We've got another awesome Fantasy author for you today. Hailing from Portugal, please welcome, MonicaBGuerra. Let's hear what they've got to say.

What is your country of origin?

Portugal

What other languages aside from English can you speak fluently?

Portuguese (my native language)

Are you writing under a pseudonym? Is there a story as to how and why you came up with it? Please tell us about it!

I'm writing under my own name. I used to have a pen name when I wrote fanfiction but, when I started writing original work, I decided I'd like to go with my actual name.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? Why do you want to be a writer?

This is such a complex question, because, here's the thing: to me anyone who writes is a writer, and I will go to my grave maintaining that fanfic writers are as valid as any other kind. And, while I've always held this view for other writers, it took me many, many years to consider myself a writer.

In fact it wasn't until 2020, after twenty years of writing fanfic online (and another five before those twenty writing on a notebook and not sharing) that I wrote my first original novel and thought to myself "well, you're a writer now." Which was immediately followed by "you blithering idiot, you've been a writer for a quarter of a century, why did it take you this long to see it?"

So I'm not entirely sure there's a "first realised I wanted to be a writer" moment, since I always have been, but there's definitely a "first realised I eventually want to turn this into a career" moment, which was 2020. (Still not there, but that's the plan.)

Please tell us about your story/ies on Wattpad so that readers could find them.

My first original novel (that started life as a novella for the 2020 ONC) is Utterly Forgettable. It's a contemporary love story (which surprised no one more than myself, since I always pictured I'd start with either Fantasy or Sci Fi) between two men in their forties. One briefly worked for the other in the past, there was a rift between them and, as the story starts, the erstwhile employer, who used to be a millionaire, has been homeless for months. And the other guy couldn't leave him on the streets to fend for himself if his life depended on it, which means they'll have to find a way to coexist, even as it becomes clear both have feelings for one another.

Then, last year (again, for the ONC) I wrote a Sci Fi duology of novellas that tell the same story from opposing points of view. I called the duology Syn, with one novella being BioSynth, and the other one SynTracker. The premise is simple: there's a happily married couple (again, two men in their forties), one of them is an android hunter and, after ten years together, it comes to light that the other one is an android. Things get complicated after that.

BioSynth follows Quentin, the android who'd forgotten he was an android, and who's now on the run from the one man he'd give anything to run towards; SynTracker follows Ian, the android hunter who's convinced he has a human husband, and that this android is merely a copy—one he has to hunt down at any cost, so he can trawl through his memories and figure out where his "real" husband is.

These novellas can be read one after the other, in any order, or they can be read in tandem, chapter by chapter, for a more complete picture of what's going on. It was an incredible experiment, writing them this way, and I loved every moment of it.

BioSynth placed 3rd overall in 2021's ONC, to my utter delight.

This year, even though I didn't officially enter the ONC, I was following along with a Fantasy novella called Singular, about a man born without magic in a world where magic is the norm, which means he thinks of himself as lesser. Because magic is always cast in pairs, he hasn't even been able to bring himself to risk a relationship with the man he's loved for twenty years (who, coincidentally, is the realm's king), having decided he'd never be an equal partner. Except, once he finds himself stranded with just the king on a deserted island, the king can't cast (he'd need a pair) and our main character realises he's accumulated a wealth of skills and he's not useless at all. There are other things thrown in there, some in the background because there'll be a follow-up novella, and these include a conspiracy, the threat of war, and a secret cabal of—nope, not telling!

Finally, there's a collection of flash fic on my profile, with microfiction that spans Fantasy, Sci Fi, and contemporary, on my profile, called Something Equally Nonsensical.

For you, what is the importance of having a process in writing? Do you have a process? If so, please tell us about it. If not, why?

I think everyone has a process, even if that's not having a process. Mine is chaotic, but some things remain the same:

— I write out of order. Writing out of order was the key that unlocked my being able to finish works at all. Before that, I'd feel annoyed at every scene that stood between me and the scene I really wanted to write. After I started writing out of order, it became complete freedom—I just write those scenes, and that frees up bandwidth that I can carry on with the rest of them. It happens often enough that, when I get to a scene I'd already written, chronologically speaking, that scene no longer fits. Sometimes the characters have changed, or events twisted off-path in a way that it doesn't make sense anymore. Sometimes I can get away with a light edit to make it fit; others I have to thank it for its service and let it go. But having written it is never a waste, and I'm never sorry.

