...The long overdue interview with *drumroll please* me!

Shout out to @CrazyReader107 who took enough interest in Abby's story to want to do this in the first place. And again, sorry for taking so long to finally post this. Without further ado, here's the interview, done about five or six months ago. 

☆

Question 1: Where did you get the idea for the book?

I think I mentioned this before, but the idea for Abbernathy was inspired by my two real life black kitties at the time, Bowie and Ramsey. I was just getting back into writing at the time (oh, about seven years ago) and I decided I needed something easy to write about so I went with a small fraction of what I knew back then. I was a girl-- still am, by the way-- and I had two cats. Before the story officially became Abbernathy and the Cat Kingdom, it was just a document on my old laptop labeled, A Girl and Two Cats. Things took off from there.

Speaking of cats...

Here are the kitties that inspired Sebbi and Lucy! Bowie, pictured laying majestically on top of his very own castle, served as inspiration for Lucy, while his little brother, Ramsey, pictured sprawled out on the kitchen floor served to inspire Sebbi.

Anyway, you should see the early drafts of this story when it was first conceptualized-- actually, scratch that. You should not see them. No one should ever see them. They were bad. Tense shifts out the wahzoo and fragments galore. Abby's story has come a long way, and hopefully, so has its writer. *wink*

Question 2: Will Abby ever come to terms with her subconscious feelings for Crum?

The problem with this question is that it assumes Abby has feelings for Crum. Does she? Hmm...I wonder. She definitely loves his hair, but the stuff between his ears and further down? Not so much. I think she's too focused on other things, being a kid, surviving in a world of pointy-toothed cat people, to care about loving on some lanky, snobby boy. I am certain about one thing though - if Abby knew her fans were rooting for her to get together with Crum, she'd have her ivory slippers on faster than Mimi could hold her back and trust me, her kicks are no joke.

Question 3: What is your world building process and what advice would you give to writers who want to world-build?

World-building is one of those things that's a marvel to gawk at, but a pain in the butt when you try to do it yourself. I've always loved creating worlds and giving life to those images I see swirling around in my head, so I sacrifice my sanity to attempt making an entire world from mostly scratch. It's hard, people. Very hard. You can easily get lost in the details of the world you're building so that's why my only piece of advice is to write everything down. Is that bog frog in your fantasy tale brown with yellow spots? Write it down. In your dystopian tale where humanity is starving thanks to overpopulation, do people subsist on a diet of hallucinogenic sea slugs that taste like cinnamon and rainbows and are secretly manufactured by the big bad government? Write it down.

I have notebooks full of side stories set in Abbernathy's world that will never see the light of day. I have the magickal system down and know the reason for the realms' crumbling magick. Knowing the details of your world, regardless of whether or not they actually show up in the final product, helps you to create a more realistic world which, in turn, allows the reader to easily accept and visualize your story. So write everything down. Your readers will thank you and you'll end up with a better story.

Question 4: Will Sir Ogretree make a reappearance?

Considering the dying tree is one of Abby's closest friends, he better be! Though not in the way you might be expecting. Anyway, I wood never give that poor, old tree the ax and give up all that glorious pun potential!

Question 5: Is Abby's personality based off someone you knew or is it something you relate to?

Abby's personality is a mix of myself and people I know. Ironically enough, she's the exact opposite of how I was at her age. At twelve, I was everything reserved and quiet as well as a complete push over. Abby is reactionary, stubborn, a little snotty, and the first to stand up for herself. I envy that about her and I wish I had a friend like her when I was younger. Maybe that's why I wrote her - so I could give the friend I wish I had to someone who may need her now.

Then there's Abby's love of the outdoors and talking to plants. I stole those characteristics from my mom, who is, I swear this is actually a thing, a master gardener. Back when I was younger and forced into helping her take care of her garden, I'd glimpse her talking to her plants, so I asked her if they ever talked back. She had chuckled and told me no, thank goodness, though they did appreciate our carbon dioxide. So even though Abby's green sensibilites leave a lot to be desired, her passion to be outside as much as possible, as well as her love for Sir Simon, is inspired by the cute, little lady I have the honor of calling my mom.

Remember to talk to your plants, folks. They may not understand you, but they'll appreciate the company and the carbon dioxide!

Question 6: Why did you choose the name, 'Abbernathy'? And is it pronounced 'Aaber-naathee' or 'Ayber-nathy' or 'Ab-ur-na-thee'?

Honestly, I can't remember where I pulled the name Abbernathy from. The air? A locked up memory? I guess I just really like the name Abby, but hated the name Abigail so I decided to give my character a name that could be shortened to Abby without being Abigail. And it's pronounced the first way, I think.

Question 7: Will Abby's father come back?

Ah. Tough question to answer. When I first created Mr. Tells (Out of respect, I'll refrain from using his first name), I wanted to depict a parent that was allowed to grieve for his wife and not be perfect. He made a lot of mistakes with Abby - letting her kick boys in the crotch, for example. He's also not the best at punishing his daughter, which is why Mimi always ends up giving the lectures and doling out the time outs. His inability to properly punish his only daughter stems from a guilt he carries from being so distant and un-involved in Abby's life when she was first born. Mimi actually raised her full-time until Abby turned one because Mr. Tells just couldn't accept that his beloved wife was gone.

