interviews

Interview With SimpleH

1. Tell us a bit about yourself!

Well, I’m 23 years old and live in The Netherlands. English is my second language so I still have a lot to learn when it comes to things like the English grammar. I’m in my last year of my bachelors degree (yaay) and love reading & writing. I may be shy at first, but can be a bit crazy in a good way once you get to know me better.

2. When you are not writing, what other activities do you enjoy?

I enjoy hanging out with my friends and meeting new people. Going to the cinema, going on shopping trips in different cities.. those kinds of things. And of course I love to read lots of novels. Occasionally I also like cooking dishes from different cuisines.

3. Who are you favorite music artists, or your favorite songs/song type?

I love almost any kind of music. My iPod is full of music from all kinds of genres; rock, pop, country, etc. But if I had to choose, R&B will be at the top of my list. I love songs from Tank, John Legend and the old school R&B songs.

4. What is your favorite movie/genre of movies?

The first thing that comes to mind is Romance. When it comes to movies I can be a bit of a girly-girl. That doesn’t mean that I only watch romantic movies. I also enjoy action movies from time to time and recently I’ve started to take a liking to Thrillers. Don’t know where the sudden interest came from, but I really enjoy the suspension.

5.  What type of novels do you write?

I started with romance novels, but I only posted Werewolf novels on WP so far.

6.  Could you name on of your stories you would recommend to our readers?

Alpha Female is almost done and is the first story I posted on WP. So that would be the one I would recommend to readers (it needs editing though)

7. Tell us about your book and do you ever plan on either self-publishing it or trying traditional publishing?

Well after reading A LOT of Werewolf stories I thought it would be fun to write one myself. So that’s what I did. Only instead of having a male Alpha I wrote one with a female Alpha. The main character of my book, Haley, is the first female Alpha in her ‘world’ and fights for her spot in a world where men are in charge. At the same time she’s dealing with the loss of her father and giving her mate a place in her life.

For now writing is just a hobby for me and I’m glad to have found a place like WP to share my stories with people all around the world. But I can’t deny that a book with my name written on it would be pretty awesome.

8. Where is your favorite place to write, and how do you get in the mood to write?

My favorite place to write is at home behind my desk (not very original, I know lol). I also like to write some scenes the old fashion way with pen and paper. There’s just something about pouring your thoughts on paper that makes the scene more magical (if that makes any sense). I find myself getting more inspiration with an empty paper in front of me and a pen in my hand, than sitting behind my laptop with an empty sheet of Word staring back at me.

I get in the mood to write by making myself a delicious cup of coffee and putting on some good music. Music is a must for me.

9. Why did you start writing?

I started writing because I wanted to have control over at least one aspect of my life. I also had a lot of ideas going through my mind and I didn’t know what to do with them. So after reading a lot of books I tried putting my own ideas on paper too and my passion for writing just grew from there on out.

10. Who is your favorite author and why? (It can be a Wattpad author, or one elsewhere, or both)

Who is your favorite author and why? (It can be a Wattpad author, or one elsewhere, or both)

On Wattpad I have to say@xXdemolitionloverXx. The way she managed to create a Werewolf world and connected her many stories to each other is absolutely amazing! I love her writing style and never get bored reading her stories.

The novels of published author Jill Mansell are one of the many, many novels I really love. Her love stories are heartwarming and make me anxious to turn to the next page.

11. What makes your writing stand out from others in its genre?

What makes your writing stand out from others in its genre?

As much as I like cliché stories I try to write them with a twist. Like my story Alpha Female for example. There aren’t that many stories with female Alphas in them. And even though I love those stories with (hot) male Alphas, I wanted a change from that. It’s a way of challenging myself to create something new/different.

With my second story (Arranged Mate Bond) that I’ve recently posted on WP I also tried to do something different with the lead characters, by taking their mates out of the picture.

12. Have you ever finished a novel?

Unfortunately not, but Alpha Female is almost done. So that will be the first novel I’ve ever finished. The reason that I never finished my other stories/drafts was because I used to write in Dutch and I was never content with the result of my writing. I always read novels in English, but wrote my own ideas in Dutch. It actually took me a very long time before I figured out that I preferred to write in English.

Alpha Female is the first story I wrote in English and the first story I posted on the internet.

13. How long do you spend on writing a chapter? Why?

That depends on a couple of things. If I know exactly what I want with a chapter it can take only a couple of hours, but if I’m a little lost or find myself lacking inspiration it can easily take days to write.

14. How do you get ideas for your characters and stories?

The ideas I get for my characters are from things I like and dislike in other people or myself. Like small habits that can be annoying or someone I met with a strong character. It’s a little bit of everything around me combined with my imagination.

The same goes for my stories. Sometimes an event occurs and I ask myself; what if things were different? And sometimes a song sparks an idea or an idea just pops into my head.

15. What would you say is the worst story you have ever written? Why?

One of the stories I started writing when I was 15 (and never finished) was a teen-romance, called You and Me. I think that particular story is the worst one I wrote. I still have the draft of it and cringe every time I read it lol, because there was nothing romantic about it. Come to think of it, it was pretty awkward.

But then again, I was only 15, so maybe I shouldn’t be that hard on myself :p.

16. What is the best advice you could give an aspiring author like yourself?

Keep writing and don’t forget to take the time to enjoy what you do. And last but not least, be proud of your accomplishments. Not just the big ones, but also the smaller ones.

17. What is your favorite book quote and from which book?

I don’t have a favorite book quote. In almost every book I read I find a quote I find beautiful or that gets to me. Right now one quote comes to mind that I want to share with you guys. It’s from the book ‘Me Before You’, written by Jojo Moyes.

“Push yourself. Don't Settle. Just live well. Just LIVE.”

It reminds me to push myself to get what I want in life, before it’s too late.

18. Anything that you'd like to add?

Just a thank you for this interview and if anyone’s interested in reading one of my stories you can obviously find it on my profile. If you’re still left with an answered question, feel free to message me.