Author Spotlight

SushiiDew

About the Author

Q: What would you say is your main source of inspiration for writing?

A: I must admit, boredom is what pushes me to write. In times when I have literally nothing to do my mind takes me to an imaginative land where I am able to keep myself occupied by random fantasies. These fantasies come to life with the help of a pen and paper, of course. Cold summer showers also drive me to ponder on my stories, eventually leading me to my laptop for typing my stories out. So technically, my sources of inspiration are not grand yet are effective enough to help me write my novels.

Q: Do you plan your stories? If so, how?

A: Since most of my novels deal with mysteries and thrillers, I do have to plan them out way ahead of time in order to prevent any holes in the plot. The methods I use differ in different pieces of work, however a common thing that I generally do to keep my storyline in place is to organize the beginning and the end of the story. That way I am able to monitor whether or not my plot is heading towards where I intended it to head. I would also like to emphasize that there are times when I let my characters loose and work the flow of writing with their personalities. This is basically one of the many times that I don't exactly work with plans. So in par with the question, I do plan important aspects of the main storyline of my novels, but there definitely are times when I let the story characters work on their own as long as the end goal is not altered.

Q: Is there a message in your story that you hope your readers pick up on?

A: Oh lord, honestly there's many. The interactions between my book characters, the plot and the setting, they all contribute towards conveying various messages which I truly hope my readers can pick up on. One such message is portrayed by the main character, Taylor Sharma, who is strong headed and very stubborn. She's quite rare as a main character in the sense that she is inconsiderate of people who do not mean much to her, but is mindful of her loved ones. Her choices throughout the story are questionable and her attitude truly peaks readers' irritation level. In fact, a lot of my readers get annoyed by her. Well, the reason I made her so imperfect and rather despicable is so that readers are able to see through her "mean girl" façade and discover just how much she is struggling to keep up with her life in spite of appearing mentally strong. Taylor, as the main character, is simply a teenager who has experienced many events in her life that can make any regular person depressed, yet her response to her traumatic experiences is a toxic way of pretending to be strong when in fact she is hurting from within. I was a little disheartened to find very few readers understanding why she kept herself from making new friends or why she was being rude to unfamiliar students who approached her. I made her a realistic, confused teenager who is trying really hard to navigate her way in life, especially after the death of her best friend. The message here is that one does not need to be perfect or make perfect choices to become the main character of their stories. Taylor was made to tell readers that it's alright to be imperfect and that though one needs to be strong during tough times, it's important to open up to others, to rely on others, to overcome past trauma through healthy healing which Taylor will definitely achieve at the end of the story.

Q: What do you hope your readers will like best about your story?

A: I most definitely expect my readers to enjoy the mystery and suspense features of "The Mind of a Tipsy Teenager". Though large and rather significant aspects of my story consist of humour and romance, the suspense revolving the main character is what I believe keeps my readers at the edge of their seats. I really like how the mystery part of my plot in this book is coming out as it contains unexpected turns which sometimes surprise me too. I ensure that most of my chapters end in cliff-hangers or give clues about the growing mystery so that readers could be left in awe. It's basically like a spider web, which I definitely assure my readers, will end in the most unexpected way possible. So yes, the mystery aspect of my novel is certainly the most memorable part of the book.