Tention Free : Tell us a little bit about yourself. Your background, education etc. ??
I used to just call myself a writer, but now I do all kinds of stuff, so I’ve just settled on the term literary artist. Almost everything I create comes back to poetry, because poetry is my favourite form of expression. I graduated from The University Of Greenwich, with a degree in Creative Writing, and a dream, I suppose.
Tention Free : We been hearing a lot about you and your books, so we notice your starting to gain a lot of attention how does it feel?
It’s been a lot of fun, but it’s kind of unexpected. I always just saw myself as a regular girl who just likes making fun stuff, so in a way, it’s unexpected that so many people have taken an interest, but I’m very grateful for that.
Tention Free : Please tell us more about your book “Home Wrecker”?
I wanted to write something about the female experience. There are so many words thrown about in regards to women, and so many things that women go through, and I wanted to capture little parts of the life of women, and put it all together. I know some people say women are so hard to understand, but I think sometimes, people feel that way, because they don’t understand where some women have been or what they’ve been through. I wanted to capture heartbreak, disappointment, shame and cowardice, and show how complex and varying the experience of women can be, and how there is no one way to define a woman or her past.
Tention Free : At what point did you decided to become an author ?
I first wanted to be an actress, like Judy Garland or Joan Crawford. I then wanted to be a singer, because I grew up listening to a lot of Broadway soundtracks, and I thought I could combine my love of acting and music and be on the stage. My family were supportive, but wanted me to have a back up plan. Originally, I thought about teaching, and planned to be an English teacher, because I loved to write plays and stories, but I just couldn’t handle not being able to create all the time. Maybe I’ll return to teaching in the future, but for now, I feel like this is the right path for me.
Tention Free : What are your future plans ? Your vision for the coming years.
I want to make the world fall in love with poetry again. A lot of people feel like it’s an exclusionary thing, and that it’s very elitist, and I want to make people feel welcome. I want to share my work with them and encourage them to open up and be creative too. In the future, I’d love to expand my online platforms so that I can encourage my audience to unlock their own creativity and potential. I’d also like to work more on music. I recently completed an album for my upcoming film project “Drowning In Us” which will act as the soundtrack, and was really fun to do, and I have a new single called “2am”, which will be released on February 23rd, which I’m really excited about.
Tention Free : What motivates you to do your best work as a YouTuber or Musician?
I think a lot of my motivation comes from how kind my audience are. They are so encouraging, and I don’t want to disappoint them. I’m also very inspired by nature, in almost everything I do. Especially the ocean.
Tention Free : What’s your advice to an aspiring author?
Don’t feel like you have to write in one specific way, or like you have to follow trends. Your own unique voice is the most important thing any writer can have, and it may take you a while to find it and trust it, but when you do, you’ll be able to create things that are uniquely and wonderfully yours.
Tention Free : Are you an author that interacts a great deal with your readers?
I do try to be, yes. I don’t want to ever be writing to an echo chamber, so I try and talk to my audience and get their feedback on what they liked and what they want to see more of. I also like to just hang out with them, to be honest. It’s nice to find so many like minded people!
Tention Free : Everybody needs time out. What do you do in your free time?
I really enjoy colouring books. I was never any good at drawing, which is annoying, because my mother is an incredibly talented artist, but I didn’t inherit her talent for that, sadly, so I like to just colour in instead. It’s really relaxing. I also love computer games. I’m not particularly good at them, but I always have a good time.
Tention Free : Are you active on social media? what’s the best way to follow you ?
I try to be, I update my Instagram story a few times a day, and I’m around on Twitter and Tumblr. All with the username @MissJSquared
