When I was 8 years-old, I wrote my first short story. I made a paper cover for it and everything. I still have it. But even before that, I wrote stories for school and always enjoyed them. Before I knew how to read, I even made up stories of my own that I told myself.

As clear as day. As I said in the previous question, I was 8, and I had this "brilliant" idea about two best friends being in a fight because one of them passed a note to the other one during class, and there was a big grammar mistake that made the girl receiving the note believe that her friend was calling her mean. Even as a child, I was a huge nerd when it comes to languages.

Traditional publishing is already a game of luck as it is. Where I live, it doesn't even happen for writers in the English language. I've always known I wanted to be an author, and I want to make it happen for myself. I saw one of Amanda Hocking's books in a library once, and the author's bio on the back immediately caught my attention. I researched the heck out of self-publishing and how she did it. I ended up trying it out for myself.

I don't think I have a process, exactly. Sometimes, I will plan everything ahead of starting the writing process and will often end up deviating from the plan. Other times, I like to start writing as soon as I'm hit with the hook of the story and figure out what happens as I'm writing it. I like to challenge myself to make the scattered pieces fit together, and I also like to be surprised by the stories I write as if I'm reading them. It really changes depending on the story itself and how seriously I'm considering posting it for free or publishing it. Either way though, I often end up doing a lot of editing. There is something constant about my writing that I've found strange, though; I write better and longer after 9.45 pm. Seriously; on the dot. I've had many sleepless nights because of this. Before that, it takes me one hour at least to write the first paragraph.

Above anything else, I love to consume stories in whatever form I may find them in. I read books and scripts, watch movies and shows, and sometimes plays, when I'm abroad. Another one of my passions is languages. I like to practice the ones I know or learn new ones whenever I can. Whenever I feel up to it, I like to do a bit of yoga, though it's not frequent enough for my liking. I also love swimming! Being underwater relaxes me so much and clears my head. I even got certified as a beginner level scuba diver in 2019, but 2020 ruined my plans to make the best of it. There will be a time for it, hopefully.

I love the iBooks app. I can read epub and pdf on it, which is the only format I read ebooks in. I have it on my phone and my iPad. Still, nothing beats holding an actual book in my hands.

Usually large and cluttered, but always organized. I recently put up a big cork board where I organize my ideas for projects and important plans. On my shelves, I have lots of binders to organize everything, and some colorful stationary. There's also books that I find useful for writing or enjoyable as stories.

It's not inspiration; it's my alarm clock. I wake up to the sweet sounds of Ed Sheeran's music, relaxed and happy.

Oh dear. I think I was either 6 or 7 years-old. Chamber of Secrets was out that year, and my brother was reading it in French. Everyone was so proud of him for taking up reading at such a young age (he was 8 or 9), so I picked up the first book I could find on his shelf. It was in French, too, and the literal translation is something like "Grouchy Jean and Smiley Jean." I don't remember what it was about, and I don't think I ever finished it, but the impact it had on me is huge because it was the spark I needed to discover my passion for books.

At first, it was a subconscious personal effort. Reading a lot of well written books has helped me the most. English is not my first language, but I absorbed it and learned how it works without trying too much, because I loved it and I loved telling stories. My writing was very raw and unpolished, but there was an underlying tone of genuine pleasure in it that made it enjoyable for others as well. I just kept writing and taking whatever feedback I could take. Then I started my MA in creative writing, and that's where I started actively thinking about what goes on in a writing process. Some things, I was already doing instinctively but never truly thought about in depth. I also started experimenting with formats I never thought I'd write in, like scriptwriting, and it was like falling in love with writing all over again. Once I realized how much richer my writing could become if I put in effort to research, I wanted to keep learning. Getting my MA helped me develop a more critical approach to my writing without eliminating the instinctive, imaginative part that made me fall in love with it in the first place. I still like to look into authors whose styles I enjoy, take classes, and read anything I can find about the technical and critical aspects of storytelling.

If you take away the supernatural part, I absolutely relate to the story and the characters. Not the part about hiding my gender, but my relationship with my siblings is similar to Dylan's with her brothers, for instance. We tease each other and used to sometimes prank each other (although definitely not on a weekly basis like the Connollies), but we're still as close as siblings can get. The connection the Connollies have is definitely something I relate to. Aside from that, I also understand the struggles and heartbreaks that Dylan goes through. I think everybody goes through their own hardships and they can relate to such emotions, even if the experience is not the same.

I read a story on a free writing website (which no longer exists now) where the main character is a teenage girl pretending to be a boy because her job is to be a bodyguard to the daughter of a rich man 24/7. Then, after reading many werewolf books on Wattpad about a rejected mate, I joined the two together in my head without really meaning to. I thought, "why hasn't anyone written a werewolf story where the main character is a girl pretending to be a boy? That would be really interesting! But wait, why would she be pretending to be a boy?... (long pause) Because she's not supposed to exist!" And the main idea clicked! I wrote the prologue and part of the first chapter in February 2013 but didn't post anything until June. I forgot about it until September, when I saw four comments in the span of a couple of weeks asking me to update. It was a great feeling! My best friend also encouraged me to continue writing it, and the rest is history!