Katherine Arlene

About Her : A Woman of Many Roles and Interests. A Wattpad Ambassador. An Author. A Housewife. A Mom of 2 Girls. A Social Networker with PinBoards at PinInterest, A Channel at Youtube, A Facebookaholic And Tweeting at Twitter!

How she manages it all?

Well, you can unfold all the aspect of her life by reading this Interview and knowing her as a person by contacting her via her Wattpad Profile.

Her Works :

a) Trilogy

Book 1 in the Stolen Hearts Trilogy (Video inserted in the Media Section)

Book 2 - Love You Forever (Watty's 2013 Finalist)

Book 3 - The Most Precious of All (A Christmas Story)

b) The Boy in the Woods (Banner inserted in the Media)

c) How To Get Reads, Votes, and Comments - A Guide (External Link)

1) I'm sure we all would love to know how Katherine Arlene is as a person. Tell us about yourself, Please.

I’m a mom and wife, and raising my girls has been pretty much the focus of most of my adult life. I’m a fairly creative person and have always been working on some craft or other since I was a kid. I did a lot of crocheting in my early years, and then took a knitting class to gain more skills. I went crazy with the knitting and even learned how to make my own yarn on a spinning wheel. A friend taught me beadwork and I made a lot of jewelry for a while. I dabbled in sewing as well, making clothes when I was a teen and later moved on to quilts. Now I create people and write down their stories. LOL

2)How old were you when you first began writing? What inspired you into writing ?

I was probably around 10 years old when I began writing, and my earliest writing revolved around my favorite books, The Little House series, which was also my favorite TV show. I also wrote about other shows and movies. So the truth is I started out writing fan fiction, even though I had no idea that’s what it was called. What inspired me to write? I think I wanted to put myself in those worlds and interact with the characters I loved. I had a big imagination as a kid, and I was always making up stories in my head, so it was no surprise that I’d write some of them down.

3) Throw lights on your inspiration and thoughts that led you into writing your works.

Stolen Hearts came from a basic idea I had as a teenager, another one of those stories what was always floating around in my head. For literally years, before I fell asleep at night, I’d imagine a young man waking up and realizing he’d been kidnapped and was a prisoner. It never got much further than that since I would fall asleep soon after, but there was something about that story that stuck with me and one day, I began writing it down.

The story that evolved from that basic idea completely surprised me. I really don’t know where it came from; I didn’t plan any of it. I eventually hit a brick wall and the story petered out without a real ending, but when I had to finish it for my readers on Wattpad, Love You Forever, the sequel is the result. It’s the logical conclusion to the story I’d begun.

The Boy in the Woods started out much different, since it was an idea I came up with while I was finishing Love You Forever. One of the main inspirations for that story was my favorite movie when I was a kid, A Little Princess with Shirley Temple. I don’t know why, but that movie really resonated with me and I think I incorporated a lot of the drama and tragedy of that story into Boy, along with a healthy dose of another beloved story, The Secret Garden.

One big problem I faced when I began thinking about my characters for Boy, was that I’d just spent a year and a half with Robert (my main character from SH and LYF) in my head and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to write another ‘type’ of male character. It was extremely important to me that Marty, the ‘Boy’, not just be different from Robert, but that he be a tough kid, since he’d been through so much. Luckily for me, I had a resource I could use to help me.

I’d made friends with a young man on Wattpad, a writer I’d met after I’d read his true life account about being raised in a gang. He’d had a terrible life and had seen the worst things imaginable, but he was the sweetest kid with a huge heart. He was also extremely smart and funny. Readers of Boy will recognize those qualities in Marty since I put a lot of him in the character. And my friend’s life story was the inspiration for the trajectory of Marty’s character, a kid who has no future but his life is turned completely around.

4) What are your views about love, marriage and friendship?

Anyone who’s read my stories probably senses I’m a big believer in love and friendship. I’ll admit that writing about relationships, all different kinds of relationships, is what keeps me excited about writing. As for my views on marriage, it’s not easy to have a good one. It takes a lot of hard work.

I know marriage isn’t for everyone, but for me it was very important. Ever since I was little, all I wanted was to get married and have a family, and I consider myself lucky my wish came true. I’ve been able to spend nearly all of my life with my best friend and I love the two people we’ve created together.

5) Tell us about the main characters of Stolen Hearts and Love You Forever and the choices they made in life.

Robert is a good kid from a nice, ordinary family, who finds himself in a terrifying situation – he’s suddenly lost his freedom. The only person he’s with, Georgie, is not very forthcoming with details so he has no idea what’s going on. I didn’t intend to write him any one way, I just threw him into the situation and wrote down his reactions, which go from him freaking out, to depression, and then finally acceptance of his situation.

