《Master Adventurers》Author Interview: A Secret Service by @joymoment
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Hello and welcome to Master Adventures! Today our guest is the amazing spy novelist , author of the "A Secret Service" on Wattpad's epic "Middle-Grade Adventures" Reading List.
Carter Owens, daughter of a Secret Service agent, is trained to disassemble any weapon, any situation, and anyone. Her biting sarcasm and razor-sharp mind make her impossible to beat in a word fight and when talking doesn't work, she uses her fists. She attends Hamilton Prep, Washington D.C.'s most prestigious high school, where everyone is related to someone in power, except her.
When Hamilton Prep receives a flood of new students, Carter's role as social outcast changes when she makes two unexpected friends. Friends who are hiding a secret. As Carter uncovers the truth, she confronts challenges she is unequipped to handle and finds herself in a dangerous situation.
For a girl trained to see everything, Carter never saw this coming.
I love writing action, so I write it as much as I can. But a majority of my books do not contain action in them.
My favorite genre to read is fantasy. I love the beauty of a perfectly created world.
I don't have a favorite genre to write in. I love mixing it up, it keeps me excited about writing. Currently, I've written Teen Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Humor, and Romance.
The age range for my characters are always between 16-18. My oldest character was 21.
As for the age range of my readers, a majority are between early teens to late twenties. But I've had the honor of a sixty-year-old war veteran reading my books and I think that's one of the best things ever!
I was reading Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series - a series about an all-girls spy school - and realized I wanted to write something like that but with a bit of a more realistic bend to it. Along with that thought came the question: what if a girl went to school with the President's son but didn't fall for him? The idea snowballed from there.
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I love the fact that she's not afraid to speak her mind. Yeah, she can be blunt but in a world where everyone is scared to be real, she's very real.
She's a mix of a couple of people. My sister's observant skill. We'd be at a track meet and she'd know something about everyone there. A little of my brashness. My mom's confident personality. But mostly she's her own person.
Technically Carter's father, Steve, was loosely based on Steve from Hawaii 5-0. At least he inspired Steve. But Steve really showed up how he was going to and I went along with it. Same for everyone else.
I'm both. I give myself a rough outline so I know where the story is going and don't have to deal with major plot holes later on. But the outline isn't so strict that I don't have room to explore if something new shows up. For instance, Carter's mother was never part of the story. But once I got into writing I realized how key she was to Carter finally healing from abandonment and learning to accept love from others. She had to be part of the story.
I don't usually have writer's block. If I do it means that I just need to give the story space because either I've missed something or turned the story in the wrong direction. And usually, that space means hopping over to the second book I'm writing and writing a chapter for it. By the time I'm done I've figured out the solution to the first book's problem.
For writer's who struggle with it, I would suggest a couple things. Make sure you know where the story is going. Take a break, give the story room. Check to see if in the last chapter you wrote whether you made the character do something that you know they wouldn't actually do. Your character just might be fighting you.
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I don't think I have just one, but the ones I do have are Carter and Steve together. Writing their father/daughter relationship was one of the best things about the story. I loved how deeply they cared for each other but at the same time could taunt each other. Their bond is one thing I love most!
Haha, how can I not say Carter? If I didn't she would never forgive me. I love how flawed she is. She screws up but she also tries to make up for her mistakes. She's not perfect and she knows it, she learns to grow and I'm always proud of her for that.
Lucas!! How can I not say Lucas! Man, that guy is the worst!! Seriously, it took way too long for Carter to punch him. He is a complete pain!
Haha well if you're asking me this you must not know that I've already delved into their future plans. I've written an entire book full of one-shots about them and what comes after A Secret Service ends. Everyone loved them so much and wanted more, that it inspired me to see what would come after. And from the 100+ one-shots apparently a lot comes afterwards! The book is called Open Case File.
I think it was seven months. But at the time I was also writing Mr. Write - one of my other books - so if I hadn't been dividing my time it might have gone faster. Because I do write two books at once it usually takes me this long, maybe longer depending on how intense the book is.
I love the book A Thousand Paper Cranes by . It was one of the first books I read on the app and it made me cry. It's also just a wonderful story.
My favorite author would have to be but considering she's my sister I might be a little biased towards her!
Everywhere!!! There are so many times someone will say a line or make a comment and it will set something off in my brain. I got the idea for a story because my sister loved a side character in one of my books.
Books are also a huge source. Like I said the Gallagher Girls series inspired A Secret Service. A mention of gypsies in Emma by Jane Austin inspired A Vagabond's Tale. The comment of ghosts in Wuthering Heights sparked an idea for a ghost story. Gone With The Wind gave me the idea for a steampunk blockade runner story! Honestly, I never know where an idea will come from, I'm just always open to having a new one.
I did have a specific goal: publish a book!
And I have! A Secret Service is available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. That was something I didn't think would happen. I would love to publish more books but more than that, I'm letting myself keep writing and providing my readers with as many fun adventures as I can!
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Thank you so much for tuning in! I'm your host , and you have been reading Master Adventurers! Stay tuned for our next edition where we interview an adventurer with a passion for fantasy-filled adventure stories!
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