Young Writer Interview: Susannah Hoskins

I’m here today with another young writer interview. Everyone, meet Susannah Hoskins!

About Susannah

Bio

Susannah H. is a teen from the beautiful state of Pennsylvania. When she isn’t studying, reading, or writing, you can find her practicing violin, playing with the family dog, or watching yet another Marvel movie. Storytelling is her second biggest life passion–her biggest one is God.

What genre do you write in and why?

I write in the fantasy, action, dystopian, and nonfiction genres. I chose those genres because I enjoy writing in them.

What genre do you read in and why?

I read almost any genre, but the main genres I read are classical, fantasy, nonfiction, and action. I read classics because they broaden my vocabulary, and fantasy, nonfiction, and action because I enjoy reading them.

What do you blog about?

(I don’t blog yet, but when I have a website, I plan to break down the worldviews behind novels, movies, tv series, etc. and point out how the worldview influences the story.)

Who or what inspired you to write?

I…had a minor obsession with a movie and decided to continue it. I was convinced my story would become the next blockbuster haha.

What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?

I’ve learned how to communicate more effectively with others!

How has being a Christian affected the way you write vs. the way you used to or probably would otherwise?

Being a Christian means that I tend to write stories with more heart and hope to them. If I wasn’t a Christian, my stories would probably be very dark because I wouldn’t see a light.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I want to bless other people. It frustrated me to no end when I ran into stories I wasn’t allowed to read (or frankly, that I didn’t want to read) because of the content, so I want to write stories that anyone can read. My more specific goal is to provide good stories without political agendas or objectionable content.

How do you define success, and do you think you've reached it yet?

I define success as glorifying God. I don’t think I’ve really gotten there yet, but it may be that I’ll never entirely feel that I have.

What is one thing you want to tell other young writers?

It’s kind of elementary, but put God first. Really. I haven’t found any other way of life that doesn’t land me in a mess of trouble.

Conclusion

I hope you all enjoyed this short interview! Until next time, happy reading!

Young Writer Interview: Micah Collier

You guys might remember me mentioning my blogging accountability partner, Micah, in one of my earlier blog posts. Micah is a fellow writer, blogger, and follower of the Lord. We met on Instagram (I knew who he was from the writing platform I’d been a part of briefly), and we started emailing. Then, he asked if I wanted to be his blogging accountability partner. I was hesitant at first, but I agreed, and I couldn’t be more grateful for him. 

Anyway, today, I’m interviewing Micah. (He also interviewed me on his blog. 😁 Go check that out here.)

About Micah

Bio

Humorous, humble, and hearty, Micah Collier is a brother, the oldest of four sisters, and lives with his family in Philadelphia, PA. He loves writing (on paper), playing and watching basketball, he’s a blogger, and a homeschooled high schooler. Despite being imperfect, Micah wants to show God’s love (SGL) to people because of God’s overwhelming love for him. Micah is a six-plus-footer with a mohawk and adores his cat while wanting to help further God’s kingdom through his writing and blogging.
Micah

When did you start writing and what inspired you to write?

I started writing when I was nine—we had this Write Your Own Story Book, and after checking its empty pages and sections (which were all colorful), I decided to write in it. The blank pages of a child-friendly book with multiple story topics (superhero, mystery, adventure, etc.) drew me in.

What genre do you write in and why?

I write fiction and action/adventure + fantasy/speculative fiction, specifically. I enjoy the freedom in creating my own world and everything else it brings. That includes not worrying about Earth’s boundaries.

What genre do you read in and why?

Well, I don’t necessarily search for a genre, I just read something I find intriguing. However, I lean toward more of the fantasy fictional kind of stories.

What do you blog about?

I blog about writing, I post encouragement and poetry, miscellaneous posts, faith-based posts, and some life-themed posts.

What are your favorite things about blogging?

I enjoy creating content, writing newsletters, and I love when my readers respond.

What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?

