About the story - "GG"

Una Morales's week is not going so well.
To begin with, her twin sister, Paz Morales, has disappeared.
To top it all off, Una is bedridden, sick with the flu and oh so dreadfully bored.

She is not the only one coughing.
Una's faithful young tomcat Duo coughs quite often, too.
Mostly hairballs, to be fair.

See what happens when one fateful morning, Duo coughs up an engraved rose petal.
This petal, bearing a mysterious inscription, might just be the only telltale of Paz's whereabouts.

Follow Una into a puzzling adventure.

Find Paz.

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About the author - EvelynHail

An avid reader and gamer, Evelina is also a: fistfighter, trained in katana fencing and dagger wielding, university lecturer, post-doctoral pursuer, Python programmer, lover of the stars and butterflies, friend of the cittenies and puppus, Neo mom, Harry Potter fan, Nikola Tesla admirer, street ragamuffin at heart, writer wannabe since 2017, Beauty and the Beast 2 in 1, magical realist, bacon cheese fries eater, white chocolate adorer, illustrator.

Presently juggling two jobs, post-doc studies AND writing/drawing projects o.O

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"Una. Remember who you are. A happy-go-lucky ragamuffin contaminated with childlike wanderlust. Never change. Always be yourself. You gotta do you."

- from GG

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Q. How has your writing journey on Wattpad been? Do you have a favorite moment so far?

My Wattpad journey has been absolutely fantastic!

This is such a welcoming platform that allows you to dive head into your hobby and commence to hone it without fear. Throughout these six years I have been here, I have tested the waters of so many genres that my head is positively spinning!

As a newbie writer, I wanted to try everything, and also, to get a feel of what my readers would think, which voice and genre suits me most.

So I wrote and wrote heaps: micro fiction, poems, short stories, literary fiction, science fiction, romance, young adult romance, young adult steampunk, high fantasy, middle grade fantasy, mythology (stawps to take a breath)...

Wattpad is perfect for this kind of experiment! It's like a bike with training wheels, it's impossible to fall. You can try out everything and you will eventually discover both your voice and your genre niche.

The comment section is an incredible feature that helps you gather opinions of everyone who might be reading your piece. I wonder what authors did in the past, without the internet. Writing must have been such a lonesome hobby, without anyone to share your thoughts with, and only being able to see the critiques and reviews once your work was published in paperback.

Talking about writing being lonesome in terms of comments, and how Wattpad successfully remedies this, I want to tie the concept to my favorite moment on the platform.

Writing can also be lonesome in terms of creation – usually we have this one author/one book kind of rule.

On Wattpad, you can participate in a book collaboration and this is what I did! It was the most beautiful experience to be sure, and it is precisely this book, "Mind the Gap," born out of collaboration with my amazing co writer RainerSalt that has triumphed the most on the platform. It won an Open Novella Contest in 2020 and it has amassed over 500 000 reads.

If you have never collaborated on a manuscript with someone, you should give it a go. This was an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We plotted the chapters and forged the characters. We drafted and reviewed chapters, back and forth. We fought, bickered and laughed over words, jokes and ideas. My Achilles heel is the narrative structure, word choice, overwriting and a lousy copy editing over all but my strength lies in character arcs and dialogues. So we complemented each other wonderfully well. It was quite a ride, how we chased after sparks cast by our vivid, beautiful imaginations.

Q. Your book "GG" revolves around the mysterious disappearance of one of the twin sisters which leads to even more supernatural events. The premise and the story title all pique our and the readers' interest, can you share with us the inspiration and the hidden meaning behind the idea and the title?

Absolutely. My inspiration for "GG" stemmed from the Open Novella Contest 2019 wonderful prompt, which stated that the protagonist should be looking for their missing sister following the trail of rose petals.

So I had my road cut out for me: the girl's sister had to be missing and the petals had to be involved.

My next idea was to write the journey akin to my favorite book, "Alice in Wonderland." The girl's cat would lead her from one petal to another, one location to another until the sister was found.

The book contains seven locations and seven different shades of red, for each petal color, hence the chapter titles.

Another strong inspiration for the book was the Black Mirror episode called "White Bear."

In this episode, a VR headset is used in prison, on a child kidnapper, as a form of punishment - she is forced to relive the moments of kidnapping as if a child were her own, on repeat, for multiple years.

I thought it would be a marvelous idea to use such an immersive VR headset for a different purpose - instead of in prison, in my book it is used at a psychiatrist's office, but not as a form of punishment.

Rather, it is a form of treatment, which would help the main character heal, free herself from guilt, as she dives deep into her memories.

The title "GG" is the title of this advanced VR healing method, "Got Guilt."

The story is akin to Chinese boxes: a frame narrative, where a novella is told in the form of a story inside a story.

The original story is a science fiction one - adult Una comes to the psychiatrist's office to try on a VR headset that will help her restore her childhood memory, and find out how her sister died.

When she puts the VR headset on, she immerses herself in a virtual reality a la Alice in Wonderland/Mathilda (Roald Dahl)/Coraline (Neil Gaiman), and the second story begins.

This is the middle-grade fantasy one. Each of the seven locations that little VR Una tries on for the size, as she looks for her "missing sister" is phantasmagorical and teaches her things about life.

