The seventh Author on IWTA is.....DunDunDAAAAA
AleexMariee
thanks for joining us Alex
---------
What's the story behind your username? How did you come up with it? Was it sudden or thought about?
- My username is just my first name and then middle name with a few extra e's. It's pretty much my username for everything, so it didn't take much thinking about ;)
How old were you when you first started writing? - I actually don't know! Probably about 12 or 13, out of school that is. It's funny, because English has always been my worst subject at school...
What was the first book you can remember writing? - I used to write fanfiction on fanfiction.net a lot, so I guess they were the first books I wrote, although they were probably really bad! A Year Full Of Surprises is the first book I've completed that I've actually been pleased with the outcome of.
Where did the ideas for "A Year Full Of Surprises" come from? - Reading Wattpad stories, obviously, such as A Proscriptive Relationship, but also the Vampire Academy series is a spin on the student/teacher thing. But that was mainly just the student/teacher idea, the actual plot and stuff just developed in my head when I was bored!
How did you choose your characters names? Was it random or do they mean something? - Jessica and Jordan were pretty random. I wanted names that shortened, because it was kind of a theme in the story and I thought that having them both begin with J was kind of cool. Matt is my uncles name. Grace and Lydia are two sisters who go to my school. Apart from that, I flick through my friends, or friends friends, on Facebook until I find a name that I like ;). The Auschwitz Affair was harder because I wanted names that fit their nationalities, so I just googled Hungarian and German names until I found one that I liked. All the teachers names, bar Jord, are real teachers from my school, pretty much.
What inspired you to start writing? - Other peoples stories, published and unpublished, obviously played a big part. Knowing that other people can do it so well makes me want to be that good, even though I know it will never happen.I normally listen to music and stuff when I'm writing. The Auschwitz Affair was inspired by the time period. We were doing about Dietrich Bonhoeffer in RE and I've always loved the Holocaust, despite how horrific it was. It just kind of came to me whilst I was daydreaming.
How does writing make you feel? Is it just something you do for fun or is it something else? - Just for fun. I don't really use it as an escape like some people, I just like creating plots and characters in my head. It's putting my imagination down in words.
How did you discover Wattpad? Do you remember? - I probably shouldn't admit this, but I was actually looking to read a published book online and I found it on Wattpad. I then flicked through some of the other stories on here and decided that it was a really good website!
What do you enjoy most about writing? - I like the challenge of making it so people can enjoy it. Also, it helps expand my vocabulary and things. It's really helped me with my English work at school.
Do your Family/Friends know about Wattpad, about your stories? - No. My mum knows that I write and put it online, but I would never let her read what I've written. Apart from that, I haven't told anyone!
What are you working on at the moment? - It's Not A Game Of Chance When It Comes To Love is my main focus, it's the most popular one and the one I enjoy writing most, the ideas come more quickly with it. The Auschwitz Affair is harder to write because I'm trying to keep it mainly historically correct, which restricts some of the ideas I have. The Kissing Ban is something I'm really enjoying writing though, it's less involved than the others so far.
How long have you been a member on Wattpad? - Since, April 21st 2010. Do you base your stories on things that happen in real life? - No, I never base the entire story on a real event, except for the time period of The Auschwitz Affair and how they were treated in the camp. The actual plot I can't see having happened though. Some of the minor subplots, like Mel's parents splitting up, have happened to me, several times. Sometimes it's easier to write about things have happened to you, because you know how they feel.
Who is your favourite character? Are they based on someone real? - My favourite character has to be Jord. The way he and Jess are together always makes me wish I could be in that kind relationship, even with the problems that they go through. Jord isn't based on a real person, but Jess is based a lot on me. Some of the problems she has to deal with, are things I've had to deal with too, like her issues at school. Minus the relationship problems, I've never even had a boyfriend :$
Do you have a favourite story of yours? - I'd say The Auschwitz Affair, just because I think my writing is better on it, and the topic really interests me, even if other people aren't so interested.
Do you have a favourite story on Wattpad? - I really like A Surreptitious Relationship, like everyone does, but It's Like Love, But On A Post It is AMAZING as well.
Do you listen to music when you write? - It depends. Sometimes music really inspires me, and sometimes it really distracts me. I'm listening to music now though!
Who is your favourite Wattpad author? What is your favourite story of theirs? - Probably XxSkater2Girl16xX, unsurprisingly. Her stories are amazing, especially ASR. I really like JustKaylay's stories as well.
What is your favourite genre to read about/write about? - I love romance. I don't like stories if they don't have at least some element of romance in them. Apart from that, I like stories to have some humour and generally teen fiction. I like historical fiction, as long as it's during a time period that interests me and it's realistic.
Do you ever get writers block? If so, how do you get past it? - I think everyone gets writers block at some point, it can be really annoying! Normally I'll listen to music, or spent all night dreaming up possible scenes that I'd want to see. I'll also read other people's work, it sometimes gives me ideas.
Who is your favourite published author? What is your favourite published book? - Richelle Mead has got to be my favourite published author. Her Vampire Academy series are AMAZING. Rose and Dimitri's relationship in them really inspired me to write. I love the Georgina Kincaid series as well though and Succubus Heat is one of my favourite books ever!
Would you ever want your work to be published? - I'd love to have my books published, but I don't think it will ever happen, and I don't think it would be my main career even if it did.
When faced with a negative comment how do you deal with it? - Depends how harsh it is. Constructive critism is always welcome, because I love to know what people think. Just plain abusive comments I'll retaliate to though and probably not very nicely! I don't think there's ever a need to be mean to someone just because you don't like something they've written.
When your not reading or writing what can you be found doing? - I LOVE playing netball, it's my favourite sport and the only one I'm really any good at. I do horse riding as well. I'm also sad enough to play bridge (card game), another thing I don't tend to tell people about.
Do you have a message for people who are just starting out writing? Or just a message in general? - Just that you shouldn't give up. If you keep trying hard enough, there's bound to be someone who likes what you've written, even if there's people who don't like it - which there always will be.
Do you consider yourself a good writer? Do you look up to anyone on wattpad? - I don't really consider myself a great writer, but I'm not really confident in anything I do. That would be a better question to ask my readers. The people who I look up to on Wattpad are the people who carry on writing even though their book isn't the most popular one.
What is your dream/Goal on wattpad? - To get above #100 on the What's Hot list. I was SO pleased with myself when I got on it at all, but that would really make my day! Also, to get more than 1000 votes on A Year Full Of Surprises.
Do you have any pet peeves about writing styles? Does something really turn you off from a book? - Bad grammar. I hate it when people don't write in proper English and I probably won't read past the first paragraph. If the spelling is bad it fustrates me, and if people are making tons of mistakes. It also annoys me when people only have dialogue and don't include any thoughts or feelings; but that's probably just me being picky.
Do you have any shout outs, anything you want to say, before we finish the interview?
- Just thanks for letting me do the interview, my first one! And thanks to the people who like my stories!
No THANKYOU AleexMariee!!
Don't Forget To Vote, Comment, Like and Tweet!!!♥ xx