I learned to have a ‘why’ as a writer and to write for His Majesty. Also, writing is a form of loving and serving people.

What's something you're excellent at in writing and something you don't excel so much in?

I excel at imperfection and inconsistency while I don’t excel in perfection and consistency. I honestly don’t know where I excel, but when perfectionism trips me over my simple phrases, that’s a problem. So, I might call that something I don’t excel in.

What project(s) are you working on (summarize them in a sentence)?

Zest Adventures On Zeppadar Book 1: Brokenhearted

The main character must face the grief of losing his parents while trying to survive on a planet he’s never been to.

The Adventures of Georgie

A sixteen-year-old documentarist with a cringey Bri’ish accent loves animals and recording them; he broadcasts animals—friends join along the way, and he hopes people will love his voice.

I have two others, but they’re technically dormant right now.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I want to become a published author, help further the kingdom (FTK) with my writing (by speaking life through my writing), and I also want the satisfaction of people reading and enjoying my books.

What is one piece of advice you have for other young writers?

I believe you should find your why as a writer (or make sure you have it) and always write for God. It’s never in vain if you write for Him.

Conclusion

That’s it for this interview! Micah actually interviewed me as well (on his blog), so if you want to check that out, here’s the post. Until next time, happy reading!

Young Writer Interview: Kathryn Braddock

I’m here today with another young writer interview. Everyone, meet Kathryn Braddock!

About Kathryn

Bio

Teenage author Kathryn Braddock finds her passion in writing stories of magic, hope, and light’s victory over darkness. She loves wolves, as seeing some in person inspired her series, The Guardian Trilogy, and she is also a poet and lyricist, finding inspiration in nature. She lives in the big state of Texas.

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_wolfpoet/

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbraddockauthor/

Books: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0912XTZMQ

Kathryn Braddock

What genre do you write in and why?

I write in fantasy, medieval, and Old Norse, because I feel so much imaginative freedom with those genres.

What genre do you read in and why?

I enjoy reading fantasy as well, and medieval, because of the imagination and how easy it is for me to get lost in those worlds.

Who or what inspired you to write?

Several factors…first, my imaginative personality in my childhood, as I was writing since I was five. Then, I saw some wolves in Colorado and began writing a series about the animals. Then my writing mentor began a class, teaching me everything I’d need to know.

What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?

How to write plots. The different twists and endings, and what makes it interesting.

How has being a Christian affected the way you write vs. the way you used to or probably would otherwise?

My books are clean, compared to other books of the day, by non-Christians. I also like to add morals to them. Without my Christian writing style, they’d probably just not have as many morals.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I want to learn everything I possibly can, and impact others with my writing.

How do you define success, and do you think you've reached it yet?

I believe success is achieving a goal. Once a goal is achieved, or successful, then a new one can be set up and worked toward to succeed at that.

What is one thing you want to tell other young writers?

Not to put themselves down by reading others’ writing and thinking theirs is so much worse. Everyone has room for improvement, that doesn’t make them a failure in writing. Instead of lining their writing up with someone else’s, they should line it up with their own, to see the improvement they are making.

Conclusion

I hope you all enjoyed this interview! If you want want to learn more about Kathryn and her books, check out the links I posted right below her bio. Until next time (where I talk about turning 18 😉), happy reading!

Young Writer Interview: Mia Harden

I know we haven’t done one of these in a while, but that’s purely because Mia was busy, then forgot about the interview, and I’d already scheduled posts for the next two months. Anyway, now that I have an opening, here she is! Everyone, meet Mia Harden!

About Mia

Bio

Mia Harden is a young writer, musician, and actress seeking to honor God through entertainment. She writes novels, musicals, and songs in various genres and enjoys playing percussion in her church’s worship team. When she’s not curled up at her computer writing a story or composing a new song, she is spending time laughing and chatting with her three sisters and four brothers. You can find her online at windowstomia.wordpress.com, where she blogs about anything that’s on her mind in a sarcastic and chaotic way.

Mia Harden

What genre do you write in and why?

