Reference:
[Abandoned living room] Upload by Yannick Megard on Pinterest
[Houses by the river] Upload by tippy on Pinterest

Second applicant: LucyAnnWrites

Book: The Girl Who Was Afraid

Amethyst: Before we start, I want to congratulate you again for winning 2nd place! How are you feeling today?

LucyAnnWrites: Thank you! I feel pretty good, if I'm honest. It's been a chaotic couple of weeks, but at least I'm moving forwards. It's nice chaos, though, mostly with writing and mentoring duties.

Amethyst: Oooo that's awesome! If you don't mind me asking, what are you mentoring?

LucyAnnWrites: I'm part of the "Shut Up and Write" mentoring program, which helps to develop the skills of writers by setting them up with a partner. I've just been getting to know this session's mentee and the actual mentoring begins in a few days

Amethyst: I see I see. ^_^  I'm kind of curious,

Q: What motivates you to write a story set in the 1890s?

LucyAnnWrites: I've always loved the Victorian and Regency eras, so the time period was pretty likely to be in the 1800s, but I usually go for earlier dates. This time, I thought I'd switch it up a bit, so I chose one later in the century. I also wanted to discuss mental health disorders and their impact on their people throughout history — people usually assume the Victorians are just a stuffy, rich bunch who spent all their time sipping tea and munching cake, so I wanted to try to alter that view. The late 1800s therefore seemed like a perfect fit!

Amethyst: That's amazing! Especially tackling something other than dresses, riches, and many more.

Q: I noticed that in the first chapter, there was a quote written by Alison Hargreaves which said, "One day as a tiger is better than a thousand days as a sheep". Can you please interpret what this quote meant to you, and is this connected to the story "The Girl Who Was Afraid?"

LucyAnnWrites: When I was in lower school, we were put into one of four houses, each with a different inspirational person, colour and quote. Mine was red, Alison Hargreaves and that quote. I remember being quite disappointed at the time as I didn't enjoy sport — especially not climbing, which is what Hargreaves was famous for. But I was also intrigued about whether I would come to see myself in her one day. The quote has stayed with me ever since, a big part of my childhood and associated with the colour red, or bravery. As my main character is called Cerise, which means "cherry" and is also a shade of red, the quote seemed perfect for the book, as it is about learning to be brave when you're at

Amethyst: That's beautiful. I didn't know there was a meaning behind the protagonist's name, and only thought that it was a unique name.

In chapter 1, we could see a glimpse of what Cerise could possibly be afraid of, which is the outside world.

Q: What became an inspiration for you to write Cerise as a person who is afraid of the possible things that lie on the other side of the door?

LucyAnnWrites: The inspiration mostly came from my own experiences. OCD, which is the mental illness Cerise has, is almost always portrayed in literature as an extreme fear of germs or bacteria ...when it's really so much more than that. It doesn't even have to be about bacteria or excessively neat people or cleaning things at all — in fact, it can exist in a time period when "cleanliness" wasn't even particularly thought about. It's actually about being afraid of "badness" and doing completely irrational things to avoid it. As a messy person with OCD, I find it frustrating when people assume that it is an obsession with tidying. Thankfully, I've never got to the point of shutting myself up in my house, but I have often wondered what would happen to someone if their OCD got so bad they couldn't bear to live in the real world any more. And thus Cerise's character was born!

Amethyst: Since the book that you've written came from your personal experience,

Q: Do you have any advice to people on how to approach someone who has OCD?

LucyAnnWrites: Please don't treat them like they're made of glass or any different from a normal person. People with OCD are not going to spontaneously combust if you don't constantly supply them with cleaning fluids. In fact, almost all of the time, you won't even notice the person has OCD (even if you've been friends with them for a while). It's generally an internal thing which revolves around doing "rituals" to chase the "badness" away. If you really want to support the person with the disorder, try asking them gently about their rituals or fears (and do not judge them at any point, even if they sound completely bonkers — they already know it's irrational). Don't tell them to "just stop", or argue with them about whether they're being "stupid". Instead, you can keep an eye out for their rituals and try to stop the person from taking them too far. Just check in with them every now and again and make sure they aren't developing any new ones. Also, if they don't want any help, don't force it on them, but keep a distant eye on them to check they're okay. Some days might be better than others.

Amethyst: Thank you for the advice *heart*. I'm sure this will help out others and myself included! (I didn't have knowledge about this since I haven't encountered someone who has OCD, but it's not bad to learn something new everyday).

Q: The words "so be it" are seen in a couple of chapters. The first happens between Cerise and her uncle, and the second is with Dr. Harper. Three simple words that hold a strong power. Will these words be an important part of Cerise's journey? How so?

LucyAnnWrites: They're definitely going to be a motif throughout the story, kind of like a "stop moaning and get on with it if you want change" vibe, but as this is still a first draft and I'm being a pantser, they could end up being essential to the plot or just a piece of symbolism, depending how things turn out.

Question 7: Which quote stuck to you the most?

LucyAnnWrites: There are so many to choose from! I'm not sure ...Ooh, maybe "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance" (Oscar Wilde) because it's a pretty helpful retort for anyone who tries to invalidate my sexuality, which is aroace

Also, Wilde was pretty epic and it's just a nice quote about positivity in general :)

Amethyst: Seeing the quote, I couldn't help but smile and feel warmth. It's also pretty nice to hear it, since it's important to learn how to love yourself. ^_^

Question 8: What's your goal as a writer?

LucyAnnWrites: My goal has changed a lot recently. I went through a phase of being very unproductive and it was extremely draining, so I came back to Wattpad and decided to just fling words at the page in the hope that I can regain some confidence and productivity. I decided not to plan or worry about my book "The Girl Who Was Afraid" — it's just something that I need and love to write. It's made me a lot happier; no more worrying about industry standards or fitting characters in boxes, just writing what I want to write and getting to know my own style again.

In the future, I'd love to be a traditionally published author and start selling my books to literary agents, but for now I'm back on Wattpad doing what I love and not caring about the rest! Somehow it's made my writing better than it ever was when I planned or worried .

Amethyst: Ahhh!! That's amazing!! I can relate to you with everything you said. Mainly focusing on getting views can be quite discouraging at first(since it takes a long time to gain recognition), and finishing a book also takes a while. So just throwing whatever ideas comes to mind and trying to connect it kind of works XD.

Question 9: What's your favourite season?

LucyAnnWrites: I'm not too sure, to be honest! It depends on my mood — I love all of them in their own different ways, but I do like to be warm. So winter and autumn are amazing as long as I have lots of layers lol

Amethyst: HAHHAHAHA I would love to experience having four seasons T_T. And that concludes our interview! I have a great time talking to you ❤️ I hope you have an amazing day!

LucyAnnWrites: Having four seasons is great, but it does mean that there's a lot of rain and less sun haha

Thank you for taking the time to do this! I had a great time talking to you as well and I hope you also enjoy your day ❤️

Amethyst: That's true HAHAHHA. ❤️