#visible

Featured Author- MidnightWind_

This months Featured Author is MidnightWind_ 

So to get things started- Tell me about you! What brought you to wattpad and why did you choose to write about the disabilities that you did?

I've always loved books, reading them and writing them. I used to read on Wattpad so much that my mom would take away my phone, because all I would do all day is read. When I started writing books on Wattpad it was just for fun, a place to keep my stories I thought of, I never imagined my book would get 11 thousand reads. That still blows me away.

I've always loved the werewolf books, I don't know why, I just think they're so amazing, but I noticed most of the time the main character was always really brave, and even when she started out kind of shy, she would get over it pretty quickly. I have anxiety, and I know how much of an impact it has on your life daily, and how hard it is to overcome. I wanted a character people who suffer from anxiety can relate to, because I think being able to relate to a character so deeply makes the book so much more enjoyable. It was hard to write about a character with anxiety, because you want your story to progress, but you can't let it get in the way of who your character is, which is why in one of the last sentences of the book she says she is still sometimes scared, because unfortunately it's not something you just get over, it's something you learn to cope with.

My new book, Blind Love, has a character who suffers from depression. I have Lyme's Disease, and for months before they could diagnose me I could barely walk, had to go through extremely painful tests, and was misdiagnosed with something life threatening. My parents couldn't sleep, so I tried to be strong for them, and keep how scared I actually was, to myself. My friend's kind of completely dropped me during that time, even ignoring my text about being diagnosed with something that could kill me, and how scared I was. I didn't have anyone to talk to and it was awful. I thought I would never get better, and would always feel so alone.

I think I mostly wrote about depression, because I hate the way society portrays it. Anymore it seems that if you ask anyone if they've ever been depressed, their answer will be yes. It's almost as though people want to be depressed just so they can say they are. Its portrayed by poems, and sadness, and pictures with quotes, but it's so much worse than sharing a sad picture on Facebook. Its everything you love meaning nothing, it's not caring about Facebook and doing things, and sad quotes and poems, its darkness, and loneliness, and not something you want to admit to the world you went through.

I know that many people will be able to relate to that, you have described depression very well. And congratulations on the 11k reads! That's quite a milestone! How did you start to incorporate disabilities into your stories? Was it something you planned or did you start writing and it just happened?

Thank you! With The Scared And The Scarred, it was something I originally wanted to incorporate into the story. I thought her character being close with nature and having anxiety would go well together, because anxiety is something you don't get a lot of peace with, and the woods has always been my place to just sit and think and relax. With Blind Love, it's something that just kind of happened, but then made me think "Hey, I could really make this work." I wanted my books to be real (other than the whole werewolf thing), and to give readers who deal with these kinds of things hope that it can work out and be ok again.

The vibe I definitely get from your characters is reality- which is hard to do with a fantasy genre like werewolf, so I really congratulate you for that. When you were writing about depression and anxiety, did you find it difficult to portray them? How did you go about making these characters as realistic as possible?

The anxiety was definitely easier, because it's something I deal with on a daily basis, but I think with the depression, you have to take into account who you want your character to be, and how someone with their type of personality would handle it, and feel. While I'm writing I try to imagine myself as my character and ask myself "What would I do?" "How would I feel?" It can be very difficult trying to move your story along without making their illnesses unrealistic and too easy for them to overcome.

That's great to hear, because in reality, conditions like depression appear different depending on a range of factors including personality. In your second book 'blind love' it is the lead male character who has depression, have you found this more or less difficult to write?

It's been very difficult. Creating his personality and how he handles his situation is hard, and then on top of that writing for a guy instead of a girl isn't easy.

Well you've done a really great job! So... What are your plans for the future of your books?

Thank you! I want to finish them, because right now I have a lot going on in life, trying to go back to school and get caught up from the two years I missed, but I still love working on them. I'll probably do another sequel once I finish Blind Love and have more time. I'd like to write a book just about my life, and overcoming hard times in your life and seeing the bright side of things. I want to write something that helps people. Something I can take from the bad things that have happened in my life, and turn into something good. It's something I've thought about doing for a long time.

That sounds like a lovely thing to write about, and I wish you all the best of luck with it. You will always have the support of #visible! Finally... What does the word 'diversity' mean to you?

Thank you! When I hear the word diversity, I think "different", and I think a lot of people are scared of that word, but to me it's something amazing. Being different is beautiful, because its what makes each person individually unique. Whether it be looks, personality, life experiences, diversity in all of these things is something beautiful and inspiring.

You can find 'The Scared and The Scarred' and 'Blind Love' in the reading list of this profile! Go and check them out! There is also a really great new 'musings' post by MidnightWind_ in the Anthology, you can find it on the visible profile!