I write fantasy on varying levels with a bit of a dystopian flair, and I also write non-fiction! I write fantasy because it is SO much fun coming up with my own rules for my own little world and getting to twist and turn the lore to add new levels of mystery and magic. Worldbuilding for me is almost like developing a character — and I love coming up with characters! *glances at my 100+ characters for my main WIP alone* I also blog! My blog is a bit of a chaotic mess, but it’s MY chaotic mess and I love just letting my words spill out into a post. I may not have many followers, but the ones I have form a nice little community.

What genre do you read in and why?

Oh, all kinds! Mostly fantasy, but I also enjoy reading contemporary, dystopian (a more recent discovery heh), and select non-fiction books. For me, it’s not about the genre, but the premise and the storytelling. I have books on my shelf that cover almost all genres. And I guess that just goes to show how important good writing is!

What do you blog about?

Like I said before, my blog is a bit chaotic. I’m not sure what niche it fits into. Maybe lifestyle? Either way, some of my posts cover things like things happening in my life, my thoughts, my art, and anything else I feel like posting. I like to keep things interesting and run to read, so sarcasm runs a bit rampant over there. I may not have many followers, but I get amazing support from the ones I do have, and for that, I’m thankful.

Who or what inspired you to write?

Ha, this is actually a funny story. I started writing when I was five, and it was actually a theme from a Blue’s Clues episode that inspired me. My cousin/best friend was over for the day, and we watched an episode of Blue’s Clues, where Blue and her friends were writing “secret letters” to each other. I decided that it would be fun to write a secret letter to my cousin and I hauled her off to my room. She made one too. I don’t remember exactly what she did (I think she drew a picture), but I wrote my very first story. It was called “Lizi and the Puppy” and it was about a girl named Lizi who lived on a dog farm. She was taking care of the dogs and saw a puppy named Blue. She wanted Blue for herself and in the end, her parents decided she could keep Blue. My mom really liked my story and encouraged me to keep writing, and now, here I am!

What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?

​Nothing is going to be perfect. People are going to laugh. They’re going to put you down. They’re going to give you weird looks. And I know it’s cliché but it’s true. You shouldn’t give up. Trust the process and just know that if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.

How has being a Christian affected the way you write vs. the way you used to or probably would otherwise?

Well, you can definitely see Christian themes in my first stories. It was the way I was raised and I didn’t know any different. As I’ve gotten older and grown in my faith, I’ve learned to look at the world differently, especially through my writing. There are a lot of things wrong in this world, and my writing is my voice. Even if it changes the life of just one person, I can know that I’ve done what I was given this gift for.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

It would be so much fun to have a dedicated fandom to my writing, but even if that doesn’t happen, I have friends and family who are my constant cheerleaders and I can say for a fact that something I’ve written has touched at least one of them. And even if they were lying, I’ve touched myself with my writing. And I think that’s important.

How do you define success, and do you think you've reached it yet?

For me, success is feeling pleased with myself. I have to reach that level of success before I can reach for higher levels, the levels where other people see you as successful. I know I haven’t reached that level yet, but I’ve reached the first level. I’m proud of what has come out of my brain and my creativity is more expansive than I thought! I believe that you can’t be truly successful without feeling like you are. It’s not enough for people to see you as successful, because if you don’t see yourself as successful, even in the least, are you truly successful?

What is one thing you want to tell other young writers?

Find someone who supports you. Trust the process. And believe in yourself. You’ve got this!

Conclusion

I hope you all enjoyed this interview. If you want to join Mia’s chaotic (and I mean that in a good way) community, you can head over to her blog. Once again, thank you, Mia for doing this with me, and thank you all for reading!

Young Writer Interview: Liesl Brunner

liesl brunner interview

This is the third installment of the young writer interview series. Everyone, meet Liesl Brunner!

About Liesl

Bio

Liesl Brunner is a young Christian author of heartfelt contemporary fiction. When she’s not writing, she likes to make useless Spotify playlists and dream about the day she gets to live in a castle. She lives in Michigan with her family and beloved cat.

