We've got another awesome Fantasy author for you today. Hailing from Indonesia and Philippines, please welcome, stella_vigo, and let's hear what they've got to say.

What is your country of origin?

Indonesia/Philippines (parents are from two different countries; I'm legally Filipino but was born and raised in Indonesia)

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

I think I was about five or six years old when I realized that I wanted to be a writer. I was a maladaptive daydreamer—and perhaps still am one—who was also an avid reader. As a result, I developed a very vivid imagination. Writing was a creative outlet and a way for me to have fun with my worlds and characters. Now, I not only write for myself, but I write in the hope that other people will have fun with my worlds and characters too.

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

The Secret Realm of Otrâlmondé is the first book of the Other Realms Series, which has three books (two completed and one ongoing) as of now. The series is about three human teenagers—Stella, Jon, and Edmond—who inherit magical jewelry which gives them superpowers. The first book covers their initial training phase and their first experience in entering another world, Otrâlmondé, while being under the threat of a mage who seeks to take their jewelry—even if it means doing so over their dead bodies.

My current project, Blood Will Tell, is the first book of the Gifted Blood Trilogy. It revolves around Edin, an amnesiac protagonist, who uses his superpowers to protect people from wild beasts. With the help of his mentor, Arden, Edin seeks to regain his memories and fulfill his role as a guardian. However, from the first moment he enters the battlefield, he realizes that the feral creatures aren't the only monsters that he's dealing with—some of them are awakening inside him.

First and Final is an anthology of short stories and descriptive pieces. They all started out as English assignments that I wrote from sixth to eleventh grade.

Fright in the Night is a horror short story set during Halloween. It's about a main character who tries to conquer their fear of horror movies, only for it to go horribly wrong.

from the depths of my mind, they flutter free, is my first poetry collection and features poems that speak from my mind. Some of the poems were inspired by real-life incidents, others were the product of mere musings, and some were told from the perspectives of my characters.

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 do think it has some level of importance, although I don't think it is of supreme importance.

My writing process differs from story to story.

In the case of my longer stories, I generally have a "buffer" (that's what I like to call it) of at least one month before I draft the first chapter. During this time, I decide on the beginning and end of a story, choose which characters to feature or axe, and do a bit of research. I'm also the kind of person who generates "too many ideas," so this "buffer" period is great for me to settle on which ones to keep before I draft half the book and realize I want to change some things.

Once I have a strong idea of what the story should be like, I start drafting and do some more research if I need to. Sometimes inspiration strikes for a later scene than the one I'm supposed to be working on, so I draft non-linearly as well. Once I'm done writing a chapter or segment, I reread the thing about a dozen times to comb for errors. Unfortunately, a few pesky errors have slipped through me despite my efforts to purge them.

Short works are an entirely different story. I barely plan, if at all. I just have a vague idea of what I want to write and then write as fast as I can, hoping that something decent comes out of it. It doesn't always work, haha. Then again, most of my short works were written as school assignments or exam answers—I often only had an hour or so to write those.

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

I let my mind run wild and decide if I can turn what it comes up with into a story. Some of my plots come from dreams. The Other Realms Series is the result of me having one dream in seventh grade, thinking it was cool, and turning it into an actual story. I would describe the dream in more detail, but we might be here all day, haha.

In the case of my current project, Blood Will Tell, it started out as a series of daydreams. I'm fond of this music genre called artcore, and some artcore songs would evoke vivid daydreams. The same three characters would often show up in those daydreams too. I thought, "since the same characters keep showing up, perhaps I can turn these daydreams into a story," and then I started jotting down notes to see how the thing could unfold. And now I have a trilogy to write.

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

Oh man, which magic system? Each story/universe has a different one, haha. You can blame my silly brain for that.

I'll talk about the magic system in the Other Realms Series since it's the most fleshed-out system by far. There are three different "schools" of magic ("school" doesn't refer to a specific location in this case, but more like a school of thought). The Old School uses wands and specific incantations, much like Harry Potter. The New School keeps the wands but does away with incantations—their logic is that it's the *intent* of your spell that matters, not the words that come out of your mouth. The Modern School ditches both wands and incantations, so everyone uses their hands. Basically, hands go *swish swish*.

Another interesting fact about that magic system: most magic-users are born with "plain" magic, which is magic that is not specialized. Once you want to do advanced spells and techniques, though, you have to specialize in a field. This molds your magic to be more specialized and powerful. You can choose from light magic, shadow magic, elemental magic, brewery magic, tech magic... and you can choose to further specialize in a sub-field, too!

Out of all the genres, why fantasy?

I mainly write what's in my mind, and since my mind loves coming up with fantasy ideas, I might as well write fantasy. I personally love fantasy for the magic and the worldbuilding. Exploring other worlds is always neat, and there's something enchanting about writing about magic—there are so many ways you can put your own spin on it.

That, and many of my influences are fantasy. When I was at the peak of building my imaginary universe, I borrowed a lot from some of my favorite media—Harry Potter, Winx Club, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, to name a few. Since I consumed a lot of fantasy, it's only natural to write it too!

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

Contemporary fantasy. Or modern fantasy. Forgive me, I'm not the most well-versed in subgenres; there are so many of them!

I find fantasy that incorporates modern (or futuristic) science and technology to be really interesting, because I myself daydream about what our world would be like if we had magic—teleportation pods to instantly go from one place to another, truth serums to settle things in court, or anti-sleeping serums to help cram the night before exams. I guess the fact that I'm also a STEM student also explains why I'm more drawn to it, haha.

