1. Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
My name is Caoimhe (but I make everyone call me Keevs because it saves a whole lot of pronunciation problems lol), I’m Irish and I’m 21.
2. What inspired you to write?
I don’t think anything inspired me, really, I just knew it was something I wanted to do. I’d always been telling stories when I was younger, or so my parents tell me. My first non-school related story was written when I was seven, and the only reason why I decided to write it down was because I liked the look of my mother’s new notebook. I REALLY like paper, lol. So yeah, I guess that’s where it started!
3. Do you have a specific writing style?
I think I’m starting to develop one now. I didn’t a few years ago but I think all of my books on WP are written “similarly”. I like my current style but I like to try out others and sort of ‘exercise’ my writing skills. I don’t want to ever get stuck inside one particular style and not be able to try anything new, it kinda defeats the purpose of growing as a writer. But I think no matter what I write, there are still bits of “me” identifiable in there.
4. How did you come up with the titles of your stories?
They usually pertain to the central theme of the book (don’t all titles, lol?). A Beautiful Torment was about struggling with your inner demons and finding yourself locked in basically a supernatural slave bond, but there’s something beautiful about that connection too. I think there’s a… well, a beautiful quality to the things that break us and hurt us.
Wildfire has a lot of significance in the book. It’s a drug, it’s a feeling. Wildfire is “difficult to extinguish once ignited”, and I think, first and foremost, it represents Paige. Diego woke her up and forced her to save herself.
Virtue will have a lot of significance too, though I’m not willing to go into that just yet because it’ll ruin the story :)
But that’s how I pick my titles: I pick whatever represents the central theme.
5. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
A Beautiful Torment doesn’t really have a message, but I guess the main message that I tried to get across in Wildfire is that love isn’t some heal-all. It can be destructive and painful, and even wrong. It can damage people. And most importantly, you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. They have to want to save themselves.
6. How much of your book is realistic?
I think the core of Wildfire is realistic. If you take out the supernatural stuff, it’s basically a book about mental illness and what that can do to a person—and the people around them. There’s a lot of stigma around mental health and depression so I really wanted to tackle it with some realism, and I’m happy with how I portrayed it.
7. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
A lot of what I write stems from some feeling or event that happened to me, but it rarely manifests itself in a recognizable fashion. Though a lot of scenes are dreamed up in places nearby. In A Beautiful Torment, there’s a few scenes where Isabel is out in the woods—two notable ones, at least—and on those days, I went walking in the forest to get a ‘feel’ for the atmosphere. I like being able to visualize scenes before I write them.
8. Imagine your characters are on Survivor. Who will they vote out of the book?
In a Beautiful Torment… Georgina would probably be kicked out first, though she’d probably be the best to have on their team.
In Wildfire… they’d probably kick out Paige.
9. What job did you want to be as a kid?
Um, when I was REALLY little I wanted to be a fireman. I had an outfit and everything, lol!
10. What is your main goal with writing?
I just want to get better. I want to keep improving and writing stories that I can be proud of.
11. Do you ever experience writer’s block?
I don’t really experience a block so much as a writing fatigue. Sometimes I just burn out and I need a break, even if I don’t consciously want one, and it can be a struggle getting back into the flow of things.
12. Do you work with an outline or just write?
I outline EVERYTHING to death. I leave little gaps in the middle of the story so I can be flexible if I’m bored with a storyline, but I always have the ending hammered out to a T and the beginning planned.
13. Imagine your main character dies on page one. Everything else remains the same. Describe the new plot to your book.
A Beautiful Torment: Wyatt gets killed by reapers in chapter 6 and the bad guys win.
Wildfire: Diego dies in an alleyway, Viktor takes over the Club. Kieran has to figure out how to get a human inside the Club.
14. What do you do when you are not writing?
Housework, I write music. Idk I’m not good with hobbies. I catch up on my favourite shows and read?
15. Do you see writing as a career or a hobby?
It’s my life. Hobby just makes it sound like something I dabble in, but it’s my life. But a career? No. I’d like to have a stable job so I can provide for myself and write when I’m not working.
16. Is there any book you are ashamed to have read? Why are you ashamed to read it?
Nope! There’s no point in getting upset over what people might think if you read such and such. If you want to read it, read it! I’ve read some seriously questionable books in the name of research or curiosity, but I’m not ashamed of them. If someone else was proud enough to write it, I can read it.
17. What is the weirdest thing that has ever been said or done to you by a fan?
Oh I don’t know, I’ve had a LOT of weird messages O.O I’ve had one take a picture of me and use it as their profile pic. THAT was weird.
18. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Yeah, there are a lot of people out there who will hate you for no reason. And that I should never write romance. LOL
19. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thanks for reading and for supporting me! Most especially to my beta-reading group who have to listen to me whinge and whine and protect the rest of WP from my grumpy butt.
20. Do you have any advice for other writers?
I’ll keep saying this until I’m blue in the face but WRITE FOR YOU. DON’T WRITE FOR ANYONE ELSE. WRITE FOR YOU. You DO NOT want to wake up one morning, read over what you have and think, “Ew. I don’t even recognize this anymore because I gave in to other peoples’ opinions before I’d even seen the story realized. Opinions are for second drafts. First drafts are for YOU.
YOU ARE READING
365 Interviews
RandomIf you liked 100 Interviews with 100 Wattpad Authors you'll love this! Your favorite authors plus more! Update: I could not interview someone each day so I gave up on this project.
