Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got into writing?

Aurelia: For sure! To begin, I'm a pansexual author from Calgary, Alberta, currently a full-time student, and an older sister of two who loves pasta so much that I would eat it every day of the week if I could!! On the side of all of this, however, reading has been by far one of my favourite pastimes. As many of my readers know, I've spent the majority of my life struggling with my mental health, and being able to read has always been the support and the escapism I've needed to help combat it.

The first time I joined Wattpad was years ago on a different account, but I quickly found myself in awe over the fact that not only did everybody have the opportunity to write on this platform, but also that I was able to support smaller authors through reading and voting on their works! I've always loved writing in school, and eventually, I started to realize that the only thing holding me back from publishing my own books was my fear that nobody would read them. Even though I had the ideas, most of the time I struggled with knowing where to start, and sometimes, I still do. Getting back to the question, though, it had eventually come down to the point where I simply needed to close my eyes, take the first leap and hope for the best. Here I am now not even being able to imagine writing not being a part of my life forever.

And we have a pasta lover here with us! We love pasta too. We really admire your success here on Wattpad and we're sure every reader would be curious to know this - where do you get your ideas from?

Aurelia: Awe thank you. Truthfully, I would say that the majority of my ideas come from a combination of my fantasies, my own experiences, research, and learning some of my interests through other books. Reading was actually what initially introduced me to BDSM and motivated me to learn more about the lifestyle in general.

My interest had piqued fairly quickly after delving into a few books that explored specific kinks, and after reading online about the influence BDSM had on countless of other people's lives, it made me start to realize that it was something I had an interest in too. I admired the way it could be used to heal, to offer a safe haven, and to create a deep rooted connection with your partner(s) that one could simply only understand by experiencing it. After I'd made the decision to start planning "Theirs to Claim" as a result of that admiration, ideas simply started to pop into my head randomly as I went about my day. It had actually led to me scrambling to write down a bunch of half sentences and incomplete scenes in the notes section of my phone on numerous occasions just so I wouldn't forget them. As they eventually accumulated, they sparked new ideas that were able to build off of each one that came previously.

Now that you've mentioned "Theirs to Claim", what was your initial reaction when you saw that you have finally started to receive the recognition you deserve? For our readers who haven't tried out your works yet, can you give them a short summary about it along with your WIP?

Aurelia: For me, I distinctly remember the ten thousand reads mark and the one million reads mark being the most memorable, because the recognition truly made me feel like what I was writing meant something. I was so incredibly proud of myself and thankful for all of my readers (some of which have been around since week 2 of me writing TTC) for offering me their support every step along the way. As I started to frequently get messages through Wattpad and Instagram from people telling me that my book has helped them through some of the hardest times of their lives, I'd just felt so accomplished and happy.

For those who haven't read "Theirs to Claim" yet, you should know that it is book one of three, plus a 0.5 book that has yet to be released in the series. The trilogy follows our main girl Madelyn who moves to New York in search of her father after he unexpectedly goes missing. When she becomes a witness to murder weeks later, things suddenly start to become a lot more complicated. This wasn't due to the fact the final police report indicated there were no signs of a crime ever being committed, though, but rather because the three men who covered it up caught interest in her in the process. Of course I can't say too much without spoiling it, but what I will say is that "Theirs to Claim" is a reverse harem, BDSM romance with age gaps, mafia themes, and a whole lot of hotness in between. Any trigger warnings in the book are listed at the start of each individual chapter to make sure everybody can enjoy reading comfortably, and this is the same for "Forever Hers" (book 2 in the trilogy and my current WIP). It's hard to describe "Forever Hers" as it gives a lot away about the ending of "Theirs to Claim", but it's arguably going to be even better than the previous in my opinion.

We are so happy for your achievements here! Do you have any favorite BDSM books, on and off Wattpad? And if you could surprise yourself by writing an entire different genre, which would it be and why? We are just curious to know because we love surprises! <3

Aurelia: Thank you so much! Personally, I've actually struggled to find the healthy representation of BDSM relationships within stories on Wattpad that I'm looking for, however Katee Robert, an author outside of Wattpad, is an example of someone's books that I've really found myself enjoying. I loved her book "Queen Takes Rose" as well as "Learn My Lesson" by her. If I could surprise myself, I would 100% write fantasy. I actually already have a book partially planned out within the fantasy genre that I would love to work on after my current trilogy is completed!!

Then we have something to look forward to. :p If you could choose one favorite character you've written so far, who would it be?

Aurelia: Oh definitely Madelyn. I just connect with her in so many ways (her insecurities, her struggles with mental health, her journey in embracing and accepting who she is rather than trying to change herself for others). Nina Sawyer is a close second for me, though. She's just too adorable and reminds me of my own sister.

Do you have any pet peeves?

Aurelia: Interrupting has to be one of my absolute biggest pet peeves. I also, oddly enough, get really annoyed when people try to talk/ constantly ask questions during movies, ads over 5 seconds that can't be skipped, people who have social media accounts for their pets and write the captions as though the animal had written it, and utensils scratching over a plate while eating. It's worse than scraping nails against a chalkboard for me haha.

*cough* YouTube *cough* *cough* We totally relate to that! People are there to watch a movie, not to discuss it while it's playing! XD So what's your favorite movie?

Aurelia: Oooh, my favourite movie (bonus points if it's being watched on a rainy day) is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's not even necessarily the movie itself that's my favourite, but my mom and I have watched it together since I was ten, so it's almost nostalgic for me now whenever it comes on.

*Adds to watchlist* Now that we are coming to an end of our interview, we have a question from feufeu15 - First, I'm totally hooked by your books, and I wanna know what's your secret to writing mafia romance and reverse harem (surely two of the most complicated tropes in romance)?

Aurelia: For starters, thank you so much for reading. Your support honestly means the world and I'm really happy to hear you've been enjoying them. As for my secret, it is found both within research and an endless amount of trial and error. I actually can't emphasize enough how much significance there is in those two things alone. In the beginning, researching was so important when it came to understanding the hierarchy and titles seen within the mafia, as well as their traditions and beliefs. As for the reverse harem part of the story, it was honestly a learning curve. It's hard to make sure I'm equally progressing the storyline of four different main characters, both individually, as a group, and within each individual pair. Having a planner and chapter outline in a separate google document really helped with laying everything out to make sure I was happy with where the story was going. The rest just honestly came with time and bucketloads of practice.

******

Thank you so SO much for chatting with us! On behalf of the readers and AfterDark team, we wish you all the very best for your future works!