I bet I speak for all the Dames when I say that the one question we are asked the most frequently is “where do you get your ideas?” There are any number of ways we can answer that question, from the snarky to the weighty, but I’m going to follow that oft-repeated writer’s rule: show, don’t tell.
I believe there are two things (all right, way more than two, but two that are relevant to this exercise) that writers do on a regular basis that most “normal” people don’t do very often. One is that we try to imagine what it would be like to be someone else. I don’t mean like an exercise in envy (gee, I wish I could win the lottery like Joe Schmoe so my life could be easy). It’s a much deeper examination of what it would be like to walk in another person’s shoes. (How would winning that money change the way my friends and family interact with me? How would my outlook on life change? What things that I now hold precious might I lose?)
The other thing that writers—especially writers in the fantasy and paranormal realm—do is ask themselves “what if” questions. (What if I won the lottery, but it turned out the numbers I won with were cursed? Anyone recognize this scenario?)
Put those two kinds of thoughts together, and suddenly, you have a story idea. (What if I were an exorcist and found out I was possessed by the king of the demons? How would I feel? What would I do? What made me choose to be an exorcist in the first place? Hopefully, my readers will recognize that one!)
Non-writers often seem to believe that coming up with the idea for a story is hard, but that actually writing the story is easy. But the way writers think makes it surprisingly easy for us to come up with story ideas. It’s actually writing the stories that’s the hard part.
I thought it might be a fun Dames feature to give our readers an opportunity to think like writers every once in a while. My plan is to regularly post interesting “what if” questions, and invite our readers—and the Dames themselves, if they feel inclined—to weigh in. You can leave your answers as comments, or you can keep them to yourselves. Whatever you’re comfortable with. You can carry the idea as far as you like, from a simple one or two sentence answer to an actual story. (Hey, you can even write a novel, though I think we’d all prefer you not post your novel in the comments!)
Writing (or just thinking about) your answers to these “what if” questions can give your imagination a bit of a work out. Reading everyone else’s answers can help you see into the minds of other people. Then, even if you aren’t a writer already, you’ll have an idea what it’s like to think like a writer.
Lest you think this is an exercise only a writer can do, let me tell you that I first came up with this idea as a way to bridge the massive communication gap between myself–the free-spirited artistic type–and my late father, the poster boy for type-A corporate America. If he could write essays about what he would do if he could fly, then so can you!
Your very first topic: What if you could be a superhero? What would your super power be? How would you use it? And what might the drawbacks be?
To celebrate the launch of Deadline Dames, I’ll be giving away a full set of my current Morgan Kingsley books (The Devil Inside, The Devil You Know, and The Devil’s Due) to one lucky commenter.
Everyone who posts a comment by midnight Pacific Standard Time Friday, the 30th, goes into the drawing, and the winners will be announced on Saturday January 31st, 3:00 pm Pacific Standard Time.
Related posts:
What if I were a superhero? Well, I think my powers would be aquatic, as I have always had an affinity for the ocean. So, I would be able to breathe water and communicate with sea creatures, much like Aquaman. The big drawback, of course, is the massive pollution humans have dealt the oceans. How do you fight that? I think she would go up against the biggest offenders first and bring their dastardly deeds into the light. Go Wetdream! Ha! Just trying out a superhero name
Zita
I just want to be able to snap my fingers and make the house clean. Including the laundry.
Hi Jenna!! Wonderful new blog! I like Toni’s finger snapping laundry idea . . .
Love the post, Jenna!
My answer, of course is: Read BLACK AND WHITE when it comes out in June!
(Er, shameless plugs are acceptable, aren’t they?)
If I were a superhero? To be able to just “move” around with a mere thought. Morning in Paris, lunch in L.A., evening in Cairo… a single thought and ‘pop’ there we go! Of course there are many drawbacks…. Popping in in front of a car, or 6 feet above the ground… Plus, I’m quite certain the customs people would be really displeased with me!
I already have a somewhat humble superpower. I’m a finder, able to tell you where misplaced objects are after spending a short time in your space. However, this power doesn’t work for me, only for others… Already I can see how this little domestic power could be tweaked to a grander scale to become an intriguing plot device!
While I should pick something altruistic, I’m gong to be selfish for today’s superhero choice.
I want to be The Sentry. I’d have to ability to split off a section of my mind to stand guard/keep watch. The rest of my mind would be able to crawl 100 % into my fictional worlds and I wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting to pick up a kiddo or missing important calls.
Oh! I just got an idea for a story…
Oh, fun, I’ll play – don’t need to enter me into the contest ’cause I already have all 3 Morgan Kingsley books (loved ‘em!) – but superheroines with superpowers, how cool.
I’d want to be able to communicate with animals, Dr. Doolittle style, and be able to get them to cooperate with me as I battled Evil. I’d get condors to fly me around, big cats to ride on the backs of, alligators to be the enforcers, things like that. We’d go after the bad guys, and I’d be able to protect the animals on the opening day of hunting season, help abused animals find homes, stuff like that – win-win for everyone, except the bad guys, of course.
I’d even get a couple of nightengales to help me seduce the hero. (He’d be the electronics wizard, since I’m hopeless in that category.)
I actually started a story a while back about myself as a superhero.
Her powers are volcano-based; she has a hand made of lava that can melt through any substance, and she can create lahars and, when really pissed off, pyroclastic clouds.
On the upside, it’s really easy to reheat macaroni and cheese, and steel locks have nothing on her.
On the other hand, she always has to be mindful of where her lava-hand is. Even its ambient heat can set stuff ablaze!
Right now I’ve given her a glove made out of ‘Unobtainium’ to help solve this problem.
I’d want to be able to teleport to anywhere in the world I wanted. Instant travel! Like the guy in that movie Jumper. I could get from here to there in a heartbeat and not waste any fuel doing it! Not to mention time. The drawbacks would be traveling so much I’d never get anything done, lol!
