Fanfic? Young adult? Fantasy? Sci-Fi? All of the above? Anne, aka Walkstar, has it covered! She has a combined total of 166k reads across her works, her biggest success to date being her beautiful tale of self-recovery, The Other One. But would she turn her talented writing hand to any other genre? And how did it all begin? Read on to find out...

Whereabouts are you from?

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles: Altadena and the San Fernando Valley. Cue Harry saying "I live in the valley." I went to college in New York, lived for a couple years in Northern California after that, and moved back to the valley with my husband in 2002. So, short answer: I live in the Valley.

What led you to a career in education, and do you feel your job fuels your desire to write?

My whole childhood, I always said I wanted to be something and a teacher. A veterinarian and a teacher. A doctor and a teacher. A lawyer and a teacher. My maternal grandmother was the smartest and strongest woman I've ever known; she was an English teacher in the Philippines during the Great Depression when my grandfather lost his job as a pharmacist. From a very early age, I was inspired to follow in her footsteps.

I've taught English, journalism, and yearbook at the middle and high school levels for 14 years. Being a teacher definitely influenced my desire to write. Having achieved my lifelong dream of teaching English and ascending to the top of the ranks at my school, I realized I needed a new dream, a new goal. Something to strive for, to work towards. I was constantly reading young adult fiction and began writing my own in 2010. I think being around young people all the time has kept me young in spirit, and probably explains why I'm so fucking immature. (I stuck my tongue out at my phone just now).

But the truth is, just like I've always wanted to be a teacher, I have always been a writer. In my head, at least. When I was young, my house was a scary place to live. Lots of anger. Violence. I often slept in my mother's bed because I suffered from insomnia. In second grade. I remember waking her up one night because I just couldn't sleep. She rolled over sleepily and said, "tell yourself a story." It's not as cold as it sounds. Almost. Anyway, the point is, I started doing exactly that. Every night I would tell myself a story. And I have never stopped.

How did you discover Wattpad, and fanfiction?

Some of my students who were One Direction fans suggested that I read a few of the well known fanfics on wattpad. You'd be shocked to know what high school students are reading these days!

I've always written fanfiction, though I never called it that when I was younger. When I was in high school, I wrote REM fanfic. Oh it was sad. I was so obsessed with Michael Stipe. He's just so pretty. Wouldn't you know, he has (had) curly hair and light eyes. And then in the mid-2000s I picked it up again, writing some Fall Out Boy fics. None of these were ever published anywhere public, which is really a blessing for the public. They were embarrassingly bad, I'm sure.

Your book The Other One recently surpassed 100k reads - congratulations! What was the first milestone you celebrated read-wise, and how did you feel when your books really started to garner attention?

Thank you! I have to credit the continuous support of best1dfic for that. It took me a long time to reach 100k. I have celebrated every minuscule milestone, from 100 reads to 140 thousand. I am stunned and humbled to know that people are reading and enjoying my work.

It's funny, ya know, how this book has kind of caught on in the last six months. I finished writing it in December 2014, and it had about 10k reads then. I really don't think I could have reached 100k without you guys recommending it to people, so thanks for that. Seriously.

You've mentioned some parts of The Other One are reflective of your own childhood. How challenging was it for you to incorporate that into your story, and what reaction did you get from your readers?

You know, actually, I think writing The Other One was easier for me to write than the stories that haven't been about my real life. When I first started it, I made a list of some of the more vivid memories from my past and then I outlined the fictional story to pair up with those flashbacks, so that each "Now" chapter resonated with the preceding "Then" chapter.

The reaction from readers has been powerful and overwhelming. I am so moved when a reader tells me the story touched them deeply. One reader told me that she was going to call her mother, with whom she hadn't spoken in years. Others have connected to the loss of a loved one and expressed that it helped them cope. That is incredible to me. I mean. The idea that my words could change someone's life? Astounding. Inspiring. Again, humbling. I feel quite gratified to know that I have elicited such strong feelings. When I began writing, I knew I wanted to make people feel: to laugh and cry, maybe even get a lil hot n bothered.

What was your inspiration for your book The Plague? How challenging is it to maintain multiple narratives? And when can we expect regular updates again?

I am absolutely fascinated with dystopian post-apocalyptic books and movies. And in real life, I have a strange phobia of abandoned, boarded up buildings. I get nervous butterflies and my shoulder muscles go all tense whenever I see one. I remember back in the late 90s I took a road trip with my mom, and when we drove through Indiana, we got off the large highway and instead took back roads just for fun. We drove through this one small town south of Indianapolis where the local mill had shut down. The Main Street was like a ghost town, boarded up shops and houses. It's rare to see such things in Los Angeles, but in certain areas, you can see where the economic downturn has forced people out of business, including along Lake Ave in my hometown, Altadena. As the blight spreads, I can't help but feel like those dystopian futures are not so far off.

The Plague is a real challenge to write because of its many points of view. When I first set out to write it, I had a clear plan for maybe four of the ten main characters. Because of my obligations as a teacher, a physical condition that limits my writing time, and a resurgence in interest in The Other One and its sequel, I have had to put it on hiatus. I simply don't have the time or energy to devote to such a complicated story arc. I am hopeful that summer break will afford me the time to get that story up and running again.

