Wattpad Block Party: Insiders Guide

Anna Santos

 BLOCK PARTY FEATURED AUTHOR: Anna Santos 

ABOUT: Anna Santos was born and raised in Portugal; where she currently lives with her husband. There, she is a published poet which she says is "something no one knew about me. It’s a secret, so don’t share…"

She has two PhDs: in literatures and language, meaning that she studied to be a teacher of Portuguese and Spanish as a second language. In other words, it's "another thing that many didn’t know about me. I’m full of surprises today!"

Anna loves to write, and read, even if she spends more time writing than reading in recent months.  Why? According to Anna, there are a lot of people waiting for updates, and because she has so much fun sharing her works.

BLOCK PARTY STORY: "Captive" 

SYNOPSIS: What would you rather have, a vampire or an angel for a soul-mate?

Innocent Aria never imagined that her dream trip to Paris would change her whole life. She is soon thrown into a world where vampires, angels, gargoyles and werewolves exist.

After being rejected and almost dying, Aria finds herself stuck in a dangerous love triangle and her freedom and happiness are at stake.

Who will Aria choose to love forever? The gorgeous but ruthless, cunning vampire who sentenced her to hell or the breathtaking possessive gargoyle prince who offers her redemption and a brand new pair of wings but will be doomed to die without her love to break his curse? Find out in Captive.

LINK: http://www.wattpad.com/story/15481327-captive

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: 

Who are your favorite authors?  

My favorite authors are Juliet Marillier, Anne Bishop, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Karen Marie Moning, Nalini Singh and Sherrilyn Kenyon.   

 What's your secret and/or advice for aspiring authors?    

I don't have any secret. I write what I like to read and I let my characters take over the story.

What was the inspiration for the story you wrote for the Block Party? 

I wanted to write a story about angels. I was getting tired of seeing so many stories about rejection, so I decided to do something a bit cliché and, at the same time, totally different. Something that would send a message.   

What are your writing habits, or routine?

I write when I feel like, what is like my daily drug. I write better when it's quiet at night. However, if I have to write, it doesn't matter if it's night or day. I pick my pen and I write. I don't write on my phone. I write on paper and then I type it to the computer. 

How did you discover Wattpad? 

I discovered Wattpad by chance. I downloaded the app to read books, because I'm a compulsive reader, and then I was curious to know if there was a website. When I realized that I could post my own stories here, I decided to start to write in English, just for fun. It was a challenge, but I had amazing people helping me out with the editing. But it was the best thing that happened to me. In a year and a half that I've joined, I've already written three complete books in English, have several others on the way, and I have a featured story in the vampire list, "Soul Mate". 

When I'm not writing I'm: thinking about what I have to write in my stories.  

What's you favorite thing about Wattpad?  

My favorite thing is my fans. It's also the possibility of sharing my work and having people read it, voting, interacting with me. It makes me want to write more. Not because of a deadline, but because I feel that people are interested in continuing to read what I write. Wattpad is an amazing place to share our drafts and find amazing readers/friends. 

What can we expect from you next? 

Well, I have a lot of stories, some finished, others in the process of writing. I'm trying to save some money to pay for editing, and I'm hoping to be able to publish my books soon enough.  

You have 24K followers & Captive has 4 million reads. At that level, does the Wattpad experience change for a writer?

I never dreamed that I would have so many followers, and so many people reading my books. “Captive” was successful because I already had a steady number of people reading my other books, and they gave me their full support to start a new story, which I had no idea that would have so many chapters and so many intrigue. Especially since I’m still learning how to say a lot of things in English. I struggle with the words in a way that I don’t struggle in my own language. I had to read a lot to know how to say things. I have a lot of people kindly editing and telling me where I could fix the grammar and the wording. Thank you! You are truly the best. To my readers I send all my love. You are my support and the reason to keep writing.

Wattpad changed me in a complicated way. I didn’t use to write in English, now I do. Besides that, I wasn’t sure that people would like what I write. Now I know that people do. We can’t please all, but I have a lot of nice comments, and it’s really nice to understand that I can touch people with my words. 

What makes YOU want to follow someone? 

Well, seriously, I don’t follow many people, only the ones that I truly read and liked. I vote books that I read, it’s the nice thing to do if we like their work. Not that I’ve read a lot lately, no, I’ve been too busy with my writing and my thesis. Some of the people I followed helped me in some way, others I read their stories and enjoyed them as an author. But I don’t follow for follow.