To put the “hero” with the super power, I’d use it to save people, like kidnapped victims, especially children. Hostages. American prisoners of war. I guess the drawback would be getting caught by the bad guys for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If I could be a superhero…I’d be girl with Super balance! My powers would allow me to catch the bus in winter, never fear ice patches again, dance and kick butt in my capoeira class….Yeah XD
Hi there, I love the blog, and look forward to reading more in the future. And thanks to Toni Andrews for following me on Twitter and allowing me to find you!
So, what would my power be if I were a superhero? I think I would be a time traveller (like in Doctor Who), and among other things I would go back to before Hitler rose through the ranks of the NSDP and kill him. I guess major drawback to that would be that WWII probably wouldn’t have happened when it did, but it would have happened eventually, maybe even now, but I don’t think Britain and America would be as close Allies as we are, and could possibly even be at war with each other.
From a more personal standpoint, I would go back to before my mother and father split up (I was only a baby at the time) and see my father who I have never known, but have always wanted to know. I realize that is very selfish, but I would do it anyway.
The Titanic, 9/11, the recent fighting in Gaza; there are so many things that could be changed if time travel were possible, but there would of course be consequences, good or bad, in changing even the slightest thing in history. It doesn’t make me any less interested in how things would be different now.
Once again, great site.
Rebecca x
Telepathic powers. But big-time, like Phoenix/Jean Grey in X-Men.
To do anything by just thinking about it — I could be any kind of superhero I wanted.
Great post, Jen!
And congrats on launching the Dames, ladies!
Hi, liked what you said about two of the first things that an author thinks of. Hey! I should be one, have done those things for years…I try not to make someone who is perfect or has too many powers, or if they do have some serious problems. Loved your first book, what a neat idea! Would love to win the rest!
Man, the merry poppin’s bit would be nice, snap and the house was clean. But no, my choice would be, memory. Yup, simple, inconspicuous super power. Flawless memory and recall. Of course, that would probably also be my super weakness… I wonder if when my brain got tuckered down if it would freeze like a computer? Hmm… massive amounts of asperin i imagine…
I do have to agree… Deadline Dames showed up at the perfect time in my life, just when i am struggling with the editing of my first novel, and the keeping up of excersize, schoolwork and housework as well. It can be so fun and absorbing, before you know it you’re a workaholic. How do you manage to find a balance when you’re schedule-phobic like me? I’m only just now getting a solid sleep schedule.
er, slight edit, fun and absorbing would be the writing… not the editing…or housework, exersize… we’ll talk later on the schoolwork.
What if you could be a superhero? What would your super power be? How would you use it? And what might the drawbacks be?
If I could be a superhero I would definitely love to control the weather. There is just something so awesome about being able to manipulate nature and it’s forces. All that power and energy and you can channel it and create mini tornadoes. It’s been a fascination that I’ve had since I first read Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic series. I would probably use it to minimize the natural disasters we experience in our world, or at least to help forecast some of the disaster but it would be hard because that energy would have to GO somewhere, you can’t just squash it out. And it seems reasonable to say that with something that huge, there would also be a huge backlash so the drawbacks would be that it would be hard to control if you can’t do it right and that the energy that was powering a natural disaster would have to go somewhere and it could possibly come out more destructive than before.
Aside from all the cool powers I’d love to try out, I’d have to say the most practical for me would be having multiple clones of myself, like Multiple Man. Especially when it comes to cleaning the house, going grocery shopping, and all the other stuff I hate doing. We would pretty much have to have a collective consciousness to keep all of our stories straight.
Thanks for the great post and for the contest, Jenna
I’d want to be invincible with the side effect of not feeling any pain. Sure it doesn’t give any super strength or other abilities with it, but that’s where learning some self-defense (or self-offense!) can come in handy. Think about it. If you train, there’s no need to worry about hurting yourself or otherwise straining yourself in the process. Plus, when you put your skills into practice, you can really go all out against the bad guy because you can’t be hurt.
exellent post
,another helpful insite to the crazy life of an author….
errmm regards to the topic i think i would like to have super speed!!!in my life of a mum of 2 tots(boys-2yrs+4yrs)it would be exellent to get the jobs done around the house like cook,clean, laundry ,trips to school ,the supermarket etc..also i think it would give me more time for me and the hubby…drawback..well the one i can think of is like in click the film if you go through life too fast you miss some of the best bits!!!!
would love to win all three books,did have first two but lent them out to a friend and never to be seen again!!
becca xxx
Well, I think I should start off by saying that I routinely check to see if I’ve developed telekinesis. I’d hate to suddenly acquire that ability and not know about it. It’s pretty handy.
I’ve always been a fan of invisibility. But, recently I realized that if I had super speed, it would encapsulate a bunch of powers. You get the obvious: speed. But, if you can move fast enough, you also get invisibility. You could theoretically be able to vibrate the molecules of your body so fast as to simulate phasing. And, if you can deliver hundreds of punches in a fraction of a second, you really wouldn’t need super strength to win a fight.
Yeah…I guess I’ve given this question a lot of thought.
Superpower: Fly
I use it to get around, visit my family in far off places and business my own delivery job.
Draw backs?
Bad hair days. Plenty of them to come.
Fabulous post!
If I could have ANY super power it would be Kitty Pryde’s ability to walk through walls. I’ve always thought how cool that would be…
I used to think that I wanted to know what other people were thinking… now the thought of it scares me. I have low enough self-esteem… I hate to think how low it would actually get it I knew what others really though of me!
My superpower (which would then make me a superhero) would be to fly. Yeah, yeah I know – a pretty standard one, but what can I say? I love to travel, LOL. I thought about having the skill to pop from one place to another, but flying over would be much more interesting. Think of what you’d miss if you just jumped somewhere; all those things you’d see if you had to fly over them. Of course the drawback would be speed and air conditions. How fast can you fly? Would you be affected by windspeed and all that stuff? What would happen if you hit a bird? I mean look what happens to planes… How high could you go and still be able to breathe?
