Fantasy Authors Interview

Meet Rebecca and Meghan

What's better than one fantasy author? Two fantasy authors! Meet HeyLookTheSnitch, the fantastic duo. Let's hear it from them shall we?

What is your Wattpad username?

HeyLookTheSnitch

Is there a story to how you got your username? Tell us about it!

Rebecca - I'm about to divulge how much of a book nerd I am, but our username comes from one I actually used back in the day when I wrote Harry Potter fanfiction in high school and college. Meghan and I bonded over our love (obsession) for Harry Potter during a friend's bachelorette party, so we just carried over the name HeyLookTheSnitch!

Meghan - The funnier story is how we came up with our author pen-name, R.M. Ellie. It was our first major disagreement as friends and co-writers. Becca wanted it to be Rebecca Meghan, but I didn't like that because it sounded too much like Christiana Lauren, so we settled on using both our initials, R and M. Still, we argued over what our joined last name would be. Then, for Christmas, Becca ordered me a Ravenclaw stocking with my name embroidered on it, but when it was delivered, it had somehow transformed into a Hufflepuff stocking with the name Ellie. It was a sign from Heaven. So we went with it. And I still have that stocking.

Do you think it's important to build your author personality? Why? How have you built yours?

Building an author personality is important, but as long as you're yourself, I think it will mostly build itself. Meghan has mostly allowed me to take the reigns on our "social media" presence because, in her words, "you're the one with the personality." HAHA She's only mostly right (just kidding, love you, Megs!). We've spent a lot of hours on Wattpad reading others' amazing stories and finding writer friends who are supportive, encouraging, and striving towards a similar goal, which is a love for the art of writing! I also like to think I'm an extroverted stand-up comedian (Meghan-"She's not.") so I love meeting new people, finding common ground with others, and using humor to lighten the stress writing can bring. We've also participated in NaNoWriMo, joined writer groups, and followed other writers on Instagram. Most importantly, just be yourself and let your love for writing shine through!

What/who inspired you to start writing?

Meghan - Of course, we have to mention J.K. Rowling here. Both of us grew up with her stories, and it's inspiriting to see how she planned all the little details out across seven books.

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

Quill of Thieves is the first book in a high-fantasy series called Fables of Monverta. It follows an 18 year-old-boy boy named Sebastian who lives life according to facts and knowledge and scoffs at anything that could be considered super-natural. After his mother inexplicably dies, the realm's royal family accuses him of her murder, and Sebastian learns he just might hold the ancient power to reunite the forgotten magic of the seven elements. Little does he know, however, that the hidden princess of the realm schemes to steal that power from him...

Book 2, Deceit of Spirits, is out and sporadically being updated (we really need to get better at staying on a consistent schedule. Oops.)

What does a typical writing day look like for you?

Rebecca - I'm a first grade teacher, so my creative juices (and patience) are pretty burned out during the weekdays. I get the majority of my writing done during the weekends, preferably with a glass of wine at my side... :) I put in my AirPods, press play on my favorite playlist, sit at a table with a view of the outside world, and then get lost in the characters.