The Wattpad Stars(INTERVIEWS!)-Part2

~~~PUBLISHED BrittTheBookSlayer

8/20/12

Song should be hm...Baby one more time by Britney spears :D

Thankyou Brittany :)

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What is your name?

Brittany Geragotelis

How old are you?

33

What inspired you to write your first book?

The first book I ever wrote was called “The Guardian” and I wrote it when I was 15 years old. My sister had been hit by a car and when she was in the hospital, my mom had asked her if she remembered anything while she was knocked out, like whether she had a white light experience or something like that. Someone said that my sister must have had a guardian angel watching over her, because in the end she ended up recovering just fine. A few nights later, I woke up in the middle of the night with the whole storyline for my book The Guardian, all about a girl and her guardian angel and the dynamic between the two.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

My favorite author is Meg Cabot. There are two things I like about her. The first is that I admire the career she’s had. She’s a full-time writer, has built her career over time, has crossed several genres and has maintained a level of success over time. Oh, and her books have been made into movies and television show, which is something I’d like to parlay into eventually. Next, I really love her books. Her voice is very much like mine, in the sense that she’s funny, dark, addicted to pop culture, develops great & interesting characters….she’s just a really cool gal.

What is your favourite theme/genre to write about?

A kick-ass girl who finds out she’s means more to the world than she thought. I love stories that make the main character a bad-ass who has to save people and I also love stories that are centered around fame of all kinds.

Do you see writing as a career?

Absolutely. My entire adult life has been centered around writing, first as a magazine editor and now as a full-time writer. If you’re lucky, you’ll get the opportunity to do what you love for a living.

If you could work with any author who would it be?

In what capacity? In writing or at an ice cream shop? I like different authors for different reasons. In terms of writing with...I think either Meg Cabot or J.K. Rowling. I think working with someone of the caliber of J.K. Rowling you would get an invaluable lesson in what it means to be a successful female writer.

Do you use real-life facts based on true stories?

In some of my books, yes. For my book, Suddenly Starlet, I did a lot of research on actors and the world of acting/Hollywood. For Life’s a Witch, I did quite a lot of research into the Salem Witch trials. I even used direct quotes and information from the actual witch trials to base the first chapter on. Other books of mine are complete works of fiction.

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VOTEEE --->>> if u didn't :)

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Did you ever think you'd be, where you are right now?

No. I wished and hoped and prayed every night that this would happen, though. I used to think dreams were things you had but where never attained…for me. And I certainly didn’t think it would happen this way. For years, I was so stuck on the idea that becoming a successful author had to come in a certain way: I had to get an agent, then a publisher, then an editor, then people will think I’m successful. I never realized that I might actually get my big break through writing and uploading a books for FREE on an online writing site like Wattpad. Clearly, the universe had other plans.

What advice would you give to people who "run out of creativity" when writing?

Work through it…you can always revise later. The most important thing about becoming a writer is the writing part. I think a lot of people are so concerned with every word being perfect, that they get stuck in a place that doesn’t allow them to continue on. And if that’s the case, you’re never going to be an author, because you won’t have a finished book in the end. For me, sometimes there’s a chapter or section that’s like pulling teeth to get through, but I always push myself through it. 

I also like to watch inspiring movies and shows that kick-start my passion for good stories. A few I like are: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, Stick It, Hannah Montana movie, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never: Katy Perry movie, Scream, etc. Watch something that makes you wish you’d come up with it yourself….it’s a great motivator to get you started.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

I like to think of it as writer’s sludge. I never get to a point where I don’t know what comes next in the story, but I do have chapters that are just difficult to write…not necessarily because of the topic, but for whatever reason, the words are just NOT flowing. It’s usually because I’m having a bad writing day, Either way, I just keep writing and figure I’ll go back to it the next day.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Never give up. Don’t let anyone else take away your dream. I went through 10 years of rejection before getting my big break. And there was a point when my old agent dumped me as a client where I wondered if I was even supposed to be writing. Like maybe all of the rejections were hints that I wasn’t meant to write. So, I took a 6-month hiatus from writing. But then the itch to write came back and I switched around my thinking. Instead of having my sole purpose of writing be to get published, I focused instead on doing it because I loved it and because I was hoping others would enjoy it. Once I changed my thinking, I found Wattpad and wrote Life’s a Witch specifically for the site. And then, as some of you know, I ended up with 19 million reads of the book and a now, a 3-book deal with Simon & Schuster. Imagine all the great things I would have given up if I’d listened to my “rejectors” and given up on writing? If you love to write, write. Who are you to decide what the universe wants?

Anything fun about yourself you want your fans to know?

Fun facts….Hmmm, I’m obsessed with celebrities. When I worked at American Cheerleader magazine, I did all our celebrity interviews and got to interview people like: Dakota Fanning, Ashley Tisdale, Ashley Benson, Miley Cyrus, Ashley Green, Jamie Foxx, Reese Witherspoon and so many others! And speaking of celebs, I tried out to be a judge on three different reality shows and even had a walk-on role in Bring It On: In It to Win It. And while we’re on the topic of Bring It On, people are describing my upcoming Life’s a Witch book series as Bring It On meets “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (which just happens to be my favorite TV show). And that brings me to the biggest news of all: The prequel to Life’s a Witch, called What the Spell?, will be out this October in 3 e-book installments for .99 cents each and then in hardback in January 2013. A new and improved version of Life’s a Witch will be out in bookstores nationwide in May 2013 and the sequel, The Witch is Back will be out in bookstores in January 2014! Yay!

How would you describe yourself?

I’m super dorky, creative and a dreamer. I care about other people and try to help them in any way that I can, every single day. I also have a very ACTIVE imagination—which can be both good and bad. I’m a pop-culture junkie and a book lover. I obsessed with food and cooking, but because I have Celiac Disease, I have to be careful not to eat gluten. My favorite holiday is Friday the 13th and I love horror movies. My hero is Buffy and my favorite place in the world is Disneyland.

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