Hello, I'm Indigo and I'll be interviewing you on behalf of the Crazy Late Nighters Community. Before we begin, may I have your name/pen name and the pronouns you go by?

Mar Café, she/her

Sounds great! I understand your second-placing work Carpe Noctem has 21 parts to it, meaning you must be relatively close to finishing if you haven't already. What would you say inspired the concept of the plot?

It's been finished for over a year - it actually won a huge international contest last summer!

I wanted to create a historical fiction novel that actually read, stylistically, like a novel written in the 1890's. I would say the biggest inspiration for the plot was the question "What constitutes humanity?" Is there one clear cut, moral answer? Or are we dealing with countless shades of grey?

That sounds extremely interesting, and what a unique twist; in all historical-fiction novels that I have encountered, not once have I seen an author style their writing not only to portray a historical era, but to also read as if it had been written in a specific historical era. Historical fiction is most commonly associated with the paranormal genre, as with your novel Carpe Noctem. What is your favourite aspect of the paranormal genre?

I think my favourite aspect of paranormal is exploring the idea that it is usually HUMANS who are the least humane. Sometimes creatures of the night are the most in tune with what makes concepts such as freedom, peace, and love so worthwhile. I enjoy this role reversal.

That's a really interesting view and one that makes you wonder... who are the real villains? I'm sure your readers - myself included - haven't thought of this before, and your unique but compelling perspective seems to be one of the main reasons for your captivating work. Did real-life experiences help motivate or inspire features of your novel?

I'm autistic, so I always feel like I'm completely different from everyone who surrounds me. I'm that person who always feels completely alone in a crowd. In that respect, I do think my personal experiences have influenced my protagonist, Lucy, but as far as everything else goes (the plot, the love story, etcetera), it's all fiction - it has nothing to do with me as a person. My life has been extremely bland and is not novel worthy.

I'm autistic, too! I completely understand what you mean - we have a tendency to put a fresh spin on thoughts or situations, so this can make a huge difference while writing. The readers will be drawn in by our unique ideas, while we often feel alone or isolated in our thoughts. Lucy seems to reflect some of these qualities, and, as a reader, I enjoyed being able to relate and connect with her and the other characters. Which of your characters in Carpe Noctem do you think you can relate to most?

I think it's safe to say that I can relate to Lucy best. Of all the characters in Carpe Noctem, she is the most like me. She likes to get things done on her own because of her own intellect. She prizes knowledge and wisdom above all else, and although she doesn't have a great number of friends, those that she becomes close to she is fiercely loyal to.

I think there is a piece of me in every single one of the characters in the book, but most of the time it's something very specific and very subtle. I do see a lot of myself in Dr. Reed, as well.

I found I could relate well to Lucy, too. Speaking of which, if your novel were to be made into a movie, what actors would you like to play your characters?

Teresa Palmer as Lucy Penn
Michiel Huisman as Dr. Reed
Ben Barnes as Virgil
Thandie Newton as Evelyne Ives
Jaime Bell as Dr. Rosencrantz
lan McShane as Victor Wilhern
James McAvoy as Arthur Wilhern
Gary Oldman as Jaques Stoker.

I've given this a lot of thought. My promotional posts on Instagram use these actors.

I can see the similarities between them and they're practically just as I imagined the characters to look like - your incredible descriptions certainly helped give myself and other readers a clear image of each character. On that topic, I've noticed many of the characters have unique or uncommon names, which reflect the paranormal/historical world you have created. How do you come up with names for your characters?

Penn, Wilhern, and Reed were fairly common surnames in Victorian England. Virgil (who has no surname) was born around the year 200 AD, so he needed a name that existed at that time. Evelyne Ives has an English surname because her father's from London, and the French spelling of her first name as her mother was from Morocco - the French were a big cultural influence in northern Africa at the turn of the century. Dr. Gil Rosencrantz was originally written as homage to Dr. Victor Frankenstein. "Frankenstein" is a very unusual name, ambiguously German, and three syllables, so I wanted the replacement to be as similar as possible without sounding/looking like "Frankenstein." Therefore, I named my character after two of the most famous characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (I have to integrate Shakespeare into everything I write.)

I pick names based on the character's personality, geographical origin, and historical accuracy.

It sounds like you put a lot of thought and effort into name choosing! What inspired/ how did you come up with the title of your novel Carpe Noctem?

"Carpe Noctem" means "seize the night" in Latin. It literally just appeared in my mind one day while working on the story. I knew it was the right choice.

It's funny how most authors spend weeks, even months, searching for an appropriate title when all of a sudden it just hits you. The title of your novel was very well chosen in my opinion, as it draws focus and attention and has a deeper meaning once you begin to understand the story. It's clear Carpe Noctem has come a long way, so I have to ask - what's one way your book has significantly changed since the first draft?