Liesl Brunner pfp

What genre do you write in and why?

It took me a while to figure out what genre I wrote in! When I first started out, I mainly focused on speculative fiction—fantasy, sci-fi, and dystopian. For 2020’s NaNoWriMo, I tried to write a fantasy novel, and it flopped spectacularly.

I started to wonder, Do I really like to write fantasy, or am I just doing it because everybody else is? Turns out the latter was true, and I turned my attention elsewhere. Now I write contemporary, usually with some romance. I’m also working on a historical fiction novella.

What genre do you read in and why?

Mostly contemporary, though I’ll really read anything that catches my fancy in the library. Magical realism, historical fiction (depending on the time period—medieval fiction is really not my thing), and some nonfiction—I’ve discovered that I like to read memoirs lately, which is not something younger me would have ever expected. I also really like romance. Like, kicking-my-heels-up-and-squealing-when-they-kiss really like romance.

Who or what inspired you to write?

It wasn’t so much an I was inspired thing…more like I was forced to write a short story for school thing. I’d always written little stories in my journals, usually about horses or Minecraft (or Minecraft horses), but back then it was just a byproduct of my overactive imagination that came from me devouring books. In eighth grade, one of our assignments was to write an original short story. I found that I loved it and discovered the Young Writer’s Workshop the same year, and I’ve been writing ever since.

What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?

One thing I never really thought about before becoming a writer is seasons of life. Not just, you know, spring, summer, fall, and winter, but the up-and-down periods that everyone goes through. Sometimes you have a really productive writing season, where you’re writing every day and just slamming out the words and you feel great. That’s a wonderful thing, and you wish it’ll last forever.

But then sometimes you have weeks or months where you stare at the cursor blinking and finally close out the document, trying not to cry. And that’s okay, because everything comes in seasons, like Ecclesiastes 3:1 says. It’s natural, and it’s how everything in life is supposed to be—work, mental health, physical health, relationships.

How has being a Christian affected the way you write vs. the way you used to or probably would otherwise?

I write about a lot of controversial and sensitive topics (such as LGBTQ, mental health, and abuse), and both Christianity and my personal political standpoint have impacted the way I write about them so much. Without Christianity, I wouldn’t be able to handle these topics in a loving way. If I wasn’t a Christian, I’m not sure how I would be writing about these things, but I would probably be hurting people.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I could go a thousand different ways with this answer, but I’ll give you some of my personal goals:

First and foremost, I want to glorify God. I want to point others to Him and have them find Him in every theme of my stories. 

Second, I want to help others. My writing is constructed for everyone around me. I want to help others through the things I’ve struggled with so they don’t have to make the same mistakes I did. 

Third, I want it to be my job, and I want to have fun. I started writing because I enjoyed it. I want to keep that enjoyment and use it to make a career that can sustain me in a job where I don’t just work, I play.

(I guess that these goals really reflect who I am. It seems that with me, everything is God first, others second, and me third.)

How do you define success, and do you think you've reached it yet?

Again, I could go several ways here, but I think that in general, success is being happy with where you are, whatever you may be doing. Success is contentment with your life and being able to change the things that you need changed to sustain that contentment.

As for if I’ve reached it yet…I really don’t know. Well, I take that back. If my answer is “I don’t know,” then it’s really “no.” I don’t think I’ve reached my personal definition of success yet, but I’m working towards it every day, bettering the Liesl now for the Liesl in the future.

What is one thing you want to tell other young writers?

You are worth it. You’re more than the sum of your successes and failures. You deserve happiness even if you haven’t written a single word in the last day or week or month. Don’t beat yourself up over what did or didn’t happen and just continue to write. Just keep going. I promise you that picking yourself up after you fall down over and over and over again will be the most rewarding thing you do. It may not seem like that in the moment, but just wait until you land that book deal or hold your published book in your hands for the first time. You’ll be able to think, Look at that. I kept going. And now I’m here.

