1) When did you start writing?
When I was about... seven/eight, I believe. Although, anything I wrote back then was a load of crap, haha. I distinctly remember some treasure hunting story where I was the main character and all my friends had supporting roles. It’s still around somewhere in the depths of a drawer. XD

2) First drafts: Handwritten, typed, or some combination?
Typed. If I do any writing by hand when I’m out and about, it gets typed up and usually changed a lot. For some reason, my style is completely different when I’m writing by hand. Also, I like the way it looks all neat and professional when you type it up on a word processor.

3) Do you keep any kind of notebook or writer's journal, and if so, what kinds of things go into it?
I have two notebooks (plus lots of random others) for Avenging Fire. One of them is just for random ideas, and it has stuff for other stories in too. The other one is specifically for Avenging Fire and it has the beginnings of a proper full-blown plan. It’s ground to a bit of a halt at the moment, though.

4) Do you set any quotas for your work (number of words per day, number of hours per day, etc.)? Why or why not?
No. I tried to stick to a quota of 1000 words per day recently, but I just can’t do it. D: I procrastinate too much and often get writers’ block. However, I’m hoping to change that by doing NaNoWriMo. In which I will probably fail miserably, but it’s worth a shot, right?

5) Are you most comfortable writing short stories, novels, or something else?
Novels. Because I don’t have to restrict myself and things can get as complicated as I want them to.

6) What's your favourite kind of story to write? Why?
Fantasy. I like the freedom to be able to imagine things, whilst still staying within the world of the believable. Like constructing magic systems with hard and fast rules, and stuff like that.

7) Talk about a story of yours that was easy to write and one that was difficult to write, and why.
Well, the story that was easiest for me to write would have to be Danika, which I wrote between the ages of 12-13. Mainly because I had no plot and just went with it, and I had much more time to write. And also I wasn’t as much of a perfectionist as I am now, so I could rattle out a chapter in one sitting. XD A story of mine that’s difficult to write is my current project, Nocturne. I have a plot and I know where I’m going, but I’m just such a perfectionist it takes me ages to get anywhere with it. Also, the accursed malady we call writers’ block keeps striking me down when I actually have time to write. Although, I rattled out 500 words last Wednesday.

8) Which of your characters is closest to your sense of self? In other words, who do you most identify with in your own work to date?
It would have to be dear old Kana from my Avenging Fire series. Although, she’s a lot more religious than I am. But she has many of the same moral views as me. Another character I’m quite close to is a guy called Fraser, who’ll rattle in about Chapter Four or so... He’s a lot like me in mannerisms and the things he says sometimes.

9) What work are you most proud of right now?
Avenging Fire, for sure.

10) What do you feel your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer?
My strengths are descriptions and metaphors. My weaknesses are getting down to write, and my love affair with the dastardly comma. It just wasn’t meant to be, my love. Stop appearing so often in my prose. D:

11) Name a few writers who have influenced you or your work in some way.
JRR Tolkien, for his wonderful world building skills, and Jacqueline Wilson and JK Rowling, for inspiring me to write.

12) Talk about something you've written that you later found embarrassing for some reason.
Either Skeleton Island or Danika. Skeleton Island because I was like seven/eight when I wrote it and I made the main character a massively idealised version of me who went around saving all my friends ( ) and Danika because the prose is so awful. And little elements of the plot are so cringeworthy. Oh my god. Never let it see the light of day again, Emily.

13) Talk about the earliest stories you remember writing. What were they about?
They were all about getting abducted and beaten up/tortured. This trend continued from about 7, until I was around 13 and Kite and Outcast was born (later to become Kana/Avenging Fire), though the earliest drafts of Outcast had elements of it. Danika, written before that , had a lot of elements of it, and I was just starting to creep into sexual abuse (though not in detail, because I was 13 and kind of like “*GASP* I can’t write that!!!” Actually, the current plot of Avenging Fire still has elements of physical/sexual abuse, though it’s not as prominent in the story any more. *she says, currently writing a scene of Elijah getting the crap beaten out of him *

14) If you knew you would be successful, what would you most like to write?
Gay fantasy. But not like, fantasy in the erotic sense. But a fantasy epic where the main characters are gay. As it is, I’m dealing with a couple of gay side characters. I don’t think gay main characters in the fantasy genre are quite marketable just yet. Someday, who knows. ^^ Watch this space.

15) What inspires you?
Reading interviews with successful authors, watching the making of the Lord of the Rings films (for some bizarre reason), conversations with my friends/girlfriend, doing important essays that I can’t abandon to write (cruel irony, I think).

16) How many projects do you tend to work on at once?
Er, usually one, but I might have one or two others hovering around on the back-burner.

17) Who reads your work before it's released to the public? Do you have beta readers, a critique group, etc.?
Usually... =BloodRoseAngel, ~catcrunchies or ~ginger-bizkit

18) When you're not writing, what do you do for fun?
Reading, drawing... watch films... PS2...

19) Advice to other writers?
Make sure you re-read what you’ve written a few days later, and re-write things that need work. But don’t become obsessive about this or you’ll end up like me. XD

20) What are you currently working on?
Chapter One of Nocturne, Book One of the Avenging Fire series.

21) Share the first three sentences of a work in progress.
He awoke to the dancing of fireflies. For once, on a whim, he had left open the curtains that ordinarily blocked out the night, allowing the swollen moon to spill in and drench the polished floorboards. A black tree loomed up in front of the yawning window, marring the pale light with livid streaks, and amongst the branches the fireflies swarmed, darting and weaving between and behind the dark leaves and the last of the summer’s berries.

To Do List

REQUESTS AND ART TRADES CLOSED

Ten Free Requests

1: ~catcrunchies - Sahar - DONE: [link]
2: =gazzara - Children - DONE: [link]
3: ~SmallMadOne - Her and Jon, plus goose - DONE: [link]
4: =BloodRoseAngel - Tamlin and Rikari - DONE: [link]
5: ~ja-kun - Dev ID - colouring!
6: ~xstephychanx - Dev ID
7: ~ginger-bizkit - Peter and hobby horse
8: =CandyStriped - Ralph
9: ~Princess-Blondie - Alexa, Jake and Caleb
10: =LateNightLady - Pirate mouse

Art Trades

~HitsujiAiko
~lunarlunatic - Misty
SAT for =BloodRoseAngel - 0/18
Mythralian gods for =BloodRoseAngel - 2/18
Mythralian "Angelic Layer" for =BloodRoseAngel

Requests

Raven, Errol, Edward and Jezabelle for Jess
Tarni and Ethaniel for ~ginger-bizkit
Meru and Sharidan for =BloodRoseAngel
~Solid-Snail licking Bear
Me and my siblings, for my Mum

Personal

Character Profiles - 0/262
Sketchbook - 1/124 pages

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Writing

Avenging Fire Series

Nocturne: 11 pages, 6614 words
Prologue: 6 pages, 3446 words - COMPLETE
Chapter One - Genesis: 5 pages, 3168 words
Eventide: Not Started
Requiem: Not Started
Harbinger: Not Started
Tempest: Not Started
Aconite: Not Started