Well, Carpe Noctem was a rarity for me. Usually, I'm the one spending months agonizing over a title. There's a book I've been working on since 2004 that still doesn't have a title.

Well, originally, this novel was supposed to be almost a fanfiction for Victorian gothic literature. Lucy Penn was Lucy Westenra, her fiancé Arthur Wilhern was Arthur Holmwood, Dr. Thomas Reed was Dr. John Seward, (the witch) Evelyne Ives was Morgana le Fay, Victor Wilhern was Abraham Van Helsing, and (as previously mentioned) Dr Rosencrantz was Dr Frankenstein. I wanted to give some of these gothic characters that I loved so much another adventure, so to speak. But as I was writing chapters 1 and 2, I realized that I was pigeonholing myself. By rewriting the classic characters as my original characters, I was giving myself significantly more creative freedom. I'm really glad I made the changes. The novel went in far deeper, more unexpected directions because of the alterations. And I love how complex my characters turned out. I feel like that would have been less three dimensional had I stuck with my original plan (though I did name Jaques Stoker after Dracula author Bram Stoker, as a little tip of the hat.)

That's a huge change from your original plan, but it worked out perfectly! I love finding out different reasons behind name or concept choices. Speaking of drafts... how many unfinished or ongoing drafts do you have right now?

Tons. None have been started on Wattpad yet (I don't put anything on Wattpad until it's perfect), but I have countless unfinished stories from the past in notebooks and files on my computer. Funny enough: that's actually what my novella "Vengeful Creations" is about. A lot of authors can relate to having multiple incomplete works.

Definitely! I don't know how many unfinished works I have sitting in the dust... on Wattpad itself, I have over 65 drafts with countless more stored in my files, notes and google docs. Most authors and writers I've met have conflicted thoughts on this next question: do you enjoy listening to music while writing? While some writers believe that this practice is relaxing and motivating, others argue that it can distract you while writing. What are your thoughts?

I CANNOT listen to music while writing. I have no idea how anyone does that. I would lose my train of thought completely and just start writing down the lyrics to the song. I need absolute silence. White noise from outside is fine, but nothing else. I have the attention span of a baby squirrel, so I can't have any distractions.

I'm the same! Although you've said you don't listen to music while writing, do you have a playlist of songs that suit the theme and concept of your novel?q

I'm extremely old fashioned, so I don't make "playlists." I mostly enjoy the 70's and 80's rock, so that music never fits with anything I write.

Haha, that's perfectly all right! I find listening to music while reading distracting, even if it does suit the theme of the book. Do you have pets? If so, have they ever gotten in the way of your writing? I ask this because, as a writer myself, I find my pets often interrupt my work in hilarious ways and I'd be curious to see if it was just me or others, also.

I wish I had pets, but I'm allergic to animal dander. Also, I travel for work, so it's just not practical. But I'd love to have a dog.

Dogs are my favourite animal. For a bit of fun, what was the first book you read - either on Wattpad or outside of Wattpad - that made you cry?

Oh, man... The first book that made me cry was way too many years ago to remember. I cry all the time, at everything. The first book I remember giving me an intense emotional reaction (yes, I cried) was George Orwell's 1984. It's still my favourite novel.

I'm a pretty emotional reader as well... I swear, I cry at some point in almost every book. Which type of book do you prefer: audiobooks, e-books or physical books?

In my opinion, only physical books are real. I hate reading books on a screen. And I would never listen to a book, that's just weird.

I can certainly agree with that! There's a certain feature of physical books that you don't get with audiobooks or e-books... the musty smell, the texture of the pages, the elegant scrawl of words. What is your favourite book on Wattpad?

Wow...that's tough. I'm not sure! Right now what comes to mind is "Down Under." It's a novella from this year's ONC which was made an honourable mention just like mine! It's a fantastic, breakneck adventure/horror story. To sum it up in two words: Space Zombies.

That sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out sometime. As you are an experienced writer, what advice would you give to a young author writing their first book?

Avoid metaphors and clichés. Define your terms, and say what you mean. Readers relate to characters, not to plots, therefore it's best to develop complex characters but keep your storyline simple. And avoid "bad boys," "alphas," "billionaires," and "the mafia" at all costs - those ideas have been done to death on Wattpad.

I can agree with that, and I'm sure your readers will appreciate that advice. Thank you so much for taking part in this interview, on behalf of the whole CINighters community!

It was a pleasure! Thank you!

Author : MarCafeWrites
Interviewer : Rainbow_Indigo02
Interview Editor : MicroscopicLlama