You ship Larry, yet you write het Harry fics. Why don't you write Larry, and would you ever consider it?

I love Larry. Confessions of a Gay Disney Prince by JeddieJay is my favorite wattpad book, hands down.

I primarily write het Harry fics because I am living out fantasy on paper; he's pretty, and I want him for myself. The closest I've come to writing Larry in the past is gay Louis crushing on straight Harry in The Plague, and vice versa in Board Games.

As a Larry shipper, I would love to contribute to the incredible canon of Larry fan-generated books and art. I tend to write from experience, so I don't know if I'll ever write Larry smut. There are issues that I have experienced and am interested in exploring with Larry as my main characters: sexuality/identity and relationships judged by society as being unacceptable or sinful (homophobia, racism--being married to an African-American man exposed me to the racism he has endured his whole life, sadly even to this day, and I can't help but see parallels between the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the push for LGBTQ+ equality in the last few decades). So, I've started a Larry book called UltraViolet about my time at NYU, when I first felt the freedom to define myself as other than straight. I'm translating my girlxgirl relationship then and my girlxboy relationship now into boyxboy Larry.

You're collaborating with another wattpad writer thatgalwhosings on a Louis AU. Tell us more about that.

I swerved pretty severely into the Louis lane this past year. I think it really started when he fought with Naughty Boy. Good times. I loved the feistiness. And he looked so fucking hot at every OTRA show. Just. Oh. My. Gawd. When I stopped to take in how many of my favorite songs were written by him, that made me a Louis girl even more. (Of course most of them are about Harry, but I digress.) I find intelligence and creativity attractive.

So anyway, thatgalwhosings is a former student of mine who LOVES Louis. She's an excellent writer; I know from when she was in my class and also from songs and stories she's shared with me outside of class. When the basic idea for Board Games started to take shape, I was already writing The Plague and The Only One (sequel to The Other One). Add to that my full-time teaching job and a year of struggling with illness, and I just didn't have time to make the story come to life. I pitched her the idea, and happily, she loved it. So, I sent her my outline, she added to it, and we got together and started writing.

One of us is writing Louis' pov, and the other is handling the female lead Xianna. (I'm not telling which is which). Then we collaborate on the blended chapters. It's a format that is entirely experimental for both of us. And I'll tell you this: thatgalwhosings is such a gifted writer and a great friend. She has really brought incredible depth and humor to the story, and I'm thrilled to be writing it with her.

What is your earliest memory of writing outside of school assignments?

I was three or four years old and my family went camping in Yosemite and Sequoia. My parents bought me a stuffed chipmunk, and I named him Chippie. He was this adorable fat plush toy that was a good three times the size of actual chipmunks. When we got home from the trip, I pierced its felt ears with a dangly pair of my mother's earrings.

I don't know now what inspired the book that followed, entitled "Chippie Gets His Ears Pierced." It was not, as I dramatized it in The Other One, an attempt to please my mother. I would guess actually that I was trying to make my author-father happy. I doubt he even knows I wrote it.

We notice you also have some fantasy novels to your credit. Are there other genres or formats you'd like to try your hand at? What (if any) other projects do you have in the pipeline (without revealing spoilers)?

So, I've got romance/erotica/new adult with The Other One; young adult/urban fantasy with Black Mist; dystopian scifi-ish with The Plague... So what's left? Maybe a bit of historical fiction? An epic narrative poem?

But seriously, I'm working on a sequel to The Other One called The Only One, which is Harry's pov, with new scenes as well. I expect to do at least one more book in that series, possibly two. I've started the Larry book UltraViolet, which I'm hoping to wrap up in 30-50 chapters. Eventually I'll finish The Plague and a sequel to that (maybe). I've also got the last 2.5 books of the Black Mist series to finish. I have a few other story ideas (including a series of young adult mysteries) that I've sketched out but never had the time to write. God, why won't someone just pay me to write? I'm full of stories with no time to tell them!

And finally - the fandom often complains about the boys being asked ridiculous questions in interviews. If you had the chance at an interview, what are a few questions you'd like to ask?

Hmmmm. Gosh that's hard. *wink*

If you could have a dinner party with ten guests (living or dead), who would you invite and why?

What is your favorite childhood memory?

What's your biggest fear (and I don't mean spoons or heights. I mean like real fears, deep dark fears)?

If you had to trade lives with anyone, like Freaky Friday, who would you choose and why?

If you could time travel to a different era, which would you choose and why?

What's something you absolutely love that your friends and family can't stand and think you're crazy for liking? (Or vice versa-something they love that you can't stand)

Describe Niall's farts using only the other four senses (not smell).

I think we can all agree that there's a reason I'm not the one interviewing them lol. But hey, for fun, I'll answer the qs in the comments. :)

As always, a huge thank you to Anne for taking the time to answer our questions! More of our fav writers still to come! Inbox us with suggestions for who you would like to see featured here.