— I thought I was a pure pantser, but I do have the plot in my mind before I start writing, which means I'm more of a pantser. I don't outline (I may, but only in the end, after having written everything).

— I'm open to being surprised by my characters (which sounds lovely and very mature, if you discount that I verbally abuse these fictional beings something fierce, when they don't do what I want them to and derail my plot. But I still let them get away with it. The jerks).

What makes for an appealing character in Fantasy stories? Why?

I think what makes for an appealing character in any genre is their complexity. Their layers, their flaws, their humanity (for lack of a better word, considering some might not be human at all). I'm not here for the overpowered tale of the person who could defeat everyone and their mother in a magical duel and just went from point A to point B (no matter how winding the path) in between fireballs and electricity bolts; I am here for the tale of the person who has things they're good at, things they suck at, but tries anyway, because life is complicated but maybe the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Or maybe the world is doing just fine without them but they're not having it, not at all, because they realise they have something to bring to the table.

How do you come up with the plot of your stories?

Anything can spark a plot, for me. It can be a throwaway comment by someone, it can be watching a series in a completely different genre, it can be a prompt, like with the ONC.

Once the idea comes to me, for either the plot or the characters, I start thinking obsessively about said characters, and the scenarios I want to place them in. I daydream. I talk to friends about it (this is when huge swaths of plot reveal themselves to me because, usually, when talking, I'll say "I don't know what will happen here, but—oh, no, wait, I know, it'll be X, and Y, and Z" and then problems get solved) and, by the time I get to actually writing, the characters are screaming in my brain and writing becomes a lot like an exorcism—I write to shut them up, albeit temporarily.

Share some interesting facts about the magic system you have developed in your stories.

In Singular, magic is only cast in pairs. Casters stand face to face, arms in front of each other in a way that, together, they'll make an infinity symbol, and that's how magic flows through them. They have varying strengths (the average person has magic, but the most powerful are called Incantors, and the ones born without magic are called Singulars, because they can't pair with anyone), they use magic for every single thing in their daily lives, and they think nothing of it, but it's not as effortless as they assume—they just don't know any better. It's this that turns them prematurely grey-haired, which most people take as a sign of magical prowess, rather than stress.

Out of all the genres, why fantasy?

Fantasy and Sci Fi are equal contenders for my attention, and, if I'm writing, I always need love thrown in the mix (not so if I'm reading—compelling characters and a good plot will keep me reading even if no one is pining for someone else). Why Fantasy, though? Because we're dreamers. Because imagination is the limit, and imagination is pretty limitless, and magic is real if we dream it so, in every page. Because at the centre of every quest there's usually something to be said about people, about friendships, about true north. Sure, you can say those with contemporary, but then you'd miss out on the magic, and writing's pretty magical, isn't it?

What do you think is the most alluring subgenre of fantasy?

I absolutely cannot pick one. I can, however, say I like it when stories aren't afraid to explore dark themes or moments, but that they retain a thread of hope. That characters can still see the good, in others and themselves, when all is said and done.

How do you manage criticism?

From readers or critique partners? Actually, no, that's not important. My process is more or less involved depending on how involved the original criticism was, but that's not where it differs.

If it's criticism I'm already leaning towards thinking myself, it'll be peaceful. If it isn't, my knee-jerk reaction (in private most of the times, but if the person offering criticism is a friend, they'll get to see it unfold in real time) is to clutch my pearls, which is an idiotic reaction considering someone has just gone out of their way to gift me a little of their time and effort to say why X didn't resonate with them, or why Z felt rushed, or that A was impossible to comprehend in the way I wrote it. Time they could have spent doing something more enjoyable to them, that they chose to use as free labour in my benefit.

Once all pearls have been sufficiently clutched, I'll start mulling it over. Sometimes, even after the pearl-clutching, I'll stand for my original decision, and will just thank the person and realise we have different views for that particular scene/story/character. Others, their criticism will start to make sense, and I'll make changes based on it, because my first duty is to the story, and to tell it to the best of my abilities.

The most valuable thing to keep in mind is that everyone is slightly different, and will yearn for slightly different things—in life, in fiction, anywhere. So, sometimes, criticism won't make a story better or worse—it'll just make it different. It's up to me to decide if that difference is something I'm more or less keen on.

