Character Interview with Azar

Azar is a character from my friend's, Wild Horse, book. I am very excited to have Wild Horse's brilliant character here today! :) I hope you enjoy!

Wild Horse is a teen writer, coffee drinker and horse lover. You can usually find her patting her cat, reading a book, blogging or writing. She spends to much time on Pinterest and not enough time in the real world. You can find her over at ravensandwriting.blogspot.com, blogging about writing, or at her personal blog, opalswirls.blogspot.com. 

I.            Give us the basics, height? Eye color? Hair color? Last name? Middle name? Any family? (Only if you’re safe sharing)

I am 5'8". My eyes are Hazel, my hair is dirty blonde. My last name is Kepula, I do not have a middle name. I am just Azar Kepula. My Uncle on my fathers side, my Uncle, Aunt and cousin on my Mothers side are my only family. It has been 15 years since I was born. 

    II.            Do you enjoy learning? Or would you rather ditch the classroom?

I try to learn anything that may help me. 

 III.            Any animals where you live? If there are, do you own one personally?

Many, the King has sheep, cattle, goats, chickens and horses - and others. Personally, I have a horse. His name is Brandonich. 

  IV.            Can you read or write? If so, do you enjoy doing either?

I can read and write, father was most stern in this point. They can be handy at times, yes. 

     V.            Would you consider yourself brave?

Do I have a choice but to?

  VI.            If you were given the opportunity to take on an adventure, would you? Or would you leave it for another person?

I do not turn away from a challenge. 

VII.            Are you difficult on Wild Horse, the writer trying to fix your world (hopefully)?

One can only try, I like to cause trouble sometimes, but it is Cre and Japro who cause the most problems. They are difficult. 

VIII.            Do you dwell on your mistakes from the past, or do you forget them?

Mistakes are made, and if you make stupid ones... I do, yes. 

  IX.            Any best friends? Could you give us a little background on that friendship?

My best friend is Dobry. I grew up with him, and he came to Manua with me. He works at the stable. I have no idea why he is so loyal to me. We were born on the same day. 

     X.            What’s your clothes style?

I wear a lose shirt and leggings at home, with my boots. I strap my sword at my waste, and keep a dagger in each boot. Now we are on the move, I wear what Japro picked out.  

  XI.            Do you keep a journal? If so, how often do you write in it?

Something you write in each day? I do not keep one. The King has someone write down what he does each day though. 

XII.            Do you enjoy the holidays, or are they burdens on your back?

A holiday means a festival, so I suppose they are ok. I like escaping my maids, and joining in with the other people my age. 

This was lots of fun to read--in my opinion. And I hope in yours. ;) Thanks for coming over Wild Horse! :D And Azar!

Abrielle Lindsay

Interviews

I have TWO INTERVIEWS for you!!! I hope to do this at least once a month! I'm interviewing Mrs. Jill and Mrs. Stephanie the authors of some (AWESOME) books and Go Teen Writers.
We'll start with Mrs. Stephanie:

Stephanie Morrill is a twenty-something living in Overland Park, Kansas with her husband and two kids. She’s the author of The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series, Go Teen Writers: How to Turn Your First Draft Into a Published Book, and The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet.  She enjoys encouraging and teaching teen writers on her blog, www.GoTeenWriters.com. To connect with Stephanie and read samples of her books, check out www.StephanieMorrill.com

1)     How old were you when you got your first book published?

I was 25 when Me, Just Different hit store shelves.

2)     What are the titles of your books?

The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series, which includes Me, Just Different, Out
With The In Crowd, and So Over It. Then I co-wrote Go Teen Writers: How To Turn
Your First Draft Into A Published Book with Jill Williamson. And then The Revised
Life of Ellie Sweet came out in May, and the sequel, The Unlikely Debut of Ellie Sweet,
comes out this November!

3)     How long have you been writing stories?

I started writing stories in first grade. We were given writing time everyday in class and could write
about whatever we wanted. When we finished our stories, we turned them in and someone (a teacher
or volunteer parent, maybe) would type them for us. We got to pick the color of our cover and binding, and then they printed out our “book” for us to illustrate and read to the class. I loved it and from then on I started telling people I wanted to be a novelist when I grew up.

4)     Do you write by hand or on the computer? Which do you suggest is better for
writing?

I write mostly on my computer, but I enjoy brainstorming with a pen and paper.
There’s just something about a pen and paper that makes the brainstorming process
work better for me!

5)     Do your stories flow out of you? Or do they take a lot of time to come up with?

Both. There are some days that writing feels effortless. I like those days. But there
are lots of days that it takes me awhile to get going or when a scene isn’t working like I
thought it would. I’ve learned to embrace the editing process!

6)     What tips do you have for teen/tweens?

There are so many that I started a blog for them! GoTeenWriters.com grew out of
the joy I felt when I got to interact with teen writers and share what I’d learned on my
journey to publication.

Something I wish I had been better about as a young writer is not getting hung
up on everything being “perfect.” I put a lot of pressure on myself to write perfect stories
the first time through, which is impossible. I’m a much healthier, happier writer now
that I’ve embraced the messy process of creating a story!

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Jill:

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens in lots of weird genres like, fantasy (Blood of Kings trilogy), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website.

1)      What are the titles of your books?

I have several books. My first books are the Blood of Kings trilogy, which is a medieval fantasy story. By Darkness Hid is book one, To Darkness Fled is book two, and From Darkness Won is book three.

Replication: The Jason Experiment is a stand alone science fiction story.

Captives is the first book in The Safe Lands series, a dystopian series. Outcasts, book two, releases this November.

The New Recruit is the first book in The Mission League series. It will have seven books when it's complete. So far there are three: Chokepoint: Mini mission 1.5, and Project Gemini: Mission 2, Okinawa

And I co-wrote Go Teen Writers: How to Turn a First Draft into a Published Book with Stephanie Morrill. 

2)     How did you come up with these stories?

Each one has a different tale. For By Darkness Hid, I was walking with my son and saw a burned down house. There was a tree in the yard that was half burned/half still living. That got me thinking, "What if there was a land half cursed in darkness?"

For Replication, I was going to pick apples with my sister and we were driving a long ways. We passed farm after farm, and I got thinking, "What if there was a farm that grew people? Clones? They could call it Jason Farms!" And that was the beginning of that story.

I tell the story of how I got the idea for Captives here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-5pSmy_Ri8o

3)     How long did it take you to get published?

It took me about four years of seriously hard work. It took about three years to write and rewrite my first book. And toward the end or that I started writing other books. It was the sixth book I wrote that was first published. 

4)     Do you have any tips for young writers?

Finish the entire book, then rewrite it. Write messy first drafts. Fix the book in editing. Rewrite it until you feel it's done, then, while you're submitting that book to publishers, write another book and another and another. Only by writing a lot will you improve your craft. It takes time and patience. You can do it!

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:) Thanks Jill and Stephanie for doing this!!! :D

Abrielle Lindsay