"ᴱᵛᵉʳʸ ˢᵉᶜʳᵉᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵃ ʷʳⁱᵗᵉʳ'ˢ ˢᵒᵘˡ, ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ ᵉˣᵖᵉʳⁱᵉⁿᶜᵉ ᵒᶠ ʰⁱˢ ˡⁱᶠᵉ, ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ qᵘᵃˡⁱᵗʸ ᵒᶠ ʰⁱˢ ᵐⁱⁿᵈ, ⁱˢ ʷʳⁱᵗᵗᵉⁿ ˡᵃʳᵍᵉ ⁱⁿ ʰⁱˢ ʷᵒʳᵏˢ."
Welcome to our lair, where you'll find interviews with the amazing winners of The Orca Awards! Get inspire by the authors o...
Hey guys!!! Here's our Interview with MountainChild01 whose book Moonshine has won Honorable Mention in Fanfiction!!
Read on for a dose of realism and motivation, and hilarious replies <3
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Who or what inspires and motives you to write?
Cereal.
No, just kidding. Well, I only write fanfictions about Shadowhunters, so basically the show inspires me. I write about the things I really wanted to happen in the show or I write the fanfictions I would want to read. I couldn't find a completed FanFiction with a strong female protagonist about Raphael Santiago, so I needed to write my own.
I also have amazing friends and after our crack-head-energy talks we come up with a lot of ideas, escpially for the preference book. It's a giving and taking in the fandom. We motivate each other.
What genre do you love to read/write the most and why?
I only write FanFiction and I actually only read FanFiction (at least on wattpad). I just love the show and some characters didn't get the recognition they deserved, so I try to give it to them haha. They probably don't deserve the mess that I created within my books, but the thought counts. And I just love to see how other people write about pretty much the same topic but in a total different way. There are fanfictions about Shadowhunters out there, that could be an official book because they are so incredible and I love to discover them, especially the unknown ones from small writers. There are some hidden gems out there.
Which character in your book (in this case, the show) closely fits your personality?
In the show nobody fits my personality, let's be real haha. People told me that Dominic Sherwood (Jace) and I have some things in common tho. But now that you ask me, I can actually draw some similarities between me and my own created character (Freja).
She has a lot of humor, is sassy but still kind. But she's also a pretty big pain in the ass with way too much energy and who is very very very stubborn. But on the other side she still has a ton of qualities that I don't have, so I can't really compare to her either.
What is your strongest point in writing? What advice would you like to give fellow writers struggling in that category?
I don't have one lol. I'm an amateur writer that can't even speak proper English. My creativity lacks, my descriptions are weak and my chapters too short. But I'm putting a pretty cover on top and hide between the fact that it isn't my native language, so people still read it hahaha.
I'm not being humble, I'm realistic.
Interviewer's note: Admire the humility! Hope you go a long way <3
That there is nothing to struggle about. Writing is never perfection. And it's not supposed to be. If there's a typo, well, let it be. If there's a plothole, it's alright. At the end the only thing that matters, is that you like what you wrote and that you had fun with it and wouldn't consider it a waste of time.
Getting to be an author is a constant progress of making mistakes and learning from them. Also a big pro in writing fanfictions: you have a complete fandom behind your back. And the Shadowhunter-fandom is pretty supportive. Give it a try haha.
Is there any scene you particularly enjoyed writing in your book?
Spoiler alert hahaha So you could imagine me saying the happy-end. Well, that happy-end was never planned. I originally planned on killing both, Freja and Raphael, off but I couldn't do that because some people actually enjoyed their relationship.
Raphael always called Freja 'princesa' (princess in Spanish) and so the whole clan ended up calling her that. At her final fight they stood in front of that massive aboned storage hall, facing a greater demon in the dark of night and they still simply called her princess.
A princess just warms the throne with a pretty fake smile on her face. So when one of the clan members called her that, she insisted that it's not what she wants to be called. And after the question 'What else are you?' she just grabbed her weapon like a fighter and said 'What about queen?'. Right after that she was the one who stormed the storage hall to save the city. A queen isn't there to look pretty. A queen is there to lead her people.
Do you have any insecurities about your story? If yes, then how do you deal with it?
My limited vocabulary and bad grammar. Especially at the beginning I was constantly being criticized because of it. The only comments were about my typos and grammar mistakes. No comments about the actual plot. I admit, that I simply deleted them and for sure I was angry about it. Only over time I found the people who actually enjoyed the story and left positive feedback, sending me advise via PM.
Criticism is alright, but hey, don't keep the negative in the focus. I came to the point where I hated myself for not being fluent in English but English just isn't my first native language and I can't change that. Mistakes make us human.
Currently I have someone who is reading over my story and they are correcting the bad and obvious typos but if someone finds more in the end and is complaining about the fact that the reading isn't enjoyable... Well, they can print the story out, roll the paper up and shove it at a place where the sun doesn't shine (sorry not sorry)
What is something you look for in a story?
Since I only read FanFiction (especially about Shadowhunters) I like to see a special plot. Not that typical girl finds out she is a nephilim and falls in love with either Jace or Alec (who is gay btw and well, there's not a ship better than Malec. Fight me.)
I'd like to see something more special. I need new unique and strong ships to obsess over. Also I like to read about protagonists, who are sassy and have humor, but also love deeply. But that's not that easy to find.
Also I look for good pacing in a story. It's pretty unrealistic when characters who just met kiss ten minutes later.
Conclusion: It has been lovely to take your interview! Glad to see you work hard. Best of luck and keep shining!
