Today I have with me TazorFace, the author of I'll Be There. Take a look at our interview below!

Legend:

Q: The interviewer (me)

A: The interviewee (TazorFace)

Q: Greetings! I come from Author Interviews, and I'm here to conduct my interview.Ready for your interview?P.S. Any nickname you want me to refer you as?

A: Sure! You can call me Spencer if you'd like!

Q: So Spencer, please tell me a bit about yourself. It can be as personal as you like, or just your books.

A: I'm 18, although the way I act is closer to three-and-a-half, I'm a Christian, and I write nearly every day! I used to write every night as well, but I'm now on some new sleep medication, so that's not happening as much. I also have two dogs and a rabbit!

Q: Every day? Some dedication!Let's talk about reading. What genres do you enjoy reading?

A: My favorite things to read are anything that takes me out of reality. Although, I usually tend to lean towards mysteries, fantasies, and sci-fi. I do like fanfiction too, as may be evident by the books I'm currently writing!

Q: You seem to like books that can immerse you in their worlds. What's your favourite book?

A: I have a lot of favorites, but one of the more recent ones is 'House Of Dragons' by Jessica Cluess. One of my longtime favorites is one I think I first read when I was about eight, which is 'Sammy Keyes And The Hollywood Mummy' by Wendelin Van Draanen.

Q: Ooh! Do you like writing the same genres you read?

A: I like writing pretty much anything that isn't real romance. It's kinda confusing because I love writing fanfiction, and most of it ends up being x Reader, so it's... basically romance but without a fully thought-out second character XD. I just write pretty much anything that comes to mind.

Q: Interesting. So one of those stories you're talking about is I'll Be There. Would you mind explaining what this story is about?

A: I'll Be There is one of my aforementioned X Reader Fanfictions. It's set around the canon world of Sander's Sides, which is a YouTube series created by Thomas Sanders. I won't go into detail about the series, but it is important to know that the characters in it are representing different facets of Thomas' personality. One of them is Virgil, who represents Thomas' anxiety.

In my story, the Reader plays a newly developed part of Thomas' personality, which is Depression. This character does not exist in the YouTube series, she is entirely my own. Although, it's kind of weird to call her my own since she's intentionally a pretty vague person, as she's meant to be relatable and immersive to a majority of people who will read this book. 

She starts out as being very blank and unemotional, because the beginning of the story is her beginning as well. She hasn't had a real life at that point, she's just sort of existed as a concept. 

As the story goes on, she becomes more alive. Her base instincts, however, are that of what she represents: Depression. She finds herself giving Thomas dark thoughts, although she can barely be considered conscious when she does.

In addition to this, the rest of the sides start to have nightmares and become duller. They seem to be affected by her as well, not just Thomas. 

Another aspect of this story is a growing romance between the Reader and Virgil, otherwise known as Anxiety. However, this results in a conflict inside of Virgil himself. Thomas is known to be gay, and the rest of the Sides have all been assumed to share his sexuality, seeing as they are all pieces of him. However, Depression is the only Side to manifest in a female body, which leads to Virgil questioning his sexuality when he realizes his attraction towards her. 

The book has quite a few dark themes, since it is centered around a personification of depression, so it's not for everyone. 

Sorry for how long this was, I got kind of carried away.

Q: Oh, no, that's alright. It's very detailed.What inspired you to write about such themes?

A: Well, I've always had an incredible imagination. Being homeschooled for most of my life, I've also had many, many opportunities to make use of that. I would make up stories in my head as I was doing homework or falling asleep, new games to play with my sisters, dialogue for those silly little girl games you can search for online. Heck, I even made up entire stories for dress up games. Nothing was boring for me, and I'm very happy to say that I've kept that imagination as I've gotten older. It's never been hard for me to make up a story. When I started to develop mental health issues, stories became my escape from them as well as my escape from every day life. I've got many, many stories that I've not published and probably never will publish dedicated to making me feel better during my worst times. At some point, I started wondering why I wasn't sharing my escape with people. So I decided to make books like these to try and help others who struggle with the same things I do.

Q: I see. So you took playing as an opportunity to create stories. What motivated you to write I'll Be There?

A: I apologize for the weird reply intervals by the way, we seem to be working on different time zones.

To be honest, it was mostly just hyperfixation. I have ADHD, so when I find something to hyperfixate on, I can't really stop myself from writing about it. It can be a good thing because it gives me more opportunities to write, but it's also a bad thing because when I lose even a little interest, I can't really write it any more without getting insanely bored. And I really, really hate writing something that bores me. That's why my updates can be few and far between sometimes.

Q: Oh, no, it's alright. I'm online right now.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Moving on, do you have any ideas you plan to use in a new story, or have a story in the making?

A: Actually, I have about 30 stories in various states of completion that I haven't published yet. When I said I write due to hyperfixation sometimes, I really meant it! XDI always have new ideas that I have to write down, and new characters that I want to create backstories for. It's in my nature to indulge in new ideas daily and finish them months or even years later. Not a very good habit, but I can't really seem to break it.

Q: Ohh I see.

What is your typical writing process? Do you need to have some certain object or food to have energy to write?

A: I don't really need anything except for the motivation. If I don't feel like writing right now, I can't. If I do, there's not much you can do to stop me.

Q: Same! What is your motivation?

A: I wish I could say it was to give people something to make them smile, but that's only a small part of it, really. Selfish as it may sound, I think my motivation is just creating something I'll enjoy reading myself. Something I can be proud of even if I'm the only one who likes it.

Q: I get what you mean. Some might think it's selfish, but it's nice to look back on your works and be proud of what you've written. 

What has writing meant for you?

A: It's been my personal escape. A world of my own making where I can go and feel the way I feel without changing anything in real life or hurting anyone's feelings. It's been a tool to help others feel the same escape as me, and hopefully give them the same kind of peace. It's been...kind of everything, at times. In short...it's meant home.

Q: That sounds very meaningful.

 I still have two more questions for you: 

1. What makes your writing unique?

2. What piece of advice would you like to give any aspiring authors?

A: I'm not sure, exactly. I suppose it could be how I inject my passions into most of my writings. I've also been told I have a very large vocabulary, and that helps when some of my work seems repetitive at first. It means I can maybe give people something new to learn as well. 

My advice would be to write everything you want to. Even if it seems like a dumb idea or something cringy, write it. If you don't like the way it turns out, make it better. Make it into the vision you had for it. And you can take inspiration from anything. I've found inspiration in the smell of a store and the color of a grasshopper. Nothing is too little or too ridiculous. If it wants to inspire you, let it. Don't shoot anything down because you have doubts about it. The things you question can turn out to be the greatest parts of your work.

Q: I totally agree with your advice.Sadly, this interview has to come to an end. Thank you for your time!

A: Thank you for yours as well! Have a wonderful day!

Q: Same to you!

~~End~~

And so that wraps up my interview with TazorFace! Be sure to give them a follow and check our their profile and books!