Wattpad's Finest

theinkstainsblog

Theinkstainsblog is a rising star in the Wattpad community. Their fantastic book, Some Of Us, has almost doubled in reads recently, and is at #172 in Action as of the making of this chapter.

Without further ado:

The interview:

theinkstainsblog, what made you join Wattpad?

I joined Wattpad when I was about thirteen because a friend of mine was writing an historical fiction on here that was doing really well. I'd always wanted to be an author (since I was about four!) so she helped me sign up and became my first follower. Since then I've switched to new accounts a couple of times and finally settled down and got serious about it here.

Who do you thank most on Wattpad, for helping you?

Oh my goodness, there are so many people I want to thank! @blackdahliagrin is the friend that introduced me to Wattpad so without her I'd have none of this. I also have a lot of gratitude for people like @TheoFromHR and @moneysniper22 who have read my book cover to cover and picked up on the little details about my story and characters. Things like that are what encourage me to keep writing and really make my day. And, more recently, I'd like to thank everyone who nominated/voted for me in the Cryptic Awards, you @AlmightyNovel for inviting me to join in with Wattpad's Finest and everyone else who has read, commented on or voted for my story. It means a lot.

What is your favourite book on Wattpad (other than your own)?

This is a tough question! I've read so many amazing books thanks to Wattpad and I come across new stories so often that my favourites change pretty rapidly. I guess right now... it would probably have to be Born From Chaos by @spite- It's only a first draft and like all first drafts needs some work but it's action packed, tension filled and has monsters, magic and mayhem galore. Definitely a brilliant dark fantasy read with awesome characters that everyone should read (if you have the free time to get obsessed with this very big manuscript that is).

What is your favourite of your own books?

Well, I only have one book published on Wattpad for now and that's Some of Us which is hands down my favourite (even though I have about fifteen others moldering away in notebooks around my house...). The reason that I decided to stick with Some of Us and aim towards getting it published one day is because the characters feel so much more real to me in this one. Instead of just writing in the first person or third and describing everything, suddenly I'm writing in first and Richard is describing everything. He has a very strong character voice so I doubt he'd ever let me take charge but that's incredibly fun to write!

Do you have any ideas for a next novel? And, if so, can you give us a sneak peek?

Well, I can tell you now that Some of Us is going to be a trilogy and that's an exclusive cause I haven't told anyone else yet! But beyond just that series I'm also starting to collect ideas and plot outline for a dark, twisted fantasy book set in an alternate version of the year 1919 where magic has just been discovered to be real....

Last, but not least, who is your idol, as an author?

I can't pick just one! There are so many authors whose work I have fallen in love with and who helped shape who I am as a writer. Here's a few:

J.K. Rowling - Like most people I grew up with Harry Potter and simply adored her. She is a symbol of every success an author could achieve in my eyes and I have no doubt that she deserves it.

Stephen King - The master of horror, suspense and thrills, this man's books have taught me so much about writing characters and how to scare people. If you haven't read his biography/ writing guide "On Writing" yet, then you should! It's a huge help.

Neil Gaiman - Okay, his books are amazing, thoughtful, witty and utterly his own. And two, there's everything he says on the topic of writing. This keynote address he gave back in 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikAb-NYkseI is a good indicator of the advice he gives, and it's advice that I do my best to live by.

Samantha Shannon - Author of the gorgeous Bone Season series! She's my idol because not only is that series now my favourite but because The Bone Season was her debut novel... that she wrote as a young woman just completing a literature degree. Now that book is an international bestseller and being optioned for a film. She is everything I one day hope to be so I look up to her a lot.

Margaret Atwood - Last one I promise but I couldn't do this without mentioning Atwood. She's incredibly intelligent, sharp, witty and perceptive; and the master of believable dystopian novels. If not for studying The Handmaid's Tale in literature I probably would never have come to write Some of Us - and if I had then it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it (hopefully) is. After all, what's cooler than an author who based every single thing in her scary dystopian future on something that had already happened at some point in history just to provide us with a warning of what is to come?

Thanks to @theinsktainsblog for participating in the interview!