Interesting topic. Thanks for asking it.
P.S. I also don’t need to be entered: big fan, have all the books already! Please give them to someone who hasn’t experienced your world yet. I am sure you’d pick up an other fan easily!
My superpower would be to teleport. I love to travel and see places but I’m also one of those people that like to sleep in their own bed when it’s time to sleep and have my things around me. So if I could teleport could go somewhere and pop back home when ready to sleep. But I believe in with any gift there is rules so I think if you could teleport would have to have exact picture in your head where you wanted to be so didn’t end up in a wall or mountain.
Most coveted super power? To be able to change my appearance at will. Last year’s dress is too tight? No problem, we’ll just trim that down a little. And y’know, I’m tired of this blonde shade, let’s go brunette today! Of course, it would probably come with serious complications, like I’d have to actively concentrate on my new hair or my trim tummy if I wanted to keep them up, which would make going out and having actual conversations rather difficult.
I don’t think I would ever want to be a superhero. Being a mom is stressful enough with having to only look out for my runt. So if I were to be a super hero I would want the power to be able to gift people with empowerment. That way they can take care of themselves and I can spend more time reading rather than having to keep helping the same people over and over.
If I had any super power I would want to snap my fingers and be anywhere. Sick of the cold, lets snap and be in the Bahamas for the day. My family is also spread all over the country…no two people live in the same state…so I would really like to snap and visit my sisters or grandmother. The drawbacks, well I can’t come up with one at the moment. Probably because I really miss my family.
Super power? Hm… Okay, it’s not ethical, but manipulating people to do my bidding via mind control would be a nice ability from time to time. It’d be a way to coerce confessions out of criminals. I could be a superhero posing as a detective or such. My co-workers and the media would be baffled as to how I got my suspects to confess so willingly. Ha! Downside? From what I hear, manipulating people isn’t very nice.
*Sigh* Oh, well… Maybe I’d be more of an anti-superhero.
Hmm. I’d want to heal people. Think of all the good you could do: mend bones, cure cancer, ease pain. But what if people found out what you could do? It would have to be super secret, ’cause I could imagine desperate people beating down your door to make you heal their sick husbands, dying children, heck, maybe even their dog. And what if some bad guys found out about what you could do? They might abduct you to heal only people of their choosing. Or, if they have an army and are at war, maybe they’d use you to heal their soldiers while the enemy’s soldiers died. That could definitely change the outcome of a conflict.
Huh, I need to ask myself what-if questions more often. This could actually develop into something!
BTW, I love, love, love your Morgan Kingsley books. I have all three so I don’t need to be entered in the contest. I need to get my hands on your other series, though. Hmm. Maybe I should make a trip to the bookstore today…
As far as super powers go, seeing into the future would be cool. Only a few seconds would be enough, leaning more toward the Brandon Sanderson “Mistborn” sight, rather than the “Early Edition” day before variety, or the long term Nostradamus obscure ramblings.
This looks like it’s going to be a great blog for readers and writers alike! I love the what if? writing idea to get the juices flowing, and I think you answered the “How do you get your ideas?” question very well. Maybe it’ll help people look around at the world in a different (and more interesting) way!
If I had a super power I think it would be to be able to travel to anywhere in a split second…lunch in France, dinner in Egypt, hiking in Ireland. I think it would be awesome to see the world without all the hassles of planes and customs and time! Course jet-lag and adjusting suddenly to different temperatures and times might be a little difficult, but I’m sure I’d adjust, and I’d have to be able to take someone with me or it would be pretty lonely. Things are best when shared with someone you love.
Super Powers. Gotta love those.
I would have telekinesis – the ability to move objects with you mind. Close the door behind you when you walk in carrying too many groceries; let the dogs out without getting up from reading a good book; throw your novel into the hands of unsuspecting pedestrians and have them wonder if it was magic that gave them the book.
Drawbacks? I suppose you could have so much fun moving things around that you forget what you should be doing – writing. Unless of course you find a way to type with you mind too.
Very fun post. I look forward to future ones…Hey, maybe I’d have the power to see into the future?
~Caroline
This is difficult. I’m not much for huge-world-changing because of my Christian worldview, which leaves me with only my own selfish ambitions that wouldn’t “hurt” anybody.
In which case, bring on the ability to grow money on trees. At least then I can donate.
I’m really enjoying the Dames posts on writer life and how to coax the muse along.
Superpowers? All the ‘big’ ones are taken, so I’d go for the kind that increase everyday family harmony and preserve mom-sanity: as The Tantrum/Teething Tamer, I’d be able to sense ahead of time which infant would have a night-shredding teething incident, and which toddler is fifteen minutes away from a screaming, rolling-in-the-supermarket aisle tantrum, and so be able to give the not-yet-completely-frazzled parent a heads-up so they have time to get in a proactive powernap/lock and load the baby gum analgesic / remove the toddler from the premises.
Yes, I have three juniors of my own. Why do you ask? *g*
Another great post to consider. I’m one of those writers who always has way too many ideas and not near enough time to develop them into novels. I suppose that’s what I’d want for a super power – the ability to stretch time – or step out of time to get things done and then step back into the exact moment you left. I can see lots of draw backs there – energy levels bottoming out, forgetting where and when you are.
I actually have an idea for a book about a woman who can see a person’s aura/soul/psyche and knows their deepest secrets. Problem is, she can never find true love because she can never trust anyone.
Congratulations on the new website!
As for superpowers, I’d really like to be a shapeshifter. Fly without wings, swim without worrying about air, run without tripping…But of course I’d have to worry about predators (including humans), and heaven forbid anyone find out about it. Could you imagine all the government agencies recruiting you for a spy?
