****Note: This is what happens when you interview yourself
Camille with her long time friend Karla, her brother Luis and her own brother Kevin
You've been a writer for over 11 years, what was your first story?
Lets see, I was in first grade. As I recall it was evening and I had just gotten ready for bed. I was in my PJs. Earlier in the day I had gone to Badger Mountain Elementary's Book Fair and had bought myself a notebook. It was one of those skinny ones that come in those trifold things, with a pen and sticky notes. You know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I was laying down (like I am now) in what my family called The Rumpus Room. I remember having this idea about a story about a bunny named Boots. I wrote this story down in that notebook. It took up all of the pages. Course the notebook was small and I had very sloppy handwriting back then. The next day, I typed it up. It came out to only be a paragraph long, a very short paragraph. the finished product is accompanied by a drawing of a bunny drawn in either crayon or colored pencil. Ah memories
How do you deal with writers block?
Good question. What ever inspires you and gives you ideas, go and do that thing. Music inspires me so I listen to it almost 24/7. I like to listen to it while I'm thinking about what I am writing about and ideas come to me. I steal phases from song lyrics a lot because the people who write them are more poetic than I am. I actually get a lot of ideas while in the shower, so I now keep a dry ease marker in there so that I can write them on the shower walls. of you've been sitting and writing for hours and have hit a dead end, get up and take a break. Go for a walk, watch some T.V. or a movie or read a book. Do something that's not writing. But keep a notebook or your laptop nearby for when inspiration strikes.
What other challenges to you face as a writer?
Killing off characters is a big one. I am very attached to all of my characters, even the evil ones.
And how DO you kill them off?
Channel your inner Steven Moffat. Forget all your feelings and pretend to be him. It works wonders. You can always write a fanfiction later where the character lives. I mean, no one has to read that.
So you're okay with fanfiction?
I embrace it! I love it! It inspires me! It is my hope that people write fanfiction for the stories I write. I mean 50 Shades Of Grey started out as a Twilight fanfiction and that got published!
What are your thoughts on that book?
That book is an abomination. Now I' not saying I'm against porn or smut, cause I'm not. But that is not porn!! I've read better than that!! Hell I've written better than that!!
So what is your favorite book then?
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. I read this book in either 5th or 6th grade. It enchanted me and I fell in love with it. My own copy is worn and the cover's about to fall off because I've read it so many times. 13 and a half to be exact.
Who is your favorite author?
Darren Shan, hands down!! He has this way of writing gory, graphic horror, with amazing characters and a plot that twists and turns but everything is interconnected and woven together. You don't want to put the book down! Go read The Demonata Series! Way better than Steven King! Man I want to write like Darren, that is my goal!
You don't like Steven King?
Ugh! He is so boring! I can't stand him! I read The Shining, my god! I had to force myself to keep reading it. That book was so boring, not to mention there was a lack of scary. Darren Shan does a much better job at scaring me.
Do you have a favorite poet?
I have two! Shel Silverstien and Dr. Seuss. And if you ask me why or tell me that Dr. Seuss was not a poet, I will eat your face off. It should be obvious why and if it's not [pauses] you are an uncultured swine and I probably won't like you. I also like Edgar Allen Poe and Shane Koyczan
What is your favorite among your own works?
I don't have one. I haven't written my best work yet. But for sake of this interview I'll say that my favorite is Night In The Rain.
What advice do you have to people who want to be better writers?
Writing is a very overlooked art form, but it IS an art, not EVERYONE can do it. my advice is to practice. I know this sounds cheesy and you've heard it before but you really do have to practice. Write at least once a day, twice if you can. Even if you don't have any ideas, just start writing. Whatever comes to mind, write it down. Even if by the end you have five pages of the word butts, that's fine. It still counts as practice. This method also helps with writers block.
Is there such thing as too much editing?
Yes and no. I believe in a shitty first draft and I try to not edit it until the draft is done but that hadly ever happens. I am constantly adding and revising sentences. So my first draft just merges into my final draft. Course when I'm done with my shitty "first" draft I copy and paste it into a new document and then edit it so I have the first version and then the edited version. But yes, you can edit too much. You could spend years editing something if you really wanted to.
Last question. You call yourself a wordsmith, why not call yourself a writer or an author?
I came across the term wordsmith when I was reading over a song my friend Cara was writing. She described Loki as a "tricky wordsmith" I loved the term and I've used it ever since. Why not author or writer? Writer is generic, my dad's a writer, he writes science papers. I wanted something more poetic and a little more descriptive on the kind of writing that I do. Also I haven't published anything yet so I'm not an author.
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