Other times, that criticism is objective. If I'm grammatically structuring dialogue in a way I shouldn't be, because I'm doing it how it's done in Portuguese but writing in English, it's objective to say "hey, dialogue doesn't work the way you think it works in the English language." Taking that kind of criticism is peaceful and no pearls are harmed in the process.

Other times still, it's about offering me perspective I wouldn't otherwise have. Nuance, things that I may be unconsciously coding into the characters that I don't necessarily want to consciously include. That's the most delicate of all, and requires some deeper thinking. There are analogies in Syn, for example, that don't quite correspond to what I wanted, and those are things I'm working on, for the rewrite.

It's a tricky balance, but I absolutely always love comments, in any way shape or form.

What are some tips you can share to help new and old fantasy writers alike?

Always know where the edges are. The hard limits, the things that would stop your characters (and their magic) dead on their tracks, if they went there. It doesn't matter if it shows up on the page or not. If you know it, everything you write will be informed by it, and your readers will feel it makes sense, even if they don't know why. I started this answer thinking about magic systems, but this is true of any genre, really: know where the edges are. It's never as useful as when you need to push a character over them.

Also, if you want to write social commentary, do it deliberately. It's absolutely okay to write a story that doesn't want to comment on the state of the world or the unfairness of society, and is just a fun romp through magic-filled landscapes, with a talking pair of glasses perched on your face the whole time; but, if the talking pair of glasses is unhappy for being perched on your face and longing for the days when it was simple sand on the beach, maybe you have something different to say. In that case, examine that, and make sure the message you want is on the page, and not just your subconscious.

What do you wish to get out of your journey as a writer?

In no particular order:

Flux:

Flux will be a trilogy about a world where time, aka the Flux, moves differently (and somewhat randomly) outside cities, meaning that a person (or several) can go on a two-week trip to the closest city and realise five months have passed, by the time they get there, even though it's been a mere two-weeks for said travellers. This makes conventional warfare an impossibility (who would send an army not knowing when they'd get there?) and cities a powder keg of frustration. Then there are the missing children no one wants to think of, who sneak out the cities and get lost in the Flux, and no guards ever see them leave.

And there's the king who leaves his city hoping against hope time will be on his side for what he needs to do, only to reach his destination twenty ears earlier. The Flux has never moved backwards before.

—

AetherTech (working title):

AetherTech will be a Fantasci (or Sci Fantasy—I've heard both terms bandied about; either way, it's where magic and tech meet) standalone about a reporter with a bloodline curse that means he will always lose what he cherishes the most, and the curse breaker he despises, whom he ends up rescuing from certain death in a somewhat dramatic fashion in the prologue. There's a mystery to be solved—who'd want the curse breaker dead (which, to our reporter, is "anyone with a brain") and a conspiracy to uncover. Getting attached to anything except a bottle of whiskey is to be avoided at all costs, in light of the unbreakable curse, but that may be beyond our reporter's control.

—

Reality Notwithstanding (working title)

This was meant to be a 5k short story, so I thought I'd find something simple and easy to write about. Like a masked ball in a fantasy world, that goes on for an entire year (people arrive when they'd like and are free to leave and continue on with their lives, and return whenever they feel like it, but it's always there for a year) where attendees were magically barred from revealing their identities. Two attendees, who went nearly every night, would fall in love at some point, and struggle to find a way to make themselves known to one another outside the ball.

But.

The next moment my brain supplied the ball might be an ultra realistic simulation in a Cyberpunk world. Then there was an evil corporation, a cybernetic leg, a case of mistaken identity, and... Needless to say, this will not be a 5k short story.

What do you wish to get out of your journey as a writer?

Again, such a complex question!

From an emotional perspective, I want to touch people. I want to write stories than make readers think, question the status quo, see life through a different lens. I want to make them feel happy, and sad, and angry, and excited, and all the other emotions in between. Hopefully, I want them to tell me I made them feel those things, because getting a comment to that effect is the best feeling this writer can ask for.

From a practical perspective, I hope to find a way to pay the bills. Not the most glamorous of answers, but undeniably true. Food and shelter are basic needs of the human race, writers have been rumoured to belong to said human race, and I'd like to be able to pay for those with my writing.

