Fantasy Authors Interview

Meet stella_vigo

We've got another awesome Fantasy author for you today. Hailing from Indonesia and Philippines, please welcome, stella_vigo, and let's hear what they've got to say.

What is your country of origin?

Indonesia/Philippines (parents are from two different countries; I'm legally Filipino but was born and raised in Indonesia)

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? Why do you want to be a writer?

I think I was about five or six years old when I realized that I wanted to be a writer. I was a maladaptive daydreamer—and perhaps still am one—who was also an avid reader. As a result, I developed a very vivid imagination. Writing was a creative outlet and a way for me to have fun with my worlds and characters. Now, I not only write for myself, but I write in the hope that other people will have fun with my worlds and characters too.

Please tell us about your story/ies on Wattpad so that readers could find them.

The Secret Realm of Otrâlmondé is the first book of the Other Realms Series, which has three books (two completed and one ongoing) as of now. The series is about three human teenagers—Stella, Jon, and Edmond—who inherit magical jewelry which gives them superpowers. The first book covers their initial training phase and their first experience in entering another world, Otrâlmondé, while being under the threat of a mage who seeks to take their jewelry—even if it means doing so over their dead bodies.

My current project, Blood Will Tell, is the first book of the Gifted Blood Trilogy. It revolves around Edin, an amnesiac protagonist, who uses his superpowers to protect people from wild beasts. With the help of his mentor, Arden, Edin seeks to regain his memories and fulfill his role as a guardian. However, from the first moment he enters the battlefield, he realizes that the feral creatures aren't the only monsters that he's dealing with—some of them are awakening inside him.

First and Final is an anthology of short stories and descriptive pieces. They all started out as English assignments that I wrote from sixth to eleventh grade.

Fright in the Night is a horror short story set during Halloween. It's about a main character who tries to conquer their fear of horror movies, only for it to go horribly wrong.

from the depths of my mind, they flutter free, is my first poetry collection and features poems that speak from my mind. Some of the poems were inspired by real-life incidents, others were the product of mere musings, and some were told from the perspectives of my characters.

For you, what is the importance of having a process in writing? Do you have a process? If so, please tell us about it. If not, why?

I do think it has some level of importance, although I don't think it is of supreme importance.

My writing process differs from story to story.

In the case of my longer stories, I generally have a "buffer" (that's what I like to call it) of at least one month before I draft the first chapter. During this time, I decide on the beginning and end of a story, choose which characters to feature or axe, and do a bit of research. I'm also the kind of person who generates "too many ideas," so this "buffer" period is great for me to settle on which ones to keep before I draft half the book and realize I want to change some things.

Once I have a strong idea of what the story should be like, I start drafting and do some more research if I need to. Sometimes inspiration strikes for a later scene than the one I'm supposed to be working on, so I draft non-linearly as well. Once I'm done writing a chapter or segment, I reread the thing about a dozen times to comb for errors. Unfortunately, a few pesky errors have slipped through me despite my efforts to purge them.