If i could be a superhero and or have super powers, I think mine would be patience and a larger attention span, because i have none, well i do, but i find myself wanting to flip out on people and as for my attention span, it would be nice to have one longer than a nano-second. This would benefit everyone around me and the world, becuase then i wouldn’t be such a witch
I think if I had a superpower I would want it to be a healer and empathy. I know one of the drawbacks would be always drawned to other peoples hurts and feelings. But I could also do a lot of good.
Toni
If I had any superhero powers, I would definitely like to be a child of the Earth. I would want to be a part of the flora and fauna and talk to the spirits hiding in every single stone and stream. I would seek to heal the ecosystem, stop famine and create haven’s for the innocent. My greatest drawback will be having to endure the pain of the Earth, while beaing cut down, drilled and probed and not fall in madness.
Great question. And a fabulous post. I always think we writers, prublished or not, are actors. I also agree that getting the idea is easy, anythinga nd everything can sparka story, but writing it down is quite catchy.
Great post! I LOVE this one!!
I’m actually working on that topic for my current novel, so I can’t divulge too much, but let’s just say there is more than one way to skin a cat. A hero can always have more than one power, right?
My friends and I have totally been having this discussion for a month or two now — we’ve not only come up with superpowers for everyone who ever sits at our lunch/dinner table, we’ve split ourselves into good and evil, too…
My power is the power to manipulate the time-space continuum. In order for me not to be too uberpowerful, there are certain limitations, the biggest of which is that although I can create rifts in the continuum, I can’t transport anything material, just energy. (well, technically I might be able to, but that’s going to unravel the fabric of time or something, so we’re not even going to go there…) The most useful thing, arguably, about my power is being able to create illusions — create a rift in the continuum in just the right place so that the lightwaves reflecting off of something will go to a different place — so either someone won’t see that I’m here, because those lightwaves will be gone, or they’ll see something that’s not there, because the light waves will be there. Same goes for sound. And then there’s the constant joke that I’m not really there, it just looks like I am… I can also talk to myself from any of the forseeable futures, if I have something worth saying (I tend not to do this unless it’s important, though, because all those voices? they can get annoying…).
We’ve also been busy figuring out how each of our powers would interact with one another. For example, most people can’t really hurt me, because they depend on physical things, and half the time I’m just an illusion. I have to make sure I don’t have a shadow, though, because my friend Zoe can jump out of shadows with a giant battle axe (don’t ask). The only people I’m really scared of are Grace, because she can shift probability (great, make it go towards the future that I don’t want!) and Alex, because he controls electricity, which can actually travel through rifts in the continuum. Which means that he can actually zap me.
What I like about my power is that, well, first of all, it fits me — people constantly don’t notice me and think I disappeared (but actually I was there the whole time, it’s just that there was a rift in the time-space continuum, so the light reflecting off my body didn’t reach their eyes until just now…) — but also that it’s more subtle than some. I mean, super strength or reflexes or healing are very practical powers when it comes to battling evil (or good, whatever the case may be), whereas mine, on its own, can’t actually hurt anyone. It’s what I /do/ with it — e.g. making bullets disappear, opening portals for Alex to zap people, making my shadow disappear, talking to myself, and so on. All in all, I think my power is pretty epic. =]
You can just tell we’ve got nothing better to talk about, can’t you?
Wonderful post!! I know I don’t normally think that way. I enjoyed reading all the comments as well.
What if you could be a superhero? What would your super power be? How would you use it? And what might the drawbacks be?
Hmmm, that’s a hard one. There would be so many super powers that I’d like to have. To move super fast so that I could get everything done in one day that I need to get done. No draw backs for that one that I can think of.
And to be able to heal myself and others. The draw back would be the need to help everyone and where would a person find the time to do that.
Well, maybe if I had super speed and healing powers together….yeah that would be awesomne!!
Shelley
How did I miss the launch. I get a number of Myspace blogs from a number of the Authors on this blog and I missed it completely. Well I will have to hang out or in here and see hwo things turn out and try to win something.
As for my Super Powers I would like to be a healer. I know all about pain and I would love to be able to take it away from others.
I’m practical. I don’t want a big super power. I just want to be able to open stuff. Anything that needs opening- Pickle jars, doors with the keys locked inside of them, Bank vaults…wait, does that make me a super villain?
Jenna posted on Paranormal Mystery about your site!
I love it!
This is a great post and I think I’ve finally decided that I want Magic to be my superpower. I’d be able to heal, transport myself to Egypt, make myself fit in those skinny jeans and shape shift.
Hi! Superhero power would be telepathy. Used to read all thoughts of rulebreaking and troubled thoughts of students by their teacher. Teacher would also have a clue if her lessons were being understood at all. Drawbacks would include the possibility of not being able to turn it off and have people constantly nattering in our head. Also, of course reading thoughts of the people closest to you. Uncomplimentary or angry thoughts.
If I had a superhero power, I would want to be able to have full access to my memory, being able to rewind and fast forward through moments and days, even as a child like a video recording in my head. I first thought about this because I am so forgetful, and misplace things easily, or don’t pay attention the first time around. If I couldn’t find my keys, I could just quickly review when I had them last, and tah dah! I’m guessing drawbacks would be falling back on that instead of attempting to look in obvious places. Or, say if someone in your life died, it would be harder to let go when you can vividly remember moments between you two. So, you’d have to be responsible about it, which is easier said than done.
Great blog and idea!
I think when I used to think of superheroes I’d want to be able to fly, but as I’ve gotten older I think that being able to read minds, her see the future would be more beneficial. Although, being able to read minds could be a huge pain in the ass. I would use my powers for good, put me to work for a special ops agency or something.
Superhero powers…hmm…honestly besides something mundane like being able to fly which would be super cool and not ordinary, but pretty basic along that line. I think I would like to be able to talk to ghosts or see the future, something cool like that. Even if the power might a burden some of the time, in way all superpowers can be a burden. I think this power or powers would be totally cool because you could help people. Sometimes 2 if you can talk to the dead, help them with their unfinished business and whoever it is that they want to help!! Yeah I’m weird, go figure! But still those powers would be AWESOME!!
