Winner of the Modern Naruto Category, 2017

Hello~ It's a pleasure to be able to interview you, how are you today?

Oh, so super lit. College classes all day, unpacking, a brand new semester...heh....I'm tired, to say the least!

That's good~ You must be busy! Now, let's get right into the questions. Congratulations on winning first place in the Modern Naruto category of the Naruto Watty Awards! How do you feel about that and what was your initial reaction to the news? Did you brag about it to your family and friends? ;)

I took the Kendrick Lamar approach and decided to be humble. Lol. I made a statement about it on my Conversation Board and thanked all my loyal fans for voting. I mean, without them getting out there and voting, I probably wouldn't have even made it into the top three regardless of the quality of the book. For that, I am grateful.

That's definitely a very good approach to take! And on the topic of your followers, you're currently at 430 and still going strong. Where do you aim to be, following wise, in the future?

I've never really thought about that. Obviously, I want a lot of followers, but if that doesn't happen, no big deal. Honestly, I put the chapters out for myself, not other people. They're a great way to relieve my stress. Plus, I've always had a kind of insane imagination. Simply having an outlet to let go of my creativity and emotions is enough. If that gets me into the upper-echelon of the Naruto Wattpad community along the way, then I defiantly wouldn't complain. Heh!

That's good! And that insane imagination of yours sure has caught a bunch of attention in the Naruto community, huh? Since there's probably going to be few of your followers reading this interview, is there anything you'd like to say to them? About yourself or about your stories?

Of course! 

*Ahem* Hey guys, listen....thanks for continuing to read my stories. Sure, we've had our laugh, our tears, and of course death threats. Even through all of that, you guys stick with me. Back in the day when I used to release a chapter, maybe 3 people read it in a month. Now they get 1K reads in 24 hours. I love all of your comments regardless of their content. They make me happy. Why? Because the interaction amazes me! Never in my life did I expect one of these stories to do even a fraction of how they've done. For that, I am blessed. Keep trucking along with my stories and READ ON!

That's a perfect segway into our next question~! Your fanfic, Settling Down, has been quite a success, having just over 7.5 thousand votes within 60 chapters! Please tell me, what was your inspiration? Was it something that came to you all at once or did the idea take a while to develop?

Ah, yes, this answer has multiple parts. One, when I first got on this site, I was amazed by all the free content. The only reason I got the app is because I saw someone advertising a Naruto Story in the collective section on this app called iFunny. Gotta love some memes. Anyways, I looked up the app expecting it to be some anime thing, but it was for independent creators in general. I downloaded it and just read. I learned what a Fanfic was for the first time two summers ago and was interested by the concept. It creates a deeper fandom for the show that I love so much.

However, after about four stories I noticed a trend. They were all kind of the same. A high school story, small Karin/Toneri/Etc. problem that gets resolved easily, no consequences, ends with either marriage, children, or death.

I simply wanted to make a story that was different. That was all. I thought my other story "Blessing Of Silence" (shameless plug) would do that for me, but it wasn't a shop story and was rather depressing, so it never stood out. It made me sad.

Then I realized something else after reading this story called "Involuntary Parents". There were not a lot of SasuSaku books out there. Well, none that represented how moody both characters are in regarding their relationships. (From my perspective.) That was when I started writing the book.

For my first story, I just wrote it. That created many problems and caused me to re-write chapters constantly. For "Settling Down", I did about 2-3 days of planning beforehand. I wanted an idea that would make this story stand out. 

Modern AU? That could work. Switch between Sakura and Sasuke? That might be nice. 

Then a ping when off in my head. I had this great plot twist. I won't spoil it because it is much later in in the book, but because it, I just went to town with planning. I had an entire book outline by chapter 3 of the story. 

Basically, I tried to fill a void I thought was there, wanted to create a unique story that would stand out amongst the multiple repeat stories, and emotionally compel an audience to stick around and read my books. Oh! And make them laugh. The book is dry funny, I promise....and a little mature. Lots of themes in there probably not suitable for someone who isn't in their teens.

Whew! That's my answer. Sorry it was so long!! Haha!

That definitely sounds interesting (: And which story is your personal favorite or which one are you the proudest of? Is it Settling Down or one of the others you've written?

"Settling Down" is not my favorite story, but I do enjoy writing it. Carter was fun to create. He's one of the characters I made for the story. He is interesting once you learn about him. Plus, all the twists have been fun. I fueled a lot of my personal life into the book, my view on relationships, etc. it is very raw and I use the Naruto Characters as my filter in their love story. It makes the story deeply personal.

Still, I really enjoy writing my other story "Way of the Shinobi". It is like 95% original and set in the Naruto Universe. After the Prologue it has entirely new characters all set in Dubai. Yes. Our time. The plot is not what you think it is and I urge you guys to check it out. I've researched a bunch of things about Dubai, have multiple different languages flowing through there, and have developed very diverse characters (I think). The concept is just developing and I am only on Chapter 7, but once things get revealed and it gets into the swing of things, BOI, I CANNOT WAIT!!! Haha!

Wow! I'm sure it's a very original and interesting story~! If you were to enter the NWA again next year, would you enter The Way of The Shinobi?

That is the plan. The problem is what category to put it in. It could go in both General Naruto or Modern AU. Modern AU is usually romance though. Ah, I leave that up to future me, but yes, I will defiantly submit that story. It's my baby. 

I'm sure you had some support along the way in making your fanfictions. Other than your general fanbase, is there anyone you would like to give a shoutout to? Both on wattpad and not ^^

Oh yeah. RealityKeeper and lonleyypotato have been super supportive. They've been on the site much longer than me, so I leaned on them for tips and stuff. They are very helpful people. Thanks guys!

And finally, we've come to our last question! If you could describe your writing style and how you like to structure your books in five words, how would you describe what has brought you so much success on wattpad?

Writing structure: Inside The Character's Present Head. 

Basically, I like a first-person style where the character is completing their actions in "real time", not past or future tense. Then the character can comment and stuff on what is actually happening so you feel like you are in the character's brain. It's fun. It makes the story feel raw and creates a more immersive book, I think.

What has success taught me? Success has taught me that I am not a terrible writer. I mean, there are bad books that have done well, no one can deny that, but I don't think my book is one of them. Honestly though, I do my best to keep the reader entrenched in the novel like it is real life. That's where I feel my real success comes from. The whole book feels like it has actually happened to someone and it is hard to look away. (Settling Down) Plus, I like to play with people's emotions. The book can go from a hilarious handful of chapters to a deeply emotional one full of sadness then switch again to entirely romantic. I like to keep the readers on their toes so that they don't get bored.

And that concludes our interview! It's been a pleasure ^^ Is there anything else you'd like to say?

Lol! I'm good. Clearly I have said WAAAY too much. Thanks for the interview and award. It means a lot.

Haha XD I wish you good luck with your writing and hope you'll join our upcoming 2018 contest ^^ Goodbye~~

Bye!