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Interview with Rosie Wong

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Monday, 6th December 2021

INTERVIEWER - Minn ( moon_minn )

AUTHOR - Rosie Wong ( MysterySender )

Minn :: Hello! I'm Minn, your interviewer. Please introduce yourself.

Rosie Wong :: Hi! I'm Rosie Wong, 19 years old and 02 liner. I'm from Philippines and I wrote Glitch, Hiatus, Eyes, and Angel Beside Him. Im an avid fan of Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Itzy, and BTS!

I'm currently in college and is taking up Literature. So you can guess that I live to write and to inspire people through my words.

Minn :: Cool! What is your first published book? What was the journey like?

Rosie Wong :: If I were to consider all of the books that I've tried publishing (even the deleted ones), it's probably fanfic of KathNiel (a huge local love team in the Philippines). I'm their huge fan so naturally, I tried writing about them, I was probably in my sixth grade at that time. But I couldn't finish it. Like I finally understand that writing is not just writing, it takes time and effort.

Sure, you might have the most brilliant idea but you should have a plot and not just the beginning and end. And then every word of the book should be right. That's what I remember, I also tried joining book critique clubs in Wattpad which gave me so many insights.

Then after so many years, in my freshman year, I finally started writing. That was when I started gaining followers. I think it was this book called 'unknown', a mystery epistolary and had nayeon's cover in it. I deleted it since I think it does not have a concrete plot.

And then I was like reading some book ideas in Wattpad which you can adapt if the author permits you and Eyes caught my eye. The description itself felt like it had its own story worth telling. So I tried to get permission from the author and luckily, she gave it to me. But at the same time, I have also been writing this semi smut fanfic of taehyung called 'wet dreams' about him fantasizing about his neighbour. Surprisingly, that caught a lot of attention but I had multiple writer's blocks and I didn't feel comfortable writing it so I also deleted that and focused on Eyes.

Eyes was such a long process but also very easy to write. It has short chapters and I think that's because I was still on the experimental stage and the reader's comments really helped me get through it and taught me a lot of things, like if I were using a racial slur without knowing. They would often call me out and I would change it and apologize because I know that's not okay.

This is so long, I'm so sorry HAKDHSJJDKSKS

Minn :: Damn- let me be honest. I'm a big fan of your books. My favourite book is eyes. Seriously, I loved the plot, it was so good. How did you come up with those unique plots?

Rosie Wong :: Thank you for reading Eyes, I feel really happy hearing people say that they loved it because it's like my first baby. In all honesty, I actually didn't have a plot prior to writing Eyes. When I was writing the prologue of the book, I just went with the flow, like I just let my hands write free. And it was like this feeling inside of me telling me that this should be angst from the very get-go. And then came the chapters, I was looking at taehyung's pictures and video clips that time and I really liked his red hair era. And I thought what if taehyung was like a reckless teenager with red hair and the MC crosses paths with him unknowingly and just their lives tangles with one another.

I liked writing Eyes because I think the transitions of POVs in the first few chapters was kinda smooth. I also liked to imagine scenes, I'd imagine a situation where I had to go on a date and what date would I want to go to, thus resulting in the scenes in chapters. I also frequently ask myself what are the steps that may lead to this predicament and how can I make taehyung and the MC feel more intimate while still maintaining the PG-13 feels to it.

Minn :: I read 4 books of yours. Eyes, glitch, Angel beside him and Hiatus. I enjoyed every book, I loved the romance between the main leads in the book eyes and the unique plot of hiatus and glitch- I think many armys wish that one of their online friends be any bts member and reading your book made it like dream come true. Lmao. But seriously your books are chef kiss.

So you said the reader's comments helped you a lot. How do you feel when you see people voting and leaving comments either positive or negative ones in your book?

Rosie Wong :: I did not expect that you have read almost all of my books. I'm very grateful. When I was first starting in Wattpad, I only had a couple of my friends who would read and vote the chapters in my books. I started out that way, they would encourage me saying that I can write books. And after that, I started growing. I had readers come and vote for my books. Of course, I am grateful for them since it shows that they like and appreciate the things that I write. And I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them. They are my success. Because what would happen to a book if no one would read it.

But the thing that I'm most grateful for is their comments. I feel overwhelmed but mostly great when I received positive comments like encouragements and praises because they express how my books affected them with their own words and feelings. I am also grateful for the comments that criticize the way I write in a respectful manner. I mostly learn from them and my mistakes and they push me to be better.

However, I have also experienced negative comments that are full-on bashing and disrespectful. Of course, I feel hurt and offended because I did not write to receive any of those. I write because I want to tell a story. However, I have come to realize that I cannot please anyone. I try to delete them as soon as possible. There are also instances where my readers would defend me, resulting in an online fight and I try to break them apart. I don't want anyone to fight with anyone just because of my book.

But I guess, I'm also not that honourable since sometimes I really can't stop myself but responding to the mean comments HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Minn :: Haha I also can't stop myself when someone is mean to me or my friends.

