Hello everyone, and welcome to our very first Featured Author interview! We'll do these at least once a month: if you have someone you would like to nominate for our consideration, please let us know!
First up we have author Amalya, a well-known fantasy writer whose stories are sweeping tales of love, loyalty, and friendship. She has been a member of AFF for over three years now, having published her first story on here back in December of 2011. She graciously agreed to be our first feature and we sat down for a little interview to let everyone get to know her and her writing a little better, as well as offering some sound advice for fellow writers. Take a look!
 

Librarian: Okay so first Question! How and when did you get into writing Kpop fanfiction?

Amalya: I got into writing K-Pop in September of 2011 when a friend of mine finally revealed that the project she had been working on was fan fiction. I had never even considered it an option to use the band members until that point and it has sort of spiraled since then. Really, it helped me to break out of a several year drought where I didn't write much of anything. O.o

Librarian: So then who was the first band you wrote? And what story was it? Tell us a little about it.

Amalya: The first band I worked with was Super Junior since they (and Shinee) were the only ones I was familiar with at the time. Two of my best friends and I had been listening to them almost exclusively until we started branching out so our biases were very familiar in SuJu in particular. It was a chaptered, fantasy piece that took me about a year to finish and it featured all of SuJu and OCs. I'm a little embarrassed but the main female leads were sort of meant to reflect some of our personalities as they paired off in the story. But it was heavy fantasy with our heroes having control of six elements among them (and in one case, one figure was a neutralizer capable of nulling their abilities at any given time). They were facing an enemy bent on world subjugation and as Elementalists who were descended from the first generation of Elementalists, they were the only ones capable of matching him in battle. For their foe could control all six elements by himself.

It had romance and action and fantasy and danger and all the fun things I enjoyed writing. It also probably went on far too long but it was enjoyable and ended up being sixty or seventy chapter. I forget now. But I had a lot of fun writing it and making everything come together. Really, it was such a great feeling to get it out and finish it. I couldn't have been happier at the time. haha

Oh! It might help to add the story was called The Loss of Order (later shortened to Loss of Order). There were a couple oneshots I posted prior to actually posting this one but I started on the chaptered one first.

Librarian: So your first story was fantasy! Have you always loved reading and writing fantasy? Who are some authors who you feel have really helped inspire you?

Amalya: Fantasy has definitely always been my first love. Dragons and unicorns were among the first things I started drawing, collecting, watching, etc. haha As for authors, I really have to thank Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Piers Anthony, Tamora Pierce, Ed Greenwood, J.R. Tolkien as well, Sara Douglass, Bruce Coville (one of the first unicorn books I read was by him), Patricia C. Wrede, and so many more.
As a child, I spent the majority of my free time with my nose in books, daydreaming about fantasy, playing fantasy games with my brother and his friends, and everything under the sun. hehe I've never known a time when fantasy didn't color my life. ^_^

Librarian: I see! That's a good healthy list of fantasy authors there! =D
What are your favorite pieces that you've written and why?

Amalya: Indeed. And it continues to grow!

Hmm. That's a tough one. Every piece has some meaning for me and it's hard to narrow it down at times. But I can say I hold a special place in my heart for Descendants of Angels (pub: 2012) - one of my earlier pieces; it was heavy fantasy with a non-traditional storyline in that there was no romance involved. Just a battle scarred warrior telling the tale of how he lost his wings to his grandson as he enjoyed the future he and his friends helped to protect.

There will always be a soft spot in my heart for Loss of Order because it was the first piece that I really got involved in after I started writing once more. One of the characters had a lot more of me in her than I ever intended, but I loved every minute of pulling it together. It helped light a fire in me that has sustained me in the long run for sure, and was the precursor to some of my more extensive pieces with large casts and an entirely fictional world.

Daehyun: Valkyr of the Gods (pub: 2013) is definitely a favorite because it blends fantasy, Norse mythology, and borrows from the Playstation 1 game Valkyrie Profile, but is still largely my own creation. I love incorporating mythology and tweaking the myths to fit my stories. And at that time, I was really feeling BangDae as a pair in general. lol

Partis Nex Vita: Six Point Magic  (pub: 2013) is another one I really love, even though it takes place in more of a modern world, and is a little shaky on some of the more realistic aspects (i.e. hospitals and law and all that fairly black and white material), but exploring the many aspects of humanity that I was able to was engaging to say the least. People can be beautiful and terrible creatures and I think I managed to portray at least bits of that throughout, of which I am rather proud, to be honest. ^_^

And last, but certainly not least, I will forever enjoy writing about dragons in any shape or form. As such, Stalked by Shadows (pub:2015) and Dragonriders of the Matoki were fairly dark but incredibly fun to write and explore as oneshots. I do fluff well enough but there is something about the darker elements of fiction that bring out the best and worst in the characters and I will always enjoy exploring that.

Keep in mind, I like all of my pieces. I may not be proud of them, but they are all reflective of where I was, how I have changed, and each helps to show the lens through which I saw things during the time in which I wrote them. Through the Ages (pub: 2012) turned very dark because I was dealing with stuff I didn't know how to handle at the time. Just like how Five More Minutes (pub: 2014) is cute, comedic fluff because I wanted to make a friend smile since the SooLi tag was so small and somewhat lacking in stories.

Librarian: What are you currently working on?

