Midnight Circus | CLN Interview Shop (CLOSED)

SilverSlytherinQueen

Hello! I'm Riri, from The Crazy Late Nighters Community aka CLN and your interviewer for today! Let's start with a small introduction!

Sounds good! I'm Olive and I'm a writer here on Wattpad.

I did read your work and to be honest, you really come up with great ideas! Can you tell us which book you won through?

Thank you so much! I won through my book "The Serpent Pit".

We don't want to give any spoilers, but will you be able to tell us a bit about your book?

Sure! "The Serpent Pit" mostly follows Hermione. She finds out that she is Blaise Zabini's twin and ends up moving in with him, Ginny, Pansy, Harry, Ron, Luna and Draco in a mansion in Italy where she and Blaise are from. The story follows her relationship with some extra drama thrown in.

That's a really good way for a story to be born from the Hogwarts universe. How did you come up with the idea of writing a story about which nothing was shown in the movie and nor in the books?

I have always loved reading Hermione Zabini books, so I knew I had to start there. I am also Italian and have dreamt of living in Italy for a while now. If I am being honest, I project onto Hermione, so if I can't be rich and live in a mansion with my best friends, I want her to! Haha!

You surely have a vast source of imagination! What is it about the character of Hermione, made by you or the original author that wanted you to write for her?

Thank you! So I don't really like the original character because of all the original author's internalized misogyny. I like taking characters and developing them into characters I enjoy reading. Hermione has always been a comfort character of mine because I think we are a lot alike, we both have two friends who are constantly doing questionable things and need help getting out of different situations, we both love reading, and we both have a thirst for knowledge. I wanted to give her a fun life after everything she went through.

You have a great insight about characters! What were your initial thoughts while writing this story?

I really appreciate that! I wanted to write something that would be fun to read. It is mostly light hearted with some bits of darkness and mystery mixed in. I think that I wanted the readers to read it as a way to relax and enjoy a cute story with some of their favourite Harry Potter characters, if that makes sense.

That makes perfect sense! As this book has characters which were first written by other authors, were there any specific pointers that you had in mind while writing?

Okay! I wanted to keep many elements of their past the same and let that influence their future. For instance, Ginny is a professional quidditch player. She loved that in the original books and I knew I wanted to keep it the same. I worked off of what she gave me to work with in regards to their past, while putting a swing on their future, relationships and personalities where I saw fit.

That's a very nice approach! While making the characters once again in the way that you explained, what were some of the difficulties that you faced?

Thanks! It was hard keeping a lot of personalities the same while they interacted with each other. How do you write former prejudiced Slytherins talking to their new friends? I wanted them to be light hearted and it was a struggle writing how I thought their characters would interact in a friendly way, since that wasn't written in the books.

How were you able to overcome these difficulties?

I based it off of how I thought they would talk within their separate groups at Hogwarts. I took how Pansy would talk to Draco and instead had her talk to Harry.

That's one of the most creative ways one could ever think of! In this book, except for the character of Hermione, which other character is your favourite?

That means a lot! Thank you! I am so in love with Ginny, it's not even funny haha. I love her energy and her personality so much!

She surely is a ball of energy! When and how did you first think about writing this book?

Yup! Last year during quarantine I was reading a lot of fanfiction as a form of escapism and after a while I wanted to write my own. I knew, I was an okay writer and I wanted to try my hand at writing a story.

This thought resulted in a great story! You may have received hate comments when this book was published. How did you manage them?

Aw thank you! The thing is, I didn't receive hate comments. I had some people leaving comments on the character's appearance and I made sure they knew they could imagine the characters however they wanted. I am very fortunate that I have received so much support in this book, and I have to thank my amazing readers for that.

This book truly is an awesome one! Did you have a writer's block while writing this story?

TW: Depression- I didn't have writer's block, but I did struggle with some mental health issues. I have been struggling with depression for a while, so I take longer breaks sometimes when I can't find the motivation to write, so there was definitely some of that while I was writing.

I hope you're doing better now! How did you overcome this obstacle?

I am trying. Thank you! I overcame it by working on myself and then on the story. I'm dedicated to my writing here, but I think, like many other writers, I needed to realise that I would not make quality stories if I wasn't okay and I needed to take a little time before getting back to writing.

You surely have a great method which has resulted in you to write such an amazing piece! Were there any moments when you thought "I don't wanna continue this book on. Let's finish this"?

That means so much to me! I think a lot of people have those thoughts. When I thought that I took a step back, read through what I had written already, and reminded myself how much I love this story and it's characters.

That's truly amazing! Was there a specific source or force which kept you driven to write?

Thanks! My readers and my love for the characters and their lives drove me through some tough spots in my writing.

You surely love your readers! As a writer on Wattpad, the number of views on a story can sometimes affect a writer quite a lot. Did the views take a toll on you anytime?

I do! They are amazing and have been super supportive through the entire process. I had mixed feelings at first. There was the pressure of letting people down, but there was also the amazement of "Wow, people are reading my book" and that amazement that someone would want to read "The Serpent Pit" helped me keep writing for sure.

That's great to know! There are many more writers out there, hence more pressure to make your story stand out from the rest. What measures did you take to do that?

I think my story stands out because I genuinely connect with my characters. I tried to give them more interactions and moments I think the readers would relate to. I also take great care to use proper grammar and spelling for an easier read, and if you've been on Wattpad, you know the disappointment that comes with all of the writing being one giant paragraph with no spelling after you were looking forward to the book haha.

That's a very good method! Do you have a particular uploading/publishing time period when writing a story? Or do you go with the flow?

I just go with the flow! You can't really set the creative process to a schedule and I didn't write chapters in advance to release.

It's great that you take time for the creativity to flow! Now, the last question, many of your readers may be looking forward to this. Do you have another book that you'll start writing or have started writing?

I'm currently writing a Fremione story that is almost finished and a Percy Jackson one shot coming out soon.

We'll be waiting to read your book! Thanks a lot for your time!

Of course! Thank you so much!

Author : SilverSlytherinQueen
Interviewer : _busystackingguap
Interview Editor : _Summer14