Parents are people, first and foremost, and they make mistakes. They're allowed to make mistakes. Even though Mr. Tells made mistakes early on in his Abby-rearing career, he loved her as fiercely as Margo loves cheese.

He was a good father and I hope he'll be remembered as such. Unfortunately, he won't be coming back, at least not in the 'being alive' kind of way. He's been returned to the stars, to shine for all eternity next to his beloved wife.

Question 8: Was her mother from a magickal background?

Not exactly, though she definitely is more than she seems. 🤐

Question 9: How do you keep yourself motivated to writing Abby's tale and did you ever feel like giving up on it?

I've struggled a lot with Abbernathy. I mean, it took over seven years to complete a first draft. It's easy for me to write, but it's hard for me to like that writing. I usually end up hating what I write and rewriting it about a bazillion times. You should see all the draft chapters on Abby. There's over a hundred, I think, and the story has fewer than fifty published chapters. Self-doubt always undercuts whatever progress I'm making on a story.

But I've never felt like giving up. Abby's story is always on my mind so I don't think stop writing it if I tried. When I feel exhausted from her story, which is pretty frequent considering it's my top priority right now, I put down the laptop and walk away. I read or play video games and then, when I feel refreshed I go back and attack it full-speed, with a renewed energy to combat that nagging voice in the back of my head that's always trying to tell me my writing isn't
good enough. Hey, inner voice! My writing may not be good enough now, but it will be. Writing is a skill; it gets better over time.

Question 10: At what point did you realize that AATCK was gaining a lot of reads with a higher frequency?

I think I started noticing Abbernathy's growing popularity when I started to upload the chapters which actually featured Abby in the Cat Kingdom. With them, Abby's core group of supporters started to become more vocal and it was then I realized that even though Abby wasn't one of those Wattpad books with over a million reads, it had a following, a dedicated, lovely following. People liked what I wrote and wanted more. That's a pretty awesome thing to realize.

The story's now getting a lot of adds to people's reading lists and I honestly don't know how any of them stumbled across the story. Is it mean of me to say I'm happy they stumbled? Because I am and I hope that they continue to stumble further into the story and like what they see.

Question 11: Did putting your books in contests help in any way? If it did, how so?

I've entered a few contests with Abby all with varying results. Thing is with contests though, so many get abandoned that Abby doesn't really reach any new readers. Though one of my favorite readers, just kidding, you're all my favorites, ended up finding Abby through a contest.

Contests can be a great way to get exposure on Wattpad, especially if your book ends up ranking. Just don't count on it to bring a million reads and insta-success your way. That doesn't really work. What does work, however, is being sincere and honest, helping your fellow writers, and responding to your readers' comments. Be a good guy or gal on here and slowly you'll build a following, and better yet, you'll end up with some pretty awesome friendships.

Question 12: Do you make drafts and take loads of notes for AATCK?

Ah yes. A ton. My revision process tends to be a little maddening, okay A LOT maddening, and I tend to draft and draft and draft until I'm unhappy with every version, but so mentally exhausted that I just post the last thing I wrote. I've got two folders alongside three or four notebooks filled with stuff on Abby. Some of them are pages of character motivations and their coordinating arcs, while others showcase poorly designed Aelurian architecture. If I have any thoughts about Abby or her world, it's written down somewhere.

Question 13: Will there be sequels or prequels to AATCK?

Yes. Shall I dare say more? Nope. Lips are sealed shut.

Question 14: Will there be more character deaths?

Listen, I'm no George R.R. Martin so I don't plan on every character meeting a grisly end, although not every one of them gets the ideal happy ending. I've always envisioned Abby ending on a bittersweet note. Aelurus is a dangerous place. It's filled with creatures like Feign and Calleighdia, but then there's also creatures like Lain, like Fraga, Margo and Hestor. Unfortunately, the Shadow King is a formidable adversary and the people who choose to journey with Abby may find themselves on the receiving end of an Aelurian blade.

Question 15: Do you plan on getting AATCK traditionally published?

I think I'm like most writers here when I say I would love to someday hold a physical copy of my book. It's a long shot, sure, but there's no harm in trying. Right now, I'm working on a second draft for Abby which I'm sure will multiply into third and fourth drafts. Hopefully, sometime within the year, I'll have a semi-polished manuscript and I'll try my luck at querying.

I don't know what's in store for Abby, but just knowing it's gotten this amount of support, that it garners enough interest that someone wanted to hear what the person behind the book had to say, is unbelivably amazing and humbling. I write those stories that I want to read; I never, ever, imagined someone else on planet earth would want to read them to. Well, bravo Wattpad! You've proved me wrong.

Thank you, everyone. For wanting to know more about Abby, for wanting to know more about the girl that told her story, for being kind and supportive and being a sort of family, but the good kind of family - the kind you never have to see for those awkward holiday gatherings. 

And finally, as a little added bonus, here's a face reveal, more like a profile reveal:

It's one of my favorite photos: Me on my wedding day staring down the person I love most in all the world. ❤

And because I'm feeling extra generous, I'll just leave this here and let you all get your theorizing on...

Abbernathy and the Two Kings - Uploads to begin late summer/early fall of 2019. Cover art courtesy of the ever amazing MayTijssen

❤Octavia