Amalya: I have a lot of things on hiatus or paused mid-story, for which I am not entirely happy. For the moment, I'm really focusing on finishing school and teaching so I don't have a lot actually going on for story development (beyond the snippets I write down in my notebook or spin for later plot points). I can say that I have become a chronicler of our Dungeons and Dragons group so that I retell the adventure for them after we have completed it, but beyond that, I do have several pieces I am playing with in the back of my head and hoping to return to when things calm down enough to do so. With that being said, allow me to give you a peek into my world. lol

In-Progress: It Begins With Blood - KyuWook supernatural, action/adventure that takes a turn for apocalyptic and is nearing the end.
The Misfit Misadventures - A growing collection of oneshots focusing on Gunwoo, his "cursed" sister Chaerin, and the thief they inadvertently befriend Seyong
Wind Tamers - A Taeyang and Hyoyeon oneshot turned chaptered fic that I had to pause for the purposes of a contest because I could not finish in time but fully intend to flesh out later.
Blackest Friday - A dystopian three or four shot fic featuring Teen Top presenting an alternate view of the future (a la the Purge leanings).
Two Dozen and One Tales: a collection of 25 oneshots for a contest that I intend to interconnect across three different generations wherein each story features a different group or groups as the main characters. Yes, you guessed it - there will be lots of fantasy involved.

The following are pieces I have started and fully intend to return to so that I may finish (when is the question to ask):
By Magic and Blood
They Walk Among Us
Can I Help You, Dear?
Come Back to Me
Surreal Isolation
A Woman Scorned (though this one may be abandoned at some point - I had envisioned a plot at one point but it's sort of faded in recent history)

And on the recent back burner, I have pieces I intend to write very soon as gift fics or just something that has been in the back of my mind for a while:
The sequel to Phoenix in Stone tentatively envisioned as Baptized by Fire (or something like that)
A sci-fi, pseudo horror Neo three shot
Two gift fics I have yet to fully iron out
And a ridiculous number of plot bunnies begging to become something more. It's sad really. haha

Librarian: What were your biggest struggles as a writer? And how did you overcome them?

Amalya: As for my biggest concerns, early on it was struggling with making things believable. I continue to be a perfectionist when it comes to writing and am rarely satisfied with my work but I've come to the point where I've accepted that writing is a process and that it's never going to be perfect. As such, I can accept what I've written more and am far more open to constructive criticism now than I was growing up. lol

Aside from that, I think one of my biggest concerns and consistent difficulties (outside of my verbosity and use of purple prose - both of which I'm perpetually struggling with) is just finishing things. Larger stories are wonderful things, but sometimes the drive wanes and it's hard to pick up where I've left off on occasion. Having someone there to help remind me of why I was excited for it in the first place often gives me a good push to give it another go, and I'd probably be fine if it was just me writing and not showing it to anyone, but when the response to my writing does not match my enthusiasm, sometimes the story lags. Then I just have to give it some time and revisit or ask a friend to read and offer suggestions or insight.

Every writer is different though and I've had different concerns at different points of the process. It really just depends some days. haha

Librarian: Oh yes, the dreaded 'no-comments' thing when a chapter is posted.
What advice would you give to brand new writers, or writers who are really struggling with getting their imagination written down?

Amalya: Good question. I know that writing is cyclical and sometimes all you have to do is give it time. Take a walk or watch a movie or go do something that has absolutely nothing to do with writing. On occasion, when you return, the Muse is kind and the words just flow. Other times, I find that you just have to write through whatever block it is. Maybe what you churn out is some of the clunkiest, unbelievable crap you would never dream of publishing in a chapter, but at least you slogged through and can finally move on to the next part you may well have been dying to write. You can always go back to address the messy clump in the middle, and likely, you'll have a better mindset about it later anyway.

Beyond that, just keep trying. Keep writing down tidbits of information and snippets of dialogue wherever you find it. None of it has to make sense or go together, but if you think it may become useful later or if you just want to jot it down, then do so. Take it from personal experience: you probably won't remember it like you wanted to later. There's a one in ten chance I will and I always smack myself in the head if I didn't listen to the Muse when she was talking to me the first time. lol

The other suggestion I can give is to simply free write for a minute or two (or five). Just keep your pen or your fingers moving; ignore typos and don't worry about anything being perfect. Just write continuously about whatever comes to mind. I haven't used it often but the times I did, the word dump helped to get everything flowing so that when I tried to focus again, things fell into place like I wanted. I guess that's all for now but I hope those suggestions or words might be able to help in the future.

Librarian: Thanks so much for being a good sport and agreeing to do this interview! Do you have anything to add?

Amalya: If this is something you really enjoy and like doing:

Just keep writing.

The only way you're going to get better is to keep working at it. If someone gives you criticism, try not to take it too hard either. There are some people that just want to tear you down but other times, people want to help and the words they give may not be the ones we want to hear, but they might also be right. Or at least make a good point. Also, if you're going to publish stuff on the internet, be ready for the good and the bad. You could write the perfect piece and not everyone would enjoy it. You may not even get a response to let you know how you're doing and if you're writing for others in particular, it may get hard to keep going. So write for you. Write for your enjoyment because you want to see where the story goes and how it ends. Be okay with taking a break if you need to, but don't give up. Also! It's okay to ask for help sometimes. Find a beta reader. Request a review or two. Message an author (or friend) you respect or think might be able to work with you and get their opinion. At the end of the day, it's your work, your piece, your story. Own it, love it, make it yours.

Happy writing and thanks for taking the time read my sometimes rambling words. And most of all, good luck in your future endeavors!