Meet The Authors Showcase Edition #1 (1 of 3)

A showcase with @CarrieMelendez, author of stuck on earth

 1 what inspired the idea of your story?

Stuck On Earth was inspired by a single prompt on the Open Novella Contest III that is currently running. It was listed in the horror section of prompts, but when I read it, I felt something different about it and just knew I had to write my story with it.

2 what was something you struggled with for your story?

My biggest struggle at times was figuring out what was important to have in the story and what could be removed without taking away from the meat of what the story was about.

3 what has been the overall response to your story from your readers?

Great question. The response from the readers has been better than I expected. Not only have readers shown their love for my story through votes, they also have shown their enjoyment through their comments. I LOVE reading them. Even the bad ones, because I know it has drawn something out of them. I especially appreciate the suggestive comments that give me insight, as a growing writer, where I can improve my story to make it that much stronger, without taking away from the story.

4 what did you enjoy writing most of your story?

I am what they call a pantser. I tried plotting my story initially, but it didn't work. What I ended up enjoying the most, was letting the characters write the story for me. Following the main character and the people in her life came easier to me when I allowed them to take control. Whenever I got to a "block", it was because I was trying to force the story in a direction I thought it should go. But when I let go of the control, the writing took on it's own life and the story turned out better than I had initially anticipated.

5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series?

It is currently a stand alone novella. I am considering either expanding it into a full novel or beginning a series from it, as the story could move in many different directions. But it can be read as a stand alone and I may just leave it as such. Only time will tell. ;-)

6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story?

Without giving away any spoilers, I want readers to take away the importance of friendship AND time. Both play a key role in throughout the story.

7 what's a piece of advice you would provide to another writer, when it comes to focusing on their story?

Whenever you get stuck, STOP. As much as it may be painful to do, speaking from experience, go all the way back to the beginning and read your story. OUT LOUD. Or use a free text to speech app or website to read your story back to you. It will help you hear/see grammatical mistakes you may have missed and help you get a sense of feeling from the story that perhaps you didn't realize while writing. Which should inevitably bring you back to being able to proceed. Also don't take negative comments too seriously. If you don't like what someone commented on in your story, either delete it or say thank you and move on. They aren't worth it. In the end, as long as YOU like your story, that's all that matters.

8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself?

I suppose the similarities I share with my character is her love for magic. BUT she's a little more dedicated than I ever was.

9 what's something you believe would draw in new readers?

Another good question. Probably the way the story progresses. While the beginning may be more of a buildup to the meat of the story, once you get to the end of the first chapter and move in to the following chapters, each one has excitement, meaning, and purpose. I think they'll enjoy visualizing the story my characters want them to see.

10 do you have any future projects?

I am currently working on another story, which is completely different from this one. While Stuck On Earth is Teen Fiction and "family friendly" for the most part, my other story is the complete opposite. I will finish that story next. Then from there I do have another story that I feel I am ready to tackle. It's been a story that I've been working on for over ten years. It's time to move it from the pen and paper it's written on and share it with my friends and readers on Wattpad.