As I’m sitting here in a cold office freezing my cute butt off I’m thinking I want the super power of environmental temperature control.
It’ll change tomorrow. I’m all about super powers of the moment!
~Jana
I can’t help reading some of these and going, “You can’t copyright an idea, can you, because I totally want to write a short story about that!”
What if you could be a superhero? What would your super power be? How would you use it? And what might the drawbacks be?
Well like what Karen Mahoney said in a above post I think having Kitty Prydes power (phase through solide objest) would be awesome. I would use them to get around my house easier, and when I’m all grown and out of college, help the world. The draw back would be, since I’m just walking through the wall, I wouldn’t knock on doors. So I might walk in on something I didn’t want to see. but…
And elemantalist (real word?) Just to be able to control the elements, (all of them) even the weird ones, not just Water, earth, fire, & air. But like mercury or iron. I would use them to help people, I could totally creat anything; houses, food, ect. The drawback would be, I would be major tired and then everything around us are made up of elements, so I lost control, (Dark Phoenix style) we would be in trouble.
If someone else posted something similar to this sorry I didn’t read them all.
I would love to have the power to teleport. Just think of all the cool places and people you could meet!
I decided long ago I am not allowed to play the ‘my superpower would be’ game because it reveals ugly things I’d rather not know about myself. Sigh. But I like some of the ideas above. I don’t think even I could turn evil with the power to reheat mac’n'chez. Although that’s a jumping off point for an awesome story
I actually write in a small creative writing comm where my character is a ‘superhero’ of sorts. She’s the child of two well known heroes, her mother was murdered when she was a child and her father is very much absent running his band of heroes. She inherited her mom’s gifts of precognition and an ability to make two dimensional drawings come to life. Instead of using drawings as her mother did she started having things tattooed on herself. One of these tattooes is a green fairy called Absinthe (or Abby for short) who often manifests herself when my superheroine is feeling snarky… all of her tattooes have developed ties to her subconcious emotions over the years.
She’s a very reluctant heroine, she just wants to step out of the large shadow cast by her parents. But she’s not one to deny what she is either. Her main struggles revolve around her relationships with her father, her childhood best friend and her current boyfriend. There’s also the matter that her precog abilities only work when she’s having a grand mal seizure and she recently forsaw what is potentially the end of the world. That last bit is actually why I developed the character to begin with… as an outlet for dealing with my own medical condition. Like me, she feels compelled to help others but is often held back by the circumstances of her own world.
Excellent topic Jenna! I’ve been looking for the right words to explain to my non-writer friends/family why I enjoy writing. I get more pleasure out of thinking about the ‘what ifs’ than playing video games or watching television. And I got to talk about my beloved superheroine!
[...] ALERT – Jenna Black is giving away a complete set of her Morgan Kingsley novels over at Deadline Dames. Contest ends at midnight on Jan [...]
I know the first comment I saw said something along the lines of making the house clean. I like that one, but I’m going to go specific since I don’t mind too much (living alone with no kids…) about cleaning the house. I would rather snap my fingers and have all the dust come to my palm in a nice levitating blob that can be guided to the trash. Or bugs… that one would be handy now. Or growing food. Or pretty much anything that would make life easier, not more complicated like typical superhero powers – you know, having to deal with right and wrong and saving people. But, I have always also wanted telepathy. Tis an excellent power for nosy people.
And, I would love to win you series, since I’ve only read the first one and haven’t gotten caught up on all three!
Thanks!
And since I didn’t finish reading the scenario of questions: drawbacks – continually collecting dust since the world is ever big and ever dirty.
Or choking on flying dust. 
I’m not eligible for the drawing, but I’m going to share my favorite superpower someone once asked for:
To invisibly slap the driver in front of you up the back side of the head when they’re being an idiot. Come to think of it, that might be handy on more than just drivers…
I love the new blog ladies! My super hero would be “The Mystic Pen” My super power would be writing anything into a happy ending. I would be able to write Al Queda into a gardening club or write a return of all the money scammed by Bernie Madoff. My super hero costume would be poets shirts with pencil leg pants and Sharpie spiked heels. The only drawback to my super power would be I can’t use my power for personal gain, for instance, I think blowing up my ex’s mustang would be a happy ending to our relationship but it wouldn’t work.
Have a great week!
Mame
The Mystic Pen
If I were a superhero I’d want telekinesis. The possibilities, including making myself and others fly are endless with that power IMHO. Drawbacks might include strength, if you were only strong enough to move small rocks that wouldn’t be as obviously useful as if you could move large aircraft carriers around. However the small rocks variety would probably become quite useful with a certain amount of creativity. There are also drawbacks to being uber powerful, especially if fine control were a problem.
My wee two cents.
Every time I think I have some me time and sit down to read a book, my kids and hubby find me and demand my attention, usually right when I have reached an exciting part of a book. So I would like to have the ability to be able to make them think I’m not there and the room is empty. I don’t want to be invisible because a book floating in mid air just may give me away. lol
If I was a superhero I would have the superpower of being able to turn to mist and drift through solid objects. I’m pretty sure I would use it for nefarious purposes though… so perhaps I would be more of a villain…
Wow, a lot of answers already!
I wouldn’t mind a superpower like always getting a good parking spot or always choosing the fastest line. Not biggies but enough to be useful.
My superpowers would be shapeshifting into any animal form and being able to talk to animals telepathically. Oh, and if I sustained any injury while in animal form it would heal as soon as I returned to my normal human body with nothing more than a faint scar–that would be a great perk. Drawbacks? Well, I might develop a strong desire to chase things even in my normal human body and have some unusual cravings.
>68
That is a good one. LOL. And that’s funny but true, that you may suddenly have strong urges to chase things and have creepy cravings.
