Welcome to our interview for this month! We are with this talented author, NobodyGirl , who penned the story, When Rain And Snow Fall, which won the last April 2022 Dark Tournaments.

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

NobodyGirl: I loved the prompt because it included the seasons/soulmates/a warning and thought it gave such a good central point and from there it just seemed easy to expand. Being a romance author means I always enjoy putting a little bit in - even in darker stories.

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

N: I wrote it over a few days, frequently editing and changing bits. Coffee definitely helped.

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

N: The main character Lucy starts off being afraid and unknowing of the world and by ignoring her fear and following her instincts she actually does the opposite of what she intended to do, which i think has an irony to it because it turns out to reveal who she truly was all along. It makes that small amount of hostility she has towards her town understandable and if you were to go back and read it twice the small hints show her change in character and allude to the ending.

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

N: Keeping it under 3,000 words. My published book is around 175,000 words and each chapter on wattpad is about 3,500, so fitting an entire story into the size of a chapter was new for me and proved a challenge but I enjoyed it.

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

N: I've always enjoyed dark fantasy because it provides an escape and lets your imagination run wild, but I've always been of the opinion that writing should also have some reality and grit to it, so dark fantasy is the perfect combination for me. It includes some of the negative aspects of real life but paints them in a different light and can allow people to maybe understand something they didn't before or see an experience through the eyes of someone else going through something. I think it's a brilliant way to tell messages and share stories while having an impact too, and the characters/worlds are always super fun.

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

N: I'm a big romance writer - werewolf based is mostly where I've stuck so far and I really enjoyed pulling apart the cliches that the genre often brings and giving something a bit more gritty and not so predictable. I also used to write fanfiction which was a fun way to just focus on plot and twisting characters we already know rather than having to deep dive and start fresh. Dark fantasy is similar to the two in a way as it's about warping reality and adding something new, but it's without the constraints of already beloved characters and then it provides far more creatures than just a simple werewolf one would usually.

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

N: I love dark fantasy - I've just spent a couple weeks researching and planning out a new book in this genre and doing this task really gave me the bug for it and the push to fully commit. I think the possibilities are endless in this genre, but it's stories that remain with you because they have real consequences in them and often some really hard hitting parts. I think sometimes in fantasy it's easy for it to come across more childish if you're not careful - dark fantasy brings in that heaviness that pushes writers to create incredible stories (not that there aren't incredible fantasy only ones). When I think of most of my favourite books or even movies, its easy to see that as a genre it dominates my lists.

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

N: Depending on the creatures, i find it's usually a small thing that they're in conflict about that has blown up over time. I'd find out what it is that has them against each other and I'd attempt to find a resolution or middle ground, and if it came to the point where one couldn't be found, then I'd look at ways to incapacitate them both until they'd thought about it - eg. a herb that stops their super strength/an amulet that creates a line between the two that they can't cross.

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

N: This book was just a short story and I really like how it wraps up while also leaves the chance for it to continue, but I don't have plans to do anything with it right now. The dark fantasy book I'm working on currently does in fact have aspects that are definitely going to be taken from this short story, such as some descriptions/ideas in it, but it's going to be based on the Age of Aquarius and the demons in the Ars Goetia, with it's own spin on it. But you never know -  maybe this story might grow over time! Never say never!

Thank you so much, NobodyGirl, for being with us and agreeing to our interview. Check out their work, When Rain And Snow Fall, to support our author!

- The Dark Fantasy Team