Georgie’s main goal from the beginning of Stolen Hearts is to do everything she can to protect Robert, even if he doesn’t want anything to do with her. When he finally realizes what she’s been doing for him, things change between them and he grows to care a great deal about her. But that causes its own problems because having a relationship with her is dangerous for both of them. The love that eventually develops between them is magical, I think, because they both try so hard to take care of each other.

When he’s released in Love You Forever, he tries to carry on as if none of it happened, which I think is a normal reaction after someone goes through something that terrible. But he’s been greatly affected by what’s happened to him, and because of that, he makes a tremendous amount of mistakes.

As for Georgie’s choices in Love You Forever, she makes some very bad ones, but that’s because she’s also been damaged by what’s happened to her. She’s completely unable to handle what comes her way, but when she realizes what big mistakes she’s made, she tries to undo the damage. She’s not a perfect person, but she loves Robert with her whole heart, and that’s what drives her to change. I don’t want to say too much because it would be spoilerish for people who haven’t read it, but both Robert and Georgie go on quite a journey.

6) The Boy in the Woods seems interesting. What is it all about?

It’s about a girl, 13 year old Jess, who has lost her parents and is taken from her home in Manhattan to live with her uncle and teen male cousin in a rural part of the country. Not only is it difficult for her to adjust from living in the heart of New York City to an isolated estate in the middle of nowhere, but her uncle and cousin aren’t exactly warm and welcoming. Out of boredom, she explores the woods where she lives and finds Marty, a poor 14 year old boy who’s been sneaking onto the property. It takes a while for her to win him over, but when she does, they develop a very strong bond.

Beyond the story about her and Marty, there is also the story about her new family. Her cousin, Doug, changes a tremendous amount during the story because of Jess’s influence. He’s the opposite of Marty, the golden boy who has every advantage life can give, but all is not as it seems with him. And then there is her uncle, who is kind of an enigma to most readers. No one is really sure what motivates him to treat the people around him the way he does. There are many surprising twists and turns along the way, a healthy dose of mystery, plus a beautiful love story, of course.

7) Which of your work is more closest to your heart and why?

That’s difficult to say. I have a very soft spot in my heart for Robert and Georgie’s story, but maybe Boy edges them out because of Marty and Jess’s relationship. They grow up at a time when they didn’t have access to TV or the internet and as a result, they don’t have any way to define their relationship. They have no idea they’ve been falling in love until they’re nearly adults. It’s very pure and innocent, not like a lot of stories you read these days. It’s also my best written story and I have the most hope about it being published.

8) If asks to choose a favorite character from the main characters of your works, Who would you choose and why?

My favorite character would be Jess from The Boy in the Woods. She’s a very resilient person. No matter what life has handed her, she keeps going. She’s caring and kind, but she’s also spunky and not afraid to speak up for herself. It was a tough time to be a girl but she doesn’t let that hold her back. She’s not afraid to defy the conventions of her time. I also love how she changes the lives of everyone around her for the better.

9) Describe your writing style in ten words or less.

Simple language, but with a depth of emotion. LOL That was eight.

10) What do you think makes a good story?

Believable characters, realistic storylines, and mystery are a must. I want to be able to relate to the characters as real people, imagine myself living in their world, and I don’t want to be able to guess what’s coming next. That’s what makes a GREAT story.

11) What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I’m constantly thinking about whatever story I’m working on. I’m quite busy with my ambassador duties. I try to read, but it’s going rather slowly these days. LOL I still knit, and I usually watch TV when I’m doing that.

12) How you deal with writer’s block?

Luckily, I’ve never suffered true writer’s block, but there are definitely times when I find it difficult to get the chapters from my head into the computer. Often I’ll be all set to write a scene and as soon as I open the Word doc, all of it flies out of my head.

When that happens, I’ve found it helpful to sit down with a notebook and pen and write by hand. It slows down my writing so my brain has time to catch up and thoughts to form. For some reason, writing that way allows me to be more ‘in the moment’ and I can see everything happening as I write it down.

13) How do you manage being a mother, an author and wattpad ambassador, all at the same time?

I’ll admit it’s not easy. I’ve given up a few things, like having a perfectly clean house, or being able to read all the great stories my friends are writing. But one thing I have in my favor is my girls are much older. If they were still little, there’s no way I could do any of this.

14) How does your family responds to your writing?

They’re extremely supportive and happy for me, even if they’re not readers of my stories. Some of my cousins have read them and enjoyed them a lot. My husband read Stolen Hearts, which really meant a lot to me since he doesn’t read anything. LOL

15) Your message to your readers/followers.

THANK YOU for everything!! I feel truly blessed and lucky that so many readers have found and fallen in love with my stories. I write them for me, because they make me happy, but knowing other people all over the world get happiness from reading them is icing on the cake. The feedback I’ve received from them has changed my stories for the better, and I can’t thank them enough for that either. They’ve helped me be a better writer in more ways than I can ever say.

I hope you enjoyed reading this Interview as much as I had. :)

Awwthentic~