Hello everyone. ::mrgreen:
Seeing as today I have a job interview and I'm very anxious over, I decided to posted an author interview here for all of you. My interview is with loverboy. This girl writes all kinds of fiction and her drabbles are one of a kind.
And with that, we reached question time. ::coffee:
01. Would you tell us your full name?
My name’s Sierra. Sorry, folks. You’re only getting my first name.
02. How long have you been on mibba?
I’m pretty sure I joined in September of 2010, so I guess I’ve been a member for about three years now. Man, time really does fly when you’re having fun (and avoiding your homework).
03. Are you posting your writings on other writing sites?
Not currently. Before I moved to Mibba, I was pretty active on Quizilla.
04. Since when have you been writing?
I think since I was about 12-13 years old. As a child, I was always a pretty avid reader. It wasn’t until I reached middle school that I finally started to write my own stories, most of which were terribly written Twilight fan fictions.
05. Could you tell us a brief summary of your stories.
[Audience laughs in the background]
I literally only have one story that’s like, an actual story.
Forgetting Margaret Galloway – It’s about a boy named Elliott who tries to get over a girl that broke up with him on a rollercoaster (I apologize for the not-so-thrilling summary). It only has one chapter that was posted about a year ago, so it’s really not active, but I’m working on it—sort of.
I’ve got another story called Twinge and it’s about werewolves and stuff, but I kind of gave up on that idea so it’s just sitting in my stories, inactive and lonely. It was my novel for NaNo 2011 and I only wrote 500 words before discontinuing it.
I also wrote a Twilight fan fiction, Say You Love Me, that was my baby for like three/four years. It was one of the first stories I started to write when I joined Quizilla, and then I brought it over to Mibba. I took down every chapter (except for the prologue) about a year ago because I hated everything about it, so I was going to try to rewrite it for the millionth time. However, I realized that I wanted to write something original. I really don’t know if I’ll start up the story again. For now, I guess it’s on an indefinite hiatus.
06. What inspired you to write each story?
For Forgetting Margaret Galloway, the idea came to me as I was a riding a new roller coaster at Six Flags Great America. (It was the X-Flight and it was pretty magical). I noticed that there were a whole bunch of couples getting on together and I was feeling all lonely and stuff. Then, while I was screaming my head off, I thought to myself, “How awkward, mean, and slightly funny would it be if someone dumped their boyfriend/girlfriend while on a roller coaster?” And then the angels started to sing and the story idea was birthed.
For Twinge, I don’t even know how I came up with the idea. I was kind of just like, I want to write a dramatic story about werewolves so I’m gonna do it.
The only reason I started writing the Twilight fan fiction was because I had just finished reading Breaking Dawn and I hated that Stephanie Meyer made Jacob end up with that demon child. (I had an unhealthy obsession with Jacob Black/Taylor Lautner at the time.) So I figured I’d make up my own character—who was also half human/half vampire and not a newborn baby—and have him live happily ever after with her.
I was passionate about Team Jacob, okay?
07. Which characters did you like more from each story you created and why?
I’m super in love with Elliott from FMG. He’s just really cute and spazzy and awkward and sweet, plus I imagine him to look like Dylan O’Brien so I want to marry him. Too bad he’s all in my head.
I don’t even remember who the characters were for Twinge. I think the male protagonist was full of angst and really intense, but he turned into a wolf every full moon so I don’t blame him.
I didn’t love any of my characters in the Twilight fan fiction. In fact, I HATED my female protagonist which is part of the reason why I took it down. She was so weak and couldn’t stand up for herself and she let people walk all over her. She was almost like a second Bella, just a half-vampire version.
08. Do you do research before writing?
Sometimes, but it depends on what I’m writing. Like, if my story is set in the city of some state, I'll look up what that city is like, its attractions, its weather, etc. just so I can get a feel for how to write it.
09. Is there an author on here whose work you like or is your inspiration?
I can't name just one because I have a ton of favorite authors. You should see how many stories I'm subscribed to!
10. Do you like experimenting while writing? Writing about stuff you haven't experienced and genres you never thought you'd write about?
Usually, I tend to stray towards romance and tragedy/dark themes because it’s what I’m most familiar with, but recently, I’ve been branching out and writing about things that aren’t really in my comfort zone.
