XxlastSummerxx | Author of 'Take You Down'
What inspired you to write your first book?
Honestly, I think just the way I observed how happy reading stories made me feel--I wanted to experience it myself. Once I started writing, though I knew it as far from perfect, it felt like I had finally found my rock. Something to lean on, and that is what inspired me to write. Just knowing that life can throw hurdles and people can change, but the comfort behind writing and the constant presence of your characters, is what helped me.
Do you have a specific writing style?
Writing is like music. Sometimes the flow is legato, and other times it's just forte. I like to think of my writing as my own version of freestyle. It really depends on the mood I'm in or on the mood I want my characters to be. Tim o' brien has inspired me in a way to write short and choppy and out of context-- and for the most part, that's just the way I like it.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Well of the few books that I have written or started writing, I've always had some moral to prove at the end. Most of my messages are a revealing factor in my stories, so i'm afraid I'll have to refrain from telling them and ruining it for those who are still reading my stories. However, I have grown quite fond of interracial relationships, and I feel that writing stories that integrate many cultures is a step towards some unconscious bias that there still is in the world. So one secular message I can state is that i try to let my readers know through my writing that everyone has flaws, people are different, and sometimes, the good people do not always react rationally. I try to make sure my stories have realistic situations--not ones where things just happen to go the way a person wants them to because that's not the way life works (:
I guess through realism and racial integration, I try to break down the walls of conformity and stereotype--like many others authors!
What books have most influenced your life?
As nerdy as this sounds, Tim O' Brien's The Things I Carried as influenced the way I look at life and the way I write. In the fiction world, I've been inspired by Simone Elkeles's Perfect Chemistry trilogy in her drive to write interracial stories.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Simone Elkeles, simply because I strive to write with the same light passion and intensity that she does.
What book are you reading now?
I just read Anthem by Ayn Rand.
Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. Do you see writing as a career?
Definitely my english teacher. She was the one who encouraged me to write in the first place. The funny thing is that when I was her student, I absolutely despised the word or concept. Dread and procrastination was all I felt. But she illuminated this talent that was hidden by my unwillingness to see it and for that I'm so thankful. I absolutely do see my writing as a career, but I think it would be more on the sidelines. But yes, I see myself writing in the future and striving for publication and signings (; Doesn't every author on here?
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I used to try and be cliche to please my audience. I learned that the point of writing is to express how you feel and write what you want. If/when I write, I always think: "what SHOULD be done?" and then I think: "Do I WANT to do that?"
Most of the time, the answer is no.
From my experiences, I've learned that it's okay to be controversial through your writing. As long as it's ethical and expresses yourself (:
which literary charcter can you relate and see yourself as?
I can relate to a lot of characters. Too many to count, probably. One that stands out though is Equality from Anthem.
How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?
I choose the names of my books very carefully. I like to have the main problem as my title, because I know that that's what my novel is going to be all about.
Names are pretty important to me as well. But sometimes, I just pick them based off personal liking. I try to stay away from names of people that I know though. Other times, I'll pair the female name with the male name and see if they click. When something sounds right, there's my winner. I just type up 'unique female names' or go yo babynames.com.
Are you a plotter or a pantster?
For the most part, I'm a panster. I try to stick to my plot, but then I get these other brilliant ideas and I just forget the storyline. I just write as I go now, and I think that's partly why I take longer to update.
