Meet The Authors Showcase Edition #2 (2 of 3)

A showcase with @taramiles_, author of 22 letters

1 what inspired the idea of your story?

 I once had a very real experience of not being able to talk to my crush, it was scary and embarrassing when I was younger. So I thought, "What if I just write a letter to him?" I did, things didn't work out for me though. This was years ago, but this incident inspired 22 Letters, and in this book, at least it has a happy ending!

2 what is something you struggled constructing with your story?

 Oh my God, the letters were challenging to write. A few were easy, but the final ones were just difficult haha.

3 what did you enjoy writing most of your story?

I enjoyed writing my characters because they were based off of real life people I know. Leon is me, but definitely cheesier than I ever was and ever will be. The rest are loosely based off of my actual friends, but hey, they'll never know(except they do haha)

4 what's the overall response of your story from your readers?

since it's LGBTQ fluff, they found it quite cheesy(in a good way) and adorable. Some even stayed to read the rest of the series, which will be completed in November (there are 2 more completed books on my profile though!)

5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series ?

 Like I mentioned above, it is in a series, and the first one of said series. However, each book in the series can be read as a standalone, as I'd love to make sure that my readers can enjoy any of my books without having to read a different one first.

6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story?

I wanted my readers to gain some confidence as Leon does in the story and talk to their crush(if they have one) I also wanted to let readers know that not all LGBTQ relationships have to have so much darkness or 'i don't like girls' scenario play out like I've seen in a couple of books(they are good books, I just didn't really add them to my personal taste) I wanted my readers to have a light-hearted fun romance with a lovable MC, and that's exactly what I try to give my readers.

7 what advice would you provide to fellow writers, when it comes to focusing on their own story?

A piece of advice that I got from one of my favorite writers on YouTube (Writing With Jenna Moreci) is to take care of yourself in the process. What that means is yes, it's good to really focus on your characters and book, but dont write yourself into a corner.  Perhaps take a break and take care of yourself to recharge your battery. Writing a story can be exhausting, so do take care of yourself.

8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself?

Yes he does! He's cheesy, absolutely shy when you meet him and a great friend!

9 what is something about your story you believe would draw in new readers?

Some readers say they were drawn in by the letters, others by the love interest, and others by the title and cover alone. But I think what would draw in readers could be the story, and how it progresses. It's also quite a short story compared to my other novels(I only have two short stories there!) But it doesn't really take away anything from the reader and overall enjoyment of the story.

10 do you have any future projects?

Yes I do! I do have a lot of completed books on my profile (22 Series that has three completed books and stand-alones) and right now, I'm working on a new story called How To NOT Be Straight! But of course, if you're not a fan of LGBTQ, I have other books on my profile that you can check out!