If I was a superhero, I would be able to get my hands on a book, any book in existance, by simply thinking about it, picturing it in my mind. Yeah, so it’s kind of lame and simple, but it would make me happy, so who cares! And I could then pass said book on to other potential readers/friends after I was through, so I’m using it for good.
The drawback? Well, unless I figure out a way to automatically have the money taken out of my debit card for having the book magically appear to me, I would technically be stealing, since I’m not paying the author, publisher, and bookseller…. But I would probably just donate money to the three and call it even. Sounds good to me, personally….
My super power? The ability to fly.
Drawback? I guess I’d have to work a spandex body suit, with colorful underwear on the outsides. So embarrassing.
If I had a superpower it would have to be something mental. Like The Mentalist’s character, Patrick Jane. He’s actually psychic, but refuses to recognize the fact or use his powers for personal gain. By not calling his powers “psychic”, he’s not exploited by the media. I would work with law enforcement, searching for missing and exploited children and missing persons like Kelly Currnin Morris who’s been missing from Butner since September. But I’d like to be more of a true psychic, like Johnny in the Dead Zone. But I’d like to be restricted from using my powers for personal gain, like Phoebe in Charmed. The drawbacks to having such powers would be knowing things about people I might not want to know. Sometimes, I like believing the best about people even though, deep down, I know I’m setting myself up for future disappointment and if I were psychic, I wouldn’t be able to delude myself at all.
Love the post.
My super power would be to move and control things with my thoughts. I have just always thought that would be so cool to be able to do.
I don’t know that I would want to be a superhero with a special power. As was said in Spiderman. With great power comes great responsiblity. I can’t even remember to finish folding laundry every week. I’m not sure I’d want the fate of humankind in my hands. I’ll stick to looking up to people and calling them heros instead
Awesome post, Jenna!
What if you could be a superhero?
Actually I’m relatively sure that I will be a superhero, I’m just waiting for my powers to manifest. So it would be pretty awesome, but also very much anticipated. =P
What would your super power be? Ideally I could control time. My first stop would be a trip to the Middle Ages.
How would you use it?
Well my desire to control time stems from a wish for more knowledge and more time to pursue knowledge. But I’d probably get dragged into the save the lives of innocent people issue that effects all time travelers.
And what might the drawbacks be?
Losing track of time. Being too obsessed with times other than now to remember to live in the moment. Letting innocent people die when there is something I could do about it.
Hey! It’s already got the creative juices flowing, but as a writer/creator myself I’ve always thought “where do you are ideas come from” is a silly question. How am I supposed to know, they just appear! =D Thanks!
I’m able to manipulate the elements- earth, wind, fire, water- they’re all under my control. Charged at birth with the task of protecting the world would be an easy enough task, if it weren’t for him…
Born with the same abilities as me, but without the positive upbringing and training, he uses his abilities to inflict the world with suffering. Driven by greed and revenge, his abilities have completely taken over his life.
Now, in order to fulfill my family legacy, I’m left with no other choice… I have to destroy him before he destroys the world as we know it. But how do you destroy someone who’s your equal, especially when he doesn’t have to follow a self-inflicted code of right and wrong?
Unfortunately, using our abilities leaves us both physically drained, so attacks and rescues must be carefully planned out. It’s my job to determine which elemental attacks are naturally occurring and which have been perpetrated by human hands.
Uncannily attuned to the vibrations of the elements, I can detect when something is going to happen, leaving me with but a moment to decide whether or not to act. Occasionally, I act on a naturally occurring phenomenon, leaving me too weak to prevent an actual attack. Those are the days that I dread, the days that innocent lives are lost…
***
Well, that’s what popped into my head when I read the question. I live a very character-driven life, they appear and won’t leave until I record their stories. Too bad I never caught their names…
Love the blog by the way!
If I were a super hero I would try to help as many as I could with the ability I had.
My power would be telepathic to move things with my mind.
How would I use this power. Well I would try and stop thing from happening. For example if a car was coming at a mother and her 2 children and the driver could not stop on his own I would move the car with my mind and turn it off as I put it down.So the driver was safe as well. or I could move the mother and her children out of the way .. but stuff like this I would do.
The draw backs would be? Well the fact that my brain would be so over worked by this.Plus criminals would be after me all the time because of my gift and also some people would think I was a freak. plus not be able to save people because I missed used my gift for things that where not needed. Or I may destroy the world.
Well this is my super me yeah not that super but heck I tried. I am not that good with the brain power myself but since I am not a writer or a smart one at that I guess that is cause I had to real learn everything… yeah long story anyway that is my super hero hope you enjoyed the scary ness that it is.
Love to you creators out there !!
I like to think that if I had a super power, it would come out of my fears, as some way to address them. Given that most of my late-night-nonsensical-fears deal with a fear of physical harm, I suspect I’d have some sort of invulnerability. Not Superman’s, where he’s just unaffected when someone tries to hurt him, but somewhere between Kitty Pride’s things moving straight through her (you can’t injure what you can’t touch!) and Colossus’s ability to toughen his skin to harder than breakable. But the thing about not being able to be injured is that you might forget what the risks are, and there’s a chance that with that, you’d lose some level of empathy, which is a huge risk.
Great post!
I think that if I could have a super power…I think that it would be to manipulate time. It seems to me that there are never enough hours in a day. Having five children (two are on their own) and two grandbabies there just is not enough time. I think that the drawback would be that eventually time would catch up with you.
What if you could be a superhero?
If I had super powers, I likely wouldn’t be much of a hero. I’m too lazy and selfish. LOL. I would likely have more of a “Hancock” thing going. Where I saved some people on a whim.
What would your super power be?
I often have this conversation with my husband (though mostly in traffic so our answers tend to be related to skipping out on Seattle rush hour)… And I always find it hard to decide. I usually decide that it would be best to have Invisible Woman’s powers. Seriously… There are so many ways to use that.
