365 Interviews

Interview 20: _aviary

1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? 
Well, what do you want to know? I’m seventeen, I live in England and I can’t wait to leave. I am the second oldest of four children and I am determined to succeed in life, whatever it takes. As you can tell from my profile, Hilary Clinton is my idol.

2. What inspired you to write? 
I was always a massive fan of Enid Blyton’s famous five books. I’ve been determined to be an author since I was about six years old so that’s all I can attribute my inspiration to. Being surrounded by so many captivating books, I knew I wanted to do that too so for the past twelve years, that’s what I’ve been working towards. 

3. What’s the earliest memory you have of writing a story?
The first story I remember finishing was nine A4 pages long. I was so freaking proud. It was called “Lucifer’s Stone” (no prizes for guessing which books I’d been reading.) I must have been six or seven at the time. It was about a boy who found a baby on his doorstep with a magical stone in its basket, which ended up saving the boy’s brother. It was…weird. My granny loved it.

4. What is your least favorite part of the writing process?
Getting through those difficult chapters. Sometimes, I just have a complete mind block or I kind of know what I want to write but I don’t want to put that sentence down, so I try to go round it and I can’t. Basically I guess that means what I don’t like is filtering out what I should and shouldn’t write. I find it is always best to just go with your heart.

5. Where do you get your ideas?
Everywhere. Reading other people’s books and a sentence popping out. Music. People on the street, newspapers, family anecdotes. Habits and quirks. Covers I make. Pictures I see. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

6. Do you have a specific writing style?
I think I do, sort of. My favourite writing is description-heavy character-based stories, as people will know if they’ve read my stuff. I don’t focus on plot – the plot grows with the characters and their troubles.

7. How did you come up with the title?
Ah, the eternal question: titles. Whatever fits. For my interrelated stories (Paradise/Arcadia/October/Nirvana) the titles just sort of … came to me. They don’t necessarily fit the stories but they’re there to stay for now! I never think too long about titles, except with Wendy and Walter. That had many other names before I realised simple was best.

8. Who designed the covers?
Me! I make all of my own covers (and lots of other people’s).

9. What do you do when you are not writing?
Wishing I was writing. Thinking about my characters. Rolling them around in my head until I’ve worked out all of the kinks and problems so when I go back to the story, I know how to get through the next chapters.

10. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? 
Nothing has to be difficult or complicated. The character doesn’t have to have a terminally ill sibling or an abusive father to be interesting or sad. They have themselves. Put them through their paces, sure, but keep it realistic. I try to create emotion through putting my characters in relatable situation.

11. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
That more people want to read them than I thought. I always thought I was a bit of a niche writer – I don’t really have a plot, per se, and I don’t write gooey teen romance, so I never thought I’d take off on this site.

12. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite? Completed?
About seven. In the process? Maybe ten to fifteen. Only three (four including Writing to Rio) complete on Wattpad. The others aren’t worth reading. I genuinely love what I write, so it’s hard to choose a favourite. Whatever I’m writing / editing / rereading at the time is my favourite.

13. What other books are similar to your own? What makes them alike?
Oh, God, I have no idea. Wattpad books? Or real books? I kind of really love Ian McEwan for his descriptive style honing in on small details. Details are my thing. I freaking love little details.

14. Do you have any unique talents or hobbies? Hmm. Unique? No. A heck of a lot of people can write. I have no talents really aside from writing/cover making (unless arrogance is a talent. More of a hobby).

15. Where do you gather most of the inspiration for your works? It’s hard to say – a mixture of all my inspirations above. Finding pictures on pinterest/weheartit is very inspirational.

16. If one of your main character committed a crime, who would it be? What would they do? Why would they do it?
Beth from Winter Nights in Arcadia for public sex acts and various other things she plans on doing! I won’t ruin anything.

17.Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? Um, thank you! Thanks a ton for reading my stuff and making me feel awesome and for being wonderful people. I cannot get enough of my readers. I feel so awesome when I wake up to a bunch of Wattpad emails. It’s a wonderful feeling.

18. Do you have any advice for other writers?
Don’t give up. Think you’re crap? Keep going. I was crap once. I bet someone out there loves what you’re writing – someone always does. But don’t be arrogant. If someone points out a mistake or tries to help you, don’t be a diva. Listen. They’re almost always right. Unless they’re wrong. Then you can unleash the beast.