Name of Author: AHBaig
Title of Book: When Heaven Meets Hell.
Favorite Authors: Anthony Horowitz , Eoin Colfer, Darren Shan and,of course J.K Rowling!
Bio: I'm a Pakistani teen for whom reading and writing is an addiction. I always have my head in the clouds and am always thinking about the next chapters for my stories. I love to draw and watch anime.
Can you explain what your book is all about?
My story is set in the Victorian era. It revolves around my young protagonist Joan Hale who, in the process of tracking down her parent's murderer's, sells a fraction of her soul the Devil in exchange for the services of a demon named Avander. Through the first half of the book we follow Joan as she hunts down the killers, descending into darkness as she goes. With each kill she makes, something evil stirs within her. Little does Joan know, her actions would decide the fate of Heaven, Hell and Earth.
Who is your target audience - and why?
When i started writing,i mainly aimed for the young adult audience,as i myself am one of them. As i reader,i always loved reading about the adventures of teenagers and that is mainly what drives me to write for the young adult audience.
What is 'paranormal' about your story?
Everything! The whole story revolves around a battle between Angels and Demons,both of whom make regular appearances.Satan himself graces my story with his presence from time to time. Other than that,my story has black magic and occult in it,my protagonist being an active practitioner herself. Of my three central characters,two of them are not of this world.
Does it contain other genre elements, if so which ones - and why?
Yes it does. I have tried to weave the horror genre into my story by including grim descriptions and scary,often bloody scenes There are undertones of fantasy and mystery. Action and adventure are also a part of my book, as i try my best to write fast paced action scenes when two character's are fighting. For the first time,i tried to include romance in my book,a venture i was very hesitant about. However,i am glad i decided to include it in my story,because it is an excellent tool to bring about character development.
Tell us about your writing process - how do you get from story idea to a Wattpad published story?
Ideas come to me randomly and often regularly. In fact,i have so many ideas i can barely work on them. When Heaven meets Hell was heavily influenced by the play Dr, Faustus and later by the anime Black Butler. Once i decided on writing this story i penned down a rough summery that later underwent many changes. Currently,i have a very organized way of writing. I plan my chapters and give everything careful consideration,going through the chapter over and over again to weed out mistakes.
Did you encounter any challenges when writing, if so - how did you overcome them?
Many,the greatest of them being the dreaded writer's block. For me,the writer's block often meant that i knew exactly what to write,but could not pen it down well enough. Sometimes,i would doubt what i was writing and would end up feeling demoralized. Still,in such a situation i would always switch to writing another story and get back to the first story later on. I find it's always helped me.
You often hear that 'writing well' is the baseline for success. What does that mean for you?
For me 'writing well' means putting your heart and soul into your story, never accepting anything less than perfect and doing everything you can to make your story amazing,even if that means spending many sleepless nights thinking about it. That can range from creating three dimensional chapters to picking out the smallest of grammatical errors in your manuscript. Writing well means hooking your readers and making them love your characters because of their flaws and shortcomings. If some one re-reads your book once it's finished,then it means you've written it very well.
One final question, this being the Paranormal genre: Have you ever had a paranormal experience?
I have had two. In the first,i was sitting on my bed facing the doorway to my room,outside which was a small corridor. I had my head bent because i was busy writing. I lifted my head a fraction just as someone ran by in the corridor. I saw a foot and heard the sound of bare feet against marble. Whatever it was,it was wearing a type of traditional black tights. It wasn't any one in my family. My sister was in the room and neither my mother not my grandmother were wearing black. Another incident occurred while i was praying. I felt something slap at my arm and saw a flash of white right next to me. I've never know fear as i did that day.