11. What's the hardest story you've ever wrote?
The hardest story I’ve ever written? It’s not currently posted on Mibba because I wrote it as my final piece for my Creative Writing class. But anyway, I think it’s the hardest story I’ve written because the character is a psychopath and it was difficult for me to capture his behavior and personality perfectly without making him too familiar.
12. What does writing mean to you?
It means expressing yourself. It means taking all of those jumbled, chaotic thoughts, ideas, dreams, beliefs, desires and turning them into something wonderful, something that has meaning to you. It means to let everything go, to not hold back whatever it is you’re feeling or thinking, and to set those loose in a world that’s entirely your own.
13. About what was the first story you ever wrote? Could you tell us a little bit more about it?
Oh, man. ::facepalm:
The first story I ever wrote was a Twilight fanfiction. And it was completely terrible. I just liked Jacob Black—a lot—and I didn’t want him to end up with Bella because I thought he was too much of a babe and she was just a terrible person. So I came up with this Mary-Sue character with a crazy, like French Victorian name, that conveniently moved to La Push because her dad lost custody of her or whatever. However, she was Bella’s step-sister, so there was going to be some jealousy and sister fights over Jacob because who wouldn’t fight over him? And she had other love interests besides Jacob, like Jasper and Seth, because she was desired by every male. The plot was really dumb, too. I think she was going to die at the end, but I never got that far into it. (If you do some deep, deep digging through the sea of poorly-written Jacob Black fan fictions on Quizilla, you may be able to find it.)
14. What's the story you're most proud of?
I'm proud of everything I've written simply because I've managed to turn my scrambled thoughts into an actual piece.
15. What is your biggest writing weakness?
I've got a lot of those. Let's see...I think my biggest writing weakness is not finishing a story once I've started it. I constantly have all of these ideas floating around in my head and whenever I decide to turn them into an actual story, I write one chapter and then I sort of abandon the idea. I guess I’m afraid that the story won't be as great as I want it to be, so I start second guessing myself and I spend way too much time trying to perfect it.
Sigh. It's a hard knock life for a writer.
16. Are you more of a writer or a reader?
As of right now, I'm more of a reader. I think I lost my writing mojo. Since I haven't written anything in about five months, I've been reading a whole bunch of amazing stories and avoiding writing something of my own.
17. Do you read all kinds of fiction?
Oh, definitely. If I like it or if it sounds interesting, I'll read it.
18. Do you prefer original fiction or fan fiction?
I'm a big fan of both. However, when it comes to fan fiction, it depends on who/what is being written about.
19. Do you write stories with all kinds of ratings?
Not really. I usually stick with PG-13 and maybe rated R. I think I've written something that was G-rated, but it was just a drabble.
20. What's the genre you are most comfortable with?
Um, I'd have to say tragedy. I don't know, I just really like to read and write sad/dark stories because I love that those kinds of emotions can be evoked so strongly through a simple piece of writing.
21. Which genres and ratings do you prefer when you pick a story to read?
Romance, tragedy, sci-fi, fantasy, horror—any genre is fine with me. I don't pay much attention to ratings either.
22. What's the hardest character you've ever wrote?
Again, this goes back to the psychopathic character I wrote about for a final short story.
23. Is there a certain place you like to be when you write? Something you have to do in order to concentreate on writing?
Whenever I write, it’s usually during 12-6 am and I have to be in my room, sitting on my bed and listening to music that sets the mood for whatever I’m writing. I’ve never been one to plot a story, so I’m usually staring off into space as I write, coming up with ideas and just winging it. My room also has to be somewhat clean. I don’t know why, but I just feel more relaxed when my surroundings are tidy.
24. In which of the characters you created, do you see yourself? (If there is a character like that)
I don’t think I’ve written a character that’s specifically like me. Most of my characters have some of my traits or quirks, but I don’t really see myself in any of them.
25. When you have writer's block, what do you do to get back to writing?
It’s official—I’m married to writer’s block.
I don’t really have any…techniques to help me get rid of it. I kind of just stare at a blank document for a couple of hours, maybe type a sentence and then erase it, browse the internet (specifically Tumblr), google random stuff—basically, avoiding writing at all costs until something happens and I’m suddenly writing again. This process is a never-ending cycle that I’m currently stuck in right now and it’s terrible.
