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BTS OT7 INTERVIEW

Kristy24cannel, otherwise known as Kristy or Kitty, is the First Place Winner of the BTS OT7 category in The Trivia Awards 24-25. Her book, "The Barbarians" has demonstrated great success with its amazing writing and storytelling, effectively engaging the readers who stumble upon it. I would like to present to you the lovely winner!

DIA: Welcome, Kristy! First off, thank you for accepting this interview and congratulations on your amazing win for "The Barbarians"! How does it feel to achieve this kind of recognition for your work?

KRISTY: Thank you so much! First off, I feel honored and a little shocked lol. This book was my long awaited return to Wattpad after 4 years! | get to showcase my writing progress which has improved by a lot. I can only hope that more people find my story and experience the intrigue that grows with every detail.☺️

DIA: Woah, four years. What an accomplishment after a long time! Congrats! As a First Place winner, your story has left a very positive effect on your readers and even on your judge! What has inspired you to write a fantasy AU such as "The Barbarians"?

KRISTY: Honestly, it came from seeing an ai photo of Jungkook Imao. It has a red hue and he looks so ancient and mysterious, I just knew I had to write a story about that. But I wasn't in the mood for a couple or throuple lol so I made it into an OT7 as I found more ai photos of the other guys. It's always been kind of odd to me that I can just make a story up on the spot. 🤣 Imagination does wonders lol.

DIA: That's true! Honestly, I enjoyed reading about the variation in the characters and their abilities or personalities — each very distinct and unique from the others. When you focus on creating a separate personality or ability for a specific character, do you stumble upon any complications while trying to maintain uniqueness? Even more, when trying to portray character development in your narrative?

KRISTY: Yes actually! I have a tough time writing Azeira's dialogue because I want her to sound barbaric but I also don't want it to be too influenced by AAVE. She's a memorable character and I want to encourage that. I think another one of my weak points is trying to keep a stable pace of the story so that all the characters mingle with each other accordingly. When it comes to abilities, I try to keep the story's setting in mind and how unique to make everything. Because I want to draw readers in rather than confuse them and have them bolt from my book. 🥲

DIA: Completely understandable! What about when developing the plot itself? As an AU, things are certainly very distinct and intriguing, so have you been in a situation where you have been stuck in proceeding with what to write for a new chapter in this fantasy story?

KRISTY: In my past on Wattpad, I always struggled with keeping a good pace and understanding of my stories. What's helped me with this one (and future ones 👀) was taking down plot points. Like each scene that's going to happen and so on so forth. It's helped a lot! But it also comes with its challenges, because even though I took notes of the scenes, I still have to write out the story. I still have to give it a voice. I put all my effort into every chapter so far, so honestly I hope it's paying off. 🥲 Even now, it's been a while since I published a new chapter, and it's because of how long the next chapter is so sometimes it can get really discouraging. 🫠

DIA: Speaking of challenges. Have you faced any specific challenges while writing this book? For example, has there been a moment in which you've wanted to give up? Or perhaps a moment in which writing has become too much? If so, how do you overcome these challenges?

KRISTY: I think now lol. I'm like in a minimal writer's block at the moment. I don't want to give up on this story because I think it has so much potential to entertain others, but it's been taking me longer and longer to publish chapters. I try to overcome it by writing in my irl novels, sometimes it helps because I may have gotten inspired or reminded of my fanfic, so I run right back to it lol.

DIA: What are your thoughts on expanding your writing and activities on the app? Are there plans for future stories or perhaps current ones?

KRISTY: My current goal is to reach other ARMY and bond over reading, writing, and BTS lol. But I also am on Wattpad now to promote my writing, because I eventually want to publish my own novels and spread my imagination with others. It's my biggest dream 🥺I have a list of fanfics I'm planning on publishing after "The Barbarians" lol now the first step is to finish it.🤣 But I encourage everyone to stay tuned because it's only up from here! I'll do my best to continue entertaining.😊

DIA: Focusing back to your award-winning book, the review for your score included some sections I would like to discuss in this next portion of the interview. Would you be fine with sharing these sections with the audience reading this interview?

KRISTY: Yeah I don't mind!

DIA: Perfect! The main section I would like to focus on is the "PLOT" section. The review states, "From the beginning of the prologue, we are introduced to our lead character who has a compelling story to tell. It's a proper prologue, setting the tone for what the reader can expect of the story and offering a glimpse to the plot and characters. The descriptions of the narrative and the storytelling are excellent, demonstrating the author's wonderful writing talent and the ability to engage the reader from the start." After reading this, how did it make you feel regarding your writing?

KRISTY: I had a smile on my face lol. 🤣 I feel very accomplished and thankful that my story could invoke a feeling like that! I'm working towards improvement everyday so thank you!💜

DIA: In continuation, "The interactions between the characters were highly engaging and intriguing, encouraging the reader to continue reading. Each character is individually bringing something to the story. They're unique and keep the narrative full of dynamics. The interactions between Jimin and Azeira are humorous and entertaining, offering a comedic touch to the story." When creating these character dynamics that enhance the story, how are you able to create an engaging narrative without losing the reader's focus?

KRISTY: I focus on their past and growth. I know what happened and what's going to happen in the story lol, so I shape this knowledge around the perspective of the characters. How they see the world, what their goals are. Things like that. I try to make the story engaging by skipping over tedious scenes and keeping it brief if it's not impacting the story. It helps maintain a pace and be able to pack scenes in a couple thousand words.💃🏻

DIA: In the SENSE section it states, "I admire the vivid descriptions used throughout the story, such as in the line: ("But even now, I remember their faces—the faces of the two people who put me in this world and didn't have the guts to take me out. Instead they left me for dead, giving me a choice of whether I should stand tall and survive or give up and die rolled up on the side of the dirt roads.") These lines evocative depth to the narrative so that the readers can immerse themselves with ease." As mentioned, these well-thought descriptions highlight the storyline even further and allow the reader to immerse themselves with ease. Does the writing process become more complicated when thinking about or jotting down these details?

