Meet the authors contest edition Volume #1

@PageTurnersPen

placement: honorable mention in chicklit category 

contest: chaos awards 6

1 what is the best thing about Wattpad?

I first got into Wattpad because I could get lots of stories for free. I get feedback (sometimes) from real people, actual readers, not just an English teacher or something. (No offense!)

 2 what's your favorite holiday and why? 

My favorite holidays are Christmas and Thanksgiving, but my favorite has to be Thanksgiving. They are both about connecting to family and good food. Christmas is very commercialized and there is stress about gifts... Honestly, I can't afford to get everyone something really nice.

3 what's one Wattpad goal? 

A Wattpad goal... To build a network of beta readers and brainstormers, people with certain life experience and skills I can draw on for details and inspiration. Example: I am in the process of writing a story involving a particular Native American group. I don't know their customs, stories and myths, etc. I can make everything up or use what I can find online, or borrow from other cultures. It would be better to have contact with someone who actually knows the culture as either a friend or participant. There are character issues where I want the people I am making up to be realistic. Someone with knowledge of psychology can give me feedback or insight on the emotional logic that drives characters in a story. High functioning sociopaths (as one example). Done well, it doesn't even have to be the bad guy. There are plenty of H.F.S. in positions of respect and authority in real life. It can be drawn as a character flaw that makes someone human instead of 'perfect'. Also abuse and recovery, different forms of therapy (or life experience) that might help a character heal and grow.

I like the "follow" tab, but once someone is linked to a writer, there is little that either of them can do with that. There should be options for both the followed and the followers to creatively make use of the connection. As it is I don't even see a way (much less several ways) to pull up a list of people I follow, people who follow me, categories/notes/other. The more options people have to sort these connections and call them up, the more creativity will be used in taking advantage of them.

4 Are you still surprised when you gain a new vote, follow or comment? 

Yes. I don't look at the comments every day, but I do try to look at all of them. I am thinking seriously about setting up a file to keep a list of my followers. It would be great if Wattpad offered a bunch of options to help keep track of which of my followers I had in various shortlists. People I communicate with often, and on which subjects for instance. People who have information in their bio that may make them a potential resource in the future... perhaps other lists. I don't see a way to even pull up a list, much less sort through it to find who I may want to contact.

5. How would you celebrate a publishing deal?

My first check... Visa payment, Spa day, baby sitter, and a night out with my husband. It has been FAR too long. 

 6 what's your dream vacation? 

Something near a beach with snorkeling and tropical fish. We enjoyed that in Hawaii when we lived there. Probably wouldn't go back to Hawaii though, something new.