It's the beginning of the month- that means we'll be featuring our very first writer, Mermaid Wesley from the California Pod.
We spoke very briefly about her experience so far as a writer and her current short story - a work in progress, entitled "Surfacing". So without further ado, here is our first interview!SSML: So what inspired you to start writing?
Wesley: I've always liked reading and writing. My first attempt at writing fiction was in middle school, and it was horrible, to be honest, but it got me hooked.
SSML: What's your short story about? Can you give a brief summary?
Wes: I have several projects in the works right now, but my short story is about a young mermaid who wants to live on land with a human, but things go awry and her sister has to rescue her. It's a modern day version of "The Little Mermaid" with a twist.
SSML: That's gotta be interesting! What inspired the story?
Wes: I think the story was mostly inspired by the mer community. I was trying to get a mersona together and came up with this character that really didn't work as a child's entertainer: this stoic, distrustful, and carnivorous mermaid huntress. Since I couldn't really adopt that persona, I started to build this character, Nielli, as a book character instead of a persona. After that, the story sort of spun out on its own.
It's currently unfinished. I was originally going to be a novel, but now I'm working on shortening it to a short story or a novella. I just have to do some reworking so that things make sense with my new direction.
SSML: I'm assuming that you've been writing for a long time. Do you have any other works that are finished?
Wes: I don't! which is hilarious. (I'm not counting things that I would burn) My writing has gotten better over time, from school as an English major, so I have a tendency to abandon projects when my writing style changes. Apart from the mermaid story, I'm very seriously working on a fantasy novel about harpies and bloodlines and royalty and such. I'm just now getting serious about my writing and trying to get published. Until recently, I only wrote for fun, and only when I felt like it, but now I'm getting serious about it, which is exciting!
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