Hello, everyone! Today we have another mythical and amazing author, LittleCinnamon, the Watty-winning author of The Whitechapel Chronicles.

About the Author: Lindsey Clarke is a multi genre writer with a particular focus on urban fantasy and horror. She's a Watty Award Winner, Runner Up in the Mediacorp X Wattpad Podcast Writers competition and soon also to be part of the Paid program with her sci-fi romance, Wastelands.

About 'The Whitechapel Chronicles': The Whitechapel Chronicles is probably the series I'm most well-known for on Wattpad, a trilogy that started out as a simple story about a woman who has an affair with a mysterious stranger, and ended up an epic vampire vs lycan vs The Devil urban fantasy! I've always loved vampire mythology, whether it be traditional lore or more modern takes on the genre. The lycans in TWC are known as 'varúlfur', and influenced by Old Norse mythology. The first instalment Playing Dead was a number one ranking story in the vampire category and has reached almost 3 million reads.

1. What made you start writing on Wattpad? What has been your favorite moment so far on the orange app?

At the time when I discovered Wattpad, I was writing and posting excerpts of my work on my wordpress blog when a Twitter contact of mine told me of a newspaper article about Abigail Gibbs and her journey from Wattpad to publishing her book The Dark Heroine. I was writing vampires at the time, so it seemed like a great place to showcase my writing and gain a readership that included more than just four of my friends and my dad! My favourite moment so far was winning a Watty in 2018 for my urban fantasy novel, Hedoschism. Until that point, winning a Watty had felt like an unattainable goal, so I was thrilled to win. I do have another favourite moment, but I'm not allowed to tell anyone about that yet ;-) 

2. Which mythology and/or legends influenced your story? Why did you choose those?

Hedoschism was created after I researched a lot about angels and demons, specifically Lucifer, for my urban fantasy vampire series The Whitechapel Chronicles. I became almost obsessed with this idea of turning the myth on its head and making readers question who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. In Whitechapel, my Lucifer was a great debater and manipulator, and it was fun seeing how many readers felt swept along by his argument and so, when it came to writing Hedoschism, it was like a continuation of this and asking, but what if Lucifer really wasn't the bad one after all? 

3. Tell us about the main character of one of your stories. What inspired their creation?

I often talk about Casey when it comes to Hedoschism, as she was the main reason I won the Watty in the Heroes category, however I can't forget Ethan Drake, our favourite demon of the story. Ethan - and yes, the name was inspired by Nathan Drake from the video game Unchartered - was just such a great character to write. He's irreverent, witty, sarcastic, a risk-taker, but also maybe the loneliest soul I've ever created, which drives much of what he does and how he acts. It's difficult to go into too much detail about Ethan and what inspired his character because SPOILERS, but he has the ability to make you laugh out loud with his banter and quick-off-the-mark one liners, while also tugging on the heartstrings with this inherent grief he carries around with him, after spending a very LONG time on his own. I had a ton of fun writing him, but he captured my heart too. 

4. What were some challenges you experienced while writing the story?

It was definitely a complex story to write, from all the research involved with the concept of angels and demons, to Casey's addictions, to framing it all within a fantasy arc, so I would say there were multiple challenges! One particular challenge was mapping the places Casey and Ethan visited as they travelled through dimensional wormholes. They went from London, to Paris, to Amman, to Rome and once in Rome, they magically hop from place to place to avoid detection. Having never once visited Rome, I spent A LOT of time on Google Street Views, trying to calculate the route and describe what they were seeing. 

5. Do you have a song playlist for writing? Can you share one with us?

I don't have a specific playlist I use for writing, as I often write mostly in silence, but if I do play music while writing, it's mostly classical stuff. I do actually create a Spotify playlist for every story I write. Each chapter has a specific song and I add a banner to tell readers what the chapter theme is. I am huge music fan and it really goes hand in hand with my writing, and helps to set the mood of each story. 

6. What is your favorite myth or legend? Why?

I wouldn't say I have a particular favourite, as I'm just generally fascinated by folklore and myth, but I think everyone likes a bit of Greek or Roman myth, mainly because it's often a bit bonkers. Growing up, I do remember being pretty taken by the story of Romulus and Remus and the creation of Rome - a place of constant fascination for me, even to this day. 

7. What is your favorite mythical creature? Why?

My favourite mythical creature is still the vampire. I've been hooked ever since the days of watching The Lost Boys and Interview with the Vampire, and reading stories such as Salem's Lot, by Stephen King and The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. I love that this is a myth that has existed for hundreds of years and branches across many different countries and cultures. Most countries have their own legend of the vampire in folklore and fiction and for writers, it's just such a rich source of inspiration. 

8. If you could have the same powers as a creature and/or deity from mythology or legends, what would it be? Why?

I'd love to say I'd use my mythological powers for good, but in all honesty, I'd probably be Medusa so I could turn people to stone. Obviously, I wouldn't like the whole 'getting my head cut off by Perseus' thing, but my blood would then make the coral in the Red Sea and spawn dragons, so that's pretty cool. 

9. What is your advice other writers who want to use mythology in their story?

Most importantly, I would say you have to be mindful of which myth you use, and in turn how you interpret it, to ensure you are not appropriating other cultures for personal gain. Mythology can be such a huge source of fun and many of the stories can be taken and applied to modern day culture, or used in the context of the time from which they've come, but as a writer, you need to understand the boundaries. Be respectful. Do your research. Understand where to draw the line. You might be drawn to a myth as a source of inspiration, but you should always be asking yourself if YOUR voice should be the one to tell that story. 

That's it for the month, it was fun getting to know about LittleCinnamon. You can check her stories featured in our reading list as well as her other works.

Until next time!