Created by writers, for writers, the Elite Awards [2019] formed for a single purpose: to recognize the great, and underappreciated, writers of Wattpad.
Welcome to the annual Elite Awards.
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Description:
Forced to surrender her detective badge, Mara Philips, a flippant, whiskey enthusiast returns to her lakeside hometown to do some soul searching, but is launched into a daunting mystery of her own when she awakens from a blackout and her elderly neighbor's dog has been brutally killed. Something is amiss in the eerie lake waters and Mara soon finds out that the dog isn't the only victim.
Fliers for missing teenage girls are posted all over town and a mother desperate for answers begs the unrefined, rogue detective to take her case. In order to solve the girl's disappearance, Mara will have to navigate between the deep sea of deception and the safe harbor of loyalty after being thrust into an arcane world of liminal creatures, ultimately leading her on a journey of self-discovery.
How old were you when you first started writing?
One of the first stories I ever wrote was in kindergarten about a girl being carried away by a giant kingfisher bird. Later that year, my mom bought us our first computer which came with Storybook Weaver (a cheesy, early 90's writing program) and that really helped cultivate my love for writing from an early age.
What inspired you to be a writer?
My grandparents were heavily involved in raising me as a child and my grandpa is one of the best storytellers I know. Whether he was reading to me before bed or he was just recounting tales from his past, I could always vividly picture whatever he was saying. My grandma was more of an artist and she often wrote poems or songs for us as kids. She taught me how to notice little details, inspiring me to look beyond what was in front of me. The two of them together helped drive me down many artistic paths in my life.
What inspired this particular project?
Before I started The Liminali, I hadn't written in a very long time and was in a strange place in my life, stuck somewhere between a young adult and a new adult (and a new mother at that). I moved back to my hometown after seven years away and was also caught between who I was there in the past and the person I am now. That experience inspired a good bit of my story and my main character, Mara.
The central theme that 'everyone is a bad guy in someone's story' had political roots originally. I follow global events pretty closely so adapting some of the horrendous headlines into my novel was a way for me to dissect the situations and learn how to see the story from several different perspectives-the good, bad, and somewhere in between. We are living in such an interconnected world, yet it seems we have never been more divided; the dichotomy between the two is both fascinating and terrifying at the same time so it's been an interesting concept to address.
On a lighter note, the motivation for actually writing the story started off as a kind of dare from my wife. We were watching some random, incredibly predictable show last fall, and I remember saying, "I could write this shit." And she basically responded with, "Well, why don't you, then?"
It was a great way for me to deal with some of the post-partum blues that were still lingering after giving birth, and my sleepless nights have at least resulted in a prolific manuscript.
How long have you been working on this project?
Nearly a year. I was late to NaNoWriMo last year, starting sometime in the middle of November, but by the end of the month, I still had close to 40k words. By June this year, I had written 150k total and was just about finished with the first draft minus the ending – I still haven't sorted that out just yet. But I've been heavily editing all summer and trying to update on WP as much as I can. I'm hoping by the end of October to have the whole thing pretty polished so I can start the sequel for NaNo this year!
What about your writing process - what's that like for you?
I'm a bit of a pantser–I believe that's the technical term. Or maybe a chaotic plotter because I do write down a lot of notes in a somewhat organized-disorganized manner. For this story, I started with the mystery of the dead dog and had a general direction and theme in mind, but the more I wrote, elaborating on those concepts, the more intricate the web started getting. As I researched, I began finding really strange correlations and working them into the story was like solving a puzzle without having a reference photo. Even just the other day, I was inspired by something a neighbor told me and now I'm re-writing an entire chunk of my plot as that new puzzle piece fits better than what I had tried before.
What genres do you most enjoy reading? Writing?
I will read just about any genre if the blurb interests me, but I tend to gravitate towards low/urban fantasy, romance, suspense, and anything with a little darkness to it. My writing reflects that as well; I start with some kind of surreal concept and then weave in elements from different genres to round it out.
You have to pick your favorite book (or book series) of all time...which is it?
My favorite novels are constantly changing as I grow older, but one story that has stayed with me through the years is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami.
Who would you say your favorite author is, if you had to pick?
Haruki Murakami
Are you currently working on any other writing projects at the moment?
I'm sort of brainstorming the plot for the sequel to The Liminali, but I'm trying to devote as much energy as I can into wrapping up the first story. However, anytime I need a break, I start looking for short story/flash fiction contests or prompts to keep my mind fresh. I think it's important to step away from a big project every once in a while so you can look at it from a distance, but it's still good practice to keep writing or creating in the meantime.
Since starting your writing journey, what's one thing you would say you've learned about the writing process?
Writing is reading. Whether it's researching, editing, critiquing, etc. I definitely spend more time reading in order to get to where I need to be to write, if that makes sense. I feel like I'm constantly learning from my peers through their feedback, the stories they share, and the community in general. The more I read and critique on WP, the more I'm aware of the strengths and weaknesses in my own story so that's been a great learning experience in general.