Share your favorite songs to listen to while writing.

I don't have songs I listen to while writing in general. I do have songs I listen to that feel appropriate to the story I'm writing, and they won't be the same for the next story.

Other than that, I'm incredibly fortunate that my best friend is a musician. He wrote the theme song for Utterly Forgettable (the demo is up on youtube here: https://youtu.be/idEN_f2up-g ) and he wrote the theme song for Syn (that demo isn't available anywhere yet, sadly, but it will see the light at some point), and I was privileged to be able to listen to Syn's demo while revising it. Nothing beats listening to a song created specifically for my characters. Nothing.

Share some fantasy stories that you wish had more books.

Hmm. I wouldn't have thought this would be a difficult question to answer but the truth is, I tend to read fanfic when I wish stories would be longer/have more books, and fanfic authors are pretty amazing at delivering ways to scratch the itch for the original just right.

Share interesting titles of media (drama, TV Shows, graphic novels, webtoons etc.) that everyone should try watching/reading.

I know the original question didn't mention books, but I can't start a list of must reads/watch without mentioning Oceana. And it's currently on Wattpad!

Oceana, by Cameron Montague Taylor. Cee is my favourite writer, and there's never a time when I'm reading her epic series that the troubles of the world around me don't fall away for the duration (possibly because she puts her characters through the wringer, and I'm busy worrying about the troubles of *their* world instead). It's epic nautical fantasy with world-ending stakes, forbidden love, competent, nuanced characters, and impossible choices. The first book is called Wicked Waters and can be found here.

An interesting thing is that I, queen of wishing for fanfic in nearly everything I read/watch/play, feel no yearning for Oceana fanfic, simply because Cee gives us everything I could possibly want right there, canonically, on the page.

As for TV Shows:

Years and Years: It's a six part mini-series that's a joint HBO and BBC production. Sci Fi, but terrifyingly possible, and it feels right around the corner. Some of it has already happened, since it was written. Years and Years absolutely blew my mind, and I cannot recommend it enough. An incredibly diverse cast, an incisive storyline that'll make you angry, with enough heart that it'll hurt. Also, Emma Thompson.

Angels in America: a theatre play that I, unfortunately, never got to watch. To make up for that, there's a magnificent six-hour miniseries with (again) Emma Thompson, but also Meryl Streep, and—no, I'm actually just going to leave it there, because it's an all-star cast, and if I start naming names I'm going to be here until tomorrow. It's about the AIDS epidemic in New York, in the eighties, with angels thrown in the mix and unlikely characters examining their prejudice. Absolutely outstanding.

It's a Sin: also about the AIDS epidemic in the eighties, but this time in the UK and without the supernatural aspect, it's a five-part miniseries written by Russel T Davies, who wrote Years and Years, above. It's a Sin is raw and takes no prisoners, showing the reality of a disease no one cared about investigating because it was thought to not affect straight people. Future generations, if not the current one, will look back on the way AIDS was handled and conclude the lack of interest in researching it properly, to help develop a cure, at a time when becoming HIV positive was akin to a death sentence, was nothing more than a form of genocide, and this show never lets us forget that.

Our Flag Means Death: ten episodes of a series that's ostensibly about the life of pirate Stede Bonnet and his crew, but is really about remaining true to who you are because there's no other acceptable way to be. It's about taking joy in all the little quirks in yourself and others, it's about love that doesn't fit a mould, and camaraderie that doesn't end when your back is turned. It's unapologetic, and bright, filled with heart, and utterly joyful. I'm keeping my fingers crossed there's another season.

Comics:

If you're into roleplaying games, there's a comic called Order of the Stick that will have you laughing the whole way through. It's about a D&D party, and, well, have a link: https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html

I'm going to stop myself here, because there are just so many things I wish I could recommend, and I think it would take me weeks to type them all, and even then I'd forget to mention some.

Share your favorite dish and what makes it your favorite.

I've just spent an embarrassingly long time looking up the translation of "empadão" because everything tells me it's either pot pie or casserole, but it's neither. It's two layers of mashed potatoes with one layer of minced meat in the middle, and egg yolk on top before it goes in the oven. It's absolutely delicious, I haven't had it in years, and only my grandmother and aunt can make it well enough that I drool. (My mum isn't much of a cook, and I absolutely take after her in this.)

