Intimate Interviews

Candid and Spicy with MermaidAriel13

AfterDark is excited to interview MermaidAriel13, a Bootcamp Mentor and a master of fan-fiction. Since her Wattpad journey started in 2019, she's completed many stories on the platform, delving into dark themes with a paranormal touch. Her stories? They are just as spicy as her favorite dishes.

You know, Darklings, we can't resist a writer who leaves readers biting their fingers in delicious suspense & irresistible chemistry...

The stage is yours, MermaidAriel13!

Welcome to Intimate Interviews! Can you tell us more about yourself?

I'm a neurodiverse, LGBTQ+ author of stories dripping with excitement, tension, dark themes, and sheer drama. There is nothing I enjoy more than to put my characters through the ringer and bringing lovers together only to rip them apart.

What made you pick up the pen and start writing?

I was already a big reader, so stories have always been a big part of my life. The earliest recollection I have of writing a story start to finish was for a class assignment when I was eight, and we had to mix fairy tales that had a common villain—mine was Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood.

I started getting more invested in writing when I started working, so age eighteen, and I needed an outlet that wasn't tiring on my body. Tried some other creative things, but eventually settled on writing 'cause it - briefly - silences the voices in my head.

It'll be five years in November since joining Wattpad, and I haven't regretted it yet. I've met so many incredible people —some irl even —and have established a firm fanbase with some of my stories, I feel confident enough moving forward.

What inspires you as an author?

If you mean, what inspires me to be an author, then I'm going to be real frank and say writing is really just a way to get peace. I get the hurricane in my mind to simmer down, the voices aren't as loud, and it help disconnect me from the real world for. I need that sometimes, and I don't mind admitting that.

In terms of where I get inspiration, that's literally everywhere. I don't need much for my brain to take something and warp it into a story. A song lyric, a place, an image... I keep one strict rule for myself; I don't actually write a full story unless I know what happens from beginning to end. Knowing there's a planned ending helps with committing to it.

What inspired you to write your first steamy scene? Could you tell us more about that experience? Was it a slow buildup to a not-so-innocent kiss, or did your characters jump right into the action?

The first steamy scene I wrote was between the two main characters in FALLEN ANGEL, about six years ago. I'd decided early on that I was just going to embrace the dark side and give in to the steam, despite never having done it. I looked up examples, did some research (I recommend How To Write Erotica by Rachel Kramer Bussel), and then went for it.

Since then, I've rewritten that scene countless times, landing on what it currently is and if I compare that first draft to now... ooft, get the fans and ice cubes out, 'cause I definitely cranked up the temperature.

Was writing "after dark" material something that occurred naturally to you, or was it a craft that you practiced till you perfected?

Generally speaking, it came natural, 'cause I like the dark, the gritty, the cruel, the drama. Honestly, the Disney villains have nothing on me, and some of my readers have found out the hard way.

Specifically for spice, it was definitely a learning process. I was very insecure with those first scenes I wrote and constantly sought feedback, and it's thanks to that feedback that I grew into it. Is it perfect now? I doubt it. It's good enough to get picked up for publication in an erotica anthology, but I can and am eager to learn more.