For Your Eyes Only

Q&A

I saw a handful of authors doing these and they looked fun sooo you asked and I answered:))
_______________________

How did you come up with the idea/plot of For Your Eyes Only?
Ya'll aren't going to believe me but I had a dream! In my dream there was this beautiful boy with a buzz cut and extremely beautiful bright aqua eyes. He had headphones in and we were in like this white bricked hallway that you see in tv shows for--I don't know--outside hang outs at schools in California or something you see on 90210. I kept trying to talk to him but he couldn't hear me because I am guessing of the earbuds. But when he opened his eyes it was also like I wasn't there? I woke up so disturbed yet my heart was beating really fast and throughout the day, I could not stop thinking about the dream and the boy! So, I put it to paper and tweaked a few things like the eyes because I really wanted Nate to be not a cliche even though the popular/nerd is sort of a cliche when it comes to love stories! I just wanted my characters and plot line to be different from anything anyone has ever read along with the feeling of it. I don't know if I achieved that but I knew what message I wanted to get across.

There is a lot of hate towards your main character Kelly Henderson in the beginning. Were you expecting that or were you hoping people would sympathize with her from the beginning?
I don't know why I knew this question would be asked, but I did and I am so impressed with how it is worded! Honestly, I wanted people to not like Kelly right from the get go because that is how people saw Kelly "in real life." She made herself look like bitch because that was how she protected the image she believed she had to portray. I didn't want people to start liking her until the real her came out which was when she was around Nate. Of course I wanted Kelly to be liked because she is my main character but I wanted there to be MAJOR character development, which people commented on after their mean ones (lol) once the story progressed. Trust me, I knew she sounded terrible the first half of the book. I would reread what I wrote and be like "Yikes, you're a work in progress, honey. Get it together, girlfriend!" hahaha. She comes off as very bold when really she's actually very insecure and uses that as a cover up. I needed Kelly to be the poster child of honesty when it came to emotions and change. I wanted her to be really raw.

How did you manage time to write your book?
I think it was because I really loved the idea of For Your Eyes Only and I was very passionate about the message behind it that made me complete chapters. It was not quick and it was not easy! After looking back on the timeline, it took me over a year to write. I set goals! I tried sitting down and writing out one chapter a week which sometimes turned into two because I got inspired or broke a chapter up into multiple ones but there was some weeks I couldn't get myself to post. Writer's block is real even if you enjoy what you are writing! I am a perfectionist and sometimes I would write something out and absolutely hate where it was going or change my mind halfway through and have to start over again. I would even go to the extent of posting it and then taking the chapter down because it didn't feel right which I know made my reader confused and sometimes mad. I tried making it look as nonchalant as possible but I didn't always succeed! You guys have been real troopers in sticking with me through this story. I can also say, I have never actually finished or concluded a story until this one! I think that is obvious because a made a bunch of bonus chapters because I didn't want it to be over!

It was so refreshing having the role of badboy/girl, nerdy girl/boy switched! Why did you make it this way because that isn't something that is normally read about?
I wanted the story to stand out and be different from other wattpad stories or stories in general! Trust me, no one loves a bad boy like this girl, but, I don't know about you, but there is something so intriguing about a nice guy! There's that saying that nice guys finish last and I wanted to erase that. Too many people think if a significant other throws things or screams at you or puts a fist through a wall that that is what passion looks like, and that is not true. Someone that can talk things out without raising their voice or doing something irrational, that is a real man/woman, and those are the things that should be glorified. So many people feel unloved, boys and girls, and I wanted to make a story that underlines that just because you are not the most athletic person or the most outgoing or prettiest, doesn't mean there isn't something about you that someone isn't starry eyed about.