1 what inspired the idea of your story?

People inspired this story which is a broad and a vague thing to say. But that is the truth. The stories that my parents told me, for example how they grew up, the things they did, the things they wished they did, how their religion affects their lives. As well, as the stories of my friends, family members, stories from the news, historical stories about people--- the more I sat back and listened, the more questions I got about society. And these questions led me to do research about religion, society, psychology, and history. It eventually helped me create a character with a story. Once I had a character with a story, it got easier to make other characters with their stories based on things I have seen and things I would like to question. That was how Sackcloth and Ashes came to be-- through questions and curiosity about the stories I heard. That, however, also means I have to very careful in how I stitch up the story together since I discuss a lot of themes that seems to not be talked about often on here and can be sensitive topics. I try to write everything as respectfully as I can, while also trying to give justice to my character's strong opinions and stories.

2 what is something you struggled constructing with your story?

 People are always surprised when I tell them what is the thing I struggle with the most. I have been doing research for a very long time, I'm highly comfortable with it. In fact, I enjoy it. The research part is usually what some people expect me to say, but no. Writing in the POV of a woman is by the far the most difficult thing for me to do. It's so hard for me that I have stopped or dropped small short stories because writing the female protagonist was too hard. The funny thing about this is that I'm a woman myself. I can write female characters through the lens of a male character. I'm comfortable writing in the POV of male characters--- it doesn't mean that I cannot write stories and backgrounds of a female character. I can create them, writing through their eyes is just the hard part. I have PTSD--- it's very severe that it gets in the way of my life now in so many aspects, and even though I'm getting help, it still there. So, when I write female characters, I think about myself and the women that were part of my life and it makes me gag. The only times I feel emotions is when I write so the last time I wrote in a female POV, I was super close to breaking down and having a panic attack.

Right now, I have to write in the POV of a woman and the only way I'm able to is by writing bits by bits. It only makes my writing process take longer than it already does and it slows my updates even more, but I'm stubborn and I won't post trash. So, until I get those chapters done and I feel satisfied with them, I will post. I refuse to post something I'm not proud of. And I won't post something rushed just to get over it or just update. 

3 what did you enjoy writing most of your story?

As I mentioned earlier, writing helps me reconnect with my emotions and I love taking advantage of that. So, one of the things I enjoy the most when I write my story is putting those emotions, those inner struggles and outer struggle into my characters. I really feel proud of myself when my characters portray emotions or show struggle because no one is perfect--- we are human. We feel hurt, we feel so many things and we all have so many different ways in showing that. My main male character is a drug and sex addict--- he's not an easy character to write but God, I love writing him. He's so complex and he makes me think about the things I do, which is funny because I'm writing him. His emotions and his struggles, I just every detail of him. So when I manage to show a little bit of him, I'm just like, "yes, you did it, girl!" 

4 what's the overall response of your story from your readers?

 Some of my readers which are basically my friends now have tried hard to guess what my main character, Rueful, is. And it's the most hilarious thing to me because they have guessed what I have wanted them to guess. I low-key feel evil because of that. A lot of the comments I have received are them trying to figure out the story or my main characters. So, I won't lie, most of the time, I sit back with cup of coffee, enjoying watching the struggle as well as loving their opinions and theories of the story and characters. I'm happy that I am able to create a story where there could be a lot of theories that could be backed up by evidence or quotes. 

5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series ?

Sackcloth and Ashes was originally going to be a standalone novel, but then I realized there is so much material to work with. Right now it looks like, there is going be roughly four to five books. 

6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story?

This is a hard question to answer, unexpectedly. There is a lot of things (hopefully) that readers can take away from my story. It's not one main theme, that's kind of the issue--- there's a lot of themes, so whatever theme pops out more to you, you will probably be more impacted by that theme and get something out of that, then from the plot. For example, my mom loves romance-- that's the theme she focuses on (she ignored everything else, hahaha) and she got something out that. 

Sackcloth and Ashes is a literacy fiction. It's not exactly a rigidly defined term, but it means that it follows non-conventional plot structures while containing a lot of details of symbolism, allegory with character-focused narratives. Literacy fiction books are books that cannot be marketed neatly into any other genre fiction, for example: fantasy, romance, action/adventure, sci-fi, etc... So, there could be a lot themes and a lot of touches from other genre fictions that makes it possible for a reader to really come up with their own idea of what the story is about and what's the most important theme to them.

7 what advice would you provide to fellow writers, when it comes to focusing on their own story?

 My best advice is don't let Wattpad play games with you. In fact, don't let the majority of people from Wattpad play games with you. The system and the idea that views, comments, and ranking is the most important thing, is wrong. Ask yourself this, do you think your book will be remembered for years to come, if it's filled with plot holes but have large number of views, comments and ranking? Or do you think your book will be remembered for the years to come if your book is thoroughly well written, impactful with the dedication and hard-work clearly shown through your writing but with lesser views?

Sometimes, less is more. Sometimes the few people that are reading your book and commenting are going to talk about your book to others and that's bound to create some community. Stories with impact are going to be talked about-- it's going to be spread and adored. Dedicate your energy to your story, not system and not to expectations. Write what you believe in. Write what you want to write. Don't be afraid to do something different and don't be afraid to take longer to update. Quality makes a difference. It has more impact than quantity.

8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself?

My main character is a very curious man. In fact, he loves doing research--- he loves to questioning things. That's basically me. I got tons of questions about society, about why we are the way we are, religion, and history. He really portrays that curiosity, of course in his own way. He's got extreme strong opinions and if someone wants to change his opinion, they need to bring hardcore research and evidence to fight their case. He's open to evidence, but he's not open to biased opinions. 

9 what is something about your story you believe would draw in new readers?

My main character once said in part 1, "I'm not a cliche." He's self aware. He's basically a genius- he will make you think. It's a puzzle --- it's a race. You can't be one step behind him or else he's gonna keep playing games or he's going to start taking pity. I play a lot with the structure and voice--- right now, I'm working in part 2, there's a lot more to come and new characters are coming in. I can't really say much because it's up to a reader to come up what they think about the story, characters and what theme they like the most. 

10 do you have any future projects?

Yes, completing the rest of the series. I do have other stories, but as of now, my whole focus in on completing Sackcloth and Ashes series. That said, thanks a lot for taking the time and read this whole little interview.