How would you use it?
To make an invisible ramp over I5 and drive over traffic…. Put force fields in front of jerks who are walking away… Hide from needy kids.
And what might the drawbacks be?
Accidentally turning invisible?
Holy cannoli! What a great contest.
Sadly, I have thought of this before. I always wanted to fly as a kid and I suppose that hasn’t changed. It’s a simplistic wish with all the different types of heroes that have popped up over the years but still, flying… Throw in some other cool stuff, like Wolverine’s super healing, and I’m good to go.
And yep. I’d totally do the super-hero thing. You can’t have a power like flying and not do something with it. And I’m not cut out for villainy.
Time travel. I love history. I would love to have experienced Regency England, Revolutionary America or 14th Century Medieval country.
Drawbacks are actually legion – As soon as you show up, you’ve automatically changed history. Your presence is a tuning fork that sends out ripples in that time. Your lexicon would be different. You might add words or change meanings before their time. Which might seem like a small thing, but would have long term effects that you can’t imagine. Do we never have a lightbulb? Do we discover atomic energy before WWII? Maybe nuclear power proliferates long before nations are stable or when some crazy country doesn’t appreciate the consequences?
You might change fashions, a simple thing really, but then return to “your time” and discover that jeans were two centuries old and people have returned to wearing long formal gowns.
You know, the butterfly effect. I don’t think people have any idea how “connected” history is to how we are or what we do today.
Maybe the worst part would be that you would meet these people all through time, become friends, maybe lovers, and you would have to know, when you left, you would never see them again and that, when you appeared in the next “time”, they would be dead.
Man, talk about a constant heartache. Or, you decide to stay in one time and you change it forever. Leave your family behind and know you will never see them. It would be very difficult not to try to leave some message for them. Also, you wouldn’t know if you did leave a message, what would that change for the future?
One last thing…you show up at the wrong time, you might be burned as a witch or thrown in an asylum for being a nutball and you can’t get back to the “rift” or find the material necessary to leave. You are stuck in there for the rest of you unnatural life.
Maybe just imagining things is better than living them. Seriously, can you imagine actually having to use a chamber pot? Having to deal with lice and possibly bad food?
Man, you might be jonesing for a Big Mac and some french fries. I know for sure I’d be in some kitchen some where, julienning some potatoes and boiling some oil for a deep fry.
I’m new to the website and i absolutely LOVE the posts I’ve read so far. I always wonder when reading books where writers get their ideas from. Keep up the good work Dames!!
Fun Fun!! Great idea.
I’ve always loved the ability to teleport. Maybe because I spend so many hours traveling, since my boyfriend lives 300km away from me. After 5 years of travels between his and my place I just keep wishing that power would be granted to me.
Anyways, my teleporting superhero name would be “Vortex” and besides using it as a means to get myself wherever I wanted I think I could work as a liaison between secret agencies, getting their information around as fast as lightning and getting hostages free of captivity. However I could also go to the bad side and use my powers to be an amazing burglar since nothing could keep me out.
The major drawback would be to be used as a bus by the people I know. Let’s say that having a friend that can get herself werever she wants really fast would be awsome to anyone with travel plans.
Other drawback would be that I’d have to calculate really well my place of arrival, so I wouldn’t materialize inside a concrete wall.
It would be cool to have that orbing/teleportation power. I could go anywhere at a moment’s notice i.e. groceries, errands etc. And it would be an energy efficient way to travel
Soo many good ideas. I’ve thought long and hard on the superhero question, and I keep changing what I would like to do.
Today’s answer is: The ability to talk to animals. I would be a regular Dr. Doolittle, and it would give me a great excuse to have a zoo in my house. My husband keeps resisting my natural instinct in becoming a crazy cat lady. The only big drawback I see with it at the moment is the inability to help them even if I could understand them.
I’ve also considered: telepathy, form shifting, time travel, and some sort of item transmutation.
I had a really big “what if” night last night, as I ironed out the kinks in the plot of the book I’m about to start. I bet #1 and I said that phrase at least 50 times.
Yet only came up with one plot.
What if I were s auprehero? Teleporting would be really cool, I think. I love this blog, by the way.
What if I had the ability to teleport anytime I wanted to? Or if everyone did? Think of the money I could save in Car insurance and gas! Think of the positive effect it would have on the environment if we could all do that. Of course they would have to come up with some kind of jamming technology to prevent people from teleporting into banks after hours and such.
*sigh* to dream….
Superhero power: the ability to split into multiple copies of myself so I can do more than one thing at a time!
If I were a superhero, I would want to be able to seriously kick ass! You know, like Buffy or something. I would love to be able to read minds so I would know what’s going on in the minds of men and whether they really think this skirt makes my butt look big. The drawbacks would be that men would probably feel inferior, like you didn’t need them to protect you and they would not like that you always know their thoughts.
Deidre
Great blog post. I love superheroes!
I would be Superwoman, really strong and being able to fly. Or if I just wanted to have superpowers for my own gain: being able to be invisible and to read peoples mind.
If I could be a superhero, I think I would want to fly. The draw back would be, I’m afraid of heights. So I’d have to face my fears first.
If I could have a super power? I’d want to be able to protect my hubby. He got home last year from 15 months in Iraq, and is probably going to Afghanistan in October. Being separated like that does wonderful things for our communications–long phone calls, long love letters–but I worry All. The. Time. I’d like to take the anxiety out. The major drawback? We have three kids. I worry about them whenever they’re not in my direct line-o-sight, so I can see how having to split myself simultaneously between two sides of the earth could be wearing.
Plus, it would really cut into my reading time.
What if you could be a superhero? What would your super power be? How would you use it? And what might the drawbacks be?
I, like Silver James and Lori T above, would love to be able to stretch time. Having only 24 hours in a day is just not enough. I have too many things I want to do and not enough time to do them all in.