Barring that, pizza is an instant favourite, with pineapple. I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

Share some of the fandoms you follow.

Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Supernatural, Good Omens. A ton of others, but these will do, to get started.

Share something unordinary about yourself.

I write through the night and sleep in the morning. If I'm doing web or graphic design and have the option, I'll do the same. Case in point, it's 6:38am, I'm writing these answers, I haven't gone to sleep yet.

Share some beautiful words in your native language and their meaning.

Saudade: Saudade is a noun, and it means yearning, longing, nostalgia, but also homesickness, except you can feel it for people, places, or indefinable concepts. You can even feel it for the future, even though you've yet to live it. When we say "I missed you" we say we had "saudades" of that person, but that's only one aspect of saudade. I wish I could describe it better (if only I was a writer, huh?).

Share one delicacy from your country that everyone should try.

Ovos moles. It's a sweet made out of egg yolk and sugar that's wrapped in a thin crunchy shell, and, you know what, just have the recipe.

Share one thing your country is known for.

Sailing off to find new trade routes, in the 15th and 16th centuries, ending up enslaving people all over the globe, in the process, and trying to rule half the world, with the other half going to Spain, as if there were no legitimate inhabitants elsewhere. Still teaching it at schools as "the Discoveries" as if it was something to be proud of, rather than a horrible tale of kidnapping and murder. Other than that, and in the present, it's known for being a pretty safe country, with a temperate climate and easy-going people, when it's known at all. Several other countries still assume it's a province of Spain, even though it's been a country since the 12th century.

Share your travel destination wishlist and why you wanted to go there.

These are places I feel drawn to, but I reserve judgement as to whether the reality of them matched my expectations until I've actually visited them.

New York City: because I love big cities, I hardly ever sleep, and NYC seems like a brilliant combination for people like myself. Also, I have a metric ton of Broadway shows I'd cheerfully murder to be able to watch.

Venice: during Carnival especially, I'd love to go there. A heady mix of history and intrigue.

Prague: in winter, so there's snow. If ever a city felt straight out of a fairytale, it's Prague, and I'd love to visit.

Tokyo: As with NYC, huge sleepless metropolis, except this time it's steeped in history in a country that goes as far back as the Paleolithic, and with cutting -edge tech to boot.

Cairo: history as far as the eye can see, a culture so different from my own, and pyramids? Yes, please!

Athens: again, history as far as the eye can see, but this time with a culture that I think will feel like a sibling—similar genes, different entity.

Paris: the Louvre! Croissants!

I... can we leave it here, please? I've seen so few of the places I want to see yet, and I'm filled with longing at the thought.

Top two places I've already been to but will go again and again if given the opportunity: London and Barcelona, not always in that order.

In case anyone had any doubts, I'm a city person, not an "I'd love to retire to the country person". At all. And my only kind of jungle is a concrete one.

Share one reader comment that changed your life.

There have been a few over the years, both with fanfic and original work. I'm paraphrasing, but the one that stayed with me the longest, from my fanfic days was "I don't usually read stories with [specific trauma here] but yours felt healing and helped me move past my own."

More recently, with Utterly Forgettable (still paraphrasing) it was "this book focuses on loss and was triggering to read, at times, because I've recently lost someone, but it's helped me deal with that loss."

They both say the same thing—that my stories took a subject that was painful and presented it in a way that had positive results on people dealing with that subject. There's no greater validation than to know my work did that for someone.

Share your other hobbies.

Hobbies: reading, listening to music, going to concerts, playing video games, building with LEGO, making origami shapes. Things I do professionally that I love so much, they don't feel like work: graphic and web design.

And there you have it. We hope you enjoyed this interview with MonicaBGuerra. To check out their works visit these links:

Utterly Forgettable
BioSynth
SynTracker
Something Equally Nonsensical

[Author's Note: Singular is unpublished for the time being, because I am going through a little internal reorganisation, and felt it made more sense to unpublish for now, until that process is complete enough (notice the "enough"—it's never actually complete) that I'm in a place where I can get back to writing. I'm much, much closer to that point now than I was a couple of weeks ago, thanks to insight from a friend, so I hope it won't take much longer.]

Catch us next time as we bring on another amazing Fantasy author. Till then, have a magical week ahead.