Wattpad Interviews [Closed]

CatMint5

How did you discover Wattpad?

I was looking for free books to read and Google brought me here.

How long have you had Wattpad, and how often do you use it?

I've been here for four years. Even though I update my ongoing stories once a week each, I'm a wattpad ambassador so I log in every day to check whether things are going smoothly.

Is there a meaning behind your username?

Sort of. It's a very elaborate wordplay on my real name. Dilyanka (the pet name for my name - Dilyana) is the common name for valerian, valerian attracts cats, and so does catmint. To be honest, I was searching for a word in a dictionary and while I looked, I came across "catmint". At the time I was thinking about creating a wattpad account so I thought "Why not?" "5" was suggested by wattpad as "catmint" was already taken.

Why did you start writing? What age did you discover your love for it?

I was reading and writing (well, very basic things) from before I started school. I have my grandma to thank for that. She used to sit me and my cousins down and teach us to read and write. As I grew older, I would sometimes get the urge to write so I'd pen something down... And probably lose it afterwards. I started writing stories and making sure I didn't lose them some time before I created a wattpad account so maybe five years ago, maybe a bit more.

Who are you favourite authors? What are your favourite books? (Books on Wattpad count too!) What is your favourite genre?

I don't have a favorite genre; what I'm interested in is the writing style of the author. One of my favorite authors is actually on wattpad. Her username is AYCluady and she writes romantic suspense.

Do you want a career in writing?

Sure! Though I don't think I'll ever be satisfied enough with my writing to actually publish it for money, not just on wattpad.

Who supports you the most in your writing?

The wattpad community. Few people in real life know I write.

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What is your book called? What genre is it? What is it about (2/3 lines)?

We are the Answer is told from the POV of Rhys - a wolf shifter, who falls in love with a human - Riley. The latter doesn't believe in the supernatural and is at first scared by Rhys and his friends because he thinks they are a gang. The truth is that the Silver Bullets are actually a community of shifters. Rhys tries to earn Riley's trust so he could tell the human what he and his friends are, all the while dealing with some personal issues and a serial killer who is trying to pin the crimes on the Bullets.

What inspired you to write it?

Over a year ago, there was a contest I wanted to enter and the requirements were for the entry to be a short story, to have LGBT characters and werewolves/shifters. It was an interesting challenge as I'd never written about werewolves or shifters before, but as I began writing I realized it will be too for a short story. However, when in December the wattpad4 had a contest, I decided to enter it. I named the story You are the Answer, uploaded the first chapters on wattpad and was one of the four winners in the contest (each of the wattpad4 girls picked one winner; ELatimer picked my book). It was the first time I was writing a book from only one POV (I usually switch between the characters) and my readers kept requesting Rhys' POV. That is why when I finished You are the Answer, I began uploading We are the Answer. Some chapters are present in both books, some are unique to each. My readers love that and that makes me really happy as they were the ones who motivated me to write Rhys' POV.

How often do you update? When was it last updated?

I update both of my ongoing stories once a week. A new We are the Answer chapter is posted either on Saturday or on Sunday. The latest chapter - a bonus chapter from the POV of Rhys' youngest sibling who is a fan favorite - was uploaded this Sunday.

How long are your chapters? Do you think short or long chapters are better?

I think that a chapter should be as long as it needs to be for the author to convey their thoughts. Mine usually end up between 1 800 - 2 200 words.

Are you proud of how well your book has done? Are you happy with the amount of reads it has?

The amount of reads isn't that high compared to some of the other books I have up (I have two with over 1M each), but I have very supportive readers and I'm always happy to read their comments. Besides, We are the Answer is almost constantly on the Hot List, although it's usually a number above 100. The best rating I've noticed so far is and it recently hit 10K reads.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

Plenty! I even post writing tips on my blog. But if I have to keep it short: keep writing. Even if the odds are against you and you don't get as many read/votes/comments as you'd like, if writing makes you happy, keep it up! If at some point you feel discouraged, take a break, but don't delete everything you wrote. Even if you are so disheartened that you take it off wattpad, keep a copy of your work somewhere as one day you might want to get back to it.

I do have to admit that shape-shifting books aren't what I immediately go to read, but this author captivated me in the first chapter of her book. The plot line is fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! The writing style really cannot be faulted, it flowed seamlessly and was very easy to read. It is also not a heavy book to read, and I cannot express how much I enjoyed it!I really recommend you all check her out!