The biggest drawback, however, would be if you could essentially slow down everything else while you work at normal speed, life would be over too quickly – you would age faster than everything else around you. By that logic, therefore, stretching time would be senseless because in order for you to make time for all of the pies you want to put your fingers in, you are in fact cutting your life short, thereby reducing the overall numbers of pies…
Hmm…pies…
Ow, I think I just broke my brain.
I think having a superpower that is really obvious (like flying or invisibility) would end up causing more problems in the end. I would rather be able to know the best thing to say to someone at any given moment. Whether it’s upon hearing bad news, or being bullied, or seeing someone with their fly down. I never know what to say. That would be such a handy little power… and no one would ever know you possessed it. They would just think you were an especially awesome person.
if i had super powers i think id want the ability to disappear that way id be able to help people with out them knowing so this may make them feel more confident in trying new things, however the down side would be that people may get to confident and causes them self a serious injury or that i see/hear something that could cause me great pain or harm to another.
After thinking about this for a couple of days and coming up with a great story and working on that(which btw that person has a completly different power than what I want, she is a “Null” someone that no magic works around.And what can be more difficult than that when your born into a family of mages always using magic?), I’ve decided that I still would like to be a werewolf. Not the mindless beast that some imagine, but someone that can turn into an actual wolf and when in human form still has the keen senses of a wolf.
My superpower would be turning into the wolf and having its senses. This could help if I ever decided to help law enforcement or something like that because I could be my own tracking dog or drug dog…ah the possibilities.
Although I would probably use the powers to help law enforcement, I would also use them to just enjoy myself by running and seeing the world like a wolf, and I would also use them to study wolves so I could help educate the world better on them.
There would be quite a few draw backs. First, who wants to be around someone that can change into a wolf? I mean come on really….Ok so I would but that doesn’t really count does it?
Second I live in a ranching comunity and they all HATE wolves. So if I changed into a wolf and was out running or something, I’d most likely get shot at and maybe even killed…major drawback.
Third, if I could turn into a wolf and had those great senses and someone in the government found out about it, I’d probably be taken from my family, and from nature (one of the main reasons I want the ability), and put up in some lab so they can run test on me to see if they can reproduce what I was. Not my idea of a good time, but hey it might be for someone.
If I could be a superhero I would like to have the power of Nature. I beleive all starts with nature, air, fire (for warmth), wind, and food. Based on the current day I would try to feed people that need feed and try to care for people who need the help. I would like to try to teach other people of what nature means and how it helps us. We currently seem to just keep cutting it out of our lives and out of our childrens childrens lives. The drawback of this would be feeling the pain when something dies or when the forests are removed for good.
If I were a superhero, I would like my power to be to heal those who are injured or sick.
If I had super powers, I’d like to be a shapeshifter. I think it would be cool to turn into a wolf or an eagle. One of the drawbacks would be if I were killed by hunters. Not too good!
If I could be a superhero, I think my ability would be to speak in and translate any language the first time I heard it. The trick is I could only understand it once I heard it spoken, so if you ask me “Do you speak Russian?” I’d be able to say no, in all honesty, but when you spoke to me in Russian I would understand. This limitation would help me to hide my ability, which could easily be disguised as a simple facility with languages in any case. And I’d want to fly under the radar, so to speak, because once the government found out about this power, I might be recruited into the military or some intelligence agency, and forced to compromise my principles. Instead I would find work at some non-profit agency, maybe something like a free clinic, where I could help those who couldn’t speak English communicate with their doctors. There would be those occasions when I heard something unflattering about myself, because the speaker didn’t think I could understand him or her, and I eventually would hear something I wasn’t supposed to, and have to choose between revealing myself to the government, or risking millions of innocent lives.
I would like to be psysic – I think. Can you be psysic with only good things? I don’t mean the lottery (even though that would be good), but I mean the feel good happy things.
The first time I thought about having superpowers I was watching a teenage witch movie and thinking this girl has the power to make any spell possible, to make water flow where there’s been a drought, to move rubble after an earthquake, real Superman-type hero stunts. Yet, she’s choosing to make a love spell to make Brad love her and a glamour to make her less dorky. Talk about sending the wrong message to young girls.
My superpower, mind manipulation. I have the power to redirect people’s thoughts. I can make dictators resign from power. I can make very rich people give their money to orphans instead of spending it on shoes. Problem is, I actually have to be looking the person in the eye before I can manipulate their behavoir by changing their thought process. And, it can take a while, especially if the person is particularly stubborn. And, I can change the way a person thinks, but not the way they feel, so even if that faux celebrity gave her Jimmy Choo fund to the orphans she’d still be first in line at fashion week.
After reading all the posts I guess I don’t really
want to fly. Teleportation might be a good one, but I think I would like to be like Samantha in “Bewitched” and just snap my fingers to get everything done(can’t twitch my nose). Very handy for cleaning the house, cooking dinner, and changing clothes. Drawbacks? Definitely would have to keep it a secret or everyone would want you doing their work, too!
I really would like to be one of those people who can make plants grow.
I would love to teleport wherever I needed to go and I would only use it if I was in a hurry or in case of an emergency and I need to be right there at that moment. The drawback would be I teleported at the wrong place.
My superpower would be to slow down time so I have more of it do all the things I need to do during a day.
Drawback would be that I’d need to sleep for like a couple days after using it for one day.
Hi Jenna, I would want to be invulnerable so I do all the dangerous things that cops and soldiers and firefighters do for them (at least, in my town) and no one would have to get hurt. And also so that I would never get hurt, which is a serious bonus!
For my superpower, I would like to be able to heal people and animals just by touching them.
[...] writers a chance to play. (If you’d like a more thorough explanation, please check out my first post for Deadline Dames.) I start each post with a recap of the previous question, as well as my own [...]
check this out…
this is mine…
Joe…
Check out my domain sometime….