, we were plotting out the first episode of WhiteSpace, and 80% of my draft had to be trashed. However, the trash ended up leading us toward a few significant and rather awesome story developments we wouldn’t have had otherwise. I’d say we’re on the same page eight times out of 10.
    David: No, it’s seven times out of 10!!

    Ray: Has ForNevermore caused any rifts in your working relationship with each other?

    David: No, not with one another. It’s been an act of faith, however. We’re in uncharted waters, and when we got some negative feedback early on, it was easy for me to get dissuaded, to second guess what we were writing. Sean, who is far more positive, talked me off the ledge and convinced me to see the story through.

    I’m glad he did.

    Sean: I think ForNevermore actually made our working relationship tighter. With Yesterday’s Gone , Dave had his characters and I had mine. We were able to write a bit more in isolation. That wasn’t possible with ForNevermore , and ultimately I think it’s making us better writers with better stories. A lot of the habits we’ve picked up with ForNevermore are easily imported into the rhythms of our upcoming stories.

    Ray: Has the marketing of FNM and your other series ( Yesterday's Gone ) posed any difficulties that you didn't expect?

    David: We marketed ForNevermore all wrong. Like I said before, we played up the romance angle of it even though the romance is more of a slow burn in Season One . I think we also would’ve faced less critical feedback if we’d just pitched it as our next story instead of a Young Adult story.

    I think some people didn’t give it a chance, or their opinions were flavored by a bias against Young Adult. And I get it. It’s human nature. I’ve done it myself with authors I like, ignoring some of their work that was billed as outside their normal stuff.

    I liken it to becoming well-known for making the most awesome chocolate in the city. And then one weekend you decide, “I think we’re gonna serve some awesome chili.” Yeah, you might be good at chili, but people didn’t come for the chili. They came for the chocolate. Give ‘em chocolate.

    However, we’ve gotten some great feedback from people who stuck with it, or