26. If you were a character in a novel, how do you think you would be? Is there a character of a published novel which could be you?
I think I’d be the weird best friend of the protagonist that burps a lot, has witty comebacks, and talks too much about nothing (because I’m actually like that). Or maybe I’d be a kick-ass zombie slayer who bashed the zombies’ heads in with books. Right now, I can’t think of any characters that I identify with.
27. Which is your favorite character from a published novel?
Hannah Baker from Thirteen Reasons Why. She was a really complex character and her experiences as well as her “thirteen reasons” were truly heart-breaking.
28. How often do you update?
Oh, goodness. I'm such a terrible updater! Seeing as I don't pre-write anything, my updates are really sporadic, unplanned, and sometimes they don't happen at all. It depends on if I'm in the right mindset to write and if I'm feeling inspired. Too bad that's not a very good philosophy. I should probably work on that.
29. Any words for your readers?
For those of you that read my writing and drop a comment from time to time, I want you to know that I love you. Seriously. MY HEART BEATS FOR YOU.
30. Any authors you like and inspire you? (novels/graphic books)
Definitely J.K. Rowling. That woman is my soul mate. I'm also a really big fan of Jay Asher, Maggie Stiefvater, John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, and there's more but my brain is being lazy.
^-^ Thanks for this. ::cute: ^-^
Today's second interview is with monkeysgal44. This girl writes both kinds of fiction and her stories deserve more readers. My favorite story by her has to be Jump. I really suggest this to the ones who would like a good NC-17 original story. Her blog entry, random Quotes is really helpful to those who would like some interesting quoted to base their oneshots/drabbles or even chaptered stories around.
01. Would you tell us your full name?
Kelsey is my first name, that's all you'll get from me though.
02. How long have you been on mibba?
About 4 years.
03. Are you posting your writings on other writing sites?
No, I used to but I stopped that. It was easiest to just keep them all on Mibba.
04. Since when have you been writing?
I've been writing for a little over four years I guess.
05. Could you tell us a brief summary of your stories.
There's quite a few, and honestly, I feel like summaries give away too much. Read them, you'll get more out of them that way, I promise. Plus, I'm a terrible summary person.
06. What inspired you to write each story?
Each story is a little different though the majority of them have aspects of my life or my experiences in them. I think the best stories are the ones that you actually know the feelings of the characters or you can have a real good guess of what their feelings would be. Clearly, my fan fictions are not my life experience, however, sometimes the things that I put them through are similar. Normally, fan fiction are just that and inspired by the people. The originals, they just pop in my head at time and I run with them.
07. Which characters did you like more from each story you created and why?
A Blink of an eye - I really loved Joe and Justin. I was constantly stuck between who I loved more. This was one of my very first stories and it could use a lot of work and looking back at it now, it's a bit sad but I still love it, if that makes sense and what I want Joe and Justin to come across as are the exact kind of people I love. Hence, why they are my favorites.
In Love with Who? - My favorites in this story change so much. Cameron was one of the main people and I loved her constantly but she wasn't always my favorite. I'd love to say that Tanner was it for me but sometimes I hated him, sometimes I loved him. That happened to me with the majority of the characters in this story.
Concrete Angel- This one is so hard for me because I love all the characters so much. I can't choose, I just can't.
Moments - Damn, this one is hard too. Probably Harry, or Louis. Because even when Louis was being a dick, he was still Louis.
Gotta Be You - Harry. Harry was the best friend that everyone needs and let's face it, it's Harry.
Jump - This one is kind of tough too. You'd think I'd automatically say Spencer because he's awesome and I love him but it's tough cause I really love Joy and the character she ended up being.
The Next Generation - Probably James. Isabella is my favorite girl but overall, James.
Live While We're Young - Eleanor
Tell Me a Lie - Darcy and/or William. I love them all but those two…man, I just can't get enough.
08. Do you do research before writing?
Sometimes, it depends but occasionally I will.
