INTERVIEW WITH : kemorgan65

BOOK: Shadow of the Past Trilogy-The Displaced

1. How did you feel when you knew you were announced as a finalist, and then the first place winner? Describe it to us :)

It was a pleasant surprise! It made my day :-)

2. What is the best writing piece of writing advice you have ever received?

First, let me tell you about the worst piece of writing advice I've ever received: I just turned twelve, had completed my first novel and sent it to a publishing company. About a year later I received the returned manuscript in the mail, rejected. The cover letter suggested I should write about something I know about. Well, I wasn't interested in writing about what I knew about! I liked to use my imagination and my imagination wasn't about things I knew about. But when I reread my story (after having matured a year) I could understand why they rejected it. I thought my writing was awful...

Hop-skip to today. I don't have to write about what I know about if I don't want to, I do whatever research I need on the Internet and consult with resource persons. And add whatever I do know about from my experience. However, the best writing advice I've come across recently is this quote:

"You cannot edit a blank page."

It doesn't matter how awful it might come across when you first write, as long as you get it down on paper (or on computer/tablet/phone, or some other recording device), you'll have something to start with and launch from.

3. What was the proudest moment in your writing journey thus far?

I think that might have been the first time I had a reader binge-read the 80-odd chapters of #ShadowOfThePastTrilogy ∞ The Displaced I had at the time in less than a week. That happened after I'd had a lull in getting new readers for some time.

4. Where do you see yourself in a few years time?

With a physical copy of my trilogy in my hands...

5. Where or from whom do you get your writing inspiration from?

History, disclosure, advanced scientific research and technology. And with a lot of help from Echo4Echo and Jorkam You're a blessing, guys! I can't thank you enough!

6. Who is your favorite Wattpad author and your favorite author outside of Wattpad?

Currently I don't have any favorites. There are too many.

7. How and when did you find Wattpad and begin your writing journey on this platform?

My daughter introduced me to Wattpad. But it wasn't until she suggested I post one of my short stories that I realized how cool it was. The act of typing up my story and posting it got me in the writing mood again, so I decided to pick up #ShadowOfThePastTrilogy that had been collecting dust for 26 years and see where it would take me on WP. That was three years ago. I can't believe I'm at 92 chapters now and the story is still going strong.

8. Who is your most favorite and least favorite character to write and why?

I don't have a least favorite character. All of them are interesting to write while I'm writing them, at least the ones that get more than a cursory treatment. Danny and Mickmi were my favorite, originally, but as the story developed and I had to introduce new characters and delve into them, I really enjoyed doing that. Lora, Selina, Jagg, Weaver all became more interesting the more I wrote about them. Even the antagonist Apocalypse, who appears midway in the story.

9. If you could exchange lives with one book character from your book, and one character from another author's, who would it be and why?

I can't think of any.

10. Which character in your book do you relate the most with?

Probably Danny and his sister Gina, both down-to-earth people. Danny who is mechanically and technically minded, and Gina who loves animals and is a photographer.

11. How do you get rid of writer's block, if or when you get it?

Ha. Well... I usually try some reading and editing of previous chapters plus attempt to at least squeeze out ONE sentence on my ongoing chapter per day. Sometimes I'll also read a book in a related genre or with a plot that could stimulate ideas.

12. Do you think this work encapsulates who you are as a writer now, or have you grown a lot since then?

Right now, I'm growing as a writer with this book, since it's still ongoing. I've grown a lot since I started it.

13. When did you realize that writing was your passion?

Hehe... Since I was a child and continued as a pre-teen and teenager...

14. When did you first start writing?

That must have been since I started to learn to write in kindergarten. At least around the time I was six. A byproduct of all the bedtime stories my mom used to read to me, I suppose. All I remember of my first story is that the characters were twin girls, Tina and Ann (my favorite names at the time), written in a thin exercise book...

15. What advice would you like to give to all the struggling yet aspiring writers out there?

There are lots of resources out there on the Internet to help, and don't hesitate to reach out to your fellow reading writers, especially the ones that give helpful comments, you can learn a lot from them.But the main thing is to read, read and keep reading quality writing, and learn from them. Find your own voice, your own style, and take critiques with a grain of salt. Don't take them to heart, don't let them discourage you but learn from them, and decide for yourself what is important for your story.I'll repeat what I posted with my bonus sample book which is an (embarrassing) early version of #SOTPT: "I'm also sharing it as an encouragement to writers who are dissatisfied with their own writing... to show that if you keep at it... if you put down your story and return to it, even years later, if you read a lot and learn how to wield your craft, your tool -- that's your language -- something wonderful might just happen! I'm proof of it! Don't give up!"

Don't give up on your story IDEA just because the story currently might sound 'awful'. If you read my bonus book and then check out what #SOTPT is now... if I had given up on that idea, I wouldn't be here now. :-)

16. What inspired you to write this particular book?

I used to be an avid fiction and science fiction reader as a child and teen, and I had several ideas for writing stories, usually with girls and horses in some combination (like the story that got rejected which was about a runaway circus girl). But then I wanted to try to write a science fiction story but needed an idea. Eventually I merged my fascination for panthers with the idea of a girl from space crash-landing on earth. That's how the story idea started and I remember exactly where I was when that popped into my head. :-)

17. What was the writing process like?

In those days, I'd write by hand in exercise books, then folder leaves... two lines of writing per row. Yeah, I wrote fine. I completed #SOTPT and started a sequel. Even as I completed it, I looked at the original story (not the same version as in my bonus book here on WP) and still wasn't happy with it because I found it was seriously lacking in certain visuals. To solve that problem, I decided I needed to anchor it to an actual location. So I poured over a map and ended up picking Lake Eufaula on the state line of Alabama and Georgia for my backdrop. Then I needed to get a feel of the place so I traveled there. This was in around 1988-89. I took plane, bus and taxi to get there and spent about 4 days checking out the town of Eufaula on foot, visiting the local library and newspaper, focusing on 1979-80, which was the timeline I had for my story. Remember, there was no Internet available in those days!

The research I did in Alabama required a complete revision of my original story which I started - but then university studies came in the way and I had to shelve it.

Now I write using a combination of the Wattpad editor, Dropbox Paper for collaboration writing, and Scrivener for my offline manuscript. I also have the Grammarly plugin, and ProWritingAid for my in-depth editing.

18. When did you start writing this winning book?

I was 13 years old when I first got the idea for Mickmi and Danny. That was... ehrm... decades ago. But I started this version on Wattpad just about New Year's 2016. I've posted three chapters of a very early bonus version of the story here too as an encouragement to my fellow writers.

19. Are you planning on professionally publishing your book? If so, when?

Yes, one day I intend to publish it. I don't know when yet. I have to reach the end of the story first, and then I need to thoroughly edit it. Maybe in another year? I would also love to pitch it as a movie or mini-series.

20. Does every comment, every follow and every vote for your work still surprise you?

Sometimes some comments surprise me. I love seeing my work from other readers' eyes, how they perceive what I write, which might be different from what I had in mind. But that helps me in improving my story.

Random, fun & personal questions:

21. Favorite food?

Cheese cake, apple, smoked salmon, shrimp sandwich (Swedish style)

22. One place you would want to visit in the future?

The Ice Hotel.

23. Your favorite movie of all time is...?

The Bourne Identity.

24. One book you can read again and again and never get bored?

Can't think of any.

25. Any guilty pleasures (writing or otherwise)?

Writing in bed.