Interview with Scarlett Keys

Published 2017-09-05.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Hmmm...first book was The Seven Stones of Sligo. Quite a sad story now that I think about it a lot more, but I fell in love so can you blame me for over looking the sad parts? :) The book opened my mind to mythology and fantasy. After reading it, I knew I wanted to write anything but nonfiction. Haha I can't really stand reading nonfiction, it does not interest me the way fiction stories do. I'd rather ride dragons then read about a stick stuck in the mud. :)
What are your five favorite books, and why?
Oh that's a bit of a tough question. I'm too in love with books to actually have favorites. How can I choose favorites when I love them all? There have only been about two or three books that I absolutely despised!
Describe your desk
My desk is quite messy actually. It's kind of more of a clutter to everyone but it's my organized mess so I'm happy. There's a lot of color and stacks upon stacks of books. There's also a lot of journals and papers with incoherent scribbles from me lying around. I also collect very random little things I find lying around that I think are very pretty. It could be from some kind of rock to small bit of ribbon.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I was born in El Paso, Texas but was moved to one of the big lakes in NM. This influenced my writing because in this small town, I am very limited to what I can do. There's not much to do here and there's not much to see. I mean, come on the movie theater only plays one movie and by the time it's showing in the theater here, it's out on Redbox so what's the point? In order to escape this small place I became what most people don't dare to do. I became a dreamer. I dreamed of faraway places, I dreamed of warriors and princesses, dragons, magic, dark and light, and because I thought of it so much, I created it and became it in a way. I write first person P.O.V so I put myself in my character's shoes in order to go out in the world and explore. To live. It sounds cheesy but that's the truth.
When did you first start writing?
I first started writing the summer before fifth grade. My family was driving to Florida and I suddenly wanted to write so I wrote my first (armature and probably dumb) manuscript in a black composition notebook in the back of my family's beat up Honda.
What's the story behind your latest book?
The story behind my latest book, well I'm fascinated by evil things and the balance of good and bad and warriors. So I tied all of that together in a book about angels and demons being warriors and working together to try and stop the antagonist. I am actually very proud of this book.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
I have the want to reach out to people and go out and get things done, so here I am. I'm putting up my best effort to do all that I want. I know what I want and what I need done, so I am going to get it done. :) I'm determined.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
I love creating and destroying worlds. I believe that writers have so much power even though so many try to diminish it. Every writer is an extraordinary human being, writing cannot be taught, it's something you are born with and I think that is what makes it special for me. Creating characters and places from my imagination makes me so happy. I cannot describe the joy I receive from writing. I can literally write anything because there are no rules, you're only limited by what you think.
What do your fans mean to you?
They mean a lot to me. Haha I cry when I meet them because I feel so happy that they liked the story so much and fell in love with it. They all make me smile and I wish I could really hug all of them and spend a day with them. :)
What are you working on next?
Oh that's a bit of a secret. I don't want to give so much away when I've hardly even posted a full story yet! :) But I will let you know.
Who are your favorite authors?
Oh that's easy :) Christopher Pike, James Patterson, J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Gillian Shields, Lisa Ann Sandell, Jess Rothenberg, Lauren Oliver, Mary Downing Hahn, R.L. Stine and there's this one writer on Wattpad named: OMFGIt'sBecky! that I really adore. There's so much more but I can't think of their names!
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
Food.
Haha no, I'm just kidding. Writing inspires me, all of my idols inspire me, the stack of journals I have yet to finish writing inspire me, and my fans inspire me.
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
I'm either sleeping, or eating a lot of potatoes and watching Skin Wars on Netflix, or I'm practicing archery.
Smashwords Interviews are created by the profiled author or publisher.