So keep at it. You’ve got this. You are worth it.

Conclusion

That’s the end of the interview. If you want to check out the interview Liesl did for me (it’s a different set of questions), check it out on her website.

My interview: https://lieslbrunnerauthor.wordpress.com/blog/

Liesl’s website: https://lieslbrunnerauthor.wordpress.com/

I hope you all enjoyed this interview. Don’t forget to comment down below and subscribe if you haven’t already. Liesl posts every Wednesday on her blog, so go check it out. She has some really good content!

Next week, I’ll be going over the inspiration behind the Fire Trials trilogy, so get ready.

Young Writer Interview: Aci Enrica

aci enrica interview

This is part two of the young writer interview series. If you haven’t yet, go check out part 1.

And now, get ready to meet young writer Aci Enrica.

About Aci

Bio

Aci Enrica is a young author looking to leave her mark on the world through the power of storytelling. While her true passion lies in writing, she also loves reading books, theatre, dance, and caring for her many plants.

What genre do you write in and why?

I write predominantly science fiction/futuristic and fantasy. This is because I enjoy a good creative challenge and crafting whole worlds, magic, technology, and new species, and then spinning stories that bring all that to life.

What genre do you read in and why?

I read the same genres I write in because it has often been stated that you have to read the type of books you want to write. If you want to write a dark fantasy, action-adventure type story, then those are the types of books you read so you can get a feel of what that audience enjoys.

What do you blog about?

My blog is about writing, books, and story science. I post reviews about my writing exploits, and just writing in general.

Who or what inspired you to write?

My family has been friends with another family for as long as I can remember, and when I was ten, one of their teens was writing a book. I was so fascinated and inspired that I resolved that if he could write a book, I could. As a child, I always made up stories in my head and with my stuffed animals. It never occurred to me that I could write those stories down and he was the wake-up I needed to see that I could bring the stories to life. He doesn’t write anymore and has moved on in life, but I can see now that God used that short time of his life to set me on the path of an enthusiastic writer. Nothing we do goes to waste.

What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?

Self-discipline. Writing isn’t easy by any stretch and I spent a good part of a year teaching myself to write regardless of whether motivation was present or not. Self-discipline is a huge part of writing because most of the time you won’t want to write, and it takes steeled determination to sit down and meet your daily word goal. I can now use that skill on any hard project I need to complete.

How has being a Christian affected the way you write vs. the way you used to or probably would otherwise?

I know if I wasn’t a Christian, chances are my books would have a language, sketchy scenes, and morbid elements. As a Christian, I can write good, clean fiction that Christians can read without compromising their Christian morals.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I want to fill a void in the market—providing clean fiction that isn’t strictly “Christian fiction” but conveys Biblical themes and certainly isn’t written from a worldly perspective. I also want my books to make people think. Stories carry a lot of power to change perspective and I’d like to use that power for good.

How do you define success, and do you think you've reached it yet?

Success is different for every individual. It changes with each step in life I take. I don’t believe it’s riches or fame—but I will know I have succeeded when readers are telling me my books are conveying exactly what I wanted them to.

What is one thing you want to tell other young writers?

I don’t have much experience but I will say this: It’s okay to love something flawed. Your book will never be perfect. Especially the first draft. Someone once told me that as the writer, you know what your book’s potential is. But the reader doesn’t. They only see the book as it is and if it’s truly a good story, they will love it. As the writer, you will always think it could be better, but that’s just your perfectionism talking.

Conclusion

That’s the end of the interview. If you want to see the interview Aci did for me, check it out on her website.

Aci’s website: https://acienrica.com

Aci’s author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acienricaauthor

If you enjoyed this interview, make sure to head over to Aci’s website and subscribe to her email list.

Young Writer Interview: Allie Jo Andersen 

I recently joined an online community for young writers. As I was newly launching my blog at the time, I decided it would be a good idea to interview other young writers to see how they viewed writing and following Christ.

