She joined Wattpad last year and has amassed over 300k reads on her book No Control, and a further 250k across the two sequels. We talk to Rachel, aka scooby-snacks, about Prosecco, cliffhangers, and the problem that was Sara Sampaio...

Where are you from and what do you do for a living?

I live in the North-West of England and I work for an independent company in their credit department. I look after a very small team, alongside some characters from No Control - Nicki and Sarah. I look at companies' financial information and decide whether or not to offer them credit. I absolutely love it!

How far into No Control were you when you realized you were going to write a sequel? What prompted you to start TWO sequels at the same time?

The idea for the sequel only came when the news articles first surfaced of Sara Sampaio leaving Harry Styles' hotel the following morning in the previous night's clothes. My first thought was wow, lucky girl, then my second thought was, how on earth am I going to write this into No Control? I don't like ignoring the big stories about 1D because the whole point of the book was to follow real-life events, so I made the decision to write it in. I then came up with the story surrounding it, and at the time I was already up to about 150,000 words and around 50 chapters, so I decided No Control would end the way it did because it seemed like the best place to break it, and the story would continue with a sequel. I then realised I was creating even more work for myself because by this point I had already started Trace of Innocence, which meant I would then have to write a fourth book too!

Harry's POV came about because I wanted the readers to get inside Harry's head too, as a lot of things that happen in No Control are centred around Harry, and I wanted to explain his side of things. There have since been many occasions where people have commented 'oh so THAT'S what he meant!' on certain lines in the story, which then creates frustration for them when Jess misunderstands, or he doesn't tell her what he's really thinking. That gets people invested in the story. I was worried how I was going to write the other boys as I had only included them briefly in No Control, but once I got into my stride they became my favourite scenes to write.

What do you think being in a relationship with Harry would actually be like? In what ways would it be similar/different to your books?

I've no idea - probably nothing like how I write him to be in No Control, but who knows?! Other fanfics I've read nearly always portray the glamorous side of dating a famous person, but I wanted mine to reflect the other side of it - the NDAs, the paparazzi intrusion and the constant scrutiny from the world's media. I imagine this would be difficult to deal with for someone with no media training, especially with a band as huge as One Direction, so with the positives come a lot of negatives. The UK way of life is very different to the US in so many aspects, so I prefer it when he is over here with his family because I feel I can write those scenes with more authenticity than I can the US scenes.

Are there any ideas floating around out there for a new fic with brand new characters? We'd like some juicy tidbits please.

Yes! I have a new book planned for when I've finished No Control | Holding Me Ransom. It's a Harry AU, and will be completely different to the books I've written so far, but I can't wait to start writing it. I've only got a loose plot in my head so far; I haven't even got as far as writing anything down, but the longer I think about it the more it falls into place. I also had a plan for a short, famous-Harry fic that would be completely unrelated to No Control, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's been done a zillion times already so I probably won't take it any further.

You're the queen of cliffhangers. Why do you leave your readers hanging?

Because it keeps people coming back! If there are no questions to be asked, why would anyone come back to read the next part? It builds the suspense! I love a bit of mystery, and I love reading readers' theories on what's going on behind the scenes.

As a writer of real-life Harry fanfic, how do you keep track of what goes on in his life/with the band? What real life moments were difficult for you to weave into your story? What real-life moments that you haven't gotten to are you excited to include?

This is so embarrassing to admit, but I now have a little notebook with 1D's movement's by month, including public appearances and fan sightings. As my fics got further behind present day, I found it more and more difficult to remember specific dates and times, so I made my little book to be sure my dates added up and were accurate. This is particularly important when writing Trace of Innocence, because it follows Harry's movements and has to be factual. I do put rather a lot of pressure on myself, don't I?!!

Not to give anything away, but the end of the tour is going to be fun to write, because I've had a specific scene in my head for months that I'm excited to include. Obviously Sara Sampaio was a pain. Georgia Fowler was an irritating hiccup too, and I deliberated for ages over how to include that, and what "really" happened with No Control Harry. Real-life Harry recently did something that played right into my hands for an important event coming up in my book in 2016, and I literally squealed when I realised where he was in the world on a specific date. It's like he knew... haha.

How do you go about your writing? Do you plan out the chapter first or do you jump straight in and see where it takes you?

I don't plan out the book chapter by chapter - the only time I've ever done that was for the last 5 or 6 chapters of No Control, when I literally only had a few song titles left (before they'd released Made In The AM) so I had to plan out each chapter so I could work out how I was going to assign the remaining songs to the chapters and make them relevant. That was stressful! One of the things that takes me the longest when posting an update is the chapter name! I literally read through the lyrics of every single 1D song until I get to a line that fits. I do have a few stored for key points in the story that I know will work, but other than that I wing it! Same goes for writing, usually. I know where the story needs to go, and what key events need to take place, but the stuff in between just flows as I write it. The scene on Hampstead Heath was a prime example - it came from nowhere, but I loved it. My own mood tends to influence my writing too. If I'm pissed off, Jess and Harry argue! I get really cross with him sometimes, haha!

Describe your thoughts at the time when you first posted your writing online for the public.

I can't really remember! I remember checking the reads the following day and saw it was on about 4 or 5, and I couldn't believe anyone had even seen it! Then I realised it had been me viewing the chapter each time, so they were my own reads, HA! I hardly look at my own chapters now, for that reason.

Who are some of your fav writers on wattpad?

I have hardly any time to read, because most of my time on wattpad is spent writing. I love walkstar and styles_orama the most because they both are amazingly talented writers and their books are original, unique and well-written. I also loved the After series, and I think the success Anna Todd has achieved has been amazing, and from what I have seen she seems a nice and genuine person. I'm not a fan of writers who take their reads or readers for granted. I've seen people be really rude to their readers and chastise them for asking questions, and that upsets me.

Who are your fav in-print authors and/or books that are available at brick and mortar stores? Why?

I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan so I have to say J. K. Rowling. I've read the series so many times I know parts of them by heart. And I also love Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series - I'm a lover of chick-lit, and those books are just hilarious. Lisa Jewell is another great one. I've read all of her books and my favourite is Thirty-Nothing. I also like thrillers, and enjoy Alex Kava, Tess Gerritsen and John Grisham. Oh and Jodi Picoult's plots are pretty intense, too. Sorry, that's loads!!

And finally, what has been your most exciting / proudest moment as a Wattpad writer?

Probably when I discovered I was a finalist in the Fanfiction Awards, in two categories! I was shaking when I read the message! And every read milestone gives me an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to every single person who has ever clicked on any chapter of my book.

Also, the first time my books got ranked on the Hot List was absolutely awesome! I squealed! I'm a squealy kind of person.

And one last-minute question requested by one of our admins: What's up with Jess and all the Prosecco?!

Hahaha!! If you have never tried Prosecco you're missing out! It's absolutely delicious and it's my drink of choice when I'm out with my friends, so it only seems right that it's Jess's favourite too :)

Thanks Rachel for taking the time to answer our questions!

Our author interviews continue soon with some more top-notch writers. Who will be next? Watch this space...