KRISTY: I wish I can give a better answer but honestly it's really just random. 🤣 Sometimes I can write creative sentences that kickstart the imagination, but then I have moments where I'm like "He looked at the stars". 😭 With that being said, it is pretty complicated for me because I have to use the deep part of my imagination to come up with something that makes the reader forget that they're reading a fanfiction.

DIA: As a fellow writer, I completely get you! Detailed descriptions can be complicated to jot down. In addition, your story's blurb is very enticing and intriguing to read more. Did you have any trouble coming up with an adequate description for your story? Some authors have difficulty summarizing their writing in a few simple words. I'd like to know more about your writing and creative process.

KRISTY: I used to write blurbs in short sentences, but with "The Barbarians" I tried to do a mixture of "this is fanfiction" and "this is a novel". It gives a type of professionalism to it and (I'd hope) draw more readers in. I like to jot down the plot points of a story before writing a description, it gives me an idea of what can be revealed and what can be left a mystery to encourage reading the book. ☺️

DIA: For the theme of your book, was it complicated writing a fantasy story or were you able to have more freedom to do as you wish within the narrative?

KRISTY: The genre I believe I'm best at is fantasy, but in fanfiction I usually do more realistic stories set in modern time. What helped imagine BTS in a world like this was regular and ai art. But irl, most of my novels are fantasy lol so it was combining fanfiction with it. When it comes to the fantasy genre I personally feel like I have more range. When it comes to creating beasts or magical beings I try to be a little creative and mix stuff together. For example, when people think of Elves in a book, they imagine a person with pale skin, blue or green eyes, blonde hair, and pointy ears. In "The Barbarians" there are beings called Youei which are basically Elves but their appearances vary. Even in real life, my debut novel's main character is an Elf but she's a Korean girl with black hair, and the only reason you know she's an Elf is because of the crown of her head where the hair is white. There's so many things you can do when it comes to fantasy, I encourage everyone to branch out and explore!💜

DIA: Now that we have gone through the major sections of the review, I would like to ask you some final questions before we wrap up. Is there a specific theme or message you would like to send or convey to the readers through your book "The Barbarians"?

KRISTY: I haven't really thought about it but I want The Barbarians to show that leadership is about accepting the backgrounds of others and coming together to improve the world. I want to show that a community can be formed and family can be made. I admire the anime "Fairy Tail" because it portrays the essence of forming your own family through friends really well. Writing wise, I want to encourage fanfiction writers to branch out and be creative with the genre. I've seen a bunch of creative ones like cannibalism, Joseon era, world war era, witch covens, etc. where they're not so common.

DIA: That's truly inspiring and wholesome! From day one in Wattpad, do you think your motive has changed since then to now? As a writer, how do you expand on your work throughout the years and through your writing?

KRISTY: Ohhh boyyyy. 😂 When I first started writing on Wattpad I had random anime fanfictions published where all I wrote was the first chapter. 😭That was back in 2015. But I started writing Kpop fanfictions in 2020 and Jesus was I all over the place. 🤣I wrote fanfics hoping to be famous on Wattpad and have a big following lol. I had great story ideas but a terrible writing process. I didn't have a goal and just wrote for clout imfao. But now, I want to reach people. I want to ignite that curiosity that grounds people, the type that helps readers stay engaged. I want to entertain. I try to improve my writing as best as I can by analyzing other books and also taking constructive criticism.

DIA: Honestly, that's a wonderful evolution! What would you like your readers, or perhaps those reading this interview, to know about you as a person/writer or your winning book?

KRISTY: I'm a talker lol. I love making friends and being part of a community. I have big dreams and would love to hear about someone else's goals and achievements. I'm always happy for someone else's accomplishments. 😊

DIA: Finally, now that I'm letting you go, can you tell us what was your experience participating in this awards and, at last, winning First Place?

KRISTY: I recognized Shooketha from a Jimin fanfic she used to write (iykyk) so when I saw that she was hosting an award show I just knew I had to check it out. Usually when it comes to award shows I check out the payments, rules, and rewards. I particularly love it when participants get in-depth reviews on what they can work on or what was great. This whole experience was nice and engaging! I thoroughly enjoyed participating in it! Winning first place genuinely felt surreal to me. This is my first fanfiction to ever win first in awards, and I'm only on the eighth chapter 🥺You can imagine how proud I was of myself, and that I am finally worthy of the art of writing. Thank you!

DIA: Aww! That's so sweet and wonderful! I'm so proud of you! Do you have any advice to aspiring writers who look up to you and want to start their own journey in the writing community?

KRISTY: I think the best advice I can give is to never stop learning. You can always sit down and write a story, however, the willingness to constantly want to learn will develop your writing process. Analyze other works, see the difference between each one then compare and contrast with your own. Get a good understanding of grammar, trust me, it helps in the end. And proofread your writing, don't take after me! 😭 Honestly I could say more but I think it's best to leave it at "have a willingness to learn"🤣

DIA: Thank you so much for joining me today in this interview. Hoping to see more creations by you! Thank you for your time, and once again, congratulations on your well-deserved award!

KRISTY: Thank you so much! You are a great host! I know it must get frustrating or stressful but you're doing great! The Trivia Awards was very creative and I loved the interview and review awards, it really helps shape a professional perspective on these type of books! Well done Shooketha! 💃🏻

QUESTIONS — (💎)

~ shooketha ~