Interview with Imogen Elvis

Like I said, I'm going to be doing interviews on here, so you can get an idea of what it's like to be young writer. I know it took me forever (14 days) to get the first one up, but I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did. Sometime this week I'm going to post another one, then going to post them every Wednesday after that. So, this is a talk with Imogen Elvis (Awesome name, I know. I'm totally jelly.). She's in a writer group called Go Teen Writers with me. Enjoy! (If you want to read some of her writings, and see her thoughts about Writing, Books, and Music for Writing. go to her blog here. (Among other things...About writing. (Basically, It's a writing blog.) 

Questions about YOU.

1. Age? I’m 19.

2. Hair color? I have shoulder length brown hair.

3. Favorite genre? (To read) My favourite genres to read would be fantasy, sci-fi, and a little dystopian. If I had to pick just one though (and that is very hard for me to do as I love all books so much) it would probably be fantasy, with sci-fi making a very close second. I especially love all the imagination that goes into making the awesome fantasy and sci-fi worlds, and of course all the creatures and different races that writers can, and have, added to their books.

4. Do you have siblings or are you an only child? I have lots of siblings. I have three brothers and four sisters, which is really awesome as I never run out of company. And if I ever need to brainstorm for my book, there’s always someone around to help me out!

5. Favorite genre? (To write) My favourite genre to write has to be fantasy. I guess it makes sense that I write the sort of books I like to read. Again, sci-fi runs a close second, but fantasy is by far and away my favourite genre to write in because of all the things I can do with my plot and characters. There can be dragons, magic, elves, epic quests, huge battles and a cool world that doesn’t have to stick to the rules of everyday life.

6. Height? My best guess is short. I don’t dare to measure myself in case I turn out to be shorter than I imagine myself to be. The good thing is that all my sisters are short too, so I end up being the tall one. Let’s just say it’s easier to climb under a fence than over it for me.

7. What is the last book you read that you would recommend to someone? That would be Dreamtreader by Wayne Thomas Batson. I won an ARC from the author, and I devoured it in a couple of days. It has adventures in a dream world, an epic bad guy, and a plot twist at the end that I did not see coming at all, but that made total sense. I’d highly recommend it.

8. Favorite book? Favourite book? Oh I couldn’t pick one of those. I like too many books to be able to pick a favourite. However, one of my recent favourites is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. If you’re looking for a great read, then you should definitely try this book. It became an instant favourite the moment I opened the cover.

9. What inspires you to write? I write because I have stories to tell. For me, writing is like discovering a new adventure. I have so many stories to tell that I would like to read, but I have to write them all down first. Plus the characters might murder me if I didn’t write their stories.

10. Favorite thing about blogging? My favourite thing about blogging would have to be meeting new bloggers and chatting to them through comments. I love being able to share my thoughts and my discoveries with other people and hear their thoughts in return. Other bloggers are so friendly that it’s a pleasure to get involved with them.

Questions about your WRITING.

1. What is the book you are writing about? My current project is a book I’m writing for the July session of Camp NaNoWriMo. It’s called Ember and it’s a sci-fi retelling of Cinderella. It’s also the second book in a series of these sci-fi retellings I’m writing. In my version, Cinderella has superpowers, and must use them to stop a supervillain with the help of some other mutants with superpowers.

2. What was the first thing you wrote about? The first book I ever wrote was a messy fantasy book with ninjas, an epic quest, and half of Tolkien’s The Hobbit thrown in for good measure. The book itself was terrible, but it was the first one I ever wrote and that was what really got me into writing novels.

3. What is one piece of advice you have for other young writers? There are lots of piece of advice I would love to give, but one of most important, apart from never give up writing, is read about the craft. Read writing books, writing blogs, listen to writing podcasts, anything that’ll teach you about the craft of writing. I can’t count the amount I’ve learnt just through reading writing blogs alone, and how my writing has benefitted from that.

4. Will you ever stop writing? At the moment I can’t see myself stopping writing. I love writing so much that, even if I were never to be able to get anything published, then I would probably keep writing, simply because I have stories to tell. Until I run out of stories, which I hope never happens, I don’t think I’ll be stopping writing any time soon.

5. If you could finish and publish an entire trilogy for free, but you had to never write again, would you? It depends on whether I could still keep writing and trying to get published, whether or not I had to write. If I could publish a trilogy for free, and I was still able to write, then I might. But, if it came to a choice between easy publishing and actually writing, then I would choose hard work any day.

Questions about your DREAMS.

1. What is your lifelong dream? My biggest dream at the moment is to be a published author. And then hopefully be successful too. I would love to have my books out in the world where everyone can share the stories that I enjoy and meet my favourite characters. That would just be amazing. 

2. What do you enjoy doing other than writing? Other than writing I love to read. When I have any spare time I just gobble up as many books as I can. I also love to sing and play the piano. Music is very important to me as a hobby.

3. Would you enjoy having a film adaption of one of your novels? I think I would definitely be flattered by having my book chosen to be adapted for film. Whether I’d actually enjoy having an adaptation of my book would depend on how good the film was. I wouldn’t ask that absolutely everything be the same, just that they don’t take my book and turn it into another story entirely.

4. What did you want to be when you grew up? When I was very young, I thought I was going to become a nun when I grew up. I knew some very lovely nuns, and I wanted to be just like them. Then, when I grew up a bit more, I decided that I was going to be a doctor instead. I studied all kinds of things like advanced mathematics and physics and such as preparation for that, before I realised I didn’t want to be a doctor either. But it wasn’t until I was about to start at university that I worked out what I really wanted to be.

5. What do you want to be now? My dream job now is to be an editor and also a writer. I knew that it’s very hard to live completely off writing, and I knew I wanted to work with books for my job, so when I thought about being an editor and working in publishing, I felt that that was what I really wanted to do, and that’s what I’m studying towards now.

Here's the blurb for her current novel:

Hector, the leader of the mutant rebellion, is determined to stop the Mutant Registration Act, which will require all mutants to be registered and exposed to the public. When negotiations with the government fail, the children of leading politicians start disappearing, taken as hostages.

As a mutant and foster child, Lee has never lived in one place for long. When he wins a scholarship to a prestigious high school, he never imagined he would become friends with Rachel Brand, daughter of the Minister of Mutant Affairs.

Meanwhile, Sara and her mutant friends have been hunting for Hector without success. When Hector threatens Rachel, Sara goes undercover to protect her. After Lee helps her foil one kidnapping attempt, they join forces.

Time is running out for Hector. Rachel’s birthday party gives him the perfect opportunity to kidnap her too. Now he’s threatening to kill the hostages unless the act is repealed. Can Sara, Lee and the team rescue them before it’s too late?