Hello, Lighters!
Hello, lighters! After a hiatus much too prolonged, we're back with our bi-monthly Writer Highlight interview! Give a hand for this month's highlight, Sam Jaramillo, age 17, who you know as V-Rose. She's been a writer here on Light from the very beginning! She writes excellent fiction and brings a lot to the table this month with her exclusive Q&A, original prompt, and fantastic piece! First off, let's take a look at her story...
Featured Piece
V-Rose's featured piece is Come on, Princess. It's a mysterious short story that leaves you guessing and agonizing alongside the MC. Check out this exert.
The shackles grazed against her wrists as she changed position in an attempt to get comfortable and stared up at the grimy ceiling. It had been so long since she'd last seen any kind of natural light. All it was here was concrete walls and a small lantern hanging above her. Her only way to count the time was to guess by the length of her hair. It had barely brushed her chin when they'd dragged her down here. Now, it hung in clumps to her waist.
She popped her neck with a simple move of her head and sighed. She closed her eyes and, with a raspy voice, began to sing:
Wishing on a star,
wonder who we are
why am I so far
away.
Princess in a castle,
prisoner once again
just when she felt safe
they broke her down again.
She stopped when she heard the door open, hinges squealing in......
You can read the rest here.
Q&A
Q: How did you get into writing—
A: My elementary school teachers were big on writing, and several of them had us write lots of stories. I wrote one about a queen and a magic carpet, another where Snow White ended up the villain, and I think, one about a penguin. But when I was in sixth grade, my best friend and I started writing stories during a sleepover, and one of mine was interesting, so I kept working on it. And working on it. And it’s still not done, but it’ gone far, and it really jumpstarted my writing journey.
Q: What’s your favorite genre {fantasy, sci-fi, etc.} & why—
A: I’d have to say fantasy only because almost anything applies in a fantasy world. It could be futuristic, or modern, or from ages past. It could be inside time, in a messed-up time, in a place of backwards time. Dragons could exist, or fairies, or the world could be ending, or restarting. Old characters become new. I think fantasy spans a genre far larger than anything else and it makes so many things possible. And it’s always nice to enter that kind of world.
Q: Who is your favorite author, book, & why—
A: I can’t say I have one that I can pick out. I have series I constantly return to like Ranger’s Apprentice or Keeper of the Lost Cities, but I just like finding new ideas and perspectives. I love finding a book I know someone else will love. Because most books are someone’s favorite because they relate to it in some way, or it makes them smile, or some other reason that gives the book meaning. And I like finding those meanings in books, so most books that I read end up my favorite at least for a time.
Q: You are sending us the link to one of your works. Why did you choose this piece to be featured—
A: The piece I chose was written a while back, but I keep coming back to it, wondering what I can do with it. I know it’s going somewhere but I’m not sure where yet. And that’s the kind of feeling you get when you open a good book: an expectant feeling of approaching adventure. I chose this piece because I want to implant that feeling in as many stories as I can, and since I feel I managed to do that, at least for me, I’m proud of it.
Q: What gave you the inspiration for it—
A: It was actually a prompted story. “The shackles grazed against her wrists as she changed position in an attempt to get comfortable.” I took the line and ran with it. In several stories, the princess is either a well-kept prisoner or in hiding. Here, she’s just barely hanging on to her old life, and just when something from her past shows up again, she’s yanked back into the world. And it just seemed to flow really nicely onto paper, leaving me curious as to her story.
Q: What’s something that makes it stand out to you—
A: Like I said, it’s full of questions that leave me, the writer, wondering what her story is and what’s going to happen next. And it seems like a great story to continue someday, so I keep finding it again and wanting to know and write more.
Q: What unique word do you think you use most in your writing {ominously, glorious, etc.} & why—
A: I can’t say I use any particular word in my writing too much. I try to channel the character’s words: how they speak or think or act. And that varies from character to character.
Q: Do you think you want to pursue a career in writing? If not, what career do you have in mind & why—
A: I hope that one day I can write and publish books. That would be amazing! But I also want to teach and encourage others to like learning, which is always going to be my primary goal when it comes to any career I choose. If I can encourage people to read with my writing or through my thoughts in the classroom, I’ll be a happy person.
Q: Which POV (point of view) do you use in your stories most {third-person close, first person, etc.}—
A: I think I use third person in most of my stories. Since they’re short stories, most of the time, it’s easier to use third person to jump from idea to idea and still make sense. With longer projects, I tend to jump around with perspectives.
Q: What’s your writing process {what gives you inspiration, etc.}—
A: I use prompts a lot of the time, since starting is usually a little difficult. Once I have a prompt, I usually try to write until the words run out. Sometimes, the words don’t go very far, and sometimes I write and write and write. I’m not very much of a planner when it comes to writing, so I like to let the words fall out (and then edit later if I really like the story).
Q: What do you enjoy about Light—
A: The people. Definitely the people. I love talking to the people on here and reading their writing. Everyone is so kind and interesting and funny.
Q: How did you get involved—
A: My friend, Eden, invited me to join Light back in 2020.
Q: What’s one piece of advice you would give to younger/newer writers {about writing}—
A: Do not stop. Writing sucks sometimes. Words don’t work. Poems come out sounding dull, or you can’t write a good description to save your life. But, and I think I read something similar to this somewhere, it’s impossible to always write badly if you’re always writing. When we start developing a skill, it’s easy to give up when it doesn’t work. I admire artists so, so much, because they can make things with the stroke of a pen, and I cannot. But they constantly pick up that pen and keep drawing. To be good writers, we must do the same.
Special Q: Many writers say that they have a special bond with their characters, that it’s like their characters have a mind of their own and insist on telling their story. Dose that happen with you and your characters? Do you have an example?
A: This is a constant occurrence. A character is supposed to come to life on the page. When I can feel their thoughts, what they would do, it’s like they’re alive. And living people will make their own choices. People have a predictable nature that allows for someone to tell what they’re likely to do if you know them. A lot of times, I’ll start off writing a character that I think is one way. They think a certain way, make specific choices, and I have this idea of how their story will end. But later, when I’ve gotten to know them, and their thoughts have become my own, it seems evident what path they would follow, which often differs from the original plan. The first example that comes to mind would be Danielle, from my story, Never Really Real. I thought she was going to be rude through the entire story, and none of the main characters would ever manage to get along with her. But after a while, I realized that she was a lot nicer than she first appeared. I got to know her better and realized who exactly she was.
Prompt:
Sam has created a super prompt which you can find here.
Thank you!
Thank you so much to V-Rose (Sam) who's been such an amazing friend to many of us here on Light as well as a terrific writer! Thanks a bunch for agreeing to do this Highlight!
Remember to be a light in the darkness!
Happy lighting!
--The Team @ Light
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