Name of Author: ConstantSound
Title of Book: Sacrifice
Favorite Authors: Edgar Allen Poe, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Rachelle Mead, Rachael Caine, Lili St. Crow, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, V.C. Andrews, LJ Smith.
Bio: Born and raised in North Carolina, USA, I'm pretty attached to my southern roots and believe just about every superstition out there from holding your breath while driving past a graveyard to lucky rabbit feet (except black cats). An avid lover of the feline species, I serve a furry overlord and two furry queens, all of whom refer to me as Mahw (I like to think it means 'Mom', but I'm beginning to think it's more like 'slave'). At twenty-three, I'm blessed with the chance to remain unemployed in the 'real world' and have plenty of time to type up new novels and pursue a dream of achieving my career goals and becoming a successful author.
Can you explain what your book is all about?
Desdemona, who's anything but ordinary. She blogs about preternatural beings and their plights, with help from Apollo's oracle, who has spent years teaching her to hone and control her astral projection. When she gets a bad feeling about something, she usually doesn't ignore it. Until the one time she does.She thinks having her soul enslaved by one of the Fallen is the worst thing that could happen. When her baby sister, Davhie, gets herself involved with something more sinister, Desdemona's only option is to go through Hell to save her, literally. But not all curses can be broken.
Who is your target audience – and why?
Honestly, I wrote it for myself. The thought of a target audience didn't really come in until I read this question. If I had to take a stab at it – which I do, I suppose – I would say people like me, who want to read stories that don't center around teenagers or high schools but also aren't interested in all the sexually charged scenes that usually go along with most novels.
What is 'paranormal' about your story?
Astral projection, fallen angels, gods and demons...Not much.
Does it contain other genre elements, if so which ones – and why?
My stories always contain a little romance, because I'm a hopeless romantic at heart, but it also contains horror elements, because what kind of story partially set in Hell wouldn't? There is a bit of humor to lighten up the tension in the novel and keep it from becoming too dark as well.
Tell us about your writing process – how do you get from story idea to a Wattpad published story?
My writing process is a little hectic, really. I don't outline simply because I write by intuition and I find outlines to be restricting. Instead I keep a loose timeline of events that take place within the story without trying to force it into any one chapter or real order. Most of my process involves me 'talking' to not only main characters, but also the supporting cast and visualizing scenes.
Did you encounter any challenges when writing, if so – how did you overcome them?
The most difficult challenge I faced was with that one scene that if I answered it would give too much away. Though the scenes in Hell were quite difficult as well. I did my best to portray what I thought Hell would be like and went with it, fingers crossed.
You often hear that 'writing well' is the baseline for success. What does that mean for you?
Writing something that I would personally read, a story that isn't just written in the hopes that it will ride in on the coattails of someone who genuinely loved their own and found success with it. If a story doesn't sing for me, why should I expect it to for someone else?
One final question, this being the Paranormal genre: Have you ever had a paranormal experience?
Yes, actually. But I've only seen a single apparition when I was a child one night in the living room. The morning after the back doors to our house were hanging open and they only could've been unlocked from the inside. My dad is actually a paranormal investigator (no weird séances or Ouija boards or anything like that, more EVP readings and the like) and a reiki practitioner (energy healing). So I believe that, whether people are convinced or not, we've all had experiences. Some are just easier to write off as a common occurrence than others.
