Name of Author: @dolly_gem Dolly)
Title of Book: Touch of Fire
Favorite Authors: Well, outside WP, my favourite authors are Cornelia Funke, Dan Brown, Tolkien, J.K.Rowling, Eoin Colfer, Sidney Sheldon...I think I'm going to need a entire chapter just for this :p
Bio:
I'm a teenager doing her final year in the dreaded torture dungeon called college. I'm a bit of a quiet person with a way too loud mind, I write to escape the dull greyness of reality and from my boring Science textbooks ;)
Touch of Fire
http://www.wattpad.com/story/27740920-a-touch-of-fire-book-1-wattys2015
Can you explain what your book is all about?
My book is all about someone who's in the process of discovering their true self and their purpose in life. I incorporate experiences from my own life as I start on my journey in life.
The description: Gemma Weisley has enough on her plate already keeping up the facade of a normal life, hiding her ability to create and manipulate fire. She has managed a somewhat normal life with her two best friends, Marc and Sally. The only things she has to worry about are her school work and tests but when the mysterious and handsome Derek turns up, her worries take on a bigger scale with Dark Powers chasing her. He turns her life upside down, revealing the sides of her life that she had chosen to forget. Her whole world is seen anew as she finds out more to her purpose and powers. In this journey where love is found and lost, a journey where hopes are both crushed and born, will she be able to understand her powers and defeat the dark ones?
Who is your target audience - and why?
I didn't really think of a target audience while I penned down the book. I just thought of what a girl like me might like to read, so, I guess I aim for readers around 16- 25ish? The demographics of my book do indicate that :)
What is 'paranormal' about your story? Pretty much everything :) I've got some elemental manipulators, powerful witch sisters, black magic, vampires and age old Guilds that house powerful Light Magic benders....oh, how could I forget! We have a young immortal panther hybrid that loves to cuddle and has his mind mind linked to a certain hot vampire :)
Does it contain other genre elements, if so which ones - and why?
It does play around with the concepts of Angels and reincarnations which some people might consider to be fantasy and I dabble in historical fiction in the second book so, yes, I certainly have some other genre elements.
Tell us about your writing process - how do you get from story idea to a wattpad published story?
As a person who's doing her final year of pre-university college, I'm busy from 6 in the morning to 8 in the night. When I get an idea for the chapters during the day, I jot it down in my special notebook that I carry around with me all day and I work on it during all the small breaks that I have every now and then. My friends get so angry with me when I do that cause I apparently zone out like crazy but I imagine the scenario in my head, allot an hour every day before bed to type it down on my laptop and then post on every Thursday. I'm still learning the art of writing and that's why I post my chapters on WP. I get so much love and support from fellow Wattpaders that they are very much like my editors, helping me out with everything from small typos to overall plot changes. In short, I spend a lot of time thinking and fleshing out the chapters, not afraid to try out all the directions the story might span out into. I write everyday and experiment a lot.
Did you encounter any challenges when writing, if so - how did you overcome them?
The most biggest challenge that I faced was finding the balance between listening to your readers and listening to your own voice. As a very naive wattpader some months ago, I made the mistake of listening to the private messages of jealous haters on WP who think they're qualified to review just because they have written a cliche book or two and I would've lost my true voice if not for my friends on WP who helped me deal with the haters. The lesson that I've learnt is that it really matters to believe in yourself and your works because there is NO proper way to write a book. I mean, it's an art, not a physics derivation ;)
You often hear that 'writing well' is the baseline for success. What does that mean for you?
I strongly believe that there is no rules or strict guidelines to writing. I remember how I read up on all these 'how to' books on writing and how it made me think of sitting in a cramped closet, glancing a heavy typewriter on my lap while I struggled to speak for my gagged characters. Ignoring those rules and letting the words flow was the best feeling that I ever experienced. It was truly liberating :) I do, however, do not deny that to truly write well, one needs to have a lot of experience and well developed skills and we all know how it's something that comes with time and hard work. I think mastering the art of writing is not something like an award or a title, it's an experience and a journey that progresses with your life. I believe to write well, the first step is to find your unique voice, the rest comes to you in time.
