Welcome to our interview for this month! We are with this talented author, Inked_Insane, who penned the story, Ink Me Insane.

Dark Fantasy Team: What was your inspiration for this story?

I: Ink Me Insane was inspired by a couple different things coming together.

My mom works in child protective services, which obviously revolves around a lot of trauma, abuse, and neglect. She told me a story about a girl she worked with at a troubled youths home with dissociative identity disorder due to satanic and cult activity by her parents. I have no doubt the girl experience severe trauma and abuse, but looking back now, there is a chance that may have been influenced by satanic panic shading her memory. Satanic rituals and cults are not as prevalent as media and people once thought. Spinning away from that tangent, the experience resulted in her developing a mental health disorder to protect herself. It was all a stark difference from my childhood. It made me interested in mental health and how we are nurtured comes together with nature to make who we are. Humans are complicated and no one experiences one thing the same way let allow mental health the same way.

For the tattoos, I've always loved tattoos. It's such an awesome expression of art and the person. I recently actually got my third one. So this fascination with tattoos and a love of fantasy came together with this idea of a disturbed childhood and having to deal with the repercussions of that. How is mental health dealt with in fantasy and what is the line for sanity? Who gets to say what is sane? I had a dream about a girl with tattoos that could come off her body and yet she was at this mental health facility because everyone thought she was crazy even though fantastical things were really happening to her. She's dealing both with being incorrectly diagnosed with a mental health illness due to unnatural elements and actually having to deal with a mental health illness due to her past.

DF: Under which circumstances and when did you start writing this story?

I: After having the dream about a living tattoo girl, I started to daydream about it, kind of playing it out in my head between classes and on long car rides. Eventually, I wrote the second paragraph of the prologue for Ink Me Insane many years ago now in an AP English test after finishing early. It was written on the fly and it has stuck with the story into the current version. Obviously not everything is exactly the same, and that original prologue thing is ultimate cringe. I still have it and wow, glad I have improved. It was also written after an AP test, Biology though, it is literally written on the back of one of the essay prompts.

After that, it got put aside, but remembered. I kept playing it out in my head. Switching and rearranging scenes, trying something new each time and trying to give life to these characters. I didn't start actively writing the story until I found Wattpad and read a story by 3pointt14. I'm not sure if they still use that username, but the author of the story Mad as a Hatter. Anyway, she inspired me to try and have confidence to share my book. I started writing while I was working an overnight shift as a hotel night auditor, when I was sitting around and waiting for things to happen. I kept writing once I got into and attended graduate school, after about 4 years I finished!

DF: Tell us something about your characters and their development.

I: Obviously, each character is a bit different for developing. Rene herself though is really special to me. She's basically a pulling together of more extremes of my own weaknesses and additions of strengths I wish I had. She has some of my personality and more from people I've met and admired. Michael is along those same lines. His self-defense of humor is how I get through life. The rest of his personality is really inspired by a mixture of some of my favorite characters and one of my good friends from graduate school. Some of the scenes Michael is in and his reactions are directly inspired by real life moments. Basically though that is what it comes down to. My characters tend to be an agglomeration of people both fictional and real woven together with some of myself, different strengths and weaknesses of people I've interacted with and pulled together. I want them to feel real, so they do tend to be inspired and kind of a Frankenstein of multiple people and characters.

DF: What was your biggest obstacle while writing this story?

I: Oh gosh, writer's block and lack of confidence. I seriously get anxiety and stomach pains every time I post a new chapter. I check over and over to see if anyone has voted or commented. It's hard to believe how far Ink Me Insane has come and it still stresses me out. Writer's block is also huge issue. I am a write by the seat of my pants author. I semi have an end goal and just try to get there based on what feels natural for the characters. That means though when I get stuck, it can take a while to come out of that, especially when it gets compounded by anxiety about my capabilities as a writer.

DF: When and why did you start writing in Dark Fantasy? What caught your interest?

I: Ink Me Insane was my first book I've written and I jumped write into Dark Fantasy. While kind of, I originally assumed Ink Me Insane would be more teen fiction without a strong grasp on the genre. However, as I continued writing and realized what I wanted the book to be this dark story about fantastical elements and mental health, then I really embraced the Dark Fantasy name. It definitely fits and I am proud to be a part of the community. I love looking beyond the shining surface of things and digging into the darkest parts of minds and life. Life is not all sunshine and I like writing something that shows that. I want people to see the dark, but also someone struggling to fight it.

DF: What other genres do you enjoy writing other than Dark Fantasy? How would you compare it with Dark Fantasy?

I: I write a little paranormal and science fiction. Science fiction is more daunting because it's more research. My field is in scientific research so I feel like when I write it, I have to live up to that. It can be a bit daunting. I feel like a lot of my writing overall does overlap with elements of Dark Fantasy. It's just what I gravitate towards writing.

DF: How was your experience in writing Dark fantasy? What do you think about it as a genre?

I: I love it! I feel like once I found it, I felt accepted and supported. I think the genre is great and I'm so happy to see it expanding. I didn't read much Dark Fantasy growing up, but have found more both in book stores and on here met wonderful Dark Fantasy authors. It's awesome to see people approaching things from a different angle.

DF: A war has occurred between two mythical creatures. How would you tackle the situation?

I: Well, I suppose it would depend on the mythical creatures and why the war started. War isn't like a good thing, but is unfortunately sometimes a necessity for change. I'd probably try to understand both sides, mainly for my own information. From there, I would want to help those in need. Are there creatures not involved in the war getting in the cross fire? I would say I'd offer to help negotiate peace, but I have little confidence in my ability to do that. So in the end, I'd try to stay alive and keep as many others as I could as well. Oh, and save the books and art! They tend to be something lost in war, both accidentally and on purpose. Haha, probably a bit of a boring and too logical answer.

DF: What are your future plans with this book? Be it on Wattpad or in general.

I: The plan is to eventually edit it and get published. That's a bit goal though that I have been saying for years since I finished Ink Me Insane. I will admit, I'm kind of anxious about picking apart my own work. I know it is far from perfect and I have ideas of how to improve it. I'm more afraid that editing it will discourage me because I'll see how bad it was. But, I know I've gotten better as a writer and have plenty of support around me in person and here on Wattpad. I have no doubt it will happen. =)

Thank you so much, Inked_Insane, for being with us and agreeing to our interview. Check out their work, Ink Me Insane, to support our author!

- The Dark Fantasy Team