Starting off this brand new series is an interview with Allie Jo Andersen. Everyone, meet Allie!

About Allie

Bio

Allie Jo Andersen is a follower of Christ who loves weaving tales of adventure that entertain while instilling truth in her readers’ minds. If she’s not coming up with new worlds to explore, she’s probably playing with one of her bunnies, exploring someone else’s fictional world, or planning victory in the latest family game. Her work has been featured by Havok Publishing and The Young Writer blog as well as the anthology Imagine : A Collection Of Short Stories And Poems.

What genre do you write in and why?

I currently write in speculative fiction (fantasy, sci-fi, etc) and mystery, though it wouldn’t be unusual for me to write in other genres too. 😉 I write these genres because they are genres I’ve grown up reading and love to this day. I love the intrigue of mystery, and how whatever crime has been committed eventually gets brought to light. Fantasy is special to me because there are so many opportunities to show truth through allegories (much like C.S. Lewis). I like sci-fi because I like exploring things that could happen in the future or what could have happened.

What genre do you read in and why?

I will read in virtually any genre, as long as it’s clean and God-honoring. I love contemporary (middle grade, usually), mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, etc. 🙂 I read those genres because… well, I’ve always read and enjoyed those genres! There are great things about each of them and I’m always up for a bit of variety every now and then.

What do you blog about?

I blog about writing and reading books that have messages that are clean and have messages that last. I also occasionally share some of my own writing, and you can also find back episodes of my podcast and blog serial Sci-Fi Fridays (which is currently on hiatus for an unknown amount of time).

Who or what inspired you to write?

What originally inspired me to write were the books that I was reading. I was about eight years old and decided that I wanted to write a book that I could read later on. After that I got hooked on the feeling of being in someone else’s shoes and dictating what happens while you’re writing about a character.

What inspires me to write now is the fact that I can reach other people through my writing and encourage them and give them hope. I love that I can let people know that they’re not alone, even if it may feel that way. <3

What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?

I would say the biggest thing I’ve learned through my writing journey is perseverance. Writers have a lot of areas where we have to persevere: while writing the first draft, while editing, while submitting for publication and receiving rejections. One of the recurring things that I continue to learn through my writing journey has been to persevere and trust God with the results.

How has being a Christian affected the way you write vs. the way you used to or probably would otherwise?

Being a Christian affects my writing in a huge way. My goal in my writing is to create stories that are both entertaining and point people to God’s Truth. My favorite thing about writing is how God can use it to touch people’s hearts and show them that they’re not alone. If I wasn’t a Christian, I think my writing would be… a lot emptier, and probably a lot more lost, too.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I want to give my readers stories that are both encouraging and life-giving. Stories that show that dragons can be conquered and share the light of Jesus.

How do you define success, and do you think you've reached it yet?

For me, I’ve succeeded when I follow God’s leading and guiding in my writing. Right now I don’t have a lot of set-in-stone specific goals, but I know I’ve done well as a storyteller when I’ve written a story that tells the truths that God has laid on my heart.

What is one thing you want to tell other young writers?

There are so many things I would love to tell my fellow young writers! Don’t give up, no matter how hard it may seem. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people and ask questions. Take a leap and step outside of your comfort zone–whether that means sending an email or hitting “submit” for a story submission. I’ve received a lot of rejection emails for my flash fiction over the past couple of years, but that has pushed me to keep working at it, and I learned so much in the process. Remember that success isn’t always the best teacher; but failure often teaches you a lot about life and yourself, if you let it. 🙂

Conclusion

That’s the end of the interview. If you want to check out the interview Allie did for me, check it out on her website.

My interview: https://allieandersen.com/young-writer-interview-with-kayla-naomi-wong

Allie’s website: https://allieandersen.com

Allie’s published works: https://allieandersen.com/published-works

If you enjoyed this interview, make sure to head over to Allie’s website and subscribe to her email list for updates from her.