Fan Fiction Friday

First, I want to say a huge thank you to Willow for joining us today. This one will be intense and fun and maybe you’ll learn something too. Willow is currently working on her 6^th book, and I couldn’t be prouder of her as a writer and a friend. Let’s delve in

1). How long have been writing?

W). I’ve been writing since I was a pre-teen. So about 22 years now. But I’ve been publishing for about 2 years

2).What inspired you to get into writing?

W). I’ve always enjoyed writing because it’s been an escape from the real world. For a while I escaped in daydreaming. I found out recently that I’m big into maladaptive daydreaming, which is creating stories in daydreams to get through the day. Since I was a teen, I enjoyed writing these daydreams because I always found them to be great stories.

3). Each story you write is unique but is unified in the same cause to bring awareness to mental illnesses and shine a light on them. Was that intentional?

W).Yes! When I wrote my debut, Realm Walker’s Rising, it was my intention to break the cliche of what I’ve seen in most romance books. I wanted to write characters with mental illnesses because I had never seen that in books I had read. So it became my mission to write those characters with mental illnesses to start the conversation about the stigmas surrounding mental illnesses.

4). In your latest book your female main character has schizophrenia which you yourself are diagnosed with. What are some misconceptions about people with schizophrenia?

W). There are a lot of misconceptions around it. How we are violent, crazy, not all there in the head, heartless, cold, sociopathic, etc. None of that is true. I have done so much research and talked to my doctors who have said that there are exceptions to this mental illness. There are people who do get violent, but there is something else happening there. Having schizophrenia doesn’t make you into this violent murderer. My therapist has said it’s usually a psychotic personality disorder that attributes to someone becoming violent.

5).You’ve amassed a great following on TikTok with your approach to not only promote your work but talk openly and honestly about your mental illnesses and all illnesses and bring humor and humility to it as well. I feel like that has become a driving force for you as well as your writing. Would that be accurate, and why

W). See, I’ve always felt I had a small following but a lot of people have said that I have grown quite a following. I think it’s awesome that I have a group of people who follow me and want to hear what I say. It’s become my niche and brand to talk about mental health. It’s always been my mission to end stigma and start the conversation about mental illnesses and mental health.

6). What does the writing process look like to you?

W). Lots of crying. (This is a safe space, I cry lots too lol) Just kidding! Haha. It’s me trying to rush through the first draft so I can then go back with fresh eyes to clean up the story, characters, and plot. It usually takes me about a month (give or take) to write the first draft. Then about two months to revise and edit. It’s a very stressful thing for me but it’s always rewarding

7). When self-publishing what part of the entire process do you find the most tedious?

W). Writing and marketing. Writing in general is tedious. Especially when it comes to the second and third draft. By then my eyes and fingers are bleeding and I’m just ready to be done with the story. Marketing is hard for me. Especially when dealing with the algorithm of TikTok and how crappy it can be. Every day I question myself if this is the day the TikTok gods reward me with at least 500 views instead of 200. It’s hard. It’s grueling. And it’s so frustrating. But in the end, it’s worth it.

8). Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

W). Songs, movies, shows, sexy memes, people’s stories, etc. But also, my daydreams and literal dreams. There’s a couple that I had dreams about that I’m currently writing. My mind is always going and always coming up with great ideas.

9). Your books are not for the faint-hearted so if you had to summarize your books in five words which words would you use?

W).

Dark
Spicy
Gritty
Horror
Relatable

10). Do you ever deal with imposter syndrome? And if yes do you have any advice for other authors that deal with it?

W). Oh my god, every day. Haha. My advice to other authors is to not listen to that imposter voice. It’s a liar. No one else can tell your stories better than you can. Just remember that there are readers out there who LOVE your books and writing style. You’ll never make everyone happy. So make yourself happy and know that your readers will love your work.

11). Any advice for newbie authors or people wanting to write their first novel? What do you wish you had known starting out that you know now?

W). To the authors who are writing their first novel: Finish writing your book. Don’t worry about needing to perfect it and edit it. Just get done and write “The End” then you can worry about fixing things up.
To the newbies authors: Just remember that you can’t make everyone happy. There will always be someone out there who will hate your book. Just focus on the ones who love your books. Keep writing. Your first few books won’t be the best, but if you keep going and keep writing, you’ll get better.
Something that I wish I had known when I first started: Revising and editing. I unfortunately published my first draft with my debut book. I didn’t take the time to revise and clean everything up. That is a big no-no. I know better now.

12). In closing, is there anything you’d like to add and what’s next for you?

W).Thank you so much for interviewing me. What’s next for me is more dark romance books. I’m currently working on a dark romance that’s a dystopian, portal dark romance. I’m hoping to publish a couple more books this year to get closer to 10 published works. That’s my hope!

I can’t even begin to say how much I love this human. She’s compassionate, brilliant, breaking down stigmas and biases and waving her one-finger flag at the negativity surrounding mental illness, and I am here for it. I can’t wait to read what’s next for her, and if you haven’t checked her books out, I will post all her socials below. My only ask is, please read all trigger warnings in the author’s notes. These are dark romance books and not for everybody.

Here is Willow’s link tree to find all her socials and books xx

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