Authors' Spotlight Interviews

@Oxviola

Hello fellow Wattpadders! Today we have Oxviola with us, the author of the book, The Gemini Age: Book One.

I am Abhipreeti (_abhipreeti_), and I have interviewed Andrew, a.k.a, Oxviola.

Oxviola – nickname Ox, human name Andrew – is a writer and rambler with his head in the clouds and his fingers on his keyboard (sometimes). Hailing from the hilly, rain-soaked north of the UK, he grew up sharing stories to every friend, family member, and tree that would listen. He hasn't shut up since, though thankfully these days he does much of his talking on paper. An avid believer in personal expression through story-telling, Ox aims to embrace the individual and universal queerness of his written worlds in all its weird, wonderful forms. 

At what age did you realize that you have a special place for writing? Are you currently or do you ever dream of one day being in the writing industry?

>>I've always enjoyed stories, but I'd never committed anything to paper before my final years of university. Even then, sitting down to write something creative started off as just a mental break from the steady stream of essays, presentations, and theses. Nobody else was meant to see them – then I tripped, fell, and showed them to friends. Somehow, they liked them, so I just kept writing stories and sharing them from there.
As for writing as a job, I've got a horrible pragmatic streak that stops me getting too invested in the concept. It's a tough industry to get into, and just as tough to stay in once you're there. But there's always that small spark in your writer's soul that dares to dream of making it one day, isn't there? Being paid to spout nonsense to anybody and everybody that'll hear you – good work, if you can get it!

Did any story, on or off Wattpad, inspire you ever and help you carve your interest towards writing books?

>>Funnily enough, published books never held much of a presence in my childhood. What was a big part of my upbringing, however, was the way in which people weaved the quirks and shocks of everyday life into surprisingly intricate narratives. I picked up a love for the written word during my studies into Renaissance poetry and drama, but the art form of oral storytelling has always been and likely always will be at the heart of my writing.

What is the genre(s) in which you mostly write your books? Do you think you are able to create brilliant plots when you write in that specific genre(s)?

>>I usually find my ideas lean towards the lower end of the fantasy scale, whether that's a literal low fantasy story or, say, a romance with some mystical moments sprinkled in. I'm always interested in exploring the magic of the everyday, and I find the best moments in my writing come when I pinch from many different genres at once to convey that magic to the reader. You'd never catch me calling my plots 'brilliant', though. I'd burst into flames if I did.