By Louis Peitzman
Editor’s note: See below or click here for part one!
San Francisco Bay Guardian: When you were writing Death’s Daughter, did you think about casting any of the characters?
Benson as Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Amber Benson: It’s funny — somebody asked me about that recently, and I was like, I’d love to play [Calliope] myself. But I don’t know, I try not to give actors to the characters when I’m writing, because then, all of a sudden, they’re talking in that person’s voice, and it gets a little muted and weird. So I try to keep them separate, and give them their own sort of — like, I have an idea of what they look like in my head. Like, I always thought Calliope looked like Zooey Deschanel, but less hip. But definitely that elfin sort of look. Also, the character of Jarvis, I did cast, only because I worked with this guy named Ashley Artus on this film called Gryphon, and I’m like, that’s what Jarvis looks like. Jarvis looks like Ashley and sounds like Ashley and is kind of just like Ashley.
SFBG: This was your first solo novel. How was it different writing by yourself instead of with a collaborator?