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

Hmm, I'm not sure if I'm in the position to give tips, but I'd say: not everything you world-build would or should make it into the actual story.

If you remember my Three Schools of Magic example from the previous question, I actually haven't gotten to explore or explain that in my books yet, even though I find it interesting and would love to tell people about it. As much as we'd love to go on and on about the stuff we've come up with, there's only so much information you can give before it becomes info dumping, and not a lot of people want that. That's something I have to remind myself whenever I write fantasy because it can get really tempting, haha.

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

Enjoyment is one of them. I'm the kind of writer who mainly writes for entertainment, and if other people enjoy my worlds and characters too, I take it as an accomplishment. It still warms my heart knowing there's at least one other person I've never met who genuinely likes what I write.

Another thing I aim for is improvement. Sometimes I reread the things I've written two, three, or four years ago, and I go, "I've gotten a bit better." I still have a lot of things to work on. I hope that a few years from now, I'll be able to look back and see that I've come a long way from where I am currently.

Share your favorite songs to listen to while writing.

It greatly depends on the mood, story, and scene. Some of them are:

Lifill - Feryquitous (ft. Sennzai)
Arcahv - Feryquitous
The End - Sakuzyo (ft. Katali)
Okome - Sakuzyo
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, allegro maestoso - Chopin
Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48 No. 1 - Chopin
Ondine - Ravel
Paris in the Rain - Lauv
Threshold - Sungazer
Misty - Erroll Garner

In addition to that, I also like to look up hours-long playlists from channels like Coffee Shop Vibes.

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

I don't really watch TV shows, graphic novels, or anything like that, so I'll use this opportunity to give a shoutout to my books on and off Wattpad! (They count as media, don't they?)

Since this is the Fantasy profile, I'll have to give a shoutout to my favorite fantasy books first: The Writer's Escape by left_andwrite, Dangerous Thoughts by Bdicocco, DragonSky by Kamiccola, and Willow Hills by DaniBrull to name a few. I've recently added Till Death Do Us Part by axgirl13 to that list too. As for my favorite non-fantasy books, Touch: Saving Ai by JaxCreation is certainly one of them. I'm also a huge fan of Flytrap by MaskedParkers, and I found Foston Slacks - Time's Flies by Kymeraent to be highly entertaining.

Any book on the first three reading lists of my profile deserves a shoutout, so check them out when you have time!

Share something unordinary about yourself.

I had to physically drag my mom and brother out of a haunted house once because they were too scared to even walk. On the way out, I asked the "monsters" where the exit was.

Share one delicacy from

 your country that everyone should try.

I'm from two countries, so I guess I'll share two delicacies!

One Indonesian dish that I absolutely love is Nasi Uduk. It's rice cooked with coconut milk and it's fragrant and savory. It's usually served with dishes on the side, like fried chicken, fried tofu, and tempeh goreng. It may look like plain rice, but its flavor is anything but plain.

Chicken Inasal is one of my favorite Filipino foods, and you should definitely try it when you have the chance. It's chicken that's marinated in a mixture of calamansi, pepper, vinegar, annatto, and other ingredients before being grilled. Some people like to dip it in soy sauce or vinegar when they eat it, but I think it's already amazing enough without sauce.

Share one thing your country is known for.

I'd say Indonesia is famous for having the highest number of active volcanoes on Earth, while the Philippines is famous for lechon (roasted suckling pig).

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

Switzerland is definitely one of them! As a chocolate lover, I must try Swiss chocolate in Switzerland. Oh, and I'd love to try Swiss cheese in Switzerland too.

I'd also love to visit Finland. I've wanted to visit Finland ever since I learned about the Santa Claus Village, and it's also one of the best places to catch the Northern Lights.

And as a Catholic, Israel is a no-brainer (along with Vatican City, but I've already been there). I don't just plan to go to the churches there (like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), but other religious sites like the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Those are from the top of my head, but I'm sure there are a lot more.

Share one reader comment that changed your life.

"Creative and a good lesson. Love your story!"

It's one of the first comments that FourcedowErsert made on my short story compilation, First and Final. We met on the Wattpad Writer's forums about two years ago, back when they were still around. I discovered her story, The Sea of Seasons, on the Share Your Story thread there, and I think that's how she discovered First and Final too. We've been online friends ever since. I read all of her books and she reads all of mine. That comment was the start of a great friendship, you might say.

Share your other hobbies.

Does watching YouTube videos count as a hobby?

In all seriousness, I play a bit of piano. Not well though. I can count the number of songs I can play on my hands, and the hardest piece I can play so far is Vindicta by Jesse Bullard. As of now I'm learning Chopin's Prelude No. 20 in C minor. It hurts my small hands to play (octave gang here!) but it is beautiful.

I also love reading, though I haven't been able to read that much nowadays thanks to college. I'm currently halfway through The Book Thief and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I plan to read To Kill A Mockingbird next.

I also played a bit of golf. I'm not the best; I can hit almost 150 yards with my driver on a good day. I haven't been able to play since the pandemic hit, and I hope to pick it back up soon. I'll have to rent some clubs though; the only golf thing I've brought with me to the US is my golf shirt.

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

The Secret Realm of Otrâlmondé
Blood Will Tell
First and Final
Fright in the Night
From the Depths of My Mind They Flutter Free

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