09. Is there an author on here whose work you like or is your inspiration?
There's quite a few authors that I'm in love with on here but my inspiration hits me at weird times. Like today in Bio class. It's just random things that pop into my head and I run with. I'm not saying no author has influenced me because there have been plenty that have and that I am totally in love with but I can't rattle off names and call them inspiration. However, I do love the majority of writers on here.
10. Do you like experimenting while writing? Writing about stuff you haven't experienced and genres you never thought you'd write about?
Yes, I've actually grown into that. I said above that I write about my experiences and I do in a sense but I also don't. I use my emotions to play into the characters sometimes but then I find myself thinking "Wait, she wouldn't do that" or "that's a boy, he doesn't think like me." Plus I never thought I'd write a fan fiction and now I have written more than one.
11. What's the hardest story you've ever wrote?
Probably Jump. It was one that I had so much I wanted to do with and I don’t really know if I even accomplished it what I wanted. I’ll probably end up re-writing a new version of it at a later time.
12. What does writing mean to you?
Writing means a hell of a lot to me. It’s the one way to escape my own world and enter into another without actually leaving anywhere. It’s been an escape and a blessing to me since I discovered how much I loved it.
13. About what was the first story you ever wrote? Could you tell us a little bit more about it?
Well, I never actually wrote a full first story. I started with little pieces of random stories that never finished or anything of that sort. I guess the first full story was A Blink of An Eye which is on my mibba.
14. What's the story you're most proud of?
Probably Concrete Angel. It's an original and I love it a lot.
15. What is your biggest writing weakness?
This is a tough one. I'm not really sure because I find myself doing various things that I attempt to not do in every story that I write. I'm not really sure of which is my biggest weakness just yet.
16. Are you more of a writer or a reader?
I'm very much of both. I love to write so much but I'm a huge reader as well.
17. Do you read all kinds of fiction?
I give anything a try.
18. Do you prefer original fiction or fan fiction?
I really love original fiction but every once in a while you just have to go with a fan fiction story.
19. Do you write stories with all kinds of ratings?
I like to try and change it up like I said with my genres, I like for things to be different.
20. What's the genre you are most comfortable with?
My genres vary really, I like to change things up or try to at least.
21. Which genres and ratings do you prefer when you pick a story to read?
They also vary, it just depends on the kind of mood I'm in, as into what I read. I like to read good stories; no matter the genre or rating.
22. What's the hardest character you've ever wrote?
The hardest character was probably Melody and/or Spencer from Jump. They were meant to represent so much and I’m still not sure I did justice to what I wanted them to be.
23. Is there a certain place you like to be when you write? Something you have to do in order to concentreate on writing?
I just like to be comfortable and usually alone. I normally can’t write with others around.
24. In which of the characters you created, do you see yourself? (If there is a character like that)
I think that there is a little bit of myself in all my girl characters normally or something that I want to be. However the one most like me is probably Jade from Moments. Though, even then there is differences obviously.
25. When you have writer's block, what do you do to get back to writing?
I normally step away for a bit. Start a new story and then get back into the flow. Sometimes I’ll listen to music and that’ll get something flowing through my head.
26. If you were a character in a novel, how do you think you would be? Is there a character of a published novel which could be you?
I think I would probably be a bit of a complex character. There’s too much that I keep to myself and too much that I get confused about when it comes to feelings and sometimes my behavior never matches my feelings. I always thought that I would love to be Ginny from Harry Potter but I’m not really sure how much I’m like her to be honest.
27. Which is your favorite character from a published novel?
I’ve always loved Ginny, hence why I wouldn’t mind be compared to her. However I also am a huge huge Peeta and Katniss fan from the Hunger Games. Typical for popular books probably but my reasons are throughly deep and I don’t know if I can even explain them or if I want to.
28. How often do you update?
As much as I can. I have a hard time keeping up with it and I'm so sorry about that to all my fans. I am constantly busy but I try to write as much as I can and as often as I can.
29. Any words for your readers?
Thank you. Seriously, I probably would have quit writing a long time ago if it weren't for you.
30. Any authors you like and inspire you? (novels/graphic books)
I really love J.K. Rowling. She's always been my favorite author. Other than her, it's just so hard because I read so much and I love so many books.
^-^ Thank you for the interview!. ::cute: ^-^
~Marian.
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