Who's Who: BoyxBoy Authors

Me! - TheRegularNonsense

Name: TheRegularNonsense, D. O'Brien.

Age: 19

Genres: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, teen.

Subjects: boyxboy, love, weird things.

What would you say is your most popular book?

- It'd have to be Preparing for the Tide (That Indian Boy) for sure. I didn't really think it'd get as popular as it did. I thought, "I'm going to make this gay story," Because I've tried to many times before and always failed, "And it's going to have a main character that's not white." I really wanted to rep some POC main characters. I think that there needs to be some more diversity in the writing community, and yes, it is because I'm black.

I didn't want to do a black character though because I feel like that's a "go-to" race. Most people will throw a black, hispanic or East Asian person in there to "diversify" and it's like okaaaay. Anyway, I'm rambling.

Why do you think it's your most popular book?

- Honestly, because it's funny. A lot of people can relate or something. I get a lot of comments on how smooth and approachable my writing style is. @EliSummers said that it was like reading "a hot cup of cocoa"

What got you into writing boyxboy books?

- Always been interested in the subject. I used to read a lot of straight books, all my life I did actually. But starting in like, 8th grade, I started imagining the guy as Sasuke, you know from Naruto? I would imagine the guy as Sasuke and the girl as Naruto because I have always been a big SasuNaru fan. So even while reading straight books, it was gay in my head. Then I figured I'd just started reading gay books, then I figured I'd just start writing them too.

Do you like to write in any other genres?

- Aside from the ones I listed above? No, not really. I think those are my forte.

Do you get writer's block?

- All day every day. I usually get it on stories that I'm just writing from the top of my head and without a plan. I'm not a notorius planner, but NawtEnoughKisses has seen some of the planning for TIB/PftT, and she said it was pretty heavy. I usually just plan for stories that I know are going to be complicated. If it's a pretty straightforward plot, I just make it up as I go.

How do you cope with writer's block?

- Typically I read the story over and try to get back into the mood I was in. When that doesn't work, I watch a show or listen to music that has to do with my story. Like if I'm writing a sci-fi and I get writer's block, I'll watch The Twilight Zone or something to get some inspiration back.

Ever try a candy that isn't from your country?

- Of course. My mom isn't from America so we always get candy from her country shipped down from New York. My favorite is called Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Biscuit. It's beautimous. I'll add a picture. Also, I love those lolipops that are covered in chili pepper from Latin America.

Do you have a favorite book on Wattpad? Why do you like it so much?

- My all time favorite book on Wattpad is 404 Error. It was the second book I ever read on the site. I love it because it has such a unique plot and the characters are unconventional. I love when people don't use standard good-looking people as main characters.

Do you have an all time favorite book in general? Why do you like it so much.

- The Count of Monte Cristo, hands down. I borrowed the unabridged version from my mom's friend and I read it three times. Then I watched Japan's anime take on it, then I watched two movies (I plan on watching a very early black and white version whenever I can find it). I love that book so much and I think that everyone should read it. It's a revenge story and one of the most important reasons why I love it so much is because The Count is a complicated person. There's one person you think he'll forgive (I seriously thought he would), but he doesn't. He's ruthless but sweet all at the same time. He's cynical yet understanding and that's what I love about the book.

What would you do if someone was copying your work?

- Great question! Report them :D It's tough love honestly. "Love ya, but write your own story." I'm really spiteful too so I would probably gather a buttload of people to report that person as well.

What is something that you find really annoying when reading someone else's work?

- Mechanical errors (really obnoxious ones) and extremely cliché situations, characters etc. I hate when people post stories on a website when there are extremely obvious errors in it. If I can count on my hand the errors before I even start Chapter 2 of a book, I'll leave and delete it from my library. I'm not reading it.

The cliché thing, I won't deal with that either. If your story is a carbon copy of every other high school drama on this site, bye bye. I also won't read the book if the author starts creating unecessary drama in order to drag the story on, that includes making the characters act dumb on purpose.

If someone were to offer to edit your work, would you think it was pretentious or insulting of them?

- Depends on how they ask. There's a difference between this: "Your writing is disgusting to look at! I can't believe you actually posted this! Let me edit it!" and this: "I noticed your having trouble in these certain areas, mind if I help?"

Also, if the person can't write to save a life and they're acting pretentiously about my writing, I'll probably just tell them off.

What process do you go through when editing your own stories?

- I read the paragraph(s) I just wrote over, then I read the chapter over when finished. Then I read the whole story again. Then I read the whole story from the Wattpad app because I need a different source. My eyes will get used to reading on the computer so I'll skip things. If I read it from the app now and then I'll find stuff I didn't see on the laptop. After all that, I get a friend to read it for me.

Who's a not so famous Wattpad writer you'd recommend, if you know any?

- Yikes, this is a hard question. I don't know of anyone off the top of my head, but when I do I'm going to come back and edit this chapter with an answer (:

Any final words of wisdom or encouragement?

- Alls I got to say is that if you have a story dear to you, don't let people take it away from you. I've had a story close to me for eight years now, and sure, it was cruddy in the beginning and certain characters were Mary Sue, but if you keep working on them and honing your skills you might be the next great author.