@DemelzaCarlton is the author of 'Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer' and also has six books scheduled to be published this year! You can check out her story by clicking on the external link!

Enjoy!

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1. What do they call you?

A. I'm Demelza Carlton – though I do answer to Dem.

2. For how long have you been writing?

A. I started writing Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer when I was 12, which is almost 20 years ago now, but the first book I wrote to publish was Ocean's Gift in 2012.

3. Which part of writing a story, do you enjoy the most? (Creating characters, the plot and the subplots, the beginning/ending or the middle)

A. I like the first draft stage, when the characters are spinning their story out for me in my head. It's like watching the best, most suspenseful TV series – and my fingers race across the keyboard, trying to type fast enough to keep up with the story they show me.

4. Have you faced any embarrassing moments, in terms of writing?

A. I do a fair bit of research for my work and that means going to some unusual places or doing strange things. For Nightmares, I ventured to a shooting range and practised with various pistols, but I also searched for a site like the one where Caitlin's held after her abduction. Exploring some old World War II bunkers, I thought I'd found the perfect one. It was in a lonely spot, hidden in bushland, so dark and deep that the only light penetrating it was from my little torch, smelling like something had died in it and no one would ever know…and then my torch died. There I was with a dead torch, my camera and my imagination on overdrive for a book that's a dark thriller…and I'm embarrassed to say, I suddenly realised that perhaps I was scared of the dark and bolted out of that bunker real fast. I'm just lucky that it was so isolated and no one saw me!

5. Which is your favorite color? Have you made any reference to it in your story/stories?

A. My favourite colour would be storm blue, the colour of the ocean on a cloudy day, which is also a favourite with one of the mermaids in my Ocean's Gift series – Vanessa. It's her signature colour, as it's the colour of both her eyes and her tail.

6. Out of the stories you have written on Wattpad, which is the most memorable one?

A. Mine? Hmm…the one with characters who stay with me the most is Water and Fire, which I eventually turned into a novella and published in July 2013. The novella is much longer than the original short story on Wattpad – and, I must admit, a lot steamier, too.

7. Are you planning on publishing soon?

A. Yes – my sixth book, the first in the Mel Goes to Hell series, will be out by early March. Called Welcome to Hell, it was originally just a series of short stories on Wattpad, but it's grown into three books that will all be released in 2014. Melody Angel starts work for the HELL Corporation – a company staffed entirely by demons.

8. Which is your favorite book/series on Wattpad?

A. That's tough to answer. I fell in love with @jewel1307's Enchantress series when I first joined Wattpad and I'm particularly partial to @AngusEcrivain's Half-Light series, too. There are so many others I've enjoyed that it's hard to pick a favourite or even mention them all!

9. What kind of help do you provide - critiques, free advice or editing?

A. When I have time, I provided all three, but now I'm so busy with working on publishing my books I barely have time to give any advice, except on publishing!

10. Which author do you idolize (off Wattpad)?

A. Actually, she's a Wattpad author, too – Margaret Atwood. It doesn't matter what her story's about – she just has the most incredible style of writing. Layer within layer, all carefully researched, forming a coherent story where you might not even see the ending. I aspire to her style, though my stories will always be my own.

11. If you were a newbie, which part of the story would you focus on most?

A. Feeling it and seeing it as a complete picture in my head. Then only seeing it from the character's head. When you start writing, it's easy to fall into the habit of writing everything you see and everyone's thoughts, but narrative is like one individual's thoughts – you can't focus on everything. So, only pick THREE key details in your descriptions. It'll tighten up your story and keep it flowing, while helping you decide what's most important to include in those three things.

(great advice !)

12. Which is your favorite character (off Wattpad) ?

A. I'd have to say my own – only because MY characters talk to me, telling me their innermost thoughts and what they did that day. Bel and Aidan from Water and Fire are such wonderful, unselfish people that it's rather cool to be in their world for a bit. Sirena and Zerafina from the Ocean's Gift series are some of my favourites – along with Joe Fisher – because they're all so easygoing. Caitlin in Nightmares is incredibly courageous – she does things I swear no one else could, though you wouldn't think it to look at her. Then there's Mel and Luce in Mel Goes to Hell – Mel's an angel, so she's very easy to like, but Luce is particularly seductive, worming his way into my affections as only the devil himself could.

13. If you were given a choice to become one character (of your story posted on Wattpad) which one would you be and why?

A. Sirena. She's the powerful mermaid leader in the Indian Ocean, but she's adept at passing for a human on land. Underwater photography would be so much easier if I didn't need diving or snorkelling gear…

14. Do you prefer dark romance or the usual?

A. How dark do you mean? I know some authors who write really dark – the stuff that makes Fifty Shades look like Twilight. "The usual" for me is perhaps not what most would think – I never read any romance until I'd published several books. My preferences are fantasy, science fiction and historical fiction. I like all three of these to have varying degrees of both darkness and romance, but…well, I guess my attitude to BDSM romance is like that of my mermaids. They'd feed the would-be Dom to the sharks and find someone else who's more fun.

15. Where do you look for your inspiration?

A. I live in Western Australia, so I'm inspired almost daily by the world around me. People, landscapes, experiences…my Mel Goes to Hell series was inspired almost entirely by incidents that happened in my and other offices. Of course, none of the characters are based on real people – demons are most definitely demons.

16. What’s your favorite TV show?

A. I actually don't watch much TV. I like Stargate and all the spin-offs, Battlestar Galactica was cool but weird…and once I'm done writing Mel Goes to Hell, I'm going to seriously get into Supernatural again.

17. Do you prefer more reads, votes or comments?

A. Reads. I joined Wattpad so that more people would see and read my work. I was stunned when Nightmares hit 10, 000 reads in the first month it was out – and now it's up over 1.6 million. I admit I love to hear that people enjoy it, through their votes and comments, but as I've published books, the most important thing to me is that people read the stories I've chosen to share.

18. Imagine the world is collapsing around you, what would you choose to save – technology or books?

A. Neither. I've done extensive research into shipwrecks up and down the West Australian coastline, which inspired my Ocean's Gift series, and in a disaster the first thing I'd save would be people, before looking for more practical things like food, water and shelter – and keeping those people out of the alcohol. You'd be surprised how many people in a disaster situation first decide to get drunk.

(lol! I had no idea !)

19. What is the best advice you have given and received?

A. The advice I'd give: If you feel your work is good enough to publish, set it free. You won't know until you try and self-publishing is well worth the risk.

I receive a lot of advice, both good and bad, and it's hard to tell the difference until you put it into practice. What worked for my books won't necessarily work for others.

20. Any extra tips for our young writers?

A. Pay attention to your characters. If the story feels real to you and the characters are carrying the story on their own, ie without you feeling like you're inventing it as you go along, then you have something resembling a first draft, worth revising, editing and considering publishing. If you're telling them what to do still and getting what I've heard is called writer's block, then keep writing – I hope you have a damn good argument with your characters over where they chose to deviate from your perfect plan in the future.

 (nice :) !)

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I hope you guys enjoyed the interview ! :)