So What part of the book was the most fun to write? What part of the book did you have the hardest time writing?

Rosie Wong :: I think in Eyes, the hardest part to write was their dates, or the exposition part of the story because that part is very crucial. It is the foundation of the characters' relationship. The easiest to write was the confrontations between the characters, in Eyes, the easiest was when the MC went to visit their Mom's grave. When Taehyung's life was falling apart and their magical date, because those scenes were already plotted and planned out since the beginning so it wasn't hard for me to visualize it. The same thing also applies to my other books.

Minn :: What characters in your books are most similar to you or to people you know?

Rosie Wong :: I think every character in my books are somehow similar to me but I have to say that I am most similar to Moon Luna from Glitch and TheRealMrsJeon from Hiatus. Moon Luna's interests and humor all came from me while TheRealMrsJeon's hobby and dream are similar to mine. While Jungkook and Taehyung from Angel Beside Him are somehow similar and inspired from two boys that I once loved, not that this fact is a secret. I've already shared that fact in my book, that I wrote angel beside him from my own real life story and that I only twisted it a bit to make it fictional.

Minn :: Who is your favourite author?

Rosie Wong :: If I were to pick my favourite author locally it would be @Jonaxx, she's a filipino author and has the largest followers here in wattpad. If I were to choose my favourite author who writes poems and such, it would be Lang Leav and if novels, it would be Nicholas Sparks.

If it's in the fanfic category I would pick @pocketbangtan and @ravsisrekt

Minn :: Wow. What is your favourite book on Wattpad?

Rosie Wong :: That's a very tough question. I really don't know who to choose but I would go for the works of @Jonaxx. Every book that she wrote is just a masterpiece. In the Philippines, she's very popular because of her works, plots, and series. I look up to her and her skills, and wish that someday, I can be just like her. In fact, she already has her own free reading app where she features all of her books, and I think that speaks volume. She loves her fans so much and I think she's about to translate her works to English so it could be available to international readers.

Minn :: Damn. Then I'm gonna read her books.

So What advice would you like to give a new writer, someone just starting out?

Rosie Wong :: I think what I can advise to everyone that aspires to be a writer is to write for yourself, to tell a story, to inspire, and not to get fame. Most people think that it's easy to write, when in fact, it is the opposite. You invest your knowledge and wisdom in writing, you give the book a piece of yourself, you invest time and effort, especially in improving yourself. It's not something that you can do in just one sitting, it takes multiple hours, days, and months. Even a year. But if you know 'why' you write, you will get through it. Find your reason and create change. Write your words, until it becomes a story. Read until it becomes a lesson. Write even if there's no one rooting for you or reading your works. Your efforts will be seen by people someday because it is genuine. Your time will come, you just have to trust in yourself.

Minn :: It's so true. On reading your advice, I can see how experienced you are in this field. Your words literally gave me strength and realisation. I hope this advice will help all those new writers out there who are starting their journey.

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Rosie Wong :: Oh, I wouldn't say that I'm experienced, I also see myself as still an aspiring writer with a long journey ahead but I do hope my few experiences in the wattpad community would be of help to other fellow aspiring writers.

I dont think it's an interesting writing quirk, in fact, I am annoyed by it because it's so unpractical and time consuming. Everytime I would have a typographical error in a sentence I'm currently writing, I would delete all the words and letters I have typed until I reach the typo and correct it. I also have this annoying habit of writing like catchy lines for a book idea without jotting any details. In the end, I would completely forget what the book was about or what plot I had came up with that certain line.

Minn :: I do the same thing. I too have this habit to delete all the letters until i reach the typo and the next second i will forget what i wrote :' )

Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers?

Rosie Wong :: This is supposed to be a secret but I am currently working on several projects. Most of them are still in develop, especially the plots, but no doubt, I will be releasing a new book today that I have teased in my previous book, GLITCH. It's going to have my original characters and be typed in the same format with Glitch and Hiatus, so that's exciting.

Minn :: Damn! You are making me curious. I can't wait for your next books.

Okay so lastly do you have anything you want to say to your readers?

Rosie Wong :: First of all, I wanted to thank all of my readers for reading and loving my works, even when I was not active in wattpad anymore. You were the reason why I am so happy and why I write. You helped continue what I do, so I think it's safe to say that you are my wings. I appreciate you all so much and I hope every one of you finds a love that you can feel even with the distance and silence. I do not know if you will still support me if I step out of my comfort zone and finally write something that is not fan fiction, considering my audiences are ARMYs, even so, I am still thankful and hope that you will still support me. I owe you my success, thank you.

Minn :: I believe they are gonna support you even when you start writing something out of fan-fiction. Good luck for your future journey.

Your interview ends here. I had fun interviewing you and learned many things about you. Thank you for your precious time.

Rosie Wong :: Thank you for this opportunity. I had fun speaking things that I wasn't abled to tell anyone. Thank you for your patience.

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Next up ⇢ MMA Award Winners 2021 

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