The Odds

Interview With Then-Harry-woke-up (Revenant Victor)

Hello there and welcome to The Odds! It's been a while, but now that the competition is over, we've returned. As you're surely aware, Sirens: Revenant has just finished and looks set to be one of our most popular competitions ever! As the fuss died down, I managed to grab a quick interview with the winner, Then-Harry-woke-up...

Hello! Now, settle a question for us. We at Author_Games had never heard of you before, so we were a bit stuck with what to call you and ended up with 'Harry'. What do you actually prefer to be called?

You can call me Pheeney (Fee-knee). It’s a nickname from when I was a kid.

Pheeney it is, then! So, Pheeney, if I'm not mistaken, this is your first attempt at an AG competition, and nobody can deny that you stole the show! How does it feel to have won straight off the bat?

Amazing! Fantastic! Surprising! Insert any other words along those lines here! Really though, it feels simply incredible to have actually won against all these seasoned pros, who have all done so well in their own rights. I feel so honoured to have snagged such a title.

Mandy was one of the most vivid characters of the competition and she stood out in every task. We loved the way she developed throughout and her unique voice was so much fun to read! Where did you get the inspiration for her? Why did you decide to write the character you did?

Well, I knew I wanted her to be Australian from the get go, but really I wanted a character that would be fun to write in social situations. I enjoy writing dialogue the most, and I feel that’s my main strength, so I felt like I had to make her horribly awkward. Also, I wanted a more colourful character that wouldn’t have the weaknesses that would be expected in a zombie apocalypse and is kind and caring at heart despite everything.

What was your favourite thing about her?

The cat!

Honestly, I absolutely love how awkward and dorky she is. She’s just a treasure to write, and I especially loved her interactions with Caleb. Those two are adorkable and nobody can tell me otherwise! And I did love Tallahassee, but I take no responsibility for an influx in characters with tag-alongs.

We try and get as many different styles of task in as possible to keep the writers on their toes; which was your favourite? Don't worry, we're not taking offense!

I’m very proud of my Finals entry, and I loved writing Music Of The Night, but the winner is definitely the Quarter Finals task (Knock Knock). Caleb and Mandy just have this chemistry that I couldn’t stop even if I tried.

Very few people win one of our competitions in their first attempt - our last victor had competed at least four times! - so obviously you must have some kind of trick up your sleeve. Is there any advice you would give to other people thinking of competing?

First, editing is very important. I actually wrote 30% of the time, and edited the other 70%. Seriously, editing is your friend. I know it sucks sometimes, but do it. Say it out loud to yourself to make sure the writing flows, trust me when I say that helps.

Secondly, and more of an extension of the first part, don’t be afraid to cut things. Every task I would write ended up somewhere over two thousand words, so I know this is important. Delete things that aren’t necessary because you might find that they were clogging up your words and maybe even simply boring.

You must be sick of talking about AG now, so let's move on to some more general questions. Which do you prefer: read or write?

A hard one, but I prefer reading to writing. Writing is brilliant, but it’s great to learn about stories from other people’s heads.

Interesting! Now, I'm sure you'll agree that Wattpad is a great place to do both, so tell us what brought you here in the first place...

I learned about Wattpad from my best friend back in 2011, when I was, what, Year 8? We both went to different high schools so it was our way to keep in touch, but she’s not active anymore and I haven’t spoken to her in ages, which sucks. I joined originally to just to have a library of the books, but it bloomed into being more about writing from there.

And we're glad that it did! Okay, we're running out of time now, so one final question. Would you survive a zombie apocalypse?

There is a high likelihood of me not surviving in a zombie apocalypse. Short-sightedness and a lack of fitness wouldn’t be very beneficial, I imagine. It’s a good thing Mandy had neither!

Ladies and gentlemen, that was Then-Harry-woke-up, a.k.a. Pheeney! Will she be back to defend her title in the next competition? We're afraid it's going to be a long wait to find out. But don't worry, because we will still be active. A new Gamemaker will be appointed in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that. You'll hear it here first! The candidates are those who have won during Alithia's term and are still around: Oh_Nostalgia, GhostOfGamesPast and Then-Harry-woke-up. We'll let you know as soon as we've decided.

After that, we'll have the Presidential Elections, where Alithia will go head-to-head with a challenger for Presidency of the account. This is an Author_Games first and is shaping up to be something very exciting indeed, and of course the general public will have a role to play, so stay tuned for that! More information on how the Elections will be run can be found in the Handbook and the final decisions on challengers and format will go up here first.

See you soon!