Here, you can find our chat with our picked authors about their mindblowing and heartwrenching stories about touching friendships, unbreakable bonds, and close tight relationships in the family.
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After the End is a story about a girl who dies but runs away from death before he has a chance to take her away to the afterlife; when she finds out her little brother is in danger because of something she did before dying, she is determined to help him even though ghosts can't interact with the physical world.
My name is Naomi, and I am a chemist from the Netherlands. I tend to write in different genres, but anything magical and out-of-this-world is usually what I go for. I write both in English and Dutch. My favorite stories convey deep relationships between characters – and not just the romantic kind.
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"My story begins on the 22nd of March: the day my life ended." – Alex Stones.
- from After the End: When Death Comes Calling
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Q. What makes you start writing on Wattpad? What is the most memorable moment you've encountered here?
I started writing for myself and soon realized I didn't know how to improve. When I read an article about someone finding a publisher through Wattpad, I thought, that's the place to be! How you interact with readers and other writers appeals to me so much. One of the first things I did on Wattpad signed up for a book club. I learned so much from that, and I've not stopped learning.
Q. Your book "After the End: When Death Comes Calling" is about a girl who couldn't accept her sudden death, and on her journey to find her memory and also try to save her brother from sharing the same faith as her. . What inspires you to create a plot like this? Why did you choose to write it like that?
I dreamt of that first scene, where Alex wakes up in an elevator without any memories and runs from this horrible creature. That scene stuck with me, making me ask who the girl could have been, who the monster could have been, and whether she'd gotten away. I kept asking myself questions until finally, I came up with this plot! I added the part about her brother because I always love having sibling relationships in stories. I think such relationships are underrepresented on Wattpad, while they're so much fun to write and read about. It also gave Alex something to tie her to the "mortal" world, giving her a reason to want to stay there rather than "moving on."
Q. What do you like the most about the Paranormal genre? How did you incorporate this genre into the storyline while building a healthy relationship?
I always need something supernatural or magical in my stories. For me, that helps make a story different and exciting. It brings a particular challenge to the level because you have to figure out how exactly that magical or supernatural thing works and how it fits in with the world the characters live in. The ghost world was fun to figure out for After the End. But Alex is still a typical teenager, so she has normal teenage relationships with the people she left behind and those she met after dying. I found the difficulty of contacting them especially interesting to explore for this story.
Q. What are your favorite details/scenes in your story "After the End: When Death Comes Calling"?
I particularly enjoyed writing, Rick. He's an interesting character because he's given up. He's a mentor to Alex, teaching her what he knows about the ghost world, but at the same time, she teaches him a lot, too. She teaches him how important it is not to give up and that there's always something to live for. He develops into someone with a goal again, rather than just floating through the ghost world as if he barely existed. That development was so much fun to write about.
Q. What would you rather have: A partner in crime in a scientific world or a childhood friend in a fantasy world?
I would go for the fantasy world, always! I love magic. A childhood friend would help me discover and use that magic and go on adventures with me. Now that's a good premise for a story!
Q. What is your advice for new writers who want to try writing themes revolving around a solid brother-sister relationship or family relationship in general?
Siblings tease each other relentlessly and can be incredibly harsh to each other. But at the end of the day, they always know they can depend on each other when something serious happens. That's the kind of relationship I love to write about. Knowing you can always rely on someone is challenging to get right in stories, but when done correctly, it can be a vital element of the story. I want to add that all sibling relationships heavily depend on the nature of the two characters/siblings. If the siblings are happy, bubbly people, the relationship will be much more light-hearted and loving than if the siblings are dark and grim. Their personalities must be leading.
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Thank you so much for joining this talk! Have you read "After the End: When Death Comes Calling"? If not, you should check it out now.
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