To make it all more complex, I have devised them in such a way that the locations represent the seven stages of grief: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, reconstruction and acceptance.

Only when she unlocks them all and passes "all the levels," in this VR module/game, can she finally recover the childhood memory. Then, adult Una learns what happened to her twin sister Paz when they were little, and cast away the burden of guilt.

Q. Why did you choose to explore the connection between "twin sisters"? Did you initially intend to choose another type of family relationship? Why do twins make this story special and unique?

Due to the prompt demand, which stated, as I had said before, that you must explore the connection between two sisters, I had followed that family relationship.

However I intended to choose the relationship between mum and daughter.

<3 My mom passed away in January 2015. I was not there for her, when it happened, but two thousand miles away and grief and guilt ate at me; it will always eat at me. I feel that she died alone, without anyone to hold her hand in her last moments.

This is why "GG" is a book about the stages of grief after your loved one is no more; and about overcoming this powerful, horrid sensation of guilt, yet it is tenderly wrapped in a childlike veil of fantasy.

As to the final question:

Why did I end up choosing a twin and do twins make this story special and unique?

Characterwise: the concept of the twin is a very intriguing one. To me, it is the concept of – the other "me" -ness.

A twin is our other half, a kindred soul. Our mirror that holds all our virtues and flaws we sometimes do not see for ourselves.

In such a surrounding - the twin can be perceived as our polar opposite, or better yet, our Yin and Yang complement.

All the physical, emotional and intellectual characteristics we might lack –they possess them.

It is a story of two bodies, two minds and two spirits that are unequivocally, eternally bonded at heart.

Themewise: the word "twin" is synonymous with the motif of duality, and I explore duality around every corner in GG.

The cover itself is split in half on purpose, for this very reason.

Paz or Una, day or night, life or death, right or wrong, truth or lie, virtual reality or corporeal reality... The entire book is a treasure trove of philosophical thoughts on the meaning of life.

My favorite description ever of "GG" was and always will be the following, by my dearest and first reader: "This is a story that has more layers than a millefeuille: some of them funny, some of them sweet, some of them sad, and all of them wise."

Q. If you could describe this story in three adjectives? What would they be? And why?

They would be the three "D"-s! 3Ds, tee hee xD

1. Deep: (because of the philosophical quotes and wacky, one-of-the-kind life messages sprinkled through it)

2. Devastating: (there is this humongous wave of grief that washes upon the reader in the last chapter) and

3. Discordant: (due to the unconventional, kookie, eccentric blend of several genres that do not even clash; they work surprisingly well when put together. The result is out-of-the-box, yet truly cutting edge.)

Q. What would you rather have: A twin sister that has magic power or a twin brother that is an undercover spy?

As an only child, I would be thrilled to get any of the two, honestly!

But if you are giving me such power to choose a wombmate... Then, that would definitely be a twin sister with magic powers! I am already an undercover spy meself, so I would not want any competition. :P

When the time comes for our birthday, I would look deeply into my magical she-twin eyes and tell her: "Did you know? You have the best twin sister - ever!"

Q. What is your advice for new writers who want to try writing themes revolving around a healthy relationship? And especially, the connection between siblings?

Oh, this is a wonderful question.

Talking about themes revolving around a healthy relationship, I love the "res non verba" moment which can be so powerful between siblings.

Deeds, not words. Maybe your sibling characters aren't the types to talk about how much they care for each other, but the feeling is still there and you should convey it in your writing. Consider showing the depth of their relationship through actions. Like: a big sister doing her little sister's hair for a birthday party, or one sibling giving another a pep talk when they are nervous as they cuddle or just relax at their favorite place to be together.

Siblings should show their affection, and there is no need for them to explicitly say it. <3

Some other tropes that I absolutely love when it comes to siblings are the following:

–"Push each other buttons" trope.

Even if I don't have siblings I have noticed in my friends' homes, that siblings will go out of their way to annoy each other. Because they spend quite a bit of time together, they can be pretty darn good at it.

Whatever annoys your character, his (or her) siblings already know about it. If your character's siblings decide to get on his nerves, it shouldn't take them very long. This can lead to many comical situations and move the plot forward in unexpected directions.

–"I tease you but I'm here for you" trope

This one is a natural continuation of the trope above, I'd say! Usually they are just messing with each other. Depending on the circumstances, the insult may be forgotten almost immediately.

But if someone else picks on a sibling, the others tend to get defensive. Especially if this person is a bully. Unless you have set up a reason otherwise, make sure your siblings know how to tease each other ... but also how to protect each other.

–"The match of the opposites" trope

This one concerns the way the writer builds up the siblings' characters.

Siblings are never exactly alike. They can even be opposites. One can be super introverted, while the other is the life of the party. Or one can be funny, while the other is serious.

You can also consider how their talents may or may not overlap. You could create siblings who are all a little artsy, but they like different mediums or styles of art. Or maybe they're all athletic, but enjoy different sports.

An idea for showing character development through your main character's siblings is to show how your main character feels about his or her siblings' talents. Do they wish they had the same skills? Do they feel competitive?

There are so many things you could do here! 

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Thank you so much for joining this talk!

Have you read "GG" yet? If not, you should check it out now at EvelynHail.

Check out more of their amazing works at their account!

~ More to come, friends.