Aelburn (WATTY'S 2020)

Hello!

Hi!

Thank you so much for clicking on Aelburn! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read my book!

Now a few things to know before hand!

This was the first original novel that made it all the way to completion since Tattoo in 2014. Tattoo was my first book ever published on WattPad before my fanfictions. First my PtV fanfic followed quickly by my Fairy Tail fanfictions. Those books are actually to thank for a substantial amount of my followers but regardless, Aelburn is my baby. I welcome any and all constructive criticism because I legitimately want to get this book published into a physical copy.

That'd be freaking awesome.

Secondly, really slow and tedious updates are coming. I will make sure to edit the chapter names by putting °° next to the title. A few things will be changing and I am so excited for you guys to see the changes!

Now, if you're a new reader, welcome! Below I will be posting a few fun facts about Aelburn. No worries, there won't be any major spoilers but a few mild ones. None that will make you pissed off that your eyes glanced across the word but a few bitty ones nonetheless.

Once again, thanks so much for deciding to give Aelburn a chance. Much appreciation and love towards you! ❤

Let me know what you think! The first updated chapter of Aelburn is up! I hope you enjoy!

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FAQ

Where did you get the idea for your characters?

Honestly, the characters all came to me relatively easy;

Willow, I've always adored heroines that are sarcastic, badass but total sweethearts at their cores. I drew inspiration for her from Maximum Ride, Tris from Divergent, and Isabelle from the Mortal Instruments saga. There's more but a little bit of all of my favorite heroines were used to create Willow Aellana.

Jai, needless to say, I have a very soft soft spot for the tall, dark and handsome stereotype (I blame Fang and Patch from the Hush, Hush series for that) but I also love it when main boys have the older brother/pain in the ass/heart of gold stereotype. So basically, Jai is a combination of all my favorite cliches shoved into a sarcastic asshole of a man.

Lucas, actually was inspired by a dear friend of mine (Also named Lucas) and was designed in his likeness. Though real life Lucas is not a spoiled rich boy, most of Lucas' mannerisms were inspired by my friend of six years.

Lavender was inspired by my little sister. I love the sibling dynamic and I modeled Lavender and Willow's relationship after my own with my little sister. In the updated version, the characters are the same age as us. Willow will be 21 and Lav will be 18.

Aeraf...my sweet, murderous bean. Honestly, I just was trying to think of a character to round out my merry round of rejects. He took me the longest to put together. Early versions of Aeraf were just being a psychotic mess of a man but I chose to make him the way he is now because his (SPOILER) feelings for Lavender are a huge reason that he even decided to join Willow and Jai. So, now, he's only a slight psychotic mess. I just kept in his love of fighting and slight amusement towards death.

Where did you get the idea for Aelburn?

I had a really weird nightmare in 2016 about a world where a Hilter-esque man ran the world and murdered those who looked different then him. I stood in a long line in my dream and was pulled away from my family who all have brown hair brown eyes. The only thing different about me is the fact that my eyes are hazel, leaning more towards green. So, I woke up just as I was "killed" in that world. Literally one of those jerking up to a seated postition, clutching your chest, panting and drenched in sweat waking up moments. It was the most terrified I have been from a night mare. I got the idea to write down what I remembered from the dream to see if it happened again. It never did but, I thought about it for months until I finally got the idea to turn it into a novel. The man who ruled my nightmare land inspired Peter Lancaster. And trust me when I say that Lancaster is ten times more intimidating in the update.

How long will the update be?

The first chapter itself is almost nine thousand words and 20 pages long in Word. The second chapter is 9,545 words and 24 pages long. So...🤷🏻 not a clue. But if thing continue the way they have been, I've been predicting close to 500 pages and 30 chapters. We'll just have to wait and see!

What inspired the characters outfits and appearances?

Honestly, I got no clue. Mainly, I can think of about 18 other places where my ideas for their outfits came from. I was watching Titanic when Lucas' main outfit came to mind. Kakashi from Naruto inspired Jai's facial scar, Clary Fray from The Mortal Instruments series gave me the idea to give Willow bright red curls. Lavender's vitiligo came from a model I saw in a magazine.

As for their appearances, it's the same. Jai being Chinese mixed race came to me from a coworker being mixed and the purple eyes come from my obsession with the color. I actually attempted to write a book years ago on Quotev that had Grim Reapers with purple eyes.

Speaking of, I reread the first chapter of that on my old laptop and cringed for ages but it's a decent idea. Maybe I'll bring it back, who knows.

Now, something that a friend of mine asked me (that I'll shamelessly put in here):

Why do you want to become an author when books are practically non existent nowadays?

This question really surprised me, if I'm being completely honest. I never took a step back to think about the reason I wanted to be an author. I just wanted to. Now, since I've had some time, I finally know why and it explains a major part of who I am (mainly the fact that I am physically unable to shut up and talk for freaking ever).

The first book I remember reading to completion by myself was The Magic Tree House: the Revolutionary War. I was in awe at the fact that I had been able to picture the world in my head so effortlessly, which was so surprising to me because I'd never really been into history. My grandma used to work at a small library and I loved walking in there and being surrounded by a million different worlds in a dinky ass building. The creativity surrounding me blew my mind and, as a wannabe artist, it struck a chord in me.

Then, I came across the Maximum Ride series when I was 11 years old. The first three had come out and I figured, what the heck.

And I fell in love fast.

11 year old me was mesmerized, relating to 14 year old Max so incredibly hard and realizing how much I wished I could create my own world like James Patterson did and I tried two years later, man did I try. My first attempt at writing was pretty good for a then 13 year old. Looking back at it, I can't help but smile at the scribbles covering misspelled words, the ying yang symbols in the corners of finished pages, the extremely detailed eyes and box houses drawn in pen within the margins, my handwriting growing smaller and slimmer as I got closer to the end of the line when I pushed my words to far to the edge. 13 year old me tried so hard to be edgy, the characters all sounding as though they came straight from MySpace and DeviantArt, snake bites and "emo haircuts" included and I adore it, regardless of the cringe; I refuse to get rid of the notebook with a panda eating bamboo on the front.

I think I was meant to be a writer. I honestly do. Am I the best? No, but I've grown substantially from that project. I found WattPad eleven days after my 15th birthday on November 15th, 2013. Now, almost 6 years later, I'm just about to turn 21. I've had a lot of flops in the past, a lot of missed marks, a little bit of drama and plenty of growing. I realize now that this is something I desire to do, something I need to do. I want to be published. I want to be able to touch people's hearts the way mine was those 10 years ago. I want to reach the people who still want to curl up with a new book, the pre teen finding themselves, the confused, the scared and the people who feel as though they could just dissapear.

I guess long story short, I'm scared to disappear and live an unfulfilled life. I want to make something that will carry on long after I'm gone like Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare, and all the others before my time. I want to help people feel like, no matter what their mind tells them, they're not alone and they are loved and wanted. Books and writing literally saved my life and I can only dream of my books doing that for someone.

So...that's why I write. Partially for selfish reasons but also because I know that someone somewhere still wants to hold hope to live and just needs to find a reason. Maybe my work can be that reason.

Wouldn't that be awesome?

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