Hi everyone! So this is a bittersweet post. I'm sad that Sterling Silver is finished, but so thrilled to have taken the leap and decided to give Wattpad a try. It was such a fun and interesting experience. It kept me accountable and on a schedule and frankly, it was a great confidence booster to see each week how many people are reading and enjoying my story. The sequel, Blood Brothers, is still in the works. I'm taking my time revising and editing it because I want it to be as good, if not better, than Sterling Silver. But I promise, once it is finished, I will be putting it on Wattpad right alongside Sterling Silver.
Sterling Silver is a very special book to me. Its my first supernatural book, the first book I wrote in one of my favorite genres. I know that genre better than I know any other genre thanks to TV shows like The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Teen wolf and books like Twilight and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Its a genre that I have continually delved into and before writing Sterling Silver, one of my biggest dreams was to write a YA vampire romance book. And then, one day in May 2016, I sat down, feeling edgy and needing to write something, to just get something out. I started writing and Tabitha Sterling revealed herself. The seventeen year old strawberry blond vampire hunter who wears yellow combat boots and gloves to stalk around the city killing creatures of the night. She was - and is - one of my most dynamic and passionate characters. I've never written a character quite like her. Who's energetic (I'd even go so far as to say ADHD), excitable, and impulsive. She's hardcore in the best way possible and I had a total blast writing her story. One chapter in and Sebastian Davis came into the picture and I fell in love with him instantly. I think one of the reasons why vampires are so alluring to me is because they're part of history. They're a blend of modern and old-school and have so many stories and skeletons in their closets and ghosts from their pasts that you can do so much with them. Many of them walk a gray area and they're either cocky and cruel or brooding and sad. I didn't want to write the stereotypical brooding vampire. I love Stefan Salvatore and Edward Cullen, but I wanted a vampire who could keep up with Tabitha. Someone as passionate and dynamic as her. Tabitha wouldn't drag her feet and put up with a brooding, guilt-ridden vampire. But I also didn't want Sebastian to be cruel or a complete monster. He has a dark past, he's done a lot of bad things in his life. He knows he's done wrong and has changed his ways, but he isn't dragged down by his past and he doesn't feel consuming guilt for the things he's done. Instead, he chooses to focus on the man he is today and his future.
Tabitha and Sebastian are so special to me. I love them so much and just thinking about them makes me smile. Getting to write the sequel was as fun as writing the first book. I loved getting to delve back into the supernatural world of hunters and vampires that I've created, getting to write the banter between the two of them and the many action scenes. It was also so fun getting to expand my world. I didn't want the Sterling world to just be vampires. Usually when there are vampires, there are usually witches involved, but I'm not a big fan of witches or that modern, realistic sort of magic that those witches usually practice. And when there aren't witches, there are usually werewolves... I have ideas for a werewolf story, and I'm not sure if I want those characters to tie into this world or not. But I did add in a few other creatures that usually aren't mixed with vampires.
Sterling Silver was also one of the first books that I connected with the entire cast. Usually I know the MC's inside and out. I'm super connected with them, but when it comes to the secondary characters, they fall sort of flat and I have a harder time with them. In this book though, I feel like I know them really well. Chelsea and Jonas and Derrick and the Gonzalez's and Emmeline. They're all their own characters, the main characters of their own stories and they all have their own stuff going on while also being supporting characters for Tabitha and Sebastian's story.
Every good protagonist needs an equally good antagonist and I am pretty proud of how Alistair, the vampire villain, turned out. He's his own person, his own bad guy, and I'm proud of myself for not drawing too much from Klaus or any of the other bad guys from The Vampire Diaries. I wanted him to be his own thing and I feel like I accomplished that. Not to mention I love the history between him and Sebastian and Emmeline. It's all very intricate and exciting.
Anyways, if I ever publish Sterling Silver for real, in the acknowledgement's page there would be a mention to The Vampire Diaries. I wouldn't have been able to create the Sterling world without that show. A few of the plotlines and subplots wouldn't be there without TVD either. As Holly Black said in the back of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, this book is a love letter to all the vampire stories I've ever read or watched. It was a love letter to TVD and how it inspired me and taught me so much about depth in plot and character. That vampires are so much more than dark, usually hot guys who fall in love with teenage girls. They have depth and symbolism and meanings far beyond the stereotypical plots that have been given to them in recent years and I hope that my book gives Sebastian and my other immortal characters the same respect and deepness that the characters of TVD were given.
To everyone who read this book on Wattpad, thank you! Thank you so much! This is an eighth draft and I know it could still use some work, but thank you for sticking by it and enjoying it! Each read and vote has been a big confidence booster to me and has fueled me to keep doing what I love the most: writing. I was having a bit of a doubt problem before putting Sterling Silver on Wattpad. I would never give up writing, but sometimes I don't think I'm ever going to go anywhere. That no one will ever read my books and enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them. Putting Sterling Silver on Wattpad was the best thing I could have done for myself at that time. Each view made me realize that people do read my stuff and people do enjoy my stories. So, thank you! I hope you've enjoyed Tabitha and Sebastian's story as much as I have.
If you haven't read Sterling Silver yet, it is now officially finished and on Wattpad, all forty chapters of it! If you love TVD or The Originals or Twilight or any of that vampire stuff, you should totally check it out!
Anyways, I'm in the middle of writing a Peter Pan retelling and I think I might put it on Wattpad once I'm finished. It will probably be a third or fourth draft and will have some kinks to work out, but I look forward to seeing what you guys think. I'm still writing it and really, I have no idea when it'll be finished or how long the story will be, but I promise, I will get it up there as soon as possible. For now though, I hope Sterling Silver can give you a little taste of my writing and will leave you wanting more.
Sterling Silver is a very special book to me. Its my first supernatural book, the first book I wrote in one of my favorite genres. I know that genre better than I know any other genre thanks to TV shows like The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Teen wolf and books like Twilight and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Its a genre that I have continually delved into and before writing Sterling Silver, one of my biggest dreams was to write a YA vampire romance book. And then, one day in May 2016, I sat down, feeling edgy and needing to write something, to just get something out. I started writing and Tabitha Sterling revealed herself. The seventeen year old strawberry blond vampire hunter who wears yellow combat boots and gloves to stalk around the city killing creatures of the night. She was - and is - one of my most dynamic and passionate characters. I've never written a character quite like her. Who's energetic (I'd even go so far as to say ADHD), excitable, and impulsive. She's hardcore in the best way possible and I had a total blast writing her story. One chapter in and Sebastian Davis came into the picture and I fell in love with him instantly. I think one of the reasons why vampires are so alluring to me is because they're part of history. They're a blend of modern and old-school and have so many stories and skeletons in their closets and ghosts from their pasts that you can do so much with them. Many of them walk a gray area and they're either cocky and cruel or brooding and sad. I didn't want to write the stereotypical brooding vampire. I love Stefan Salvatore and Edward Cullen, but I wanted a vampire who could keep up with Tabitha. Someone as passionate and dynamic as her. Tabitha wouldn't drag her feet and put up with a brooding, guilt-ridden vampire. But I also didn't want Sebastian to be cruel or a complete monster. He has a dark past, he's done a lot of bad things in his life. He knows he's done wrong and has changed his ways, but he isn't dragged down by his past and he doesn't feel consuming guilt for the things he's done. Instead, he chooses to focus on the man he is today and his future.
Tabitha and Sebastian are so special to me. I love them so much and just thinking about them makes me smile. Getting to write the sequel was as fun as writing the first book. I loved getting to delve back into the supernatural world of hunters and vampires that I've created, getting to write the banter between the two of them and the many action scenes. It was also so fun getting to expand my world. I didn't want the Sterling world to just be vampires. Usually when there are vampires, there are usually witches involved, but I'm not a big fan of witches or that modern, realistic sort of magic that those witches usually practice. And when there aren't witches, there are usually werewolves... I have ideas for a werewolf story, and I'm not sure if I want those characters to tie into this world or not. But I did add in a few other creatures that usually aren't mixed with vampires.
Sterling Silver was also one of the first books that I connected with the entire cast. Usually I know the MC's inside and out. I'm super connected with them, but when it comes to the secondary characters, they fall sort of flat and I have a harder time with them. In this book though, I feel like I know them really well. Chelsea and Jonas and Derrick and the Gonzalez's and Emmeline. They're all their own characters, the main characters of their own stories and they all have their own stuff going on while also being supporting characters for Tabitha and Sebastian's story.
Every good protagonist needs an equally good antagonist and I am pretty proud of how Alistair, the vampire villain, turned out. He's his own person, his own bad guy, and I'm proud of myself for not drawing too much from Klaus or any of the other bad guys from The Vampire Diaries. I wanted him to be his own thing and I feel like I accomplished that. Not to mention I love the history between him and Sebastian and Emmeline. It's all very intricate and exciting.
Anyways, if I ever publish Sterling Silver for real, in the acknowledgement's page there would be a mention to The Vampire Diaries. I wouldn't have been able to create the Sterling world without that show. A few of the plotlines and subplots wouldn't be there without TVD either. As Holly Black said in the back of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, this book is a love letter to all the vampire stories I've ever read or watched. It was a love letter to TVD and how it inspired me and taught me so much about depth in plot and character. That vampires are so much more than dark, usually hot guys who fall in love with teenage girls. They have depth and symbolism and meanings far beyond the stereotypical plots that have been given to them in recent years and I hope that my book gives Sebastian and my other immortal characters the same respect and deepness that the characters of TVD were given.
To everyone who read this book on Wattpad, thank you! Thank you so much! This is an eighth draft and I know it could still use some work, but thank you for sticking by it and enjoying it! Each read and vote has been a big confidence booster to me and has fueled me to keep doing what I love the most: writing. I was having a bit of a doubt problem before putting Sterling Silver on Wattpad. I would never give up writing, but sometimes I don't think I'm ever going to go anywhere. That no one will ever read my books and enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them. Putting Sterling Silver on Wattpad was the best thing I could have done for myself at that time. Each view made me realize that people do read my stuff and people do enjoy my stories. So, thank you! I hope you've enjoyed Tabitha and Sebastian's story as much as I have.
If you haven't read Sterling Silver yet, it is now officially finished and on Wattpad, all forty chapters of it! If you love TVD or The Originals or Twilight or any of that vampire stuff, you should totally check it out!
Anyways, I'm in the middle of writing a Peter Pan retelling and I think I might put it on Wattpad once I'm finished. It will probably be a third or fourth draft and will have some kinks to work out, but I look forward to seeing what you guys think. I'm still writing it and really, I have no idea when it'll be finished or how long the story will be, but I promise, I will get it up there as soon as possible. For now though, I hope Sterling Silver can give you a little taste of